After hiking the Pemi Loop, it was a while before I found time for another adventure. It took about two weeks to recover enough from the abuse I’d suffered in the White Mountains that I felt comfortable going out again, and by that time I was engrossed in family and the holidays. Maria and I still would have gotten out a weekend earlier, but extreme cold broke our car’s windshield and delayed us until we were able to fix it. So it was that Maria and I found ourselves driving north on a Tuesday in the early afternoon for our first hike of the new year. I was mostly recovered from my injuries, and ready for some nature time.
Our plan for the day was to complete section nine of the MA New England Trail, which would complete my traversal of the Mt Holyoke Range. The first real cold of the winter had arrived that weekend, and the temperature wasn’t going to be above 11 F (-11 C) all day, so Maria and I were both well bundled. She had pants, long underwear, two pairs of socks, a hat, a buff, gloves, mittens, handwarmers, and five layers of undershirts, shirts, sweatshirts, and coats to stay warm.* I limited myself to two layers of warmth on any part of myself, with thick gloves, a balaclava and hat, my hiking shirt and fleece, pants and rain pants, and two pairs of socks. In the past I too had taken long underwear as my second layer of leg warmth, but I realized while hiking the Pemi Loop that the exterior nature of rain pants could keep my insulin pump and tubing insulated, in a way that something underneath my regular pants could not.
With layers on and stomachs still full from lunch at the house, we set off into the cold and snow. It was a beautiful, clear day for a hike, the sun shining through an empty canopy onto the snow below. The land was bright, almost glowing, and the snow blanketing the ground created a wonderful sense of solitude and peace as it crushed beneath our microspikes.
After a short, flat jaunt through the trees, the trail quickly began climbing up the easternmost hill in Holyoke Range State Park. Those same trees blocked most of the views that would have been, but I could still get a vague sense of them because of the lack of foliage. About halfway up, a powerline cut turned the vague sense of views into reality, providing the clear views of nearby hills we’d been missing.
By the time we reached the summit of the first hill, my blood sugar was dropping fast. I’d deliberately underbolused for my lunch in anticipation of exercise so that by the time the hike started my blood sugar was high and I had less insulin inside me, but clearly this wasn’t going to be enough. I really wanted to avoid going low because in temperatures as cold as we were facing, the reduced pace I’d be forced to move at would not pleasant. Fortunately, a Clif bar, some juice, and 30 minutes later my sugar levels had stabilized, and misery had been avoided.
The descent from the hill was relatively short, but included a section of trail steep enough that someone thought it prudent to string up a rope alongside to help. I disdained the assistance, trusting to my microspikes, my trekking poles, and my well honed skills from the Pemi Loop. Maria on the other hand had a great time channeling her inner climber, holding the rope as she slowly backed down the icy slope.
A brief road walk followed which might have been somewhat longer were it not for Maria’s keen eyes. I had walked right past where the trail started up again, not noticing a thing, but fortunately Maria caught it before I could get too far. She was very excited, as this was apparently the first time on a trip together that she had caught a wrong turn which I had missed.
After the road, we only had two hills to climb before reaching the end of the section. A short way past the road we paused to appreciate some tiny pine cones and take some pictures reminiscent of some we’d taken in rather different climates while hiking the PCT.
As we neared the top of the second hill, snow still crunching, cold still biting, and trees still treeing, Maria was about ready to be done. As often seems to happen after an hour or two , she felt like she’d had enough exercise and enough time to think about various topics, and was ready to do something else. At this point I was glad we hadn’t decided to hike a longer section. Fortunately, the end of the section was only a few minutes further, and after pausing for a few picture, we began our journey back to the car.
As if it wasn’t already frigid enough, the weather soon took a turn for the colder. We’d both been relatively comfortable on the way out, but within a few hundred feet of turning around, I was putting on my windbreaker and Maria was added her sixth layer, a fleece, underneath her puffy. My windbreaker was enough to keep me warm, but Maria’s hands refused to stay warm. By the time we got back to the road near the climbing rope, she was in quite a bit of pain, and I was feeling somewhat crappy for planning a hike long enough to do this. After ascending the rope, it was clear some additional warmth was needed. We paused for a minutes or two so she could stick her hands into my crotch. This seemed to be just what was needed, and I was able to provide enough extra warmth to get the rest of the way back to the car with minimal additional suffering.
As the sun dipped low in the sky, it bathed the forest in its warm orange glow. The late evening night may have been responsible for the increased chill, but it also cast everything in a stunning light, passing through the empty canopy and reflecting off the snow. It was enough to make me pause, despite the cold, for a moment of peace and quiet to take it all in.
We made it back to car around 16:45, almost exactly three hours after we left. We were both very happy to be back in a heated environment, and ready to get home to a nice hot meal. I had a few too many carbohydrates to avoid low blood sugar during the hike, so I needed to give myself some extra insulin once we were happily warm and driving back home.
Despite the suffering, it was a wonderful midweek hike. It’s amazing how easy it is to look over all the unpleasantness of hikes and only focus on the nice bits. It’s very useful for getting me to go back out again. I may question my decisions in the moment, but I have yet to be disappointed with such decisions after the deed is done.
Details:
- Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2022
- Distance: 5.2 miles
- Route: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/massachusetts/ma-net-section-9
\* Editor’s Note: I didn’t realize my clothing was to be described in such detail!
Pokin' Along 