Category: Hikes

Mt. Willard was my first morning hike of our vacation. What a way to start, too. It was pouring on me the whole way up, plus it was right at dawn, so I was worried about running into a bear, too. Once I got to the top the rain stopped, but the whole of Crawford Notch was socked in with fog anyway. You could barely make out the ridge that is across the notch from Willard. Still, I had a great time anyway. Hiking in the rain never really bothers me that much. It's just a matter of accepting the fact that you are going to get soaked - once you do that, it can be kind of fun.

Now that the weather is warming up again, I've restarted my weekly weekend walks at Maudslay State Park. On my most recent trip, I took more of an interest in two things I've been curious about several times before, but never followed up on. The first is the tree you see in the middle picture, which is in the formal walled garden at the park. Late last fall, I noticed that this tree had fruit growing on it (they looked like apples). It seemed like an awfully strange and interesting way to grow a tree, though. Well I looked it up, and apparently this technique dates all the way back to trying to grow fruit within the walls of castles, in a very limited space. The technique is called "espalier" - here is a link to the wiki article. The other interesting thing is the round stone you see in the third photo (forgive me for the terrible quality of that one). I'd always suspected it was a millstone, but I wasn't sure. Well I looked that up, too. It is in fact a millstone - a runner stone, to be precise. Based on what I read in this article, it looks like this particular stone has a "quarter dress" pattern. It makes me wonder how it ended up here, out in the woods at the park. The park is right on the river - I wonder if there was a mill here once upon a time?

Dad and I went for a winter hike up in Crawford Notch last weekend. We climbed Mount Avalon. We ended up with a beautiful day. It was pretty cold, but the skies were nice and clear. The view from the top was amazing - the view of the Mt. Washington weather station was crystal clear. The last quarter-mile was incredibly steep, and without crampons I backslid a half-step for every step forward. But on the way down, the steepness was an advantage. I sat on my butt, and slid for a hundred yards at a shot halfway down the mountain. Next time, I'm going to bring a little saucer-style sled!

I've been sticking to my plan to go for a hike every Saturday morning. It's been about six weeks, and the only Saturday I've missed was the morning of Carter's birthday party - there was just too much stuff to set up at the house for me to squeeze a hike in. But other than that, I've been going every Saturday, rain or shine. I'm really starting to get to know my way around Maudslay a lot better, and don't bother bringing a trail map anymore. To be honest, it isn't a very accurate map and really wasn't much help anyway. I plan to keep this up all through the winter, as well. I eventually plan to branch out and add other parks to the pool, but for now, I am enjoying Maudslay that I don't have much of an urge yet to go elsewhere.

Going hiking in the Whites with Dad really lit a fire under me to try to start hiking more again. The past two weekends, I've gotten up early on Saturday morning (before dawn) to go for a hike without taking too much time away from the fam. Both times so far, I've gone out to Maudslay State Park in Newburyport. It's great - it's a beautiful park, plus that early in the morning I see hardly anyone. Yesterday I hiked for two hours, and saw a grand total of three people - all joggers. Next weekend I'm planning to try somewhere new. I'm considering Willowdale State Forest.

Two weekends ago, Dad and I went up north just for weekend, so that we could do a hike in the White Mountains. We ended up doing North and Middle Sugarloaf. I've never been up there before, and it was great. The views were fantastic, but it was freezing on the summit. It was low 40's to begin with, plus there was a whole lot of wind. But all in all, an awesome hike.

While we were up north, we took the kids on a hike. I wanted to give them their first taste of the mountains, but I also wanted to make sure they could actually -do- the hike. So we settled on Black Cap. It's a little over a mile to the top, with a relatively easy grade. We had to carry them off and on as their legs got tired - or they got bored. :) But once we got to the top, they had a great time. Sean and I explored the summit, and he was climbing rocks, running around, jumping in puddles, and just thoroughly enjoying himself. The only downside is that the whole region was packed tight with fog, so we couldn't see anything from the summit. I would really have liked to see what the kids thought of the view.

Dad and I hit the Arethusa Falls / Frankenstein Cliff loop the day before Lori was due to arrive with the kids. The falls were beautiful, but crowded. But we saw only three other groups on the Frankenstein Cliff, and they were all traveling in the other direction. The cliff itself commanded a fantastic view - although truth be told, my vertigo had me standing (alright, sitting) about forty feet back from the edge. On the trail down from the cliff, you pass under a bridge for the railroad that passes through this area. I've always wondered what it would be like to be there as a train passed by. Somehow, we timed it perfectly. We got their, climbed up to the bridge to check it out, and heard the train blow it's whistle not 30 seconds later. Amazing!

After our warm-up hike of Black Cap earlier in the day, we were prepared to head out for an overnight stay at Sawyer Pond. I've been reading some about ultralight backpacking, and have slimmed my overnight gear down to something that will fit in my rucksack, rather than taking my big overnight bag. As you can see, Dad and Mike had some fairly large loads, however. Although both were more bulky than heavy, to be honest. But I thought Mike's looked especially funny, with that huge sleeping bag sticking off of the back like a chair. We started at the northern end of the trail, and less that a mile in the sky opened up and the downpour began. We were soaked to the skin instantly. But the air and rain were both pretty warm, so it was more fun than depressing. Of course, it scrubbed our overnight plans, as our gear got pretty wet. But we still got a chance to see the campsites and shelter, and the view of the pond with the mountains behind was quite beautiful. We plan to go back soon, and hopefully this time with Lori in tow as well.

Sean and I had a father-son day today. Lori took Carter out to run some errands, and Sean and I went to Maudslay State Park for a hike. We did about 2.5 to 3 miles total, and much to my surprise Sean walked the whole way. He was a little tired by the end, but he never even asked to be carried. We found some old foundations out in a field, and Sean walked on the top 2 inches protruding from the grass, chugging like an engine as he went. We did four laps before he was ready to move on. That hike proved to me that once I get him up north with me, there are probably a few short hikes in the Whites that he could handle. I can't wait!