Lowe’s Bald Spot
Today we began our hike to Lowe’s Bald Spot by starting on Old Jackson Road. This time we all were wearing snowshoes so falling through the snow wasn’t a problem. I was a little apprehensive about this hike because the week earlier I attempted to hike up to Lowe’s with some friends and we didn’t make it all the way. I was way too slow! All of the hills along the way really tired me out and it took us forever to get to the fork in the trail that led to the uphill climb to Lowe’s.
However, this time I was ready because almost everyone hiked at the same pace in snowshoes. Plus I had learned a trick, from someone at Pinkham, to save my calf muscles from too much wear when climbing uphill in snowshoes. Simply walk like a duck up-hill. Easy as that.
This time the hike up to Lowe’s was great! I could pretty much keep up with the group the entire way and we played games and did learning activities before strenuous sections of the trail so that we got to rest our legs a bit. Getting to where the trail forks off into a ski trail and the uphill to Lowe’s was such a great feeling! I did it this time with minimal whining! Last time I kept telling myself to turn around and let everyone else go at their pace.
While the uphill wasn’t the most fun, the landscape kept my interest by changing the higher we climbed. We crossed the auto road and hiked up higher over some large rocks. The white snowy landscape now became one that was mostly green from all of the conifer trees. Snow here was limited to what we were walking on in the trail. Just a small path that wisped back and forth across the man-made wooden steps and onto the forest floor. I looked out to the right hand side and saw some mountains through the trees that had been knocked down by some heavy winds. As soon as this had appeared, it was over and then we were back into a predominately white snowy forest. Where it had opened up into a clearing we decided was a good spot to have lunch.
After lunch we hiked upward even more and even climbed over some large rocks and boulders to get to the top. Hiking in snowshoes over these rocks was not easy at all, but a couple of members of the group lent a hand along the way.
We reached the top and again the landscape changed dramatically. Gone were the tall evergreens and replacing them were much smaller versions that had their branches blown all one-way by the strong winds. There was also some small bush-like vegetation that looked like miniature rhododendron. I’ll have to ask around and find out what those are called.
The sense of accomplishment I felt for reaching the top of Lowe’s was amazing. My mantra for hiking uphill in clunky snowshoes finally made sense to me. I felt like the strongest person in the world but at the same time I felt so small and weak next to these giant mountains that surrounded me. There is no other feeling like being dwarfed by other summits surrounding you.
Distance: 4.2 miles Elevation Gain: 850 ft
Next week I’ll be hiking even more trails (Willard, A-Z to Zealand, Ethan Pond) and I’ll be hiking up to the Zealand Hut.