mt mexico

Today's hike: 5.6 mi | 3 h | 1.9 mph

Maggie's boy and I took the Big Rock Cave trail over Mt Mexico, to the Whitin Brook trail, and then returned on the Cabin trail, to make a big, triangular loop. The elevation gain is about 1500 ft.

Last year, we walked up to Mt Mexico with the intent of checking out Big Rock Cave. We got swarmed with mosquitoes along the trail. It was so bad that we turned around. In contrast, there were almost no bugs out today, although the trail was quite wet in many spots.

The hike up to Mt Mexico is a perfectly ordinary one with no interesting views. We did hear a very large racket from a bunch of peepers off in the distance, but didn't see them.

This hike is rewarding once you get beyond the "peak" of Mt Mexico, and reach the Big Rock Cave. This is a fun jumble of huge rocks that form a little cave. Looks like you could do some rock climbing here.

Big Rock Cave

Side of Big Rock Cave

A big rock

At Big Rock Cave, the trail turns sharply left and downhill. At this point, we could hear the roar of rushing water. We soon came to a wide, rushing stream crossing. Maggie's boy bounded across over some large rocks. I walked far uphill and took the less dignified way, skootching my way across on a huge downed tree.

Whitin Brook is difficult to cross right now

Good signage after crossing Whitin Brook

The joke was on me; we soon came to another stream crossing. In all, there were four crossings of the Whitin Brook, back and forth over it. The trail makers really wanted you to get a good look at this feature. On the third crossing, I gave up, removed my boots, and walked across barefoot. The water is cold, but refreshing.

Even after the last crossing of the brook, we encountered a lot of water along the trail. We passed a large vernal pool, but didn't see any frogs there.

Mt Paugus in the distance

The Whitin Brook trail becomes pretty steep as you approach the Cabin trail. This steep part of the trail takes you through an area where many trees have been downed, as if a giant overturned a box of toothpicks (the remnants of Hurricane Sandy, apparently). You get a few obscured views of Mt Paugus as you head up the hill. Interesting slab, but looks like lots of sandy, rotten rock too. That could be a fun hike, too.

Finally, we reached the Cabin trail. From there on, it was mostly a downhill hike over dry leaves.

It was a beautiful day for a hike! We had cool temperatures, and blue skies interspersed with soft milky clouds.