Brian Hikes the Whites 2.0: Welch-Dickey Loop 9/28/13

After finishing up the Hancocks so early we didn't want to waste any of a gorgeous day and started heading south to hike either Mt. Tecumseh or the Mt. Welch-Mt. Dickey Loop. We stopped at a sub shop just off 93 on route 49 to get something to eat and decide which hike we would do. Kyle and I both got a cheeseburger which was dry and probably consisted of 1/2 hamburg and 1/2 soy beans. While suffering through the burger we decided on the Mt. Welch-Mt. Dickey Loop.

To reach the trail we followed route 49 East for about 5.5 miles to Upper Mad River Road and then took a right onto Orris which quickly led us to the parking lot for the trail head which was packed. Because it was later in the afternoon, we managed to find a spot in the lot. I personally took this hike lightly because after doing two 4,000 footers, I figured this hike would be like a quick hike on Wachusett. But, much like Tecumseh earlier this year the ascent to the mountain was a moderately steep grade mostly on granite slab for the first couple of miles and not as easy as anticipated. When we reached the first vista point the views were great overlooking Mt. Tripyramid to the East and the Sandwich Range to the South. Welch Mountain stuck out behind us like a sore thumb.

A view towards Mt. Welch from the first scenic outcrop

The Easterly view towards Mt. Tripyramid

Southerly view towards Sandwich Range

As we headed up towards Welch Mountain we climbed more flat slab and started encountering some large groups of people. In between the summits we hit one of the rare wooded areas on the hike and before that there were a couple more groups of people just hanging out and enjoying the great day. We quickly went up and over Mt. Dickey and took it slow the rest of the way going downhill on more flat rock slab. It was getting tough on the knees and my dogs were barking really loud on the descent. There were still plenty of views which we stopped a few times to take in. It was a good finale to the day and when we got back to the parking lot Kyle busted out a foam roller and a massaging rolling pin which felt good and bad at the same time when I used it.