Mt Monadnock 3165'

Funday Sunday on Monadnock with my cupcake twin brother Michael. Mikey bought a slew of winter gear but missed most of the season, Monadnock was close to where he was, so I grabbed him for a quick hike.

$4 per person at the trailhead! After a few years they plan to build golden toilets at the trailhead apparently. The lady collecting money could use something nicer to sit on thats for sure. The piercing gaze from her eyes when she watched yet another car pull up that day, made me wish I had never been born. She asked when we got there, "You boys hiking today?"; No lady. We came here for the closed camp store and the hospitality. After she told us only the main trail was safe she asked if we wanted a map. I didn't mind paying the $8 total, cause after I had I knew I might not see her ever again. My mind of course is not kind to me when I sleep, another story entirely.

Once we got on the trail and I saw Michael's dimple laden smile, all my worries were gone. Michael is just raw handsomeness, melting most of winter away with his musk we realized alot of the snow has melted. Not alot of mud yet, we found snow closer to the summit and were glad we at least brought our Yaktrax, snowshoes resting in the trunk of my car. Took us 5 hours cause my brother is kind of a diva, insisted on eating everything in my backpack and takes breaks like he's a japanese nuclear reactor.

Great day to be out, felt like spring till the elevation reminded us it's still very much winter. Hitting a real mountain next time, 13 isn't my idea of a good number to have on the site much longer.

 

Mt Tecumseh 4003'

Mt Tecumseh Trail down & back 5 miles; 2500' elevation
Trail starts at the Waterville Valley ski area

Conquered my first winter 4k solo, felt like that Moosilauke hike all over again. I had a handful of excuses why I should stay in bed this morning, glad I pushed through and got out there. That feeling of accomplishment coming down from the summit is priceless, really nothing in the world like it. 13 down and 35 to go, back in the saddle and feeling good about it.

Tecumseh was a great pick for a winter hike, part of the trail runs parallel to an unused portion of the Waterville Valley ski area, so that meant plenty of people at the trailhead and most of the trail was packed snow. Did see a few people on the trail but once I got going it was just me and the mountain, being solo on a hike tends to melt any stress from the week.

Windy day picked up all the powder off the trees and put it in my face, like a whitewash every few minutes. Broke up the slow slog up Tecumseh's endless stair, no switchbacks just a gradual incline that never stops. Temperature drop at the summit caught me by surprise again. By the time I found that cairn I was literally steaming, not more then a few moments later my ears are numb and I'm hoofing it back down into the forest. Didn't need my snowshoe's but kept them on all day for traction, saw a couple using Yaktrax and they were doing fine.

Taking next weekend off but them I'm back on it, trying to set up a trip to the Presidentials. Not sure if I'm ready but I'm sure I'll find out.

Lockes Hill & Kimball Castle

Trailhead Off Rt 11 in Gilford, NH - turned a 2 mile loop into a 3 mile adventure

Packed trails for the second weekend running, turns out Lockes Hill is a popular snowshoeing spot for Gilford. Where only one of us has alot of traction we didnt want too much exposed rock. We hiked the same trails last fall so we knew this was an easy Saturday, never underestimate ability to mess up an easy naturewalk.

The goal was to find Kimball Castle. There are maps at the trailhead and cool little signs explaining wildlife and tree types, happy nature bu11$%t. Nothing gives any direction as to where the castle is or how to get there. The conservation area describes itself as the former estate grounds of Kimball Castle, they even talk about where local stone was mined to build the damn thing.

Last fall we did the normal loop hike and never saw any castle. Great views of Winnepesauki & some power lines, but no flippn castle. At the main lookout we noticed some shoe tracks going west away from the power lines, but after a 1/2 mile and no castle we started to question ourselves. We had lost alot of elevation going this way, going back up would've sucked and we were also walking away from the car. With my iphone gps and my compass I knew we needed to head North to get back to our ride, the castle pictures I had seen gave a clear view of the lake, putting it on that end of the forest area. We got our bearings pretty easy, after another 1/2 mile bushwhack we were back on packed snow trails and out to the road.

After a short solo roadwalk I returned to pick up the wife & dog, saw the damn Castle from the breakdown lane on Rt 11. I am a fool. If we had followed the powerlines out we would've ran right into the thing. I trudged up a small ledge next to the road and scored this one pitiful picture of the castle. Whatever, win some lose some.

Mt Major 1,786'

Rt 11 Alton Bay, NH - Mt Major Trl & Brook Trail - 6 miles; maybe 1300' elevation

Visited Alton Bay last weekend, brought my snowshoes. Followed the blue then yellow blazes the long way around, ascending the western ridge of Mt. Major. My trail book said it was the safer option up, with the wife & dog in tow I didn't want surprises.

Mt. Major is a popular hike year round, so most of the trail was packed snow with good footing. We did have to break in a new trail early on in the day, mistook a drainage area for the trail and ended up plowing a shortcut. Gave us a small taste of the suck, breaking trail with just two people isn't something I'll likely repeat. We were able to bareboot closer to the summit, snowshoes almost all the way though. Saw someone with a sled going down as we were going up, not sure if thats fair, but the idea is starting to grow on me. I plan on consulting the elders at Hike-NH.com for further guidance on the matter.

Great start to my winter hiking, even if I'm a little late to the party. Hitting the trails rain or shine this weekend, just not sure where. I wanted to try Welch-Dickey but that hike is almost all open rock, and the dog can't wear crampons. I've narrowed things down to Pawtuckaway or Mt Cardigan, depending on how far I feel like driving come Saturday morning.

Winter Misfire

Not exactly Pulpit Rock, but far enough from my couch that I didn't care. Poor research and a lack of caring on my part brought us to a construction site on Pulpit Rd., not the Pulpit Rock Conservation Area like we had planned. With a few feet of snow covering everything we weren't sure where to start off New Boston Rd, and Pulpit Rd seemed like a good place to look. They are building a subdivision near there, but construction seems to have halted for the winter, turns out it was a great place to test our gear and let Zelda roam off leash for once.

The wife and I followed what looks to be the main road for the subdivision out and back, maybe 3 miles total. Used our new snowshoes starting out, but when the dirt road didn't end anywhere we just barebooted the rest of the walk. Zelda of course is in her element during the winter, must have been out there for 2 hours and no complaints from the princess.

Though it was nice to get out, planning something with an actual trailhead for next weekend. Time to get serious about things before winter is over.

Green Winter

Warmer weather derailed my snowshoeing plans for this weekend. Funny how I'm hoping for precipitation now, kind of a weird switch. Without a healthy layer of snow I'll likely mess up brand new snowshoes, so Zelda and I were absent from the trails this weekend, practicing bareboot around the local neighborhood. Hoping the snowfall picks up with all the planning I've been doing.

Turns out the "Southern NH" AMC guide is a great resource for winter hiking, and I've been able to find quite a few small gems close to the 93 corridor. Pulpit Rock Conservation Area has 200 Acres right on the Bedford/New Boston line! Also something cool I found near the coast is called the Sweet trail, leads from Longmarsh rd in Durham to the Great Bay Estuary in Newmarket. 4.3 miles of trail through several conservation areas, should be cool to see that kind of habitat in the winter. BearBrook and Pawtuckaway round out my warm up list, several hikes in those two parks will help me get my bearings before I start heading north. I figured it safe not to rush out and try to climb Tuckermans Ravine with all new gear, I'll gradually move up through the lakes region before I start hitting 4ks again. Little more long term but I do want to hike Jefferson and Willey/Field before the snow melts, if I have to start from twelve in the spring I'll regret it.

A smaller goal/quest I've undertaken this year is more of a relapse with a cute story. I'm trying to drink at least 1 Guinness everyday of 2011 ending on St. Patricks Day March 17th. Is it foolish? Probably. Will I succeed? Probably.
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." ~T.S. Eliot

Patriots v Jets next Sunday, but now that I found hikes close to home I'm rolling next Saturday snow or not. See if I cant reawaken the inner hiking animal with these Yaktrax, here's a video from Tubbs on my new shoes I'll never get to use.

The wolf & the winter cold

Its been a long time since I've seen me some woods! Wow, has it really been 3 months! Not planning every weekend around the weather means you lose track of the days I guess. Not a bad hibernation, the Patriots finished 14-2, my gamerscore on the Xbox is up over 30 thousand, and my knee has had a chance to heal a little before I ride it into the ground again. The wife and I just bought our first pairs of snowshoes! Really pumped about trying them out this weekend, probably end up taking the dog back to Bear Brook, pick things up where I left off.

The dog knows what season it is. First sign of a flurry and she's scratching at the door, ready to flip me on my ass in the icy streets of Manchvegas. I think we're finally ready to roll this year, last year Zelda didn't see a lot of snow cause I never had the right gear. This Xmas brought in a Coleman interchange ski jacket, EMS cold weather gloves, TUBBS Flex Alp 24 snowshoes, YakTrax traction aids and new Timberland all leather boots! My wife got me a Suunto Xlander watch with a barometer for altitude! I felt like a little kid again this Christmas, couldn't believe all the hiking gifts. I'll need some waterproof pants and something to protect my face (Zelda ate my goggles), but I've almost got my full winter kit together! Finally!

Everything goes well this weekend I've got some serious scheduling to do, get myself ready for the real hiking when my brother gets back from Iraq. Probably getting back into the weekly postings on here too, see if we can't move that number 12 off the front page finally. Tommy Touchdown's jersey # needs to go, as sad as that will be it must happen. Tom if you're reading this I love you. Like Mark Wahlberg in that crush movie love. mmmmm