Elevation: 1,289 ft. (Overall) 2,889 ft. (Total)
Time: 1:05 (Little East Pond) 1:50 (East Pond) 2:51 (Height of Land) 3:24 (Kanc) 5:08 (HOL) 5:27 (East Pond) 5:56 (Total)
Trails: East Pond Trail, Little East Pond Trail, East Pond Loop, East Pond Trail
It has been months since I have been out hiking, so I was overdue to get out into the woods. With good weather for Memorial Day weekend I knew many other people would be out as well. So I decided to focus on some redlining instead of trying to bad any peaks. I have wanted to do a loop of the trails around East Pond for a while, so I figured this was the time.
I parked on the Tripoli Road side of the trails, mainly because it is a shorter drive from my house. When I got to the parking lot I was happy with my decision since there weren't any other vehicles there. I started up the trail and did the loop out to Little East Pond first. From what I have seen of other peoples trip reports this was the less attractive of the two ponds so I wanted to start there.
Little East Pond Trail
The trail is pretty easy going up to the junction. The start of the Little East Pond Trail is pretty flat with one small brook crossing. Eventually it gains some elevation, but is never steep. Just before the pond the trail starts to follow the brook that is the exit of the pond. Just after this the trail appears to level out and on your left is the short path over to the pond. I'm not sure what I was expecting of this pond, but I ended up feeling a bit disappointed with it. It's still a cool place, but I guess it being so shallow and brown appearing on the bottom took away from it some. Still worth the hike though I feel.
Little East Pond
After leaving the pond I almost stepped on a toad in the trail and finally came across some of the flowers in bloom. The trail is relatively flat after leaving the pond with some small ups and downs. It pretty much stays on a sidehill slope and has a bit more of an undeveloped feel with the thicker sections of trees providing more shade and dead branches on the ground.
Almost stepped on this little guy
Painted Trillium
The Little East Pond Trail comes out right at the path leading over to East Pond. I quickly checked it out, but planned to spend more time there on the way back down. The trail follows near the shore of the pond for a while and gives you some good views of how beautiful the water is. After a little bit though, the trail finally has some climbing as you need to work your way up to the height of land. Right at the high point of the trail is a cool little spot with lots of small green plants (ferns and stuff) and today there was also a woodpecker adding to the forest sound track.
Lots of green at the height of land
Knowing I needed to come back up to the height of land I set a bit of a faster pace heading down to the Kanc. This was a bit harder to do though because the trail is certainly rougher on this side with more rocks and roots to navigate through. There was also some mud, but nothing bad and no real water crossings until Pine Brook about a half mile before the Kanc. The guide book says this crossing can be tricky in high waters, but today it wasn't too bad. It did still require picking a good spot to keep my feet dry though.
Crossing of Pine Brook near the Kanc
From the brook crossing to the Kanc and back is pretty close to being flat so I quickly hiked to the parking lot at the end of the trail, took a short 2 minute break, then hiked back to the river crossing. It was more enjoyable to take a break here than on the side of a busy road. I filtered some cold water (my plan all along) and got ready for the steady climb back up to the height of land.
Lady Slippers getting ready to bloom
The hike back up to the height of land was a bit tiring (aren't all hikes after a big descent), but it went quicker than I expected. The trail didn't seem quite as rough going up as it did going down. Once back to the height of land I changed into a dry shirt and socks now that all the hard work was done. The woodpecker was still making noise here which was a plesant surprise.
Coming back up to the height of land
The hike from here to East Pond was pretty quick and seeing the pond through the trees again was nice. Once to the path over to the shore I headed over and set my pack down for a nice long break. The pond is beautiful and has such clear water with a great teal tint to it. You could see all sorts of features under the water you wouldn't normally expect to. It would be awesome to bring a swim tube up here on a sunny day and just float around I think. It was also cool to see all of the little fish near the pond's outlet. Lots of little fish that were maybe an inch and a half long.
East Pond
Lots of little fish near the outlet of East Pond
The water at East Pond is very clear and beautiful
With no summit today, Miles poses at the pond
Eventually I had to leave the pond and finish the hike back to my truck. I still had a mile of trail to hit for my redlining if nothing else. Below the pond I ran into my first other hikers of the day. One pair presumably headed up to East Pond. For a great day on a holiday weekend, I will take it running into only 2 others all day long. Once back to the truck it was 8.3 miles of new trails completed for the day and a very enjoyable and needed hike through the woods.
Google Earth representation of the hike
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
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