The Covid-19 pandemic has upended a lot of cherished traditions in 2020, but I’m happy to report that this year I was able to keep my longstanding tradition of not participating in Black Friday shopping. Taking a page from REI, I spent the day after Thanksgiving on a hike up and back down Sabbaday Brook trail.
Sabbaday Brook is most noted for Sabbaday falls, a geologic wonder a few hundred yards from the trailhead. Some 10,000 years of glacial meltwater carved away a softer basalt inclusion dike creating a deep granite-walled gorge that channels today’s Sabbaday Brook over a series of cascades and into smoothed granite basins.
Like so many trails in the White Mountains, Sabbaday Brook follows an old logging road for some of its length. Though much altered by years of erosion and forest regrowth, it’s clear that this path was cleared for commercial vehicles, not recreational pedestrians. The blast marks where road crews flattened protruding rocks are unmistakable. I feel certain that AMC trail crews don’t rely much on explosives.
The trail crosses Sabbaday Brook and smaller tributaries many times before finally climbing out of the drainage to gain the ridge top. I particularly enjoyed the long sections where the trail ran close to the brook, which flowed between green velvet boulders.
I didn’t meet up with any charismatic megafauna today, but I did come across some vociferous minifauna: a red squirrel carrying out a territorial dispute with a neighbor. The squirrel in the photo was completely focused on its rival— it came much closer to me than I would expect (or want), and never so much as glanced my way. I can’t fault its risk analysis — I’m a much less credible threat than another squirrel— I have no interest in finding and pillaging its winter nut stash.
This hike counts for me as the official start of winter conditions. As I approached the ridge I found an intermittent layer of ice, so I put on micro spikes for the first time of the year. Having the right gear (and using it) makes all the difference!
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