Hiking 2017 Reloaded

[Crankin]

Today we went to Breakhart Reservation in Saugus, MA. Not exactly a lovely place (think honky tonk and strip malls along Rt 1), but it's accessible to people who live north of Boston and the city. Again, we downloaded a hike from All Trails; the beginning was a steep short climb and then we were on one of the park roads for a while, which is closed for the winter. Then the fun began on the Ridge Trail. I wore my microspikes and had my poles, but the spikes were alternatively needed or hindering me, as there was a thin cover of snow, some ice, slush, and plain wet leaves. This trail was very technical and some of the markers were on the rocks, so this is probably why it's not recommended in the winter, although the snow was cleared in most of the spots and we had the app going. However, I slipped and fell lightly on a descent. Not a big or long fall, I just went down. I really don't know what happened! I am not hurt in any way, except a little bruise and soreness on the palm side of my right thumb. Everything else is just really stiff from the hike itself. But, after this I was spooked, so there was some screaming and swearing at DH... this took much longer than we thought and I was ready to be done before we were done. We also had a stream/wetland crossing. We finally saw the boards for the crossing, but it was a bit tricky getting to the first board, on thin ice. Although it was close to 50, we did not want to be wet.
All an all, an experience, but I think I won't go back until the fall, when it is dry.