Hedgehog is a mountain that has great views and the only list it is on is the 52 with a view list. In fact, it's the last peak on the list as it is only 2,532' in elevation. We decided to do the full UNH loop on this hike to try to get smoe extra mileage in. The loop is 4.8 Miles total and 1,450' of elevation gain. We figured it would be a fairly easy day.
Our suspicions were correct at first. The first 2 tenths of a mile or so are flat. No elevation gain what so ever. This would be welcomed more later in the day than at the beginning. In a few minutes we had reached the Loop junction and we decided to do the loop clockwise and hit the east ledges first. Shelby did this hike when she was in middle school. Over 10 years ago. She remembered the trail being fairly easy, and she said there would be great views at the top.
This year has been dubbed by some as the year of the mushrooms, and this trail is no exception. There has been a lot of rain this year so far and the mushrooms seem to have sprouted up all over the place.
On a personal note, Shelby and I have been working really hard lately. We haven't been able to get a hike in since we hiked Washington over 3 weeks ago. Shelby has started a new job and the first month or two for her is going to be very stressful. I have also been fairly stressed out at work with the summer being very busy due to all of the thunderstorms. Thunderstorms cause power outages and outages cause complaints which I have to deal with. Needless to say, we are both lacking good sleep and needing this hike to "get away from it all." We thought that this hike would be easy, and it was a very easy trail, easy footing for the most part, but us being tired, did not help and we had a hard time getting to the top of this one.
As tough as it seemed, we soon made it to the first little ledge. We actually sat down and took a nap in the shade for 20 minutes before continuing on. When we did, we got this great view of Mt. Chocoroua.
We took only a minute at the east ledges to take a look, but from here you can see Mt. Mexico, Square Ledge, Wonalancet, and the ever ominous Passaconaway. Hedgehog sits very close to the northeast flank of Passaconaway and it is a very daunting view of the legendary mountain. I never realized exactly how steep it was on its north side as I have never seen this view before.
I climbed Mount Passaconaway last year and had a very hard time with it. I hiked Whiteface and Passaconaway as many people do in a loop, but it was only my second major hike so I was underestimating what this mountain would take out of me.
The east ledges are very steep, and again, I cannot understate the views here, they are absolutley spectacular. I can see already why this mountain is on the 52 with a fiew list. Here is a picture of me on the East Ledges with Passaconaway in the background. Shelby hates it when I get this close to the edge of cliffs and ledges. Anything for a good picture I say.
Here's a picture of Shelby following the trail to the Summit. The south and east of this mountain is filled with these ledges.
As we were hiking down, we noticed that Washington was there in front of us and who knew... it was out of the clouds. I had to take a picture. I believe that the ledges you see are Owls Cliff and Tremont to the left as well as Bartlett Haystack to the right. The Montalban range is also visible just before Washington.
We headed down the trail from here and the trail was filled with roots just like this. For the first half mile or so, the trail was really "rooty", but it got better and we were at the car before we knew it.
We had a little time and I wanted to get some new hiking poles. I have been using cheap Wal-mart ones and well... You get what you pay for. I had broken my second pair in less than a year. The locking mechanism inside is made out of cheap plastic and the screw strips the fitting which causes them to break.
We went to the newly located and expanded EMS in North Conway and looked around. It is a lot like the Portsmouth store except there is more gear and less clothes it seems. I bought a pair of Komperdel poles and a new bandana. You can never have enough bandana's. After that, we went home and showered up and said goodbye to Garrett for another year. Good Luck Garrett.
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