Category: Hikes

On Wednesday, I hiked up Mt Crawford. Like every trail I did this week, I had it all to myself. On the way back out, I ran into one other group on their way up, when I was less than 10 minutes from the parking area. I love the solitude I find on the trail so early in the morning. The only thing that I worry about is running into bears, but so far, so good. All I've managed to 'run into' is spiderwebs. Being the first person on the trail every morning means that I've got to 'break trails' through hundreds of spiderwebs on my way up the mountain. Ick - I'd almost rather be breaking the trail through snow that that!

On Tuesday, I climbed Table Mountain. This was a new one for me. It's on the back side of Attitash, with views to the south - which is not usually the view I get. I took Sadie with me, and she was eating it up. When we got to the top, it was all I could do to convince her to turn around and head back down - she just wanted to push on and on.

On Monday, we all climbed Black Cap. What a difference a year makes! The kids climbed all the way up and down by themselves, and no one asked to be carried. Both of the kids really enjoyed the view from the top. Now that they've seen the reward, I might be able to get them interested in hiking more with me. The whole summit was covered with wild blueberries, and the kids were picking and eating them by the handful. We took Sadie with us too, and she has never looked so happy. We really need to get her out on more easy hikes - she was practically bouncing up the trail!

I took my first morning vacation hike yesterday. I was originally planning to go to Mt Willard, but once I got to the trailhead I decided I was feeling stronger than Willard, and headed for Mt Avalon instead. It was a beautiful morning, and the trail was absolutely empty. The whole trip I only saw two other people, and both of them I saw on my way out when I was five minutes from the parking lot. The view from the top was fantastic, but there were so many flies up there that I couldn't bear to stay very long. Everything from tiny little mayflies, all the way up to great big horseflies. And since I was the only interesting thing up there at the time, every single one of them decided to come over to investigate. Still, a great hike! Headed to Black Cap today, with the fam. Stay tuned for pics!

About a month ago, Dad and I took a hike up to the Lunch Rocks in Tuckerman's Ravine to watch the skiers. The first guy we saw try wiped out almost immediately, and slid at high speed into the rocks twenty feet from where we were sitting. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and got hurt pretty bad. Very sobering sight. On the hike back out, we chatted with a lot of the skiers headed up and asked if they had helmets. Most did not, and didn't seem concerned. It amazes me how so many people just assume "it couldn't happen to me".

This past Saturday, Dad and I took his boys for a hike with us up Mt Willard. Walking from the parking area to the trailhead, we had serious second thoughts. The wind was brutal - the muscles in my face froze up almost right away, Bailey was shivering like crazy, and Dugan got some salt in his pad and was hopping on three legs. But once we got within the trees, it was a very nice hike. We had the trail to ourselves. On the way up, we were the first footprints in the new snow. On the way down, when we were almost done, we passed one other group on their way up. Definitely, a great day.

On our last full day up north, we took the kids to Diana's Baths. For those who have never been there, it a huge, sprawling series of pools, falls, and rocks that is a very popular family spot. It's a little over half a mile in, but I ended going out-and-back twice - five minutes after we got there, Carter claimed she needed to use the potty - which was all the way back at the parking lot. But once I got back, the kids and I built a little dam out of rocks and sticks, to block a tiny waterfall and try to get a pool to form behind it.

Another cloudy, foggy morning - so I don't have any picture from the summit of the ledge. But this shot almost makes up for it. Lori wants to get a print made for our living room.

Went up to Ethan Pond in Crawford Notch on day three. I've never been up there before, and thought it was worth checking out. It was pretty nice, in fact. I like all the bog bridges they have up there, where the trail starts to get wet. They just look cool to me, for some reason. I also flushed some kind of good-sized bird, but I'm not sure what it is. I'll have to poke around online and try to find a picture to compare to. Filing this hike away in my "do-again" file - the Ethan Pond campsite might be worth an overnight trip sometime.

Went up Black Cap on day two - much better weather, as you can see. Black Cap is such a short hike, you barely get warmed up by the time you reach the summit. The photo on the left cracks me up - the reflector and the brightly painted sign that says 'TRAIL'. Don't know what I would have done without it!