Mt. Roberts

Happily for Lilo, there was a warming trend over the weekend and by the time I returned home from breakfast with a friend on Sunday morning, conditions were pit bull-approved! We loaded up and headed for Mt. Roberts on the Castle in the Clouds property.

Lilo has been struggling a bit with hiking over the last few weeks. I’ve found it demoralizing. She did well through the shoulder season and seemed to love winter hiking last year. In retrospect, last year was mild in temperature as well as snowfall and as a grad student, I was able to cherrypick the fine-weather days to take her out. I really wanted to have a good outing with her and was a little apprehensive starting out, especially when the trailhead itself — surrounded by open fields — proved quite windy. Not her favorite!

She settled in nicely once we reached the trails proper. Note to folks thinking of hiking this trail with dogs: it does start and finish near a horse pasture. If you don’t know for a fact that your pup is good around horses, please assume they’re not and keep them leashed. Lilo has spent a lot of time at barns in her life and I know she’s trustworthy, but I’ve also done my fair share of waiting for people to remove their dog from under my horse’s belly — so it’s a word that I try to spread when I have the chance!

The trail up Mt. Roberts is clearly well-traveled. On this day it was largely hard-packed and in a few steep, sunny spots, actually down to leaves and rock instead of snow. We also saw some easily-avoidable water ice. This route, from Ossippee Park Road, climbs steadily but not relentlessly. It got my underfit heart pumping, but never felt stressful, and the grade moderates frequently.

Sunday was gorgeous, with a vibrant blue sky and little wind at elevation. I’m sure that contributed to the incandescent happiness of nearly everyone we met on trail, including a very polite and handsome Malamute (I think) accompanying a pair of trail runners. I was fortunate enough to share the summit with a group of three who arrived just as Lilo decided that I, in the middle of changing my socks, looked like a good place to sit…

I normally prefer loops to out and back trails like this one, but the views made for a thoroughly enjoyable descent. Even Lilo, who normally does not approve of prolonged stopping because we have places to go and why are we wasting her time when we could be going there, was happy to find a sunwarmed snowless patch and drink in the scenery.