Garfield Zealand Traverse

4501' Mt Garfield
4024' Mt Galehead
4902' South Twin
4580' Mt Guyot
4265' Mt Zealand

20 mile overnight, Garfield, S Twin, Zealand Falls, the Cliffs, Sunset on Guyot, etc. Good weather in the Pemi never disappoints. 

Again I bag a peak off my list I should've grabbed two years ago, and again, I'm glad I made a return trip. On this quest I hiked Garfield for a 2nd time and S Twin for a 3rd. Galehead is supposedly .5 from the hut and should not ever be skipped by anyone, easy breezy summit climb.

We camped legally off the Twinway. A ton of illegal spots right on the trail, no campers that we could see. The few people we spoke with talked about overflows at Guyot, horror stories really. Thats when I call them rookie ground-dwellers and start talking about Hammock Culture.

Guyot felt underwhelming this time out. You need to walk the boulder field out towards the Bonds and your nostalgia kicks in. Without that walk out there its just a left turn into the forest. Its redeeming quality is Bear Pond, a bushwhack I'm trying to plan for after my 48 finish. Great sunset view on the western slope.

Zealand. Zeacliff. The Falls. Lentil Soup. We've seen this episode before. Familiar journey with familiar heroes. Great weekend

N & S Kinsman Dayhike

N Kinsman 4293' And S Kinsman 4358'
10 miles Mt Kinsman trail; Rt 116 Easton NH

The trailhead has no sign you have to just guesstimate where it should be.
Getting lost in Easton is part of the journey so I'm not going to divulge which sketchy driveway holds your prize.

The Mt Kinsman trail follows an old Jeep road a good portion before you meet with any real elevation. After the elevation you earn bug food status, and the babies are hungry. Clouds of Black flies on the summits had me movin and groovin the entire way, made record time for me back in time for supper.

I say record time "for me" because I saw the Juiceman Jack Lelane on the trail Sunday. 60 year old Quicksilver gets a later start then me, then laps me trailrunning with no bag or water! I was worried about the old man's ticker then I see him skipping back down as I'm still ascending! Freakish

Also SAW A MOOSE ON THE TRAIL! AND A CALF! I was maybe 10 feet from them because we crept up on/spooked each other a little bit. My first reaction had me grabbing the camera but when I saw the calf I felt like bolting was a good idea so I just ran off. The calf actually followed me down the trail aways probably thinking I was playful, I was able to grab a blury pic at max zoom.

I only need 5 more mountains and I have completed the 48. Isolation, Galehead, and the Carters. I thought this would take a lifetime but I'm finally doing it. Looking forward to hiking for fun not for peaks, now that I've got a great camera and I know my way around....

Liberty & Flume Dayhike

10.5 mile from Flume Gorge parking area
Up the Flume Slide Trail and down Liberty Spring

My brother has the hiking bug finally. Calls me the other day trying to plan a dayhike to Cannon saying theres a bar, easy hike etc., but I had already made plans. Told him it was Liberty/Flume, he counters by saying "Ok, but we have to wear kilts". This man is a natural negotiator, a deal had been struck. Kiltacular.

Trailhead wasn't easy to find and I've hiked Liberty twice now. Ended up walking the White Cross trail from the Flume Gorge parking area, added a small warmup before we met with any real business.

If my business was hiking, business would've been excellent this past weekend, early start with two trail veterans eager for mountains. All the snow is finally gone, you'd expect high water at the few crossings but we kept our boots dry without incident. The Flume Slide trail is a crazy incline, it certainly earns a spot in my top 10 steep places in the Whites. Easy nature walk gets gradually harder as you meet with the intersection with Liberty Spring, then you find the wall. Plenty of rock scrambles, I wouldn't recommend descending this trail in rain or snow.

Turns out Flume is like a mini Bondcliff and nobody told me. The first time I hiked Liberty we skipped the measly 0.9 over to Flume in favor of an early departure! Big fail, glad I brought my little brother back with me again to finish the job.

Liberty hasn't changed since I left it. Apparently mountains don't move all that much in 3 years. I can at least name all the peaks on the horizon now. And I don't have little chicken leg "getaway sticks" anymore, so theres that.

Not alot of pics for this hike because I'm changing phone/camera carriers. My Iphone 4s finally passed away last week, went to sleep but never woke up and wont charge. I have in my hands the Legendary Nokia Lumia 1020, the greatest camera phone ever made. Once I get out from under this list (6 left! omg) I'm going to be hunting for great pics and great peaks, see what the Whites look like in 41mp.