King Ravine July 4th

Airline to King Ravine; Down Howker Ridge & Pine Link

8.5 miles with about 2 hours in the dark; Mt Madison 5367'

Certainly a memorable July 4th weekend. Stayed at a friends house in Glen, NH Thursday night, nice ski lodge overlooking Atittash. Quick drive to Gorham and 7 adventurers hit the Airline trail headed for Mt Adams.

I had planned a leisurely climb up the Airline trail, but a friend had a detailed Presi map and wanted to see what the Ice Caves and the Subway were all about. Sooooo, a quick detour puts us in the middle of King Ravine, a massive glacial cirque north of Mt Adams.

Awesome views when it wasn't raining. The Adams headwall and the climb were well worth the strenuous grade and perilous rocks. I really don't have the vocabulary to describe the steepness on this trail. I have hiked the North Slide on Tripyramid, Beaver Brook on Moosilauke, and the Wildcats; none compare to King Ravine. Makes me excited to finally hike Huntington or Tuckermans.

Madison Spring Hut is still there, it was fun to go inside this time. When my brother and I completed our traverse last October we cruised through the area on our last day, it was nice to grab a cup of tea and listen to the conversations in the main room. Probably should've tried to get work/stay rooms

The original plan was to camp somewhere down on Howker Ridge and watch the fireworks in Gorham. Once we were up and over Madison it started to pour hard, cats and dogs and buckets. A consensus was made to try and get down and back to our friends in Glen, call it quits early. Easier said then done. I looked at the map and decided the 2 miles on Pine Link down to the road was easier then 4 on Howker Ridge. By the time we were serious about things it was dark and the trail was like the Penobscot. Slow, cold, wet marching out to the road with headlamps and sniffles. Soon as we got to the road we were seen and shuttled back to our cars, super awesome kids from Shelburne were life savers.

Probably the toughest 8.5 mile dayhike I've ever even dreamed of. Awesome experience with great friends

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.

Mt Hale 4055'

4.4 miles total

Hale Brook Trail from Zealand Rd

Just an easy stroll on Memorial Day Weekend, up & back on Mt Hale while we were in the area Sunday.

A group of friends car camps at Dolly Copp near Washington every year, so I had plans to head up north for one of my weekend days off. My brother called midweek wanting to hike something small, and I knew he needed it for his list so Hale picked up two more hikers.

Busy day indeed, counted 7 different groups on the mountain and a trailhead full of cars to prove it. No bugs yet and the watercrossings on Hale brook were easy breezy even with the higher water. Bugs are going to be out late and in force this year I'm not looking forward to it. I sense a disturbance in the force...

Mt Passaconaway 4042'

12.5 Miles. Oliverian Brook up & back Square Ledge

Winter's grip has finally ended. Two adventurers enjoyed a sunny 70 degree weekend hiking in the Sandwich range this past weekend, snow is almost gone.

Oliverian Brook is flat and easy, gradual climb gets more serious closer to Square Ledge. 4 Water crossings total, spring hiking means wet boots and rock jumping. We Used Yaktrax for two rough ice patches near the summit but other then that we were just sloppy barebooting; clean trail below 3000 ft

This was my third time hiking Passaconaway with a heavy pack. A good quest was needed for weary winter souls, another big year for adventures I'm sure.

Mt Tecumseh 4003'

I returned to Tecumseh last weekend, stretched my legs with a friend and found winter hiding in the North.

This mountain is a great season starter. 2.5 up, 2.5 down, a nice outlook and an easy commute. On the trail by noontime Saturday, we had a steady albeit light snowfall the entire hike.

A cloudy, cold day on a closed ski slope would make my wife cringe with horror, but I tend to find unique bits of magic others might ignore. The unused portion of Waterville Valley ski area reminded me of a true Scottish mountain side, with rock and snow separated by soaked brown grass. The clouds were close enough to carry the evaporating mists right off the ground, winter's grip loosening like the packed monorail under our feet. The trails we've been using to snowshoe during the cold months don't have much more integrity left, muddy boots are in my future I fear.

Hoping to venture forth again soon before the bugs do, mud & melt be damned