Our first semi-winter hike of the season! We met at 9 AM at the Cambridge park and ride and took a single car up to the trailhead in Eden, getting close up views of the huge piles of mine tailings along the way. It was overcast with low clouds and hovering right around freezing as we got on the trail at about 9:40.

The trail was very well blazed, with what looked like brand new directional signs at the trail junctions, which was convenient, since the heavy leaf cover made finding the trail more difficult. We made good time, reaching Tillotson Camp in perhaps an hour and 15 minutes. We probably woke up some Quebecois who had been staying there for the night when we poked our heads in to look at the camp.

We proceeded north on the Long Trail, reaching the summit of Tillotson around 11:25. The snow was just beginning to fall at this point. We then headed back south on the LT, passing Tillotson Camp and continuing on to Belvidere, which we reached around 2. By this time the snow and wind had picked up, it was getting colder, and there was noticeable snow accumulating. David was the only one to climb the tower on Belvidere, and the visibility was so bad that he could barely see Max and Tracy at the base of the tower. It was also VERY windy up top.

We headed back down to the Foresters Trail junction where we had lunch, being careful of the slippery rocks that were just beginning to ice up. Heading down the Foresters Trail, the trail was pretty wet and muddy much of the way but we made it without incident and reached the car around 3:40, for a 6 hour complete trip.

Leader David Hathaway, with Tracy Sweeney and Max Seaton.