Another year in the books
2009 Stats
4000 foot peaks - 11
Hikes - 21
Miles Total - 134.0
Elevation Gain Total - 43,570'
Average Miles Per Hike - 6.38
Average Elevation Gain Per Hike - 2,074'
Highest Mileage Year to date.
This year I finished the Belknap Sportsman's Association List and made a significant dent in a few other lists. Here's to a solid 2010.
NICK NAVIGATES - Life and New England's Finest Peaks.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Flume 9/20/09
I had a day to do whatever I wanted so I decided to Hike Mt. Flume. It would get me some good mileage and another 4,000' peak. 
I hiked over the suspension bridge at the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center over the Pemigewasset River and made quick work of the first mile and a half of he Lincoln Woods trail and took the Osseo trail up to the Summit of Mount Flume.
The Osseo Trail was fairly easy but there were many sections of ladders along the way. I didn't bring my good camera today so I was taking pictures with my little Point and Click but they came out pretty good considering. It was early fall and the leaves would be starting to turn soon.
I was able to get this picture of the Bonds on the way.
I soon reached the summit of Mount Flume. This is my 26th 4,000' peak. Only 22 more to go to hit the magic number of 48. The peaks are going to be harder to get to though going forward though with life being busy.
I ate a long lunch on the summit and debated on hiking Liberty Picture below but decided against it. Another hiker offered to give me a ride back to my car if I followed him and his friend over to Liberty and down the Liberty springs trail. The mileage would have been the same but I would have had more elevation gain and I didn't think my legs could take it. Combined with the fact that this guy probably thought I was cute and I was going to put him out of his way I decided to Solo back the way I came to the car.
About 5.5 hours after I started, I was back at the car. I made really good time and I felt in pretty good hiking shape. We'll see if I can get back out there again soon.
I hiked over the suspension bridge at the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center over the Pemigewasset River and made quick work of the first mile and a half of he Lincoln Woods trail and took the Osseo trail up to the Summit of Mount Flume.
The Osseo Trail was fairly easy but there were many sections of ladders along the way. I didn't bring my good camera today so I was taking pictures with my little Point and Click but they came out pretty good considering. It was early fall and the leaves would be starting to turn soon.
I was able to get this picture of the Bonds on the way.
I soon reached the summit of Mount Flume. This is my 26th 4,000' peak. Only 22 more to go to hit the magic number of 48. The peaks are going to be harder to get to though going forward though with life being busy.I ate a long lunch on the summit and debated on hiking Liberty Picture below but decided against it. Another hiker offered to give me a ride back to my car if I followed him and his friend over to Liberty and down the Liberty springs trail. The mileage would have been the same but I would have had more elevation gain and I didn't think my legs could take it. Combined with the fact that this guy probably thought I was cute and I was going to put him out of his way I decided to Solo back the way I came to the car.
About 5.5 hours after I started, I was back at the car. I made really good time and I felt in pretty good hiking shape. We'll see if I can get back out there again soon.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Franconia Loop 9/7/09
Today we're going to do our favorite hike. We're going to do the Franconia Loop hitting the Summits of Lafayette, Lincoln, Little Haystack and North Lincoln.
We arrived at the parking lot early and in a little under 2 hours we had our picture taken in the spot where we always have our picture taken. We absolutely love this spot and it's a great place to see the entire range from.
We took off again shortly and soon enough we were at the Greenleaf Hut enjoying a Cookie. We soon took off after about a 20 minute break for the Summit and we couldn't believe how much easier it was from 2 years ago when we did this hike. Last time it seemed like there was one false summit after another and it felt like the summit was never going to show itself. This time we just kind of arrived like "we're there already?" We couldn't believe it.
The summit was alive with people and it was a beautiful day. We hung out for a bit eating lunch and taking in the vast views of the Pemigewassett Wilderness area. We then took off towards Mt. Lincoln. We made our way over and the hike still felt easier than last time. We are both in much better shape than we were 2 years ago and have much more hiking experience.
We summited Lincoln and only stopped for a second and kept going. This ridgewalk is full ov views and we really just kept stopping the entire time anyway. Every few tenths of a mile we would stop and look around.
This area is one of the most spectacular ridgewalks around that I can tell. I like it better than Washington because even though there can be a lot of people, you know they hiked there and appreciate what they are looking at and the work it took to get there.
We then took our time down the South side of Lincoln towards Little Haystack which was the final peak of the day. We always pass by this one rock outcropping which we have to take a picture of because we never know if it's going to fall before we come back.
Pretty much right after I took this picture, I took a header after losing my footing for a second and I hit my shin on the way down pretty good which made a welt as big around as an egg appear. I continued on though up to the summit of Little Haystack.
On the Summit of Little Haystack I wrapped up my leg to try to keep the swelling down and I was able to smile about it. I didn't actually hit my head so I was good to hike.
A few hours later we hit the car and hit the highway back to Maine. Another successful trip in the Whites completed.
We arrived at the parking lot early and in a little under 2 hours we had our picture taken in the spot where we always have our picture taken. We absolutely love this spot and it's a great place to see the entire range from.
We took off again shortly and soon enough we were at the Greenleaf Hut enjoying a Cookie. We soon took off after about a 20 minute break for the Summit and we couldn't believe how much easier it was from 2 years ago when we did this hike. Last time it seemed like there was one false summit after another and it felt like the summit was never going to show itself. This time we just kind of arrived like "we're there already?" We couldn't believe it.
The summit was alive with people and it was a beautiful day. We hung out for a bit eating lunch and taking in the vast views of the Pemigewassett Wilderness area. We then took off towards Mt. Lincoln. We made our way over and the hike still felt easier than last time. We are both in much better shape than we were 2 years ago and have much more hiking experience.
We summited Lincoln and only stopped for a second and kept going. This ridgewalk is full ov views and we really just kept stopping the entire time anyway. Every few tenths of a mile we would stop and look around.
This area is one of the most spectacular ridgewalks around that I can tell. I like it better than Washington because even though there can be a lot of people, you know they hiked there and appreciate what they are looking at and the work it took to get there.
We then took our time down the South side of Lincoln towards Little Haystack which was the final peak of the day. We always pass by this one rock outcropping which we have to take a picture of because we never know if it's going to fall before we come back.
Pretty much right after I took this picture, I took a header after losing my footing for a second and I hit my shin on the way down pretty good which made a welt as big around as an egg appear. I continued on though up to the summit of Little Haystack.
On the Summit of Little Haystack I wrapped up my leg to try to keep the swelling down and I was able to smile about it. I didn't actually hit my head so I was good to hike.
A few hours later we hit the car and hit the highway back to Maine. Another successful trip in the Whites completed.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Piper & Whiteface 9/5/09
Today I was on a mission to finish my Belknap County Sportsman's Association list of peaks. I only had Piper and Whiteface left.
I took the trail from the end of Belknap Mountain Road which was quite deceiving to find. The map I had didn't have the entire road on it so finding the right parking area was difficult. I hiked up the trail to a junction where turning left would bring me to Piper and right to Whiteface. I decided to summit Piper First.
It was a nice little summit with good views. I would say it was definitely the better of the two summits today.
Once on top I fiddled around with my new camera for a while. Still learning with it but it is definitely fun.
I decided to head down and soon enough I realized that I could see my next destination, Mt. Whiteface. Little did I know that the view from here was deceiving. You'll see what i'm talking about in a minute.
I continued on down the mountain back to the junction and continued on to Mount Whiteface. The trail soon turned into a dirt road with obvious signs of recent use. There were broken taillights and flat tires and pieces of vehicle everywhere, lots of beer cans and it soon became apparent that this is a local party spot for the youth.
Due to the recent rains however there were many patches of much which the frogs/toads (I'm not sure how to tell the difference) seemed to like.
I kept moving after taking numerous pictures which all came out terrible except for this one of the frogs. I continued the littered road up to the summit and found that the summit wasn't much better. There was a fire pit with all kinds of garbage in it, a stove in the woods all rusted out with pots and pans hanging from a tree and just a general amount of trash everhwhere. There were two older gentleman on the summit as well who seemed equally unimpressed. I don't know how people could do this. There was even a rusted out exhaust system on top.
I definatly will not be hiking this mountain again. I will probably tackle Piper but not Whiteface. On a brighter note though, I sent in for my Patch and should receive it soon.
I took the trail from the end of Belknap Mountain Road which was quite deceiving to find. The map I had didn't have the entire road on it so finding the right parking area was difficult. I hiked up the trail to a junction where turning left would bring me to Piper and right to Whiteface. I decided to summit Piper First.
It was a nice little summit with good views. I would say it was definitely the better of the two summits today.
Once on top I fiddled around with my new camera for a while. Still learning with it but it is definitely fun.
I decided to head down and soon enough I realized that I could see my next destination, Mt. Whiteface. Little did I know that the view from here was deceiving. You'll see what i'm talking about in a minute.I continued on down the mountain back to the junction and continued on to Mount Whiteface. The trail soon turned into a dirt road with obvious signs of recent use. There were broken taillights and flat tires and pieces of vehicle everywhere, lots of beer cans and it soon became apparent that this is a local party spot for the youth.
Due to the recent rains however there were many patches of much which the frogs/toads (I'm not sure how to tell the difference) seemed to like.I kept moving after taking numerous pictures which all came out terrible except for this one of the frogs. I continued the littered road up to the summit and found that the summit wasn't much better. There was a fire pit with all kinds of garbage in it, a stove in the woods all rusted out with pots and pans hanging from a tree and just a general amount of trash everhwhere. There were two older gentleman on the summit as well who seemed equally unimpressed. I don't know how people could do this. There was even a rusted out exhaust system on top.
I definatly will not be hiking this mountain again. I will probably tackle Piper but not Whiteface. On a brighter note though, I sent in for my Patch and should receive it soon.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Carter Dome & Hight 8/20/09
Shelby and I decided to hike Carter Dome and Hight today. It would be a 10.2 Mile 3600' trek to the Carter Notch Hut and then the two Summits.
We started at the car and after a few miles, took a short break for a snack. We met a few hikers coming down from the hut but traffic was minimal and soon enough we were at the Carter Lakes with the steep walls of Wildcat Mountain to our right.
We then took a quick break at the hut and tackled the summit of Carter Dome. There were a few hikers sleeping on the summit and we decided to keep moving as the clouds looked to be moving in a bit.
We hiked the next .8 miles over to Mt. Hight and ate a quick snack. By this time we were both starting to get a bit tired and the clouds looked like there was definitely rain on the way.
We met a man with a child nearing the summit as we were leaving and for a girl of maybe 10 years old she did not look tired at all.
We neared Zeta Pass which is where the Appalachian Trail comes in from the north and met with a Southbound AT through hiker who was desperately low on water. We gave him a piece of Taffy from the Goldenrod in York, ME and a half liter of water which should get him to the hut or the water source on the other side of Carter Dome. He was happy and had already hiked a few hundred Miles of the AT to that point so he was well on his way South. We hit the car a few hours later. The hike was a good one. Hight although not on the offical 4,000 footer list is the peak with a view on this one. Mostly 360 degree views are well worth the effort.
We started at the car and after a few miles, took a short break for a snack. We met a few hikers coming down from the hut but traffic was minimal and soon enough we were at the Carter Lakes with the steep walls of Wildcat Mountain to our right.We then took a quick break at the hut and tackled the summit of Carter Dome. There were a few hikers sleeping on the summit and we decided to keep moving as the clouds looked to be moving in a bit.
We hiked the next .8 miles over to Mt. Hight and ate a quick snack. By this time we were both starting to get a bit tired and the clouds looked like there was definitely rain on the way.
We met a man with a child nearing the summit as we were leaving and for a girl of maybe 10 years old she did not look tired at all.
We neared Zeta Pass which is where the Appalachian Trail comes in from the north and met with a Southbound AT through hiker who was desperately low on water. We gave him a piece of Taffy from the Goldenrod in York, ME and a half liter of water which should get him to the hut or the water source on the other side of Carter Dome. He was happy and had already hiked a few hundred Miles of the AT to that point so he was well on his way South. We hit the car a few hours later. The hike was a good one. Hight although not on the offical 4,000 footer list is the peak with a view on this one. Mostly 360 degree views are well worth the effort.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Chocoroua 7-19-09
So today Shelby and I decided that we really needed to get a medium length training hike in before our trip to Baxter State Park next weekend. We are planning on doing an 11-12 Mile Summit of Baxter and Hamlin Peaks on Katahdin next weekend and I have only hiked this distance 2 times and Shelby has never hiked this distance. Forget the 4000+' of elevation gain.
Shelby has had problems with her Patellar tendon. A while back we had been hiking smaller hikes and then jumped to a 9.5 mile trek of Moosilauke. Her doctor told her to build up the mileage to the levels she wanted to hike at, not just jump from 5 to 10 miles. My patellar tendons ache quite a bit while I'm hiking but once I'm in the car on the ride home, my knees are fine and I only have the typical muscle soreness that accompanies any strenuous activity. We decided that we would stick with around 8-9 miles and tackle Chocoroua.
We hit the roada bout 7:30AM and hit the trailhead about 9:10AM. We made pretty good time to the first trail junction but we did make it a point to hydrate well today. We have not been hydrating well during hikes only going through less than a liter on our last hike.
We kept on trudging until we reached the Carter Ledge as well as Nickerson Ledge. We ate a few handfuls of blueberries along the way until we reached this Scree field. We didn't see the hard right turn here and tried to make our way up the scree field until it was obvious that we were idiots and we turned around only to find the very obvious turn in the trail.
We kept on up along the ridge and eventually found our way on the very large rock slabs towards the summit of the sisters. There are 3 sisters North, Middle and South. We would be touching all 3 today.
Just as we touched the South Sister, Shelby took a fall. Her foot slipped out underneath her and she fell and scraped her leg and landed on her thigh. You could tell it hurt but it wasn't bruised yet. We sat down on top of South Sister until I could squeeze a smile out of Shelby and we kept moving.
This mountain has not been kind to Shelby. Last time we were up here, she was in newer boots and they bruised her ankle also, it was her first long hike at the time and she was not enjoying it so much. After she fell she pretty much had her mind made up that "I'm never hiking this mountain again!!"
We did keep pushing on however and soon enough came to Middle Sister where there is a small weather station in what looks to be an old shelter.
We made our way to Chocoroua and took a nap for about 45 minutes until we finally decided to head down. Shelby hates the steep scramble at the top of this mountain and finally laughed that I was taking her picture constantly trying to make her day more enjoyable.
On the way down I took a picture of the ledges that we had hiked over on the way up.
We made it back to the car and headed home. Shelby's legs hur the entire trip down but not because she strained her Patellar Tendon but because she twisted it on the trail. She's definately right. This mountain just isn't good to her. Hopefully she'll be ok before we take the 5.5 hour road trip to Baxter State Park on Friday.
Shelby has had problems with her Patellar tendon. A while back we had been hiking smaller hikes and then jumped to a 9.5 mile trek of Moosilauke. Her doctor told her to build up the mileage to the levels she wanted to hike at, not just jump from 5 to 10 miles. My patellar tendons ache quite a bit while I'm hiking but once I'm in the car on the ride home, my knees are fine and I only have the typical muscle soreness that accompanies any strenuous activity. We decided that we would stick with around 8-9 miles and tackle Chocoroua.
We hit the roada bout 7:30AM and hit the trailhead about 9:10AM. We made pretty good time to the first trail junction but we did make it a point to hydrate well today. We have not been hydrating well during hikes only going through less than a liter on our last hike.
We kept on trudging until we reached the Carter Ledge as well as Nickerson Ledge. We ate a few handfuls of blueberries along the way until we reached this Scree field. We didn't see the hard right turn here and tried to make our way up the scree field until it was obvious that we were idiots and we turned around only to find the very obvious turn in the trail.
We kept on up along the ridge and eventually found our way on the very large rock slabs towards the summit of the sisters. There are 3 sisters North, Middle and South. We would be touching all 3 today.
Just as we touched the South Sister, Shelby took a fall. Her foot slipped out underneath her and she fell and scraped her leg and landed on her thigh. You could tell it hurt but it wasn't bruised yet. We sat down on top of South Sister until I could squeeze a smile out of Shelby and we kept moving.
This mountain has not been kind to Shelby. Last time we were up here, she was in newer boots and they bruised her ankle also, it was her first long hike at the time and she was not enjoying it so much. After she fell she pretty much had her mind made up that "I'm never hiking this mountain again!!"
We did keep pushing on however and soon enough came to Middle Sister where there is a small weather station in what looks to be an old shelter.
We made our way to Chocoroua and took a nap for about 45 minutes until we finally decided to head down. Shelby hates the steep scramble at the top of this mountain and finally laughed that I was taking her picture constantly trying to make her day more enjoyable.
On the way down I took a picture of the ledges that we had hiked over on the way up.
We made it back to the car and headed home. Shelby's legs hur the entire trip down but not because she strained her Patellar Tendon but because she twisted it on the trail. She's definately right. This mountain just isn't good to her. Hopefully she'll be ok before we take the 5.5 hour road trip to Baxter State Park on Friday.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Cannon 7-3-09 Basin 7-4-09
This weekend is the Fourth of July Weekend and Shelby and I both have Friday off. We are going to be camping with the Murdough's through the weekend but wanted to get at least one hike in.
We had originally planned on hiking Liberty and Flume as it was fairly close to where we would be camping but because of our late start, we decided we just did not have the time. We decided to do a fairly quick hike up Cannon Mountain with a detour on the way down to Lonesome Lake Hut.
We got everything packed up and hit the road at about 9:00AM. We stopped a few times and we stopped at the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center to get my new Annual Parking Pass. 25 bucks for a pass for 2 vehicles for the season. It's the best 25 dollars I ever spent. Shelby obviously from the picture below wasn't looking forward for the long ride ahead.
We arrived at the trailhead and hit the trail at about 12:30 and soon came across the sign stating that the hut was only a little ways up the trail.
The trail was muddy but not too bad and it seemed like it went on forever. It's only 2.8 miles from the summit using the Lonesome Lake, Hi-Cannon and Kinsman Ridge Trails.
A good ways up the trail, we came upon the first view of the day of the Hut below.
We continued along the trail and we knew we were nearing the summit as the non hiking tourist crowd was hanging around no the trails around the summit. We knew it would be busy up here as the tramway brings people up the mountain from the ski area.
It was cloudy today however and the only view of the day was to the west.
We stuck around just long enough to take a few pictures and eat a quick tuna sandwich and then we headed down the Kinsman Ridge Trail to the lonesome lake trail. The half a mile or so of the Kinsman Ridge Trail from the Hi-Cannon Junction to the Col between the Cannonballs is very steep and was very difficult for us. Half a mile downhill for us is usually 15 - 20 minutes. It took us 45 minutes to do this section. It didn't help that it was wet. Below is a picture of Shelby conquering the steeps.
Soon enough we came to the Lonesome Lake Trail and continued down until we saw this tree.
We thought the tree was pretty cool but continued on the trail and eventually we came upon Lonesome Lake. We turned right around the lake and walked on the tons of bog bridging that there is until it was washed out. We only had about .1 miles to go to the Hut too. This was disappointing.
With all the rain, it's no wonder the trail washed out and there are a ton of new bog bridging materials ready to be put together by the trail crews in this area.
Right after we turned around, we got a pretty good view of the Franconia Ridge. We're hoping to get up there again at some point in August. We're getting pretty good at the self portraits.
We turned around and headed back to the car and headed off to our campsite at Maplehaven in North Woodstock, NH.
We set up our tent and got a fire going and cooked dinner and of course it rained off and on, but we did get in an hour by the fire or so before we had to go in.
Ryan and Sarah Like Smores!
So do Shelby and I.
On 7/4/2009 we woke up early as it had rained all night and neither of us were in the mood to hang out in the rain. We went to Peg's for Breakfast after taking a very quick shower and cleaning up. We discovered Peg's a few years back and eat there whenever we're in the area. They serve Real Maple Syrup and the prices are very reasonable.
We would be going to the Basin area today to explore with Ryan, Sarah and their kids. They stayed in a cabin for the weekend while Shelby and I stayed in a tent.
We arrived at the Basin Parking area and crossed route 93 in the tunnel underpass and turned left to go visit the "Little Flume".
We then went and took a look at the Basin.
We did the loop around the Basin and back to the car. Shelby and I wanted to go look at the Indian Head view while Ryan and Sarah went back to the cabin so their kids could take a nap. They are only 1 and 2 years old.
Shelby and I found the profile view of the Indian Head but didn't climb the tower. The view was pretty good just from the parking lot. I wouldn't say that it was necessarily worth the trip however.
We went back to the cabin and spent the day just hanging out and avoiding the constant scattered showers that went overhead. Every time we would get a fire going or try to cook it would rain. Not fun.
We went to bed however just as the fireworks in Lincoln were ending and listened to the constant pop of bottle rockets for about an hour before finally falling asleep.
We didn't get rained on all night this time and we woke up fairly refreshed. We slowly cleaned up and packed up camp and took off with the Murdough's towards North Conway on the Kancamangus Highway.
We stopped at most of the viewpoints along the way and enjoyed the views. Shelby's enjoyed the lookout closest to Conway.
When we got to North Conway, we walked around for a bit and then headed home. Sunday was a beautiful day thank god. We haven't had many of these this summer so far. Thanks Murdough's for a great weekend.
We had originally planned on hiking Liberty and Flume as it was fairly close to where we would be camping but because of our late start, we decided we just did not have the time. We decided to do a fairly quick hike up Cannon Mountain with a detour on the way down to Lonesome Lake Hut.
We got everything packed up and hit the road at about 9:00AM. We stopped a few times and we stopped at the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center to get my new Annual Parking Pass. 25 bucks for a pass for 2 vehicles for the season. It's the best 25 dollars I ever spent. Shelby obviously from the picture below wasn't looking forward for the long ride ahead.
We arrived at the trailhead and hit the trail at about 12:30 and soon came across the sign stating that the hut was only a little ways up the trail.
The trail was muddy but not too bad and it seemed like it went on forever. It's only 2.8 miles from the summit using the Lonesome Lake, Hi-Cannon and Kinsman Ridge Trails.
A good ways up the trail, we came upon the first view of the day of the Hut below.
We continued along the trail and we knew we were nearing the summit as the non hiking tourist crowd was hanging around no the trails around the summit. We knew it would be busy up here as the tramway brings people up the mountain from the ski area.
It was cloudy today however and the only view of the day was to the west.
We stuck around just long enough to take a few pictures and eat a quick tuna sandwich and then we headed down the Kinsman Ridge Trail to the lonesome lake trail. The half a mile or so of the Kinsman Ridge Trail from the Hi-Cannon Junction to the Col between the Cannonballs is very steep and was very difficult for us. Half a mile downhill for us is usually 15 - 20 minutes. It took us 45 minutes to do this section. It didn't help that it was wet. Below is a picture of Shelby conquering the steeps.
Soon enough we came to the Lonesome Lake Trail and continued down until we saw this tree.
We thought the tree was pretty cool but continued on the trail and eventually we came upon Lonesome Lake. We turned right around the lake and walked on the tons of bog bridging that there is until it was washed out. We only had about .1 miles to go to the Hut too. This was disappointing.
With all the rain, it's no wonder the trail washed out and there are a ton of new bog bridging materials ready to be put together by the trail crews in this area.
Right after we turned around, we got a pretty good view of the Franconia Ridge. We're hoping to get up there again at some point in August. We're getting pretty good at the self portraits.
We turned around and headed back to the car and headed off to our campsite at Maplehaven in North Woodstock, NH.
We set up our tent and got a fire going and cooked dinner and of course it rained off and on, but we did get in an hour by the fire or so before we had to go in.
Ryan and Sarah Like Smores!
So do Shelby and I.
On 7/4/2009 we woke up early as it had rained all night and neither of us were in the mood to hang out in the rain. We went to Peg's for Breakfast after taking a very quick shower and cleaning up. We discovered Peg's a few years back and eat there whenever we're in the area. They serve Real Maple Syrup and the prices are very reasonable.
We would be going to the Basin area today to explore with Ryan, Sarah and their kids. They stayed in a cabin for the weekend while Shelby and I stayed in a tent.
We arrived at the Basin Parking area and crossed route 93 in the tunnel underpass and turned left to go visit the "Little Flume".
We then went and took a look at the Basin.
We did the loop around the Basin and back to the car. Shelby and I wanted to go look at the Indian Head view while Ryan and Sarah went back to the cabin so their kids could take a nap. They are only 1 and 2 years old.
Shelby and I found the profile view of the Indian Head but didn't climb the tower. The view was pretty good just from the parking lot. I wouldn't say that it was necessarily worth the trip however.
We went back to the cabin and spent the day just hanging out and avoiding the constant scattered showers that went overhead. Every time we would get a fire going or try to cook it would rain. Not fun.
We went to bed however just as the fireworks in Lincoln were ending and listened to the constant pop of bottle rockets for about an hour before finally falling asleep.
We didn't get rained on all night this time and we woke up fairly refreshed. We slowly cleaned up and packed up camp and took off with the Murdough's towards North Conway on the Kancamangus Highway.
We stopped at most of the viewpoints along the way and enjoyed the views. Shelby's enjoyed the lookout closest to Conway.
When we got to North Conway, we walked around for a bit and then headed home. Sunday was a beautiful day thank god. We haven't had many of these this summer so far. Thanks Murdough's for a great weekend.
Monday, June 22, 2009
2008 Photos
I am not a photographer, I'll say that right here at the start. I do however, take a ton of pictures on my hikes as well as when I travel to new places. Last year I picked out my top 10 photos. The "Top 10 of 2008". Where I am just starting this blog now, I figured I would throw them on here. All of the following pictures were taken with a cheap little 8 megapixel Fuji Finepix. Light camera's for hiking make things easier. Most of these pictures are not amazing by any means but to me they are the most interesting.
Just above treeline on the Crawford Path.
Crawford Notch as seen from Mt. Avalon.
I love how this picture shows the trails above the peaks. Taken from the vacinity Mt. Washington's Summit.
Taken from the Tower on Mt. Battie, Camden, Maine.
The Cog heads into the clouds. Taken from the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail heading up to Mt. Washington.
Sunset from The Summit of Mt. Agamenticus, York, Maine.
The Northern Presi's from the Gulfside Trail, North of Mt. Washington.
Mt. Madison and Madison Springs Hut as seen from below Mt. Adams.
The Pemigewasset Wilderness sign and wilderness from the Summit of Carrigain.
Cairn on the summit of Mt. Jackson.
Just above treeline on the Crawford Path.
Crawford Notch as seen from Mt. Avalon.
I love how this picture shows the trails above the peaks. Taken from the vacinity Mt. Washington's Summit.
Taken from the Tower on Mt. Battie, Camden, Maine.
The Cog heads into the clouds. Taken from the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail heading up to Mt. Washington.
Sunset from The Summit of Mt. Agamenticus, York, Maine.
The Northern Presi's from the Gulfside Trail, North of Mt. Washington.
Mt. Madison and Madison Springs Hut as seen from below Mt. Adams.
The Pemigewasset Wilderness sign and wilderness from the Summit of Carrigain.
Cairn on the summit of Mt. Jackson.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Isolation June 13 & 14, 2009
I completed my first ever backpacking trip while peakbagging Mt. Isolation June 13 & 14, 2009. This trip was intended to be a relatively easy backpack but turned out to be a bit tougher than expected.
My intent was to backpack up the 3.7 miles up the Rocky Branch Trail from Route 16 in New Hampshire to near the Rocky Branch Shelter #2 where I would stash my overnight gear and then head for the summit of Isolation 3.6 miles away and then hike back to near the shelter, spend the night and then head out the 3.7 miles back to my car in the morning.
Day 1:
I woke up at about 6:00 and hit the road by 6:30 with everything I would need for the next 2 days. I arrived at the trailhead ready to go at 9:00. I stopped about a mile in to put some bug dope on as I was getting chewed alive which is not unexpected for this time of year. When I stopped, a guy named Mike I saw in the parking lot passed me. I took a few sips of water and off I went. There were all kinds of flowers that I'd never seen before on the trail today.
Just past the Wilderness Boundary and the height of the land where the trail goes down for about .9 miles to the shelter, I met up with Mike again and we talked a bit until we had a close encounter of the nature kind. The Spruce Grouse followed us alongside of the trail for a bit and then jumped into the middle of the trail so we could not get by. I put out my poles as a barrier between the Grouse and my legs and I walked past. The grouse then turned it's attention to Mike and ran towards his legs over and over again. Mike and I must have been really close the nest of this bird because I've never seen one attack like this before. The bird followed us for about 200' before it finally gave up on us.
We headed towards the shelter where Mike was to meet some friends for the night. After a fairly difficult stream crossing We reached the shelter. I set up my hammock up from the shelter a bit and in the woods a ways off the trail. After I dumped all of my unnecessary gear, I started off towards Mt. Isolation.
The trail today was very wet from beginning to end due to the recent rains. The trail was also difficult to follow in some areas. There are various places where tent sites are set up but they make the trail confusing because many hikers have made their own trails.
I did happen across this neat little waterfall along the way. It almost looks like it was created and I suppose it isn't out of the realm of possibility that someone actually diverted the water to fall this way but either way, it's pretty cool.
After 3.6 miles I finally managed to slog my way to the summit. As wet as the trails were to this point, I was able to stay pretty much dry which I wasn't expecting. I saw a bunch of hikers heading down on my way out. this is a long day hike so many people who hike this as a dayhike start fairly early int he morning to assure a daylight escape from the mountains.
At the summit, the views were spectacular. I had to pause a moment however and give my wife a call. She was very worried that I was overnighting it in the woods alone and I told her if I had cell service anywhere along the route, I would call her. I left her a message that I was safe and I sat down and ate some cheezits and the rest of an unfinished tuna sandwich while admiring the views.
I stayed on the summit for a half hour or so and then I headed down making pretty good time back to my campsite. Once at my site, I filtered a few liters of water and cleaned up a bit. I layered up and walked up to the Shelter. I cooked my food on my alcohol stove that I made at home and talked a bit with the 3 people who would be staying at the shelter for the night.
It soon got dark and was time for bed. I put on all my layers and got ready for my first night in my hammock. I fell asleep pretty quickly and I wasn't sore or in any pain from the 10.9 mile day that I did today. It was the longest single hike I've done since I hiked Whiteface and Passaconaway in July of 2007. All this hiking and going to the gym I've been doing has paid off.
Day 2:
I woke up at about 1:00AM as the rain that started shortly after I climbed in my hammock had gotten heavier. Turns out that the hammock is colder than a Tent. What happens is the part of the hammock your weight hangs on is fairly susceptible to the elements. I think what happens is that the air currents go under the tent cooling off that piece of fabric which makes whatever's touching that piece of the hammock colder. Next time I think I'll try bringing my sleeping pad to see if that helps. Either that or another layer will probably do it.
Due to the rain and the cold, I woke up off and on from 1AM to 5AM when I finally decided to just get up. I got up, packed up and was on the trail by 5:40AM.
About 6:30 I started to get a little hungry so I took off my pack to grab a granola bar that I had. I had originally intended on cooking some oatmeal but it was still early and I wasn't about to cook in the rain. I ate my granola bar and started back on the trail about 10 steps when I saw some movement off the trail just ahead. At first I thought it may be another hiker but my brain soon kicked in that it was way too early to be meeting another hiker 2 miles in the woods and hikers aren't 8' tall and brown. I saw that it was a small bull moose and I put my poles down to try to get at my camera which due to the rain was stashed deep inside my pack. Well...Mr. Moose heard me and turned around and ran away.
This was quite the eventful first backpacking trip. I had seen a half a dozen small toads in the wet trail, a rabid Spruce Grouse and a Moose. I kept on down the trail and was at my car at 7:40 ready for the long drive home. I'll definitely go backpacking again. Hopefully Shelby can come with me next time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)