A many time returning guest working on his Grid (hiking all the 4000-footers, every month of the year) requested Redline Guide Chase Hall to hike with him to bag Zealand and Hale for November. The team was strategic not waiting until later in the month and the strategy paid off. We’ll let Chase give the details.
November 9th, Hale and Zealand: My guest is working on his Grid and to complete that list you need to be pretty strategic with the forest roads in winter conditions. Some access roads in the Whites close in winter and Zealand Road is one of those roads that you need to watch. If it’s closed that road walk adds 7 miles ’round trip miles to your day. Fortunately on this day the gate was open and it made for a fun long day. The conditions were typical shoulder season; there was snow on the ground but not enough to cover the rocks. Running water on the trail from the melting snow. The temperature was not quite cold enough for the snow to freeze and not stick to your spikes. Hale and Zealand are checked off for November. The Whole hike my guest and I traded stories of our winter hikes when the gate was closed and how much fun it is when the gate is open and you can drive your car to the trailhead and not walk that 3.5 miles to and from Rte 302. —Chase
