March 19, 2006

4.7 miles | 1250’ ele. gain | 4 hours

We had planned to get in a quick hike to Arethusa and Ripley Falls, but plans do change unexpectedly.

We had parked in the lower lot at Arethusa and walked up the road to the trail. I was in a bad mood so I let my hiking partner walk in front so I had some space to clear my head. Before long we reached the falls and stopped for some pictures. We continued along the blue blazed trail, which, in some places, was only broken out by some small four-footed creature.

By some strange luck, we ended up at the Bemis Brook trail junction, which put us nowhere near Ripley and we didn’t have time to traverse the cliffs, either. So we opted to take Bemis Brook back to the car since it looked steeper and more interesting. It was both. But, it was also super slick.

We slowly made our way down to flatter terrain and enjoyed the scenic trailway and gently falling snow. There were several points of interest along the way and before long we were back to the upper lot.

We then walked down the train tracks to cross the railroad bridge. That was really cool. There were some ice climbers on the other side so we decided to return to the car. The wind was picking up and it was a little chilly. Next time I’ll be sure to take my compass!