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Leary Trail to High Falls? (Five Ponds Wilderness)

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  • Leary Trail to High Falls? (Five Ponds Wilderness)

    My understanding is that the Leary Trail (the original shortest route to High Falls) was pretty much abandoned in the aftermath of the microburst. While en route to Sand Lake this past weekend, however, we noticed that it had blue markers and appeared to be getting maintenance at it's northern end. The markers looked old, but the trees they were on were way too young and almost certainly do not predate the microburst, so I think they were put up recently. We could not find any evidence of the Leary Trail at it's southern terminus, however.

    Does anyone here know of the Leary Trail is getting maintained again, officially or unofficially? Has anyone followed it? How far does it go before you can't follow it any more?

    Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer these questions!

  • #2
    I believe any maintenance is unofficial. You are correct that the southern terminus does not exist. The trail simply stops about about a quarter mile short of the intersection with the high falls trail. That last quarter mile is a bear... tons of new growth on top of all the remnants of the felled trees from the microburst and a beaver swamp make travelling through it tedious. Fun though. We just took a compass bearing and climbed over and through all of it.
    "There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to guide us, And the Wild is calling, calling . . . let us go." -from "The Call of the Wild" by Robert Service

    My trail journal: DuctTape's Journal

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    • #3
      Oh, as far as it being the "shortest route to high falls", I bet Mr. Dobson would disagree and probably claim his trail was the shorter of the two. I haven't taken the Dobson trail very far myself, but the microburst damage is very obvious on it, and has been unofficially cleared for the short portion of the trail I have hiked. I would like to take it all the way to boiling spring and the old plains trail someday.
      "There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to guide us, And the Wild is calling, calling . . . let us go." -from "The Call of the Wild" by Robert Service

      My trail journal: DuctTape's Journal

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by DSettahr View Post
        Does anyone here know of the Leary Trail is getting maintained again, officially or unofficially? Has anyone followed it? How far does it go before you can't follow it any more?
        MarkL has followed the Leary Trail:

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        • #5
          Thanks for the information! I guess I have a new path to try to follow at some point...

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          • #6
            leary trailanne

            it is now marked all the way. Those blue markers are just painted ends of old canned goods. At the river end it exits the woods about opposite the trail that crosses the river. It is very well hidden but easy to spot if you look. plan on taking it in a couple of weeks again. You can find the end on the truck trail when coming in by looking for a tree with two trail markers on it (if I remember correctly). It is a very pretty trail. Gets a little vague in the middle but no obstacles.

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            • #7
              What's the distance to High Falls via the Leary Trail if you start on S Shore Rd. trailhead?

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              • #8
                1.9 miles on the truck trail and 2.8 on the Leary Trail itself. Makes a total of 4.7.

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