This past Saturday my parents completed their journey of being together forever. I took advantage of the great weather afforded and marched up the summit of Mt Washington with my snowshoes, setting them free together at the upper end of Jacobs Ladder on the Cog Railway. In case you didn’t know Jacob’s Ladder is the ladder to heaven and (more…)

I don’t want to jinx everyone in New England but perhaps it’s too late. I have been wanting to get up to the mountains and do some Snowshoeing but the weather just has been so uncooperative. Lately we have hardly gotten any snow, leaving me to think that to head-up a mountain trail would require crampons for ice versus snowshoes.

Webcam of The Ravines 2/5/10

My take is if we are going to have some cold weather, give us enough snow so we can fully enjoy it. Locally the fields and tote roads are mostly bare and have been so it seems most of the winter except for a brief spell . You can’t  even cross country ski or sled. So mother nature if your reading, warm it up and start spring or give us a little bit of snow so we can have some fun…

Last month when we thought is was to be sunny we headed up to Summit Mt Adams and were shot down. (See Mt Madison Story) Today Rosie and I returned to get what we left, this would be “another day”. A high pressure system parked over New England so the forecast was to be exceptional. We started up the Valley way trail leaving the Appalachia parking lot at 9am. We moved quite steadily to get above tree line as early as possible. The trail from the parking lot to the Madison Spring Hut is 3.5 miles

.  We made the Hut about 1pm, refilled our camel backs, had a quick snack and moved on for our goal the summit of Mt Adams 5774′. Mt Adams is the 2nd highest mountain east of the Rockies with Mt Washington being the tallest at 6288′.

lI picked up a Lowe 75AW Toploader camera case recently . After my last hike up Madison i had seen a guy with what looked like a camera bag on his chest and did some research and picked up a second hand one from Ebay. I was eager to try it out. It worked very well allowing quick easy access to camera and provides great protection. I love the protection, expandability and various ways the bag can be strapped, very comfortable to walk with. . So for you curious types that is whats on my chest.

We left the Hut and started up the Airline trail, we had a solid mile of ground to cover and almost half of it was to be boulder walking, which isn’t hard, just a little tedious. The weather was superbly sunny with an occasional slight breeze.  We stayed very steady trying to get to the summit to be able spend as much time as we could there.  The views above tree line on days like this are hard to describe .

When we made the summit we had a snack and soaked in the views.  There were swarms of these weird bugs I had never seen along with a few black flies mixed in for good measure. We would get a slight breeze and they would go away, then it would stop and they were back. The hike in is so long and has so much elevation gain, it doesn’t afford much time to hang out unless you’re staying in a Hut or Tenting back below treeline.

We hung out on the summit for almost an hour and decided we would head off avoid the bugs and checkout some sights . Looking at the map and surrounding area, we decided to go back to the hut by taking Lowe’s Path to the Thunderstorm junction to The Gulfside Trail, to the Valley Way. This would be a little longer than the way we came-up but should be easier walking with less boulder walking and potentially faster.

By this point it’s about 3pm and we have about 4.8 miles to make the car. As we came down off the summit I took a large step and noticed my right knee became twingy. We moseyed along soaking in the day over to the Thunderstorm Junction and my knee was not improving, but was getting worst.  We snapped some pics at the massive cairn and moved on our way. I told Rose and she had some Ibuprofen I downed a few and we marched on.

I was concerned knowing the terrain what we had to go down, my condition and the daylight left. It was going to be a long slow painful trip. The Gulfside Trail has several sections where the trail has been worked to where it is almost smooth like cobblestones. I believe it was Edmunds and Lowe who worked at placing all the stones just right to fill the sections in and made for a welcomed rest

We kept walking and made the Valley Way about  4:30. After about a mile we ran into another couple heading UP. Speaking to them they were heading up and coming down. It was maybe 5:30 at the time and way late to be going the wrong way without tent or room at the hut. Rose and I passed a couple of the Appalachian trail workers Sherpa packing supplies up. We had seen them coming down in the morning with the racks and cardboard. It.s amazing to see what they haul.

We made it back to the lot at just after 8pm. My hands were sore and blistered from using my poles so heavily to move my weight and maintain footing.  I worked much harder coming down that going up that’s for sure.  The tally for the day was 9.7 Miles and leaves only Mt Washington as the last of the Presidential Range peaks for me to Hike. I believe when the day comes i will go up the Amonoosinic Ravine trail to the summit and down the Jewel trail.

The weather lately has been in a funk a little sunny but occasional showers, clouds and some severe thunderstorms. This was the case early Friday evening when storms blew through knocking out power and falling trees near our house and across Rt 202 making packing and preparing for the hike Friday night a headlamp affair.

In looking at the weather they were forecasting the higher summits to be mostly sunny Saturday and partly cloudy Sunday so I decided I had a window that would provide fair views. Thunderstorms were due through Friday in all areas and they should suck up all the bad weather, right? Well that’s my theory anyway. Worst case we should have views with clouds moving through the question would be what the cloud ceiling would be for views at the top.

We made the Appalachia trail head off route 2 at about 8:00 am. The lot was quite full and we got one of the last spots. The sun was popping in and out of the clouds all up through the drive through the valleys. It was very cloudy and the ground fog was still lifting. We were hoping the forecast hadn’t changed overnight. My group consisted of Keeley and Rose and our plan was to take the Airline up to Mt Adam’s 5774′ and then if things went well swing over to Madison Hut and ideally summit Mt Madison 5367′. The mileage up and down just Mt Adam’s would be roughly 9.6 miles with over 4600′ of elevation gain. This equates to steep, steady and long. We got rolling and made decent time up to the junction of the Valley Way / Airline Trails. I decided an alternate route might be best opting for what likely would be the easiest accent the Valley Way trail since this was the one used for moving supplies to the Hut. The Airline trail is supposed to provide excellent views but I could see we still had a few clouds and figured take the easier trek up and we could make a loop back down the Airline to pick up the views. This would add a small amount if mileage but easy up is always better.

The group liked the idea and we charged up the Valley Way trail. Keeley had some heal blister trouble so we stopped a couple times for Moleskin and took in a couple short loops to view falls right along the trail. The Valley Way Trail was a decent walk and proved a great choice. We made the Madison Hut at about 1:30pm. It was cloudy but you could see these windows of blue sky in the breaks of the lower clouds. We had lunch at the hut and discussed our plans. Since we had taken so long to reach the hut, we decided to summit Mt Madison since it was only a half mile away if that went well we could still grab Mt Adams. So we started off and up the bolder pile. The route we used was the Osgood Trail which was reasonable and similar to boulder walks on the summits of Mt Jefferson and Mt Monroe. As we gained elevation we grew more exposed to the wind and at the summit the blow was strong and steady. I checked the Mt Washington Weather later that night and they were clocking steady winds for the day of 52 mph with the highest gust at 88mph. The winds did not feel as strong they were on Mt Jackson last year. I was curious and looked them up and discovered they were steady at 59 with a highest gust of 89. It’s a really cool experience to feel the force of nature this way. We hung out and enjoyed the views that came and went with the cloud breaks and took some pictures.We hiked back the way we came reaching the Madison Hut and then taking the Airline cut-off trail over to the shoulder of Mt Adams. The Cut-off was really a short walk in scrub about a 1/8th mile long with unremarkable features. Looking at the GPS is was almost 4:30 and clouds were darkening a bit to the west, and we never got a high clearing of the clouds as we hoped. Rather than press for higher elevation we decided to stroll down the Airline and take in the views of the King Ravine and the Knife Edge. The Airline Trail afforded excellent views as we meandered down. The knife edge isn’t really that precipitous but it was interesting and affords great views. After an hour or so we could hear thunder in the distance and picked our pace up a bit to ensure we made the safety of tree line.After making tree line the trail became steady steep for a stretch with large rocks and lots of big step downs at this same time it started to rain, and rained for 20 min. This tougher area of Airline was not far before the Scar Trail junction. We gave thought about crossing over to the Valley Way Trail knowing that it was relatively easy, but decided that staying on the Airline would be best. We were wrong…The Airline trail continued to get even steeper and remained difficult for quite a while. We made slow pace over this section of trail and it seemed like over a mile before there was any real relief. When the relief started to come the trail had a lot of work being done on it for drainage which seemed to loosen the clay on the trail making for very greasy footing, even on the flats.We made the Valley Way Trail junction and stayed on the Airline and plodded along quite quickly. We made it back to the Appalachia lot and the car about 8:15pm. I estimate the total distance for the day to be roughly  10.2 miles.

When I head up this trail again I would do the Valley Way up, Airline down and diverge to the Scar and Valley Way to complete the decent. If the Scar Trail (which i haven’t been on) happened to be as bad as the middle section of Airline I know it’s only about 3 tenths long and the views the upper part of the Airline provides are well worth the effort.

The King Ravine is a magnificent view from the Airline Trail. I know the King Ravine trail comes up it, but that would be an extremely long steep head wall to come up even in the best of conditions, so avoid that unless you’re looking for the challenge. By all accounts we made good choices for the day with the exception of not taking the Scar to cross-over to Valley Way Trail. Keeley’s back was bothering her on the way down but she marched on like a trooper. Rose did excellent for the day.

So we had a wonderful day with less than ideal weather. We left a hike to Mt Adam’s for another day, which Rose said was becoming a habit for us. I must say though I won’t mind another trip up the Valley Way Trail to this area of the White Mountains. On a clear day the views here would be indescribable. Here is a link to all the Pictures from the Day.

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Today also marked the one year anniversary of my Dad’s passing. I am not sure that I believe that makes it a truly special day, but it special enough that I remembered it so I will acknowledge it here. Going forward I would prefer to remember his birthday, anniversary or even the day he was discharged by the army, but today I remembered.

When my father became diagnosed and ill I realized just how precious and short lived our time is on this in this world and I wrestled with my own mortality. I struggled with his fight and seeing his suffering. After talking to him about the old times I hiked to Mt Willard, a place we visited via snowmobile in my teens. On that short hike returning there I discovered all the joys of hiking, cleared my mind, recalled happier times, and acquiesced his fight with cancer.  I suppose then it is fitting then that I stood on a rocky, timeless summit a year to the hour since his passing and remembered him.  I do think it is unfortunate we never had the opportunity to hike when he was alive, but that’s o.k. I take him and his memory with me today on every trip!

Rose, Teah and I headed for end of the Kancamagus highway with the objective of spending our first night in the backwoods and reaching the summit of Mt Hancock. We made the trail head for the Hancock Notch Trail about 3:30pm after checking in with the Ranger Station to verify my understanding of the rules.
We have camped before but not as a group with the dog, and not with fully loaded packs up and down a 4400 footer. So this would be a trip of firsts and hopefully Teah would be cooperative.

The first couple miles of trail was really easy with minor increases in elevation and the trail was quite wide and obviously an old road. There was water along most of the trail, providing that welcome relaxing ambient sound in the woods. At the Cedar Brook Trail junction we saw a man camping just off the trail, obviously he didn’t get the memo of being 200′ back. We ended up hiking about 2 miles in to just before the first stream crossing on the Cedar Brook Trail and made camp up on a wooded rise. We were close enough to hear the stream but high enough and off the trail as required to not be seen or bothered by passers by. There was plenty of dead firewood laying down for a camp fire.

The area was used previously and with a bit of searching Rose actually found a small fire pit and we set-up camp near it. Rose started gathering fire wood and I started with the tent. Once the tent was up I started the fire and Rose set-up the furnishings getting the pads, sleeping bags, and cribbage set ready for the night. We had some back country gourmet Lasagna which only required a couple cups of hot water from my Jetboil stove. The Lasagna was actually quite good and the portion was decent. We had a couple glasses of wine toasting our adventure and enjoyed the fire. Teah liked the tent hung out inside most of the evening. We were all inside about 9:30, using our headlamp LEDs as a ceiling light for Rose to kick my but in cribbage.
I was up about 4:30 as it got light. Teah was concerned and had to lay by the door to keep an eye on the forest and she kept giving concerned vocalizations off and on. I nodded in and out until 5:30 but I thought Teah might have to go out, I certainly did and so up and out we were. I tried to get her to walk to the stream with me while I pump water for the camelbacks, but she was not leaving Rose behind. I put Teah in the tent and headed off for water. When I returned I pulled our food out of the tree and made some scrambled Back Country Denver Omelet and hot chocolate. Note to self, powdered eggs are horrible, Rose took a pass, I ate mine and Teah got the bonus and ate Rose’s. We packed up and hit the trail about 9:30.
There are several stream crossings on the Cedar Brook Trail, in high water they would be very tough to traverse. Actually the whole area would likely be problematic in early spring since it was muddy in places and a lot of water was along the trail. There are also many great places to camp in this area all the way in up to the north south fork. We reached the Hancock Loop Trail and decided to go to the North Summit. The seven tenths to the summit were quite steep and steady, but this would be the only heavy elevation gain of the trail. This section had many high step ups and in areas had loose shale like stones mixed in, making footing a little treacherous. We reached the summit about 12:00 and hung out on the outlook, had lunch, and rested. The views were great we could see Mt Chocorua to the south and Mt Oceola and points west. Teah was tired, we all were and we decided not to do the additional 1.3 miles of the loop to the south summit and just headed back down the way we came.

On our way out we were passed by a single hiker who did the South loop and a three group who arrived at the trail head just after us who had also done the South loop. We had seen all these folks on top and they left the Summit about the same time we did. We probably should have gone for the loop it would have been just a little extra effort, but 8.7 miles was enough for this trip and everyone had a tiring great time. Besides the South Summit loop was described as “Reliably Steep” in the AMC guide. Rose unlocked the car and the rest of the doors would not unlock, dead battery, lights were left on. A man from Connecticut had cables and obliged us with a jump. Disaster was averted, we changed out our shoes and were on our way.

There was to be a break in the weather so north I went.  My hike would start off Sawyer River road and follow the Signal Trail to the summit. The hike is 5.1 miles from the parking lot to the summit for 10.2 rt.

Today I would be hiking solo. I would prefer to be with someone, obviously it’s safer but I have taken all the precautions and am fully equipped. Well I did forget my hiking poles but that shouldn’t be a problem.

The trail started out following a fast flowing stream the grade of the trail was quite easy for the first couple miles with a long stretch that was nearly level. The trail is an old woods road that has grown in. At about 2 miles in the trail split with the Carrigain Notch Trail to the right and Signal Trail to the left. Not far after the split there is a stream crossing that is the widest of the bunch and without poles was a tricky rock hop. This stream could be trouble in higher water requiring a walk up or down to find a way to pass. I also noticed that there really wasn’t much in the way of trail markers or blazes on the trees up to this point. This is not an issue this time of year but in the winter could make staying on the trail a bit tricky.

After crossing the stream the trail starts getting steeper quickly and maintains a steady steep grade throughout. The footing and condition of the trail was excellent compared to many other trails, there were not a lot of high step up and downs that can be hard on the knees. The trail is fairly grown in and does not afford much in the way of views until you get almost on top. There are a couple windows to view here and there but not many. The last 1/2 mile of trail there is an interesting ridge walk which is similar to the alpine areas of the presidentials.

I made the summit in just over 3 hours. The summit has a tower that affords 360 degree views of the whites which is quite unique. I hung out, had my lunch, and took some photos for about 45 minutes. I had the summit to myself the entire time which I must say is rare, The last summit I had to myself was Mt Eisenhower last summer.

The weather report was to be for clearing skies but upon arrival there were cumulus clouds and they looked to be building. I could see lake Winnipesaukee and a town in the distance I think was Bartlett. The views were outstanding and I would guess I could see 30-40 miles likely more.

I started down and made great time. I had to pump water from one of the little springs trickling across the trail to replenish my Camelback and made it down in just over 2 hours. The stretch of trail (the initial 2 miles) is a nice woods walk for anyone to enjoy. It crosses steams several times and they were flowing well. This area would also be very condusive to tenting overnight and or picnicking. The stream certainly run well enough and are large enough to hold brook trout. I also noticed the Sawyer River would be awesome fishing with access off the Sawyer River road it is an easy walk down the bank 40 yards or so. I certainly will revisit this area in the future with tent and pole.

It started as cloudy day and the weather didn’t look to be the most promising. Forecast was clouds early and clouds late with possible thunderstorms. We debated on making the trip and decided we would head up and hike Mt Field and if things went well try to get in Mt Willey as well both 4000 footers.The hiking party today would be Rose, Teah and Myself.

We arrived at the Macomber Family Facility around 8:30am. temps and skies were about the same as they were down south temp at the trail head was 64 and skies cloudy but light hints of blue sky could be seen occasionally in thin areas.

We started up the trail pausing several times to adjust our packs and clothing balance. The trails were in great shape and the traffic was much less than I anticipated. We were going to hike the A-Z trail, to Mt Avalon Loop, to Willey Range Trail.

The trail grade for the most part is not bad. The initial part of the trail follows a stream that was flowing quite well in which we crossed a couple times. In high water the crossings could be tricky but today they were easy.

As we started up the Mt Avalon trail things got much steeper quickly, it also became much more rocky. We were concerned about Teah’s paws so we put her boots on her. She did not seem to like the idea initially, but once underway she didn’t seem to care. As you might imagine we received lots of comments from other hikers on her boots, but knew all to well how the rocks hurt her pads on Mt Chocorua last month.

We made the summit trail of Mt Avalon, the sign shown is the same one that was just out of the snow on mt hike up Mt Avalon this spring with Shannon. It was interesting to hike the trails we had done in snowshoes. I could make out several landmarks from those earlier hikes including the snow coned tree.

The trail from Mt Avalon to Mt Field is an interesting walk through some different forest. I think it is what is referred to as the Boreal. Trees very close together, very lush, lots of dead trees mixed in. I kept waiting for the fairies to pop out any minute.

We made the summit of Mt Field and were welcomed by still mostly cloudy skies. We could see the Mt Washington hotel and the summits of Mt Avalon and Mt Tom but not much else. Occasional we we see some bright sun but the sky never opened blue as we had hoped. The good news the skies didn’t open with rain either.

After having lunch on the summit of Mt Field we thought we would head for Mt Willey 1.4 miles away. The walk should be a summit walk with little elevation change. We started off but Teah would not leave the summit. A group of guys came up that we saw earlier and we tried again. She still would not budge. So we figured maybe we should head back down. Tia didn’t want to do this either. Now Tia is not the biggest dog in the forest but when she wants a piece of another dog look out, she is strong and when she does not want to move she is dead weight. I ended up picking her up by her harness like a suitcase and walking. Teah started walking after about 30 yards. We went maybe a couple hundred yards and she stopped again. This time we waited, rested her for about 10 minutes and finally she started off. We went maybe a 1/2 hour and we met another dog on the trail, a big shepherd. She had no problem heading down the trail then and nearly pulled rose and I down the trail most of the way out.

We decided not to shoot up the 100 yard spur to Mt Avalon given that there would not be any views and Teah’s temperament for the afternoon and simply continued down the trail. When we reached the bolder cascade loop we decided we could swing though and take in the views. Tia would not go down the trail, once again refusing to budge. “Does she know the trail?” Rose asked, “I don’t know” I said. We tried a few minutes and then gave up and headed down the main trail.

Rain looked to be threatening and we didn’t want to wait and try coaxing her any longer. All in all we had an awesome day. The hike ended up being roughly 6.7 miles and the dog boots worked great on Teah’s feet. Now if we can only train her to go where we want to, when we want to we will have it knocked.

Rose did excellent all day. She took a minor tumble when we stepped aside for some other hikers, losing her footing and poking her hand on something. Other than that no injuries and no falls. That’s always a good thing. It was just a marvelous day of hiking even though we had no views.

Well Rose & I awoke later than we wanted but got on the road by 7:00 to a perfect crisp blue new england sky. I like to be on the trail earlier in hopes of getting better views before clouds or storms arrive.

Our goal for today was to Summit Mt Chocorua via the Champney Falls Trail which departs from the Kancamagus Highway. The estimated round trip for the day is 7.5 miles. We also wanted to take our dog Teah with us on her first hike. Since she doesn’t care for most people or dogs we were in for an exciting day, but we figured a socializing experience would be great for her.

We arrived at the trail head and got underway around 9-9:30am, the parking area actually had a couple parking spaces which was surprising considering it was a holiday weekend. After placing Teah’s pack of water on her I felt it was best for me to carry her pack in mine versus her carrying it for her first adventure. I could see the weight slightly affected her gait and we hadn’t been able to train with it prior, so better safe than sorry. Certainly with the pack on she would be less likely to bounce at other dogs. (Dog Gear harnesses, hiking and such www.ruffwear.com)

We got underway, the trail grade was very easy and somewhat follows a stream which provides a great ambient sound of falling water in the forest for about the first half hour. We met several people on the trail and as we stopped for snacks and water met even more (it was busy). The Chapmney Falls loop joins to the right at 1.5 miles in and rejoins about a half mile further along. Rose and I decided not to go to the falls if time permitted on the return we would swing into them. At this point the grade became steeper but still a very manageable easy to walk. A couple miles in we started to get great views back across the valley and of Mt Washington. After a while we came out onto a ledge that provided wonderful views back across the valley and took a break. I noticed at this point that we had lost most of our company on the trail . I fully expected our companions to be coming by and they never came. I suspected we missed our turn somehow and ended up on the Sisters Loop Trail. Rose, Teah and I enjoyed the solitude, treated Rose’s heal blister and moved on. At this point we were close to a summit and when we crested what a site! Views in all directions and an incredible unique view of Chocorua’s rocky summit cone. It’s hard to see in this photo, but in the larger version you can see all the people around on the rocks. (check out the album link at bottom or article)

We admired the view and worked our way down the side to the column between Chocorua and the Sisters. The trail markings were difficult to see and the trail was a bit tricky and could be difficult in rainy weather since it was all rock with a couple of big steps
. We rejoined the original trail and made way for the summit. There were loads of people on the summit and lots and lots of dogs. Loads of people, lots of them, everywhere! I was amazed…Teah did well and handled the dogs and the terrain in stride. I’m not sure if Teah was getting better with people and dogs or I was getting numb from controlling her but things seemed to be improving steadily throughout the day as she had more contacts.We had lunch, took some pictures and hung around a while before starting down. Teah had decided that she had enough of the hiking experience and was starting to lag. I could tell she was likely getting sore feet from the rocks since she did fine on dirt but wanted nothing to do with the rocky areas.The hike down other than Teah slowing us went without issue and was wonderful. It was nice to have the valley views all the way and certainly going straight down the Champney Falls trail saved us a few miles from zipping back up and around the sisters loop once again.

We made the parking lot around 4:30pm and found that the place was packed, cars were lined up along the road in both directions. We were amazed by the numbers of people just heading up the trail so late in the day, with no supplies or even water. We didn’t swing into the falls on our return due to concern with Teah’s paws. She was being a good sport but we didn’t want to push her anymore than we already had so we left that for a future trip.

Today’s hike was an excellent day in the woods and a route I would highly recommend to anyone. I estimate the trip ended up being roughly 10.25 miles with the Sisters Loop without it the guide books say it.s about 7.2 mi. The picture below is Mt Chocorua and the Sisters taken at Chocorua Lake just off of Rt 16.

Although not officially a 4000 footer, Mt Chocorua does have a lot of elevation gain so standard precautions must be made for weather, water and supplies. Here is a link to all the Photos from the Day

It was an excellent day and a wonderful hike.! Thanks Rose…Love You!