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.