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Wildcat Mountain

rusty — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:02:02 +0000

This past weekend we went up to New Hampshire for an awesome fall hike, this time hitting the peaks of Wildcat Mountain (there are 5 of them, though only 2 count towards the list). This one was almost over before it began, since the very first thing we needed to do was cross Glen Ellis Brook which had fast, high, freezing cold water. Jumping from icy rock to icy rock is a recipe for disaster, but thankfully we all stayed dry.

After the brook crossing, we started a 2 mile walk straight up the side of the ridge to the summit of Wildcat D. The day was pretty cold, but it was amazingly clear, which gave us some incredible views on the way up and from the summit. Here you see a view of Mt. Washington where you can see Tuckerman’s and Huntington Ravines:

Wildcat you may know is a ski mountain. So it was cool to get to the top of D peak and see the lifts waiting for the winter. We were able to use the old lift house as a wind-stop for lunch, which was another stroke of luck.

After the summit of Wildcat D, it was a relatively easy walk across the ridge to the summit of A peak, the highest of all the Wildcat peaks.

Overall, a great fall hike! For more info:

Kinsmans

rusty — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:43:19 +0000

We did get a late start on hiking this season, but we’re making up for lost time. Last weekend, a few of us went up to the ‘Whites and hiked up past Lonesome Lake and across the Kinsman Ridge to both peaks of Mt. Kinsman.

Though rain was in the forecast, we ended up with a beautiful day. September 13th also happened to be the day that Flags on the 48 was going on. Basically, what happens is that on the first Saturday after September 11, volunteers hike up to each of the 48 peaks on the White Mountains 4,000 footer list and place an American flag on the summit from noon until 2:00.

It’s a pretty nice gesture, as far as honoring those who died that day in 2001. We met some interesting characters involved in the event, and we’re even thinking about volunteering to cover a peak next year!

For more pictures, route info, etc. check out:

The photo gallery
The hike page

Loose Ends

rusty — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:13:53 +0000

We finally took our first hiking trip of the year last weekend, the late start being attributed to some unforeseen events. No matter though, it was if we had never left… To break up the day, we decided to do two relatively short hikes in order to tie up some loose ends. The morning one was a trip to the summit of Mount Osceola, which we missed in February when we snow-shoed up the East peak.

In the afternoon we hit our second peak, Cannon Mountain. Going by the book time this is a short one (4 miles/3 hours) so the idea was to get that out of the way without having to one day go up north for only that hike. Though, I’m not sure what Olympian they had time that one out because it was more like 4:15 since it was insanely steep for almost half the journey to the summit.

The times were good, and it definitely felt great to get back onto the White Mountains trails again. Only seven peaks to go before we’ve finished the list, but who’s counting?

For even more:

Stop saying Hawaii in there

rusty — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:19:22 +0000

Ok so it’s been almost a month since we got back, but I’ve finally finished sorting and uploading the pictures from our recent trip to Hawaii.

In short, Hawaii is incredible. My lady and I spent a week and half there, with our time split between O’ahu and Kauai. O’ahu was wonderful for seeing the sights (Waikiki, Hanauma Bay, Pearl Harbor, etc.) and having fun with our friends. Kauai was the best for outdoor activities and beaches. I highly recommend seeing both of these islands if you ever get to Hawaii!

For me, the highlight of the trip was hiking in Waimea Canyon on Kauai. The canyon walls rise about 4,000 feet and they are quite a sight to behold. We hiked down a wooded trail and along the canyon ridge to the top of Waipo’o Falls — a wonderful 4-mile round trip.

You can see more pictures in our Hawaii photo gallery. Aloha!

PS: This title of this post is from The Simpsons.

Flume Gorge Snowshoeing

rusty — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:06:54 +0000

One of my best Christmas presents this year was an awesome pair of snowshoes that I got from my wonderful girlfriend. Eager to get out and use them, last weekend a few of us went up to New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch State Park for a day of trekking through the snow. Earlier this summer, Gemma and I had explored The Flume Gorge, an 800-foot miniature canyon at the base of Mount Liberty. The place was absolutely amazing, and we vowed to head back there in the winter.

During the summer, the Flume has a fully staffed and very crowded visitors’ center which acts as a (for-pay) gateway to the park. But with the advent of winter, the center closes down and the land is free to use. Though the parking lots are plowed, the paths up to the visitors’ center are not, and once up to the front, you’ll need to hop over a stone wall and walk around the building to get to the trailhead. This sounds sketchy but trust me it’s 100% within the rules, I know because I emailed the park staff before we went up there

After putting our ’shoes on at the trailhead behind the building, we headed down the trail and across a covered bridge which leads to the beginning of the gorge. In the summer, a series of boardwalks takes you through the gorge, but these are pulled away when the Flume closes for winter. There are some permanent boardwalks on either end of the gorge, though, and we were able to walk down these a little ways so we could take in the incredible sight of the ice-covered gorge walls and the pristine beauty of Avalanche Falls.

After experiencing the gorge, we continued following the trail towards The Pool, a small body of water surrounded by near 100-foot rock cliffs. Spanning the northern end of The Pool is Sentinel Pine bridge, another covered bridge that was built on the trunk of a giant fallen pine tree. After The Pool, the trail then heads back towards the visitors’ center though a series of enormous glacial boulders.

At just under three miles, this trip was neither too short nor too long. Whether you are brand new to snowshoeing or you are an experienced veteran, I highly recommend checking out The Flume in the winter time. You will not be disappointed! For more pictures, check out my full photo gallery on Flickr.

Late Fall Hiking

rusty — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:52:33 +0000

Late fall is a great time for hiking — the air is crisp and clear, there are no bugs, it’s not oppressively cold, the views are fantastic and it’s a great extra challenge. A couple weekends ago, we went up the New Hampshire and hiked up Mt. Tecumseh, which at 4003 feet is the lowest mountain on the list. Don’t let that fool you, though: Tecumseh is no joke. It’s one of those mountains that starts off nice and steady but rises steeply for about a mile up to the summit. At just over 5 miles round trip, it was great hike to kick off the winter season.

Check out the hike page and the photo gallery for more info.

After hitting up Tecumseh, me and G headed up to Maine for a weekend in Camden along the Maine coast. While we were up there we hiked up the highest peak in Camden Hills State Park, Mt. Megunticook. It was a wonderful hike and we got some incredible weather.

Photo gallery is here.

Mount Jefferson and Mount Adams

rusty — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 03:58:13 +0000

Yesterday we decided to take advantage of the late August weather and walk up two of the three highest peaks in the White Mountains. Starting at the highest trailhead in the Whites, Caps Ridge Trail, we made our way across the Ridge of the Caps and up to the summit of Mt. Jefferson. This route takes you up 2700 feet in about 2.5 miles, with the majority of the climbing done in the last three quarters of a mile or so.

Summiting Jefferson via the Caps Ridge Trail is definitely a popular hike, but most of the time people loop around and come back after Jefferson. We thought it would be sweet to continue on to Mount Adams, which is just another two miles away from the summit. So continue we did and it really worked out because the the terrain and the views around Mount Adams are simply incredible.

For more info and pictures check out:

Recent Hikes

rusty — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 02:05:20 +0000

It just dawned on me that I never posted my two latest hiking trips to this page. They both were done over the July 4th weekend, day hikes amidst four days of camping in Twin Mountain, NH. We used those hikes to tie up a few loose ends: North Twin, which we missed during our Pemi Traverse, and Mount Cabot, which had defeated us earlier this year.

Above: The crew on the wooded summit of Mt. Cabot.

For more:

The Sandwich Range

rusty — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 02:54:14 +0000

The Sandwich Range is the southernmost range in the White Mountains. Home to four peaks on the 4,000 footer list, the range was the perfect place to go for our first overnight hike of the season. This time, we hit four mountains on our list: Mt. Passaconaway, Mt. Whiteface, Middle Tripyramid and North Tripyramid. At just over 20 miles, it might have been a bit ambitious for the first multi-day trip of the year, but we still had a blast!

We started relatively early on Saturday morning and made our way down Oliverian Brook Trail, following the blue blazes. About a mile into the trail, it split off at a fork so we decided to turn right and keep following the blazes. Three quarters of a mile down that side trail we happened upon a large group of people standing at a fire road, scratching their heads. As we later figured out, we all had gone the wrong way by following the blue blazes! So, backtrack we did and that’s why on the GPS plot above you’ll see a slight detour near the beginning of the trail.

The rest of the trip went smoothly, though. The first day we hit Mt. Passaconaway and Mt. Whiteface, then camped near the summit of Whiteface at an old tent site called Camp Heermance (which is no longer maintained). On day two we walked across the Sleepers, then up the south slide of the Tripyramids. Dropping our packs where Tripyramid Trail meets Sabbaday Brook trail, we quickly bagged North Tripyramid, then made our way out the 6 miles back to the car. The last pasrt of the trail went right through Sabbaday Falls, which is an incredibly beautiful waterfall right off of Route 112.

After this 20+ mile trip, we were definitely ready for some Yankee Smokehouse on the way home!

Tuckerman’s Ravine

rusty — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:30:02 +0000

Last weekend we had originally intended to hike up Mt. Cabot, but since time was going to run out (leaving our car locked behind the gate of the Berlin Fish Hatchery) we decided instead to hike up to Tuckerman’s Ravine. A popular place for adventurous skiers, the ravine is about three miles up the side of Mount Washington. Even though it was in the high sixties and sunny, there was a ton of fresh snow on the mountain and that brought out gaggles of skiers, boarders and spectators like us.

Here is a picture of the route plotted from Dan’s GPS data using Google Earth:

There are no chair lifts at the ravine. Instead, people strap their skis/boards to their backs and then hike the three miles to the bowl. Once there they proceed to climb up the side of the ravine (sometimes having to use ice picks to get up there), strap their skis on and ski down. It’s pretty incredible to watch.

Even though we didn’t get to hike our planned route, the day was still a blast. You can see some more pictures in my photo gallery of the hike.