Happy 2011! We were away in New Jersey over the weekend, and I'd really wanted to try and do a walk or hike on New Year's day. We were exhausted & decided it'd be cold, plus there was snow on the ground & we don't have proper footwear for that - but we woke up New Year's day, and it was sunny and a balmy 50 degrees :( so I was a little bummed. Next year!
Although I'm itching for a hike, I probably won't be able to do any trips for at least a few weeks, due to my schedule and the fact that I don't have the right footwear for hiking in snow. I've thought about trying out some traction thingies (very technical, I know) for my boots for snow & ice, so next time I'm at REI or EMS I might check some out. We will also be doing some snowboarding soon hopefully, although none of us are very good so we may just go to a local golf course with good hills before going to an actual mountain.
In 2010, I did 6 more of the New England 4000-footers, one in VT (Killington, 4241') and five in NH: Flume, 4328': Liberty, 4459': Tecumseh, 4003': Pierce, 4310' and Jackson, 4052'; I also did Monadnock (3165') in April as we do every year, Pico in VT (3957'), Great Blue Hill at 635' in Milton, MA with a great view of Boston (the Blue Hills Reservation is a great park with miles of really nice trails), and Mount Wachusett (2006') in central MA. Two trips were overnights - Killington/Pico, and Pierce/Jackson. Mileage-wise this year I did about 53. Altogether not a bad season, I did more this year than I did the previous year so I was happy!
I've thought about what I'd like to do this coming season for hiking. One thing I want to do is more backpacking - I recently got the Sea to Summit Mosquito Pyramid Net Double Shelter on clearance from LLBean and I think for the warm months, it'll be a nice lighter alternative to hiking with a tent. I'll review it when I try it out for the first time! Trip-wise, I'd like to do a hike or two on Franconia Ridge with the boys since they've never done anything there, and I want to do Mount Greylock, Massachusetts' high point at 3491'. I want to do that one as an overnight, and I do want to hike more in MA this year. It's kind of stupid that I hike more 3 hours away in NH than right here in my own backyard. Since I knocked off 6 4000-footers this year, I'd be happy if I could do that many again next year. Some I've looked at are some of the southern 4000ers like Whiteface, Passaconaway, and North & Middle Tripyramid, the Hancocks, maybe Carrigan, and maybe some in the Pemi wilderness, like Bondcliff/Bond/West Bond, Galehead, Zealand, and the Twins. (yeah, ambitious list I know!) We will start our season in April with Monadnock, as we've done for the past 3 years, and go from there. My friend Meg, who I've done Memorial day hikes with in Vermont for the past 3 years, will be in DC this year, so I'm going to go down there and we'll find something to do for Memorial day.
Besides my hiking goals, my other resolutions for this year are to finally lose 10lbs, take rock-climbing lessons, go back to yoga, and canoe more! We have a canoe we got off craigslist 2 years ago, and this summer we went out a fair amount but always to the same place. I'd like to explore some more local canoeing spots next summer.
So, those are my plans in a nutshell for 2011. I'm also getting married this summer, so my hiking time may be cut a little short, but I'm going to do as much as I can. I realized this year how happy it makes me to be out on the trail, and for my own peace of mind and mental & physical well-being, I've come to view hiking as a necessary component of my life. Happy trails in 2011 to all!
Hiking with a toddler, nature, environmental issues and other stuff.
Showing posts with label 4000 footers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4000 footers. Show all posts
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Friday, December 17, 2010
Winter... hiking withdrawl.
Wow, long time no post. Even though it's almost Christmas, I am still planning on trying to stay active outdoors during the winter, despite my intolerance for cold! I will definitely be snowboarding during the winter (I'm not very good though), and hoping to try a little light winter hiking close by. I will keep posting throughout the winter!
After my Flume/Liberty hike this year, I did do a few more hikes. Myself, my brother, and another friend of ours (both members of Team Badassa) hiked Mount Tecumseh in New Hampshire in August. Tecumseh is the lowest (and I think the furthest south) of the 4000-footers in New Hampshire at 4003', and is home to Waterville Valley ski area. The hike roundtrip was 5 miles, so a nice short-ish day, and very enjoyable, although with limited views. The summit isn't totally exposed but there were some views, and popping off the trail onto a ski trail to check out the surrounding scenery was nice, although muddy. Another nice thing about this hike is that it was a little closer than most of our White Mountain hikes are - only about a 2.5 hour drive.
(top: view from a ski trail on Tecumseh - bottom: brother at the summit)
My last group hike of the season was an overnight in the Presidentials. My fiance and one of our friends (again, all members of the larger Team Badassa, who can never all get together at the same time!) hiked mounts Pierce and Jackson. We started out on the Crawford path in Crawford notch and hike to the AMC's Nauman tentsite, where we would spend the night. We dropped our stuff off and headed up to summit Mount Pierce, a 4310' peak about 5 miles south of Mt. Washington. It was close to sunset by the time we got to the summit and the view was absolutely spectacular! Washington was a bit clouded in, but I still got some great pictures.
(top, on the Crawford Path: bottom, view of Mount Washington [clouded in] from Pierce)
(above: the crew at Mizpah hut)
As we hiked down from Jackson, the sky cleared and the sun came out, making for a real nice trip down. We took a short side trail up to an amazing overlook of the notch (photo below). This trip was awesome and really made me want to do more overnight trips, so I'm making it a goal next summer to do more backpacking trips.
I did one more hike this fall, a solo at Wachusett Mountain state reservation. I'd always wanted to hike Mount Wachusett (2006'), and I had Columbus day off and no plans, so I figured I'd hike it myself. I thought I'd have a nice solitary day, but there were TONS of people on the mountain. It was great though - the foliage was in full swing, views from the top were great (Boston and Mount Monadnock are visible from the summit), and I realized I enjoy hiking solo, despite all the other folks on the mountain that day. Risking sounding cliche, it was a very zen experience to hike alone & I hope to do it some more.
(view of Mount Monadnock from the summit of Wachusett)
I took some really nice photos on the trails at Wachusett, here's a sampling of them:
That was my hiking season in a nutshell. I do hope to do a little hiking over the winter, but primarily I'll probably snowboard/snowshoe when I can. I'm hoping to be able to do a hike on New Year's day, but that depends on what New Year's eve brings, lol. I'm already starting to think about Team Badassa's yearly Mount Monadnock hike, which will probably happen in April sometime. Can't wait! We've done Monadnock for the last 3 years as the kick-off to the hiking season.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and happy holidays to all!
After my Flume/Liberty hike this year, I did do a few more hikes. Myself, my brother, and another friend of ours (both members of Team Badassa) hiked Mount Tecumseh in New Hampshire in August. Tecumseh is the lowest (and I think the furthest south) of the 4000-footers in New Hampshire at 4003', and is home to Waterville Valley ski area. The hike roundtrip was 5 miles, so a nice short-ish day, and very enjoyable, although with limited views. The summit isn't totally exposed but there were some views, and popping off the trail onto a ski trail to check out the surrounding scenery was nice, although muddy. Another nice thing about this hike is that it was a little closer than most of our White Mountain hikes are - only about a 2.5 hour drive.
(top: view from a ski trail on Tecumseh - bottom: brother at the summit)
My last group hike of the season was an overnight in the Presidentials. My fiance and one of our friends (again, all members of the larger Team Badassa, who can never all get together at the same time!) hiked mounts Pierce and Jackson. We started out on the Crawford path in Crawford notch and hike to the AMC's Nauman tentsite, where we would spend the night. We dropped our stuff off and headed up to summit Mount Pierce, a 4310' peak about 5 miles south of Mt. Washington. It was close to sunset by the time we got to the summit and the view was absolutely spectacular! Washington was a bit clouded in, but I still got some great pictures.
(top, on the Crawford Path: bottom, view of Mount Washington [clouded in] from Pierce)
The overnight at Nauman was pleasant, and mostly dry, but a little chilly. The tentsite is adjacent to the AMC's Mizpah hut. We broke down and headed back up to Mizpah cut-off, then south on the Webster Cliff trail to Mount Jackson (4052'). The weather was gray and it drizzled on us a little, but we had some decent views from Jackson.
(above: the crew at Mizpah hut)As we hiked down from Jackson, the sky cleared and the sun came out, making for a real nice trip down. We took a short side trail up to an amazing overlook of the notch (photo below). This trip was awesome and really made me want to do more overnight trips, so I'm making it a goal next summer to do more backpacking trips.
I did one more hike this fall, a solo at Wachusett Mountain state reservation. I'd always wanted to hike Mount Wachusett (2006'), and I had Columbus day off and no plans, so I figured I'd hike it myself. I thought I'd have a nice solitary day, but there were TONS of people on the mountain. It was great though - the foliage was in full swing, views from the top were great (Boston and Mount Monadnock are visible from the summit), and I realized I enjoy hiking solo, despite all the other folks on the mountain that day. Risking sounding cliche, it was a very zen experience to hike alone & I hope to do it some more.
(view of Mount Monadnock from the summit of Wachusett)
I took some really nice photos on the trails at Wachusett, here's a sampling of them:
That was my hiking season in a nutshell. I do hope to do a little hiking over the winter, but primarily I'll probably snowboard/snowshoe when I can. I'm hoping to be able to do a hike on New Year's day, but that depends on what New Year's eve brings, lol. I'm already starting to think about Team Badassa's yearly Mount Monadnock hike, which will probably happen in April sometime. Can't wait! We've done Monadnock for the last 3 years as the kick-off to the hiking season.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and happy holidays to all!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Hike - Flume/Liberty
Did a fantastic hike this weekend! Tried to get the group together (our group's name is Team Badassa - long story), but none of the guys were able to make it, so it was just my good friend Meg and I. Hiking with the whole group is great, but we love girls-only hikes! (we also do more badass hikes than we do with the whole group, because we are just awesome.) Anyhoos, we'd wanted to knock off another 4000-footer or two if we could. Decided to do a pretty long loop over Mount Flume and Mount Liberty, in Franconia Notch (NH). Meg and I did a similar long loop hike to Little Haystack, Lincoln, and Lafayette two summers ago and it was tough on us, but awesome. For this hike, we planned to ascend the Flume Slide trail to summit Mt. Flume (4328'), then hike north on the Franconia Ridge trail to Mount Liberty (4459'). Three tenths of a mile north of Liberty, the Liberty Springs trail/AT descends to a junction with the Flume Slide trail, which would complete our loop. There was actually some extra mileage to and from the parking area that I didn't take into account when planning the trip, so after I added it all up our mileage came to 10.2 miles, which is very good work for one day (for us).
We got on the road a little later than we'd wanted, so didn't actually get on the trail until about 10:00. Because of the length of the trip and how difficult some of the Flume Slide trail looked, we figured we'd be hiking for 7 or 8 hours, but luckily there would still be plenty of light at that point. Saturday was forecast to be a ridiculously hot day, so we knew we had to be careful with our water - I brought 3 bottles, and we knew there was a spring just below Liberty that we could refill at (Meg has a water filter, which has come in handy many times!). I don't do well in the heat so I was a little concerned about it, but I keep a good eye on myself with regards to overheating. From the parking area to the summit of Flume was close to 5 miles total, and from the maps, we figured the first 3.5 miles at least would be relatively easy. We were right. It was about a mile and a half from the car to the junction of the Flume Slide and Liberty Springs trails, which we covered in about 45 minutes, then the next 2 miles or so of the Flume Slide trail was also quite pleasant. The trail went along and crossed a brook a few times, and luckliy we were mostly in shade so the heat did not get too bad. Looking at the map (and the AMC White Mountains book), we knew the last mile or so up would be brutally hard - if I read the contour lines on the map correctly, the trail climbs probably close to 1500' in about a mile (VERY rough estimate). Basically, we were climbing up sheer rock slabs for a mile. And they were a little wet from rain a few days before. The AMC book advised against going down the FS trail, and boy are they right. Now, personally I like climbing rocks, really like it actually, but a few things made this brutal: first, the heat; second, it felt like the longest mile in the world and we just wanted to summit already. There were some amazing views from the rock climbs on the trail though.
We got on the road a little later than we'd wanted, so didn't actually get on the trail until about 10:00. Because of the length of the trip and how difficult some of the Flume Slide trail looked, we figured we'd be hiking for 7 or 8 hours, but luckily there would still be plenty of light at that point. Saturday was forecast to be a ridiculously hot day, so we knew we had to be careful with our water - I brought 3 bottles, and we knew there was a spring just below Liberty that we could refill at (Meg has a water filter, which has come in handy many times!). I don't do well in the heat so I was a little concerned about it, but I keep a good eye on myself with regards to overheating. From the parking area to the summit of Flume was close to 5 miles total, and from the maps, we figured the first 3.5 miles at least would be relatively easy. We were right. It was about a mile and a half from the car to the junction of the Flume Slide and Liberty Springs trails, which we covered in about 45 minutes, then the next 2 miles or so of the Flume Slide trail was also quite pleasant. The trail went along and crossed a brook a few times, and luckliy we were mostly in shade so the heat did not get too bad. Looking at the map (and the AMC White Mountains book), we knew the last mile or so up would be brutally hard - if I read the contour lines on the map correctly, the trail climbs probably close to 1500' in about a mile (VERY rough estimate). Basically, we were climbing up sheer rock slabs for a mile. And they were a little wet from rain a few days before. The AMC book advised against going down the FS trail, and boy are they right. Now, personally I like climbing rocks, really like it actually, but a few things made this brutal: first, the heat; second, it felt like the longest mile in the world and we just wanted to summit already. There were some amazing views from the rock climbs on the trail though.
(view from the Flume Slide trail)
(view north along Franconia ridge from the summit of Flume)
After we toiled our way to the summit of Flume (which was a weird, small, relatively un-marked summit), we sat down for a breather and to inhale lunch. It was breezy on the way up, so that helped with the heat, but we were in full sun at the summit and didn't stay too long. We were joined for lunch by a girl coming from the other direction (from Liberty), who was considering completing the loop & descending the FS trail. We talked her out of it. After lunch, we hiked north on the Franconia Ridge trail, leading us down slightly then back up slightly over about a mile & a half to the summit of Liberty. It was considerably windier on Liberty, which was wonderful because it kept us from being affected by the heat. Luckily, the mile & a half on the ridge was mostly in trees, so we weren't exposed to the sun directly - I was starting to feel a little dehydrated, but we knew there was water just down the trail after Liberty. We rested for a few minutes at Liberty and enjoyed the amazing views.
(view down to the highway from the summit of Liberty)
(myself, left, and Meg at the summit of Liberty)
Beyond Liberty three tenths of a mile, the Liberty Springs trial descends left and away from the Franconia Ridge trail - this was our route down. An additional three tenths of a mile down the Liberty Springs trail is the Liberty Springs tentsite, a cute AMC-maintained area with tent platforms and a nice spring. We refilled our water (finally!) and chatted with the AMC caretaker briefly, and continued down. The trail, like the Flume Slide trail, was rocky, but not with huge scary slabs to climb down, so it made for relatively quick hiking down. Quite glad we decided not to go the opposite way & go down Flume Slide, it would've been horrible. We got back to the car at about exactly 6, so we were out for a total of 8 hours.
The hike exhausted us, but we were happy & felt triumphant about conquering the Flume Slide finally! I would've chosen to hike on a cooler day, but we can't be picky with our days - we have to go when we're free! This hike reinforced my love for Franconia Ridge - I really want to take the rest of the group here. Team Badassa as a whole has hiked Cannon, which is on the other side of the notch opposite Franconia Ridge, but I'd like to take the boys to the ridge next season. If you want a good introduction to the White Mountains, Franconia is a good area to check out.
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