Mt. Hale. June 10, 2015

Our second hike of the week!  This one had to be quick, since we had plans for early afternoon.

We were fortunate to have our friend Samantha with us on this one.  Good times!

Hale Brook Trail, 4.4 miles roundtrip.

Hale Brook Trail begins moderately, then becomes a somewhat steep slog more or less straight up the mountain.  You cross water a few times, other than that, it's a climb up a giant hill in the woods.  I don't have many pictures of this hike, as I dropped my iPhone when we arrived at the trailhead...the iPhone didn't appreciate being dropped and proceeded to give me attitude all morning, so I didn't get to take many images.  Samantha sent me a few of her photos, though (thanks, Samantha!).

Starting out

Up up up!

 After climbing for about an hour and a half, we arrived at the summit.

Photo by Samantha Brady

Honeybuns on Hale (Desserts on the 48!)

Samantha did her traditional headstand.

We ate honeybuns and some German candy Samantha brought along.  The candy began with an H and was similar to Starbursts.  Yum.

After we finished eating, we ambled back down the trail.  We were engaged in conversation during our entire descent, so we were back at the car before we knew it.

It was 10:40am when we pulled out of the lot -- I love mornings like this.  Get up early, hike a mountain with good company, finish by mid-morning, and carry on with the rest of your day.  Good stuff.

Two more hikes and then we are off for a month to far away and fabulous places.  I look forward to sharing our photos and adventures when we return.  I'll post again next week before we leave.