Playing Hooky with the Moose 9/25/14

What better way to escape the misery of the a 40 hour week than by calling in sick and getting paid to hike?!  Because just like fishing, a bad day of hiking is better than a good day at work.  But this wasn't going to be a bad day of hiking.  After accomplishing the brutal one-day Presidential traverse all other hikes will be measured by that.  I studied the route for this hike but never looked into the mileage or times as I usually do. There was a major storm coming from the south that was supposed to drench Mass and RI, but a high pressure system was sitting over northern NH keeping the rain at bay.  Kyle and I went through the usual meetup routine and headed to Mt. Moosilauke to summit it and all the sub peaks including Mt. Jim, Mt. Blue and the South Peak.

Mt. Moosilauke is the most western and maybe most southern 4,000 foot peak in the White Mountains and to get there we took route 93 to 112 West to route 118 South.  This was new territory for us.  Route 118 was a windy hilly mountain road and it seemed to take forever to get to Ravine Road which was where the trail head started.  Once we reached the unpaved Ravine Road we took it all the way to the end where the Dartmouth College run Moosilauke Ravine Lodge is located.  It was in the low 50’s as we began to prep what little gear we were going to carry for this trip.  All I had in my pack was a days worth of food, my first aid kit and 70 oz. camelbak.  As we were getting ready another hiker was  putting on his bright orange hunting mittens and said to us “It stinks to have to wear gloves already”.  I innocently replied to him something like “It’s not that cold” and he seemed to throw me a look of death.

Our boots hit the Ridge Trail before 8:00.  The trail was easy to follow even though there weren't many (if any?) trail blazes to follow.  We crossed some of the nicest bridges I've ever encountered in the White Mountains.  I felt as though my Camelbak bladder was leaking, so I eventually removed the tubing and only used the reservoir.  Doing this made me realize that my wet back is probably a combination of a dribbling bladder but more so of an overly sweaty back.  Anyway, the ridge trail passes directly over Mt. Jim.  I found a small herd path which ended up being just that so we assume we did summit Jim.  After about an hour and a half of hiking we reached the Beaver Brook trail junction.

First Foot Bridge we encountered on the Ridge Trail

2nd Bridge

Some mushrooms nestled in a bed of sphagnum moss.

Bright Red Capped Mushroom growing on the trunk of a tree.

On Beaver Brook Trail there was supposed to be a herd path that led to Mt. Blue and when we reached the area where we though it would be, we started keeping an eye out for the path.  At one point I noticed some survey marker tape leading up and started what would have been a gnarly bush whack through some thick trees and brush.  That wasn't the way to Blue.  As we moved along, Kyle noticed a stuffed animal off the trail and in the woods.  I grabbed it and contemplated bringing it home to Kayla and Emma, but thought it would be better off left in the woods.  I placed it on a rock hoping he would bring a couple of laughs or scares to more hikers later on in the coming days.

Stuffed albino squirrel holding a nut we found off the trail and I placed on this rock.

Squirrel watching us walk away and wondering why we weren't taking him home.

Jungle of moss, leichin and mushrooms growing on a log.

After I had all but given up on hiking up to Mt. Blue, Kyle turned a corner and said here it is.  A short tiny cairn was at the junction of the herd path.  This was no bush whack and was more of a foot path.  The path went through a pine forest and was really soft and nice to walk on.  There were animal paths all over this area and I saw a pretty big bear footprint pressed in on the hiking trail along with a few moose footprints.  Mt. Blue is a mountain on a list called Trailrights 72 and a summit log is supposed to be hanging from a tree somewhere.  All that was there was a ripped plastic bag that was probably brought there by the bear with the giant paw.  Bummer because I was looking to sign this log.

Cairn marking the herd path to Mt. Blue.

Herd Path up to Mt. Blue.

Mt. Blue summit.  You can make out the bag left by Paws the bear in the middle of the picture.

After a few minutes on Blue, we kept moving and as we were getting closer to the treeline to the summit of Moosilauke, I thought I heard an animal running away up ahead and when I heard Kyle yell "Whoa", I thought for sure he came across a moose on the path.  Once I caught up to him to find out what was going on, he pointed out the Spruce Grouse that was hanging out on the the trail and had flew up into the trees.  I took a few pictures of him and kept trying to get closer .  My camera must have been a couple of feet from him.  He was definitely less scared than I was!

Curious and brave Spruce Grouse just hanging out just before tree line.

Another angle of the Spruce Grouse.  If it weren't for that red eye he'd blend into the tree nicely.

The summit was like a battle field, there were stones everywhere piled up to block the wind as Moosilauke is notorious for bad weather conditions.  We were lucky we didn't have to use them today.  We had to be the first hikers to the summit today and were the only ones up there until we were joined by the guy with the orange hunters mittens who happened to be named Jim.  While on the summit we traded hiking stories with Jim.  He was an interesting guy who happened to mention all the bra-less women he saw on the Welch Dickey Loop hike and the naked hut girls bathing in a river.  Kyle and I probably never noticed these girls because we were probably hiking too fast!  He followed us down Moosilauke and I talked with him the entire way down.  Once we reached the junction of the spur path to South Peak we split up.  But not before Kyle asked him about the wooden cross on his neck.  Jim said he stole it from his daughter because his "fat whore adultering wife" gave him a silver cross and he refused to wear it.  That had Kyle and I chuckling most of the way up to the South Peak.

 Final uphill towards the summit above treeline.

Kyle getting set to hunker down in the bunker like summit.

Northeasterly view just above treeline to White Mountain National Forest.  (200 ISO)

Wider view of White Mountain National Forest.

Looking West towards Mt. Clough and Blueberry Mountain.

Franconia Ridge from summit (200 ISO).

Zooming in on the hiker (not Jim) we left on the summit from South Peak.

After a few minutes on the South Peak we backtracked to the Carriage Road to get off the mountain.  From the Carriage Road we took the snapper trail.  The road and trail were brutal on my knees.  I should have used my hiking poles on the way down but for some reason I didn't.  I was so tired at one point that I wanted to sit down but I told myself "why are you going to sit down when you'll be sitting for 2.5 hours in the car on the way home."

Carriage Road.

Blue Bead Lilly.  While looking to find out what this actually was I learned that Native Americans used these berries to treat injuries and bruises.

When we finally got down the mountain we hit a spider web of trails that was pretty confusing.  We used our best judgments to choose the right trail which led us right by the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge.  There were 2 bunk houses along with the lodge.  On the deck of the lodge there were some college kids eating and 2 others were building a new giant structure.  I had to take a peak inside the lodge.  We were done at around 1:00 and were contemplating trying another hike.  I stopped in at a General Store in North Woodstock for a chocolate milk hoping it would help me recover a little.  But, it didn't and we decided to head home.  I wanted to pull into a parking lot to change out of my hiking boots and in the process I nicked my tire causing a bubble to form.  Kyle looked up what the bubble was online and read something that the tire could blow out at high speeds, so we took it relatively slower than usual making a couple of stops to check on the tire.  We made it home and I'm in the process of replacing the tire.  Great day, great hike.

Wachusett Mountain 8/30/14

I've hiked Wachusett Mountain about 20 times this summer but never have written a report on it.  But this Labor Day weekend turned out to be a special one.  I was looking to get a quick hike in before the weather turned ugly at around 3:00 as predicted by the weather personalities.  So at about 8:30 I had my bag packed and started giving my goodbye kisses.  When I got to Kayla and told her what I was doing, she wanted to come along.  So I packed up some extra food and after a stop at Gourmet Donuts for a chocolate covered doughnut with sprinkles we were on our way for a hike.  With Kayla coming along, I wasn't sure if Wachusett was the right destination, but figured I'd take a route where we could bail out on the access roads if she got too tired.  On the ride to the trail head, we saw that Wachusett was in the clouds.

We started at the access road parking area on the west side of the mountain off Westminster Road.  I chose the dirt road which led to the wind turbines which I had told Kayla about in the past.  She was pretty impressed by the size when we got there and with how loud they were.

Loud turbine!

After taking in the massive windmills, we headed on Old Stage Coach trail which for the most part was a downhill trail.  Kayla told me she was a little nervous because it was so dark on the trail, but that all changed when we saw our first orange newt.

First orange newt

Pointing out a newt

They are little guys

From the Old Stage Coach Trail we connected with the Harrington Trail which in my opinion is the most difficult trail on the mountain.  The trail in it's totality travels 1.4 miles and climbs 750 feet.  Where we intersected with the Harrington Trail, we probably cut out the .4 miles but not much of the elevation.  The beginning of the trail provides relatively easy footing but the last 1/4 mile or so is a scramble to the top. Although the Harrington Trail can be difficult, it does has three bail out routes which we could have taken to get back to the car. While on the Harrington trail Kayla proclaimed several times that she was a "Wild Girl" which was something she must have gotten from a Disney Tarzan movie she has been watching.  She was having a great time and we ran across a few people on the trail all of which were friendly and impressed with her hiking.  We ended up seeing a total of 39 orange newts, 5 daddy long legs, 1 red squirrel and a few dogs on the trail!  When we reached the scrambling portion of the trail Kayla did awesome and didn't need much help as she "walked like a gorilla" along much of this portion of the trail.  Once we passed the auto road we started heading up into the clouds where Kayla as a little nervous and kept coughing as if she was suffering from smoke inhalation.  When we reached the summit, it was cloud covered, windy and much much cooler than any other part of our hike.  At the top we visited the summit fire tower and took refuge from the wind behind one of the vista point rock walls to have a snack.  

Scrambling up Harrington

Which way to go?

Silly on the summit

Us on the Summit

Snack time on the summit

After finishing our snacks, we headed down the Mountain House Trail and connected with the Jack Frost Trail to the High Meadow Trail.  I had to carry Kayla through a couple portions of these trails but only for a couple hundred feet at a time.  She definitely had to be a bit tired, but playing the copy game and the promise of throwing rocks into Echo Lake kept her trudging along.  Heading down the High Meadow Trail Kayla told me she missed her mom so we gave her a call when we reached the bench at the old apple field at the intersection of the Bicentennial trail.  After several "are we almost there yet?" we finally reached Echo Lake where many many rocks were thrown.  

Kayla at Echo Lake

To get back to the car we stayed on the access roads and as incentive the promise of a Gerardo cupcake kept her slogging along until we finally reached the car at 1:00.  I've done this loop often and usually get it done in about an hour and 10 or 15 minutes and have estimated it to be 3.5 to 4 miles.  Usually when I do this hike by myself I am practically running to make sure I am home in a reasonable amount of time in case I am needed.  With Kayla I was relaxed and enjoyed it more than any other time I have been on the mountain this summer.  I am very proud of her and will be buying her a Camelbak backpack of her own for her 5th birthday in 2 weeks.

Iron Mountain 8/15/14

The girls, my nephews and in laws were spending most of the week in Glen, NH with and our days were spent visiting Story Land and Santa's Village.  We rent a chalet and it's only minutes away from dozens of mountains and plenty of prime hiking trails.  Last year I missed out on any hiking opportunities.  But this time, I managed to slip away on Friday morning to hike Iron Mt. in Jefferson NH.   I was hoping to check out some abandoned mine shafts past the Iron Mt. summit along with some southern cliffs which I think would give me a view towards the chalet if I had time.

To get to the trail head I took Green Hill Road out of Jackson which led me to Iron Mountain Road.  Iron Mountain Road is basically a steep one lane dirt road or a Class 6 road as described by the street sign at the beginning of the road.  Almost at the end of the road there is a parking area big enough for about 4-5 cards.  Across from the parking lot is the trail head which is marked by the sign "Trail". The trail cuts through a field on Hayes Farm which instantly has amazing views of Pinkham Notch.  I could make out bits and pieces of the Presidential Traverse which I had done a month prior.  Once out of the fields, the trail was washed out and steep but quiet and peaceful.  About 10 minutes from the summit there was a rock outcrop/boulder slide mentioned in the AMC White Mountain Guide book that had more views of Pinkham Notch.  It took about a half hour of hiking at a moderate pace to reach the summit.  After taking in the remnants of a fire tower at he summit, I started heading south towards the mine shafts when a blueberry bush caught my eye.  I stopped to pick a couple blueberries from that bush and when I looked around I realized the entire southern side of the summit was covered in blueberry bushes!  I never made it to the mine shafts or the south cliffs because I spent the next 15-20 minutes picking blueberries.  Crouched over, I picked about half a zip lock bag while looking over my shoulder in case a bear was coming up for breakfast.  When I was done picking I decided it would be best to head back and brought the blueberries back which were a pretty big hit with the kids, especially Emma.

Sign at the beginning of Iron Mountain Road

Parking Lot sign

Trail Head sign off of Iron Mt. Road taken at 6:50 AM.

Rock outcrop northerly Vista.

Mt. Washington cutting through the clouds.

Old summit tower leftovers taken at 7:23

Mt. Washington from the summit of Iron Mt.

Low lying blueberry bush.

Small Yummy pesticide free blueberries.

View from the boulder outcrop of Mt. Washington and Mt. Madison to the north.

Pinkham Notch from the outcrop

Zoomed in view of Washington and Tuckerman's Ravine from the outcrop.

A hunters cabin (with a washing machine) about 10 feet off the road.

Presidential Traverse 7/19/14

Last year Kyle and I had intentions and made an attempt at an endurance hike called the Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  This hike was approximately 19 miles and we would summit 8 peaks including Mt. Madison, Mt. Adams, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Clay, Mt. Washington, Mt. Franklin, Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Pierce, Mt. Jackson and Mt. Webster.  It's a monster hike and ideally we wanted to complete a few long hikes before attempting this.  Despite our lack of hiking, I had been pretty much training all winter for this at the gym doing various versions of squats, other leg exercises and core work.  We had originally penciled in the weekend of the 19th to get this hike in and despite rain earlier in the week, Friday looked to be the best day of the weekend.

So, I booked a campsite at Moose Brook State Park in Gorham, NH for two nights.  We both met up in Hudson and started the 3.5 hour ride up to Crawford Notch State Park where I left my car in the same spot as last year, directly across the street from the rock outcrop known as Elephant Head.  The spot was right across the street from the Webster Jackson trail where we intended on finishing. Before heading to the state park we went out to a strange brick oven pizzeria.  It was a typical pizza joint but with a hostess and waitress.  The pizza was pretty good but would end up costing me later on in this adventure.  After dinner we made our way to the state park where the ranger warned us that there were bears throughout the park and told us what to do if one came in our camp.  She said if one comes in your camp throw something at it or make some noise to scare it.  I've seen one bear in my life and that was from the inside of a White Mountain Chalet and although I was pretty excited to see the bear it did get a little scary.  My worst fear was to come across a bear while I was taking an early morning piss or if I came nose to nose to a curious bear sniffing out my tent.  I don't deal with bears very often in West Boylston!

Leaf looking moth I found on a tree near our campsite hunkering down for the night.

We made it through the night with no incidents and I forced myself out of my sleeping bag at 4 AM.  We made our way to the Appalachia trail head and started hiking on the Valley Way trail with our headlamps on at exactly 4:41.   There were plenty of well marked trail junctions at the beginning of and after hiking for 2.4 miles we connected with the Watson Path.  We chose the Watson Path because it would eliminate an up and back to summit Madison from the Valley Way.  At first the Watson Path was steep and wooded and we both took our time to conserve energy.  Eventually we reached the boulder field which was Mt. Madison (5,367’) and had to follow cairns which sometimes were only two or three rock stacked on top of each other.   After 3 hours and 4.1 total miles, we reached the cloudy, cold and very windy summit of Mt. Madison.   The temperature on my thermometer read 50 degrees and the northeasterly wind gusts were strong enough to push me while I was tiptoeing on the boulders.  We took some refuge behind some boulders to eat a snack and check the map before heading to Madison Hut.  It was cold and we were already wondering what the heck we were getting ourselves into.   Book time was 4.5 hours, so we were making good time although it certainly didn’t feel like it. 

Moon over a cloudy Mt. Madison.

First views above treeline.

Webster Path above treeline.

The cold helped us make a speedy 0.5 mile descent on the Osgood Trail to Madison Hut where we took a break and warmed up for about 20 minutes before we were on our way to Mt. Adams (5,774’).  To get to Mt. Adams we took the Star Lake Trail.  Star Lake was a sleepy little spot nestled in between Mt. Madison and Mt. Adams and just beyond the lake we had our first glimpse of Mt. Washington which really didn't look that far away.  Some breaks in the clouds also gave us views of the Moriah Range to the East.  It was a relief to be hiking this area, but soon enough we started boulder hopping in the clouds again and the trail got steep.  At one point we had to scramble up this shoot that reminded me of the chimney on Osceola.  We carefully maneuvered over the boulders while keeping an eye out for the cairns marking the trail up ahead. After 1 mile we finally summited Mt. Adams at 9:21 and the wind seemed to be whipping even more than it was on Madison.  We found some cover to take a quick break and unfortunately on the way down Mt. Adams the need for me to use the bathroom had overcome me.  Because of the fragile alpine zone we were in, I decided I would wait until we reached Mt. Washington to use the visitor center bathroom which was over 5 miles away.  And these 5 miles may have been the longest 5 miles I have ever hiked in my life!

Star Lake

First view of Mt. Washington.

Carter Range from Star Lake trail.

Clouded over looking back at Star Lake.

Kyle at top of scramble section heading up to Adams.

Follow the cairns to the top of Mt. Adams.

Me on Adams for #2 of the day with my pants billowing in the wind.

From Mt. Adams we followed Lowe’s Path for 0.3 miles into Thunderstorm Junction and the Gulfside Trail which would eventually lead us to Mt. Jefferson (5,712’).  At Thunderstorm Junction there were busted up trail signs everywhere including a wooden post sticking out of a giant pile of rocks, it almost felt like we were on the moon. The Gulfside trail gave us some areas of relief from the rock hopping with some worn down trails.  We passed by the massive Castle Ravine and after 1.5 miles, we made it to the base of Mt. Jefferson where two couples were taking a break at the beginning of the Jefferson Loop Trail.  As we were walking towards them, they yelled out to us "These guys look like they know what they are doing" and I thought to myself "Yeah right!"  After chatting with them for a minute or two we started our ascent up to Mt. Jefferson which consisted of more boulder hopping, but the clouds were breaking up nicely and we were getting some great views.  After 0.4 miles and a couple of what I’m calling false summits, we reached the actual top of Mt. Jefferson at 10:10.  The peak looked like a pile of rocks were dumped there and there were a bunch of people hanging out on them.

Heading down Mt. Adams into Thunderstorm Junction.

Pile of rocks at Thunderstorm Junction.

Following the cairns on the Gulfside trail.

Castle Ravine from Gulfside trail.

Mt. Washington from Mt. Jefferson.

After a quick break, we headed back on the loop trail for 0.3 miles to the Gulfside Trail and towards our fourth peak for the day, Mt. Clay (5,533).  The clouds were just puffs at this point and Mt. Washington was getting closer with every step.  And with Mt. Washington, the bathroom!  We reached Mt. Clay via the Mt. Clay Loop trail (1.1 miles) at 12:18.  Kyle had predicted to be on Washington by now, but at this point that was wishful thinking.  During our climb onto Clay some older woman who said she was a cook for Mt. Washington told us that there were three other groups doing the traverse ahead of us one of which started at 4:30 and was an hour ahead of us.  Kyle and I couldn't understand how this could be and how this was taking us so long.

On to Mt. Washington and Clay

Mt. Washington looking massive

Mt. Clay for peak #4

Looking back at Madison, Adams and Jefferson

After descending Clay, we saw a sign that said 1 mile to Mt. Washington (6,288’).  This had to be the longest mile I have ever hiked.  We got to see the Cog Railroad making it's way down the mountain.  We meandered through boulder field following the tracks and then crossed them at the site of a cairn.  We both couldn't get there fast enough and when we finally reached the visitors area I made a B-Line to the bathroom.  When I came out, I joined Kyle on a bench for a snack.  I think I was dehydrated at this point even though I had easily drunken over a gallon of water already.  It was a pretty low point mentally for me at this point and I looked at pictures of Kayla and Emma that were in my wallet as if I would never see them again.  I tried to call Leah, but there wasn't enough service in this area.  Knowing that the only way back was to continue on to my car, I muscled down some food and sucked down a pre-workout drink mix.  After 10 minutes or so I was ready to go!  Kyle and I made it out to the summit sign which was packed with tourists to take our summit photos.  After those pictures, I was running around silly and energized looking for Crawford Path.

Cog Railroad

At the Mt. Washington summit cairn ready to go!

The remainder of the hike was a blur as the hiking on Crawford Path was so much easier and much more like the trails we were used to.  Our first destination was Lake of the Clouds Hut then Mt. Monroe (5,384'), Mt. Franklin (5,001), Mt. Eisenhower (4,780') and Mt. Pierce (4,310').  7.9 miles of relatively smooth trails made for fast hiking as we tried to catch up to a big group of hikers ahead of us which we eventually did on Mt. Eisenhower.  The group was made up of about 10 young kids and 2 chaperons.  On Mt. Pierce we caught up to one of the couples that had done the traverse that day.  They were from San Francisco and convincingly made the point that Jackson and Webster were not presidents.  Mt. Jackson looked to be miles away from here.  We continued on towards Mt. Jackson and during the descent down to the Mizpah Spring Hut my final decision was made that I wasn't going to make it to the last two peaks.  The descent was steep and each step down was torture on my knees.  When we reached the Hut we took another break and took the Webster Cliff Trail back to the car.  On the trail we ran into a mother and her son who were made up another group that had done the traverse on this day.  The boy had worn basketball sneakers for the hike and he was hurting.  Once again I was mentally wearing down as I just wanted to stop hiking and couldn’t wait to get back to the car which we finally reached at around 7:40.  The entire hike took a total of 14 hours and around 20 miles and according to the AMC White Mountain Guide, we finished in "book time" which was a great gauge on what we had accomplished.

 

Looking ahead from Mt. Franklin

Looking back from Mt. Franklin.

Kyle's expression says it all.

Looking back from Mt. Eisenhower.

On the way back to pick up Kyles car we stopped for dinner at another atypical White Mountain restaurant below someone’s house that I will never go to again.  When we got back to the campground we saw a young shy bear poking around a dumpster.  At the campsite, I started a fire and had a beer before settling in for the night.  Kyle was up at 4:00 and started packing up to leave while I stayed in my tent.  I wanted to leave early too, but it was probably about 40 degrees outside and my sleeping bag was pretty cozy.  While he was packing his stuff he took the rest of my Cinnamon raisin bread that I had brought for breakfast out of his car.  I guess he left it on top his car while he was packing his stuff up and I unlocked my car so he could throw it in there.  After he left, I heard something moving around my car.  Not even thinking that it was an animal, I grabbed my knife in case I heard my door open.  I'm not sure what it was but after telling him about this "encounter", he told me that he heard something rustling around in the woods and that it even sounded big.  Could it have been a bear?  Who knows...  I finally got out of my sleeping bag at about 6:00 and happily started making my way home.