Today I went up to the Paradox Lake area and hiked in towards Pharaoh Mountain.  Overall, I didn't know what exactly to expect since it is shoulder season and mud season.  I wasn't planning on going high, just in and around the ponds at the base of the mountain, but you never know.

The hike in to Crane pond was quite nice.  A couple small blow downs, and a few deep puddles that I needed to step to the side to get through.  In no time, I found myself at the road to Crane pond and was surprised to see someone had driven in.  Overall, pretty good shape.

Then I turned off and headed towards Pharaoh.  The .7 in to the trail junction had a long stretch of wet and puddled trail.  Thankfully it was a wide trail, like an old road, so all but the worst of the puddling was able to be missed, or the trail under the water was pretty solid so it wasn't really that bad.

At the trail junction to choose between going towards Glidden Marsh, Crab Pond and Oxshoe Pond or going up the mountain, I decided to stay low today and go to the ponds.  Again, the trails were not that bad.  Just a bit of wet trail as I approached the turn tothe Haymarsh Trail from the Long Swing Trail.  The Haymarsh trail is obviously not well traveled.  It was tight, and the markers heading down to the water crossing just were missing.  Not a huge deal, but it was a surprise considering how well marked all the other trails in the area were.  Once I crossed the outlet for the marsh though, the markers were plentiful and the trail while not well traveled was easy to follow. 

Similar conditions for the hike over from Crab Pond to Oxshoe Pond and lean-to.  Well marked, and a couple stretches of wet trail.  After that, it really was just hiking out and it was a quick one.  Overall, pretty nice day in the woods.  A couple of spots of light ice and snow off to the side, and some stretches of standing water that were easy to navigate.

Today, the GPS said 10.67 miles over 4.5 hours with nearly 2000 feet of elevation.  Year to date 146 miles over 102 hours and 7.2 miles of elevation.