Frost to Butler — first loop with the dog

A nice perk from Red Hat is “recharge days,” where a friday each quarter, the whole company takes off. I hit the trail and think this ritual may catch on.

Frost trail was a new one for me. I’m very familiar with the stevensville trailhead, but have only frequented the butler lodge trail and nebraska notch. This is the third main option up.

Late May, with a later start and the dog along, I headed toward it.

Frost hardest, steepest part is at the start. It looks zigzaggy on the map. On the ground it alternates between steep climbs and brief flat stretches where you’re walking across the elevation lines. About a mile up we hit the only real wetness of the day. I wouldn’t do this one wet.

The views are why you come this way. Butler lodge trail keeps you mostly inside the forest until the top. The tradeoff is work. It’s a lot of elevation in not that many miles. I sat multiple times at vistas, letting it soak in.

Everything technical was new to us. We bounded up the shear exposed rock fine by staying low. The pup hesitated a bunch of times and needed cajoling through some of the more ominous scrambles. Only once I hefted her up, the others appeared more emotional barriers. , spots where you shimmy or crawl between rocks.

It was a friday and quiet on the trail. Brooklyn ranged off-leash in the usual bubble, called in when we heard voices.