Went hiking today to join a friend on his quest for his 3500.  This hike was South West Hunter, my third time up the mountain.  We started at the end of Spruceton bright and early with a light drizzle and chilly temperatures.  I was the only one that didn't put on a long sleeve shirt or rain gear, and I was right to not do that as I warmed up by the time we hit Diamond Notch falls.  We hiked in at a relaxed pace and found ourselves at the falls in no time.

This hike I did in reverse of what I did last time.  I parked at the big lot on Spruceston and started up the bridal path.  When I reached the hairpin turn, turned left and went up the ridge to the top of Rusk.  This has a stupidly steep section, but with microspikes and a bit of fresh snow, it wasn't that bad to get up and find the canister.  At this point, the tracks ended, so on went the snowshoes and over to Hunter I went.  I mostly went along what the likely herd path is, but there were a few places, mostly coming off East Rusk that I went a little awry.

Saturday I went up to the end of Spruceton and did the last 3 peaks I needed in that area... South West Hunter, Hunter, and Rusk.  Planning had this at 10.8 miles, but GPS clocked in at 11.9 which may be true because of a couple of the side trails I did, plus the route I planned had a couple short cuts that were not there in reality.