Mt. Willard - Solo HIke

Mt. Willard summit

Willey's Slide (ice climbing) on the right

Mt. Willard (2,865ft)

Elevation Gain: 900ft

Trails: Mt. Willard

Difficulty: Very Easy

Did a short hike today and the cool temps were invigorating and just wonderful! 4 years ago I hiked Mt. Willard and it was a different scene. Check out my blogpost here from that hike. 

Although there was much less snow today, I still needed my microspikes! Some parts of the Mt. Willard trail were very slushy, muddy and icy! There were a lot of hikers who weren't prepared with some form of traction, and I saw many slipping and falling. 

Centennial Pool

This section of the trail was especially icy!

Summit view of Crawford Notch

On my way back down to the trailhead I 

took a detour and hiked down the climber's

path to the top of "The Cleft" ice climb. 

Not much ice for climbing!
This is a pretty cool ice climb once all 
the ice is in. See my blogpost here for 
my January and March climbs on The Cleft.

I was tempted to descend through the Cleft

but there were too many leaves and loose

rocks for my liking and comfort. I tried another
path off to the side to descend but it led 

to nowhere. Probably a "pee-pee path". 

So I backtracked and finished my hike. 

Near the trailhead and just off the trail at the first water crossing, someone

realized it wasn't a good idea to continue the hike with a baby stroller!