At first, planning the logistics of the car spotting and camping arrangements seemed to make the trip more of a hassle than it was worth. But after taking a couple of weeks to sort out the details, two nights were booked at the Dolly Copp Campground at a campsite which appeared to be right next to the Daniel Webster Scout Trail which would bring us up to the first peak Mt. Madison. So logistically it seemed as though a plan had been put in place.
The weather during the week of the hike was hot and humid with afternoon thundershowers. On Thursday, there was a major storm cell working it's way into the New England from the MidWest but the forecast predicted that the storm would blow through Thursday night into Friday morning. In the storms wake it was supposed to leave a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. We thought these conditions would good enough to go through with the hike.
The plan was to leave at about 1:30 on Friday afternoon. My parents were going to come up to watch my daughters (Kayla and Emma) until my wife (Leah) came home and I would meet up with Kyle in Hudson and we would follow each other to the Whites. Well, at 9:00 my mother called saying that she wasn't be coming because it was raining in Acushnet. My disappointment with that news was superseded by Kayla's who had been told that her VaVo (grandmother in Portuguese) would be coming up for two weeks. She asked Vavo on Skype if VaVo "had a rain jacket?" and then began inconsolably crying on the couch. I felt horrible for her, but she would get over it faster than I would. Leah ended up saving the day by leaving work early and getting home at 2:30. I finally ended up meeting up with Kyle at 3:00.
The ride up was horrible. We hit traffic on 495 all the way from Lowell to 93. Then we hit traffic in New Hampshire with what seemed from the border to past Concord. We had lost an hour because of the traffic. When we finally reached Crawford Notch to spot my car it was about 7:00. We dropped off my car at a parking spot near Elephant Head just before Crawford Notch and then started our way to Dolly Copp. We were starving and stopped at the Red Fox Pub for a beer and a burger. When we left the pub it started raining and when we got to our campsite and it was pouring. We couldn't set up our tents fast enough to keep them from getting soaked. Once the tents were up and wiped down with a towel, we hit the hay... And listened to the calming sound of raindrops hitting the tent and the not so calming sounds of a rowdy group that eventually quieted down at about 10:00. So the night seemed to change until one of the most raucous and inconsiderate groups rolled into camp. I thought they were speaking Spanish and Kyle thought they were speaking "Jihadi". I could hear the cracking of sticks for their campfire all night and Kyle believed they even came on to our campsite and were shining their headlamps into our tents. They were loud and were making what sounded like bird calls randomly during the night. I shouldn't have to say that we didn't get much sleep.
When we finally got out of our tents at 3:50 the vagrants were still up and we weren't sure whether or not we should even go through with attempting a hike at all. We checked the weather and it called for hail, rain and thundershowers on Washington. We waited until 4:30 when the sky was brightening and we could get a look as to what was actually up there. We decided to scratch the traverse and get up to Madison and see what happens from there. We hit the trail just before 5:00 with our headlamps on. The rain seemed to be holding up, but it might have been because we were under a thick tree canopy. We were gaining good elevation and at about 6:30 the sky opened up. A good portion of the trail we were hiking would turn to a boulder field with no tree cover and we knew we were getting close. Hiking in the rain in that boulder field with no sleep did not seem like a good idea to either of us. Because nothing had seemed to go smoothly the entire trip to this point we decided to turn around break down camp and go home. When we got back to the campsite, the vagrants were up again making their bird calls. I got a good look at them and thought they looked like Mayans, who knows?!
On the way back to my car I gave Leah a call and told her of our shortcomings. I told her I would be home in time to help her out and pick up Emma so she could enjoy the rest of the night with Kayla at Davis Farmland. So I started checking the map for a four hour hike I could squeeze in while Kyle was determined to get home. The way the trip had gone thus far it was almost surprising that when we got back to my car it was just as I left it. I had only taken one picture this entire time and it was at a waterfall off the road heading back to my car.
While driving south, Franconia Notch was socked in the clouds and I decided to head as far south in the Whites as I could and decided on attempting Mt. Tecumseh. The AMC guide described the hike as being an hour and forty minute hike when started from the Waterville Valley end of the trail. Perfect! To get to the trailhead I took Tripoli Road off of 93 where there were plenty of campers on the side of the road. The parking lot for the trail is inconspicuously marked and I had to pull it into reverse to get back to the lot to turn in. There were 2 cars in the lot and 1 woman from Albany, NY pulled in while I was there.
My boots hit the trail at 10:00 and after 2 small river crossings the trail started elevating at a moderate grade on a rather easy trail. With more elevation, the fog started getting a little thicker, the temperature starting dropping and the trail started getting a little rougher. I was keeping a fast pace in hopes of keeping that four hour timeframe.
 |
| Clear smooth path at the beginning of the hike |
 |
| Up the hill and into the fog |
 |
| A rough foggy spot on the trail |
 |
| View from the Western peak summit |
 |
| Spur path to the Western summit |
 |
| Sun working it's way through the clouds |
 |
| A sunny foggy trail |
The summit brought about some views of Waterville Valley underneath the clouds. There was already a 63 year old man from Bellingham who had a piece of paper with a 1 on it to signify his 1st 4,000 footer. Then came a couple from Salisbury and finally Albany came up. We all stopped, chatted, took photos for each other and ate lunch. We all left because the bugs were relentless.
 |
| View through the clouds from Tecumseh true summit |
I busted out the hiking poles and started flying down the mountain. I ran into a couple of trail runners and a group of 4 young kids doing their first hike. One had a backpack on, another a gallon of water and giant knife strapped to his hip. They asked me how far to the top and told me this was their first hike in the White Mountains. Good Luck with that! Once I got down to the river crossings, I stopped to wash my face and wet my head. I arrived back at the car at 2:00. Perfect timing and a great hike which gave me a feeling of redemption for the epic fail that had occurred in the last 24 hours.
 |
| Strange moss growing on a tree which reminded me of Chewbaca |
 |
| Chewbacca tree grove |
No comments:
Post a Comment