Hale

After four months apart due to the pandemic, we finally felt ready to get together to do a hike again with Doug. We decided to do two short hikes to cross a few peaks off of Doug's 4000'er list: Hale and Cannon. The forecast promised hot and humid and the weather did not disappoint. We met up at the Hale Brook Trailhead, gave some air hugs, and half-tied our masks on to be prepared to pass others who had already filled the parking lot along the way.

Hale Brook Trail is a pretty steady and easy and straightforward trail upward through the forest. The lack of interruption in our ascent (and lack of any breeze) amplified the mugginess and we trudged forward with sweat pouring out of every part of us. We stopped to splash cool water from Hale Brook at the couple of spots the trail crosses it. Rye fully immersed herself while I opted to just cool off my wrists and wash the sweat off of my face.

The summit of Hale offers no views, though there are some through the trees from the trail just before the top. We paused in the blazing sun just long enough to feel ceremonious for Doug's first ascent before heading back down into the shade of the trees.