Hiked by Tim & Valerie on August 2, 2008 via Zealand Trail, Ethan Pond Trail and Thoreau Falls Trail
The weather report was once again calling for clouds all day with thunderstorms after lunch. We decided to postpone again our attempts to gain a checkmark. We only have five summits left, and they all demand good weather. We don't want to see the insides of any more clouds. We'll wait for September if we need to.
So, we looked for a good walk that would challenge us length-wise but not put us into a dangerous situation come rain or thunderstorm. We decided to start at Zealand Road and walk in to Thoreau Falls.
The last time we walked Zealand Trail, it was pouring, so this was a good chance to see the trail and the surrounding woods/beaver ponds/etc. It's really a beautiful walk! We saw a Great Blue Heron hunting on the water, and we saw a few fish breech the surface (not near the heron, that would be dangerous!).
NOTE: This is not a blueberry!!
As you can see, to this point in the day we've already seen more sun than expected! The trail was smooth and flat with just a small portion of it that was tougher due to rocks/roots/mud.
When we got to the intersection with the Ethan Pond Trail, we left most of the crowds behind. This trail completely surprised us. After a mile or so through the woods, we came out into a giant boulder field. It appears that multiple earlier avalanches have gone through here.
If you look WAY back, you can see the Zealand Hut.
Most of the time, the trail was railroad-grade flat, but every so often there was a place where the rocks had run over the trail, and you had to climb over.
This trail was LITTERED with blueberry and mountain cranberry plants! And, as the title of this report suggests, the blueberry plants were hanging over with the weight of the ripe berries. We ate a few, but didn't want to make ourselves sick while we were walking. Tim asked if the mountain cranberries were edible. Of course, we didn't try since we didn't know.
We continued on the Ethan Pond Trail past the intersection with the Zeacliff Trail.
Soon, the trail went into a wonderful pine forest with smooth, pine-needled walking. Then we came to the intersection with Thoreau Falls Trail. It was just 2 minutes from there to the falls.
In this picture, Tim is standing directly across from where the trail picks up on the other side. To his right, you can see how close the falls are. With the water rushing the way it was, we would not have been able to cross this without some rope and some engineering skills. Luckily, we didn't have to.
As we were taking pictures on the rocks, it started to sprinkle a bit, and the first clap of thunder was heard. We packed up and headed back. It didn't turn to real rain and soon it had stopped completely again. We saw a garter snake and also this Northern Pearly-Eye butterfly. We made good time back across the Ethan Pond Trail and stopped at the hut for a break.
We had more thunder and rain on the hike out from Zealand Hut. It wasn't a surprise, as it had been getting more menacing all day. Still not hard enough for us to put our Gore-Tex on. It was just too warm for that.
It was about a 10 mile round trip, with very little elevation change, but a great way to spend the day. We met many hikers who were out just doing "circuits" over A-Z and Ethan Pond trails (some including Mts Tom, Field and Willey but others just out to walk). We hope to do a lot of those types of hikes in the future.