After crutching up the Westberg Trail earlier this week, I needed a nice easy hike, since my good leg had to do so much vertical gain going up the Westberg.  The short easy Oxbow Loop Trail was a perfect choice today.  And while there were no annoying bugs, I did see some lovely lady bugs and they posed for me!  Very few hikers on this trail today so no need to keep a face mask at hand.  It's been so long since I last did this trail that I forgot the names of the peaks.  If you can put a name to my photos of those peaks, please comment!  A link to my many photos from today is in the full report section below.

We stopped by around 5:15 pm on Sunday and only a few cars were at the small parking lot. We head over to the main trailhead and restrooms were open but with signs saying they are not maintained daily. Only a few cars at this lot as well. We headed back and took a walk around the loop, with a short side trail to the river as well. Overall it was very easy to social distance from the few hikers we saw, and more wore masks as the evening went on. Everyone stood aside or let us stand aside to pass. A gorgeous and easy hike to stretch your legs. Just watch out for nettles lining the trail.

We’ve been visiting some more distant, out of the way trails to avoid the crowds, but we thought today was our opportunity to try something a little closer to home. We headed to Mount Washington on a cloudy, drizzly weekday, expecting to see only a few other cars. But it seems everyone decided to get a jump on the holiday weekend, so cars were already spilling onto the road, and we quickly decided to adopt Plan B and headed for the Middle Fork Road.

We wound up at Oxbow Lake. There were two other cars when we arrived, five when we left, and we only ran into two other groups on the wide, mellow trail. Our biggest concern was social distancing from all the slugs – watch your step!

Since we finished the stroll with time to spare before we needed to head home, we went to Garfield Ledges, which we’ve been meaning to visit since the new trail opened. Ran into three other groups and had no trouble giving everyone plenty of space. Our biggest concern was social distancing from the friendly mosquito pictured below. We enjoyed a lovely view from the ledge, despite the drizzle. 

Might not have been the adventure we set out for, but we're happy with how the day turned out. In total, we watched more people arrive at Mount Washington and *start* their hikes (while we sat in our car picking a Plan B) than we saw people total on the four miles of trail we actually hiked.

A few closing notes about some trails we did not visit:

We passed the Mailbox and the Mailbox Connector trails on our way to Oxbow – both were totally full and spilling over. If you're planning to visit over Memorial Day weekend, I would strongly consider heading elsewhere.

When we reached the Garfield Ledge trailhead, the dirt road beyond (to Dingford Creek) was closed for maintenance, but it had been reopened by the time we came back. I don’t know how long it was closed, but it isn’t anymore.

We wanted an easy hike to get back out in the trees. This trail is great for a short very scenic walk. It is 1.8 or 1.6 miles around the loop depending on which parking lot you start from and is gently sloped and the trail is gravel in outstanding condition. The river is running high and there is still snow on the tops of the mountains, very pretty. We went late in the day (3pm) and only saw 6 other people. Easy day trip and nice scenery. No bugs and the wild flowers are still blooming.

A beautiful easy grade trail that most people could enjoy. The “lake” itself is just a wide part of the river but the trail is nice none the less. A few cool spots to see scenery in an overlook fashion but don’t expect many wow type views here. Would be great for trail running as you could loop it a few times! The connector trail from the further parking lot adds a bit to this short hike. Beautiful flowers, minimal elevation change, it’s a nice stroll. Pair it with nearby Garfield ledges. Enjoy the well built new bridge and check out the river turnoff. Lots of interesting logs made into seating.