Hiked by: Tim and Valerie on June 24, 2006 - As part of a loop over Avalon, Field and Tom
Conditions: Started at about 8:15am, the overnight rain was just ending. The hike to the top of Mt Avalon was strenuous, but not too terrible. We're sure there's a nice view here somewhere, but we could just see a little ways out to low fog/clouds. We ate a snack, the blackflies found us, and off we headed for Mt Field. The connecting trail between Avalon and Field started off relatively flat and we made some good time, then got steeper. We got into a "zone" and before we knew it, we were there.
Not much to look at on the summit. It's a clearing in the woods with a cairn in it. Reminded us of Waumbek. We ate our lunch and talked to a very nice young man who was doing all three (Tom, Field and Willey) and then he headed off, and we were on our way to Mt. Tom. The trip from Field to Tom was very comfortable. No problems. Spoke to several people at the Mt Tom Spur/AZ Trail junction, and on the summit of Tom. One woman was doing a solo hut-to-hut across the entire range. What an adventure that must be! The Mt. Tom summit was more open, with a nice bench, but again, clouds shroud all the views. We fed some Gray Jays at the intersection of AZ and Mt Tom Spur. I don't think we were the first to do so. They seemed rather comfortable.
A long knee-pounding trip on the AZ to Avalon trail (earlier rain had left the rocks along the AZ trail very slippery) and back out to Crawford Depot by 2:45pm. This was Val's first multi-4000-footer day! To celebrate, we stopped for ice cream at the Willey snack/gift shop before returning to camp at Dry River.