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Showing posts from 1986

Desolation Shelter, Wilderness Trail

Where: Desolation Shelter via Wilderness Trail When: 1986/87 Winter With: Chip I'm not sure how it all came about, but there we were, Chip and I, standing in the snow at the beginning of the Wilderness Trail with backpacks and skis. Somehow, we decided to take another shot at winter camping, now that three years had passed since our last attempt . Funny, we couldn't convince Dave to join us this time. We decided to head in on the jeep road on the east of the river, rather than on the Wilderness Trail itself on the west. It began to snow and we stood on a bluff on the river, marveling at the sight of the falling snow and the mountains and proclaimed, "Those bums!" Our friends were missing a great hike. We crossed the river at Franconia Brook, taking longer than expected but making it, and then headed in further, recrossing the river on the suspension bridge at Cedar Brook. It was the first ski of the season and the lack of conditioning started to show as the tr...

Mt. Kinsman

Where: Mt. Kinsman When: Autumn, 1986 (?) With: Solo The trails in this area looked good on the map, so I headed up to see for myself. I parked the car at a new lot, walked on a trail along the East side of 95, then crossed under and headed up the Cascade Brook and Kinsman Pond trails. Pretty trails, mostly along the brook. I don't recall much of the early part of the hike, due to a smoke stop early on, but eventually I came to a small, deep pool in the brook surrounded by rocks. It was hot, I was alone, so I stripped and dipped. Very nice. Continuing up the trail a bit, I suddenly came upon a campsite on the left, right on the brook. Flat, cleared, water access, and even a view. "What a lovely site," I actually said aloud, surprising even myself. With such an immediate reaction, how could I go on? I stopped and set up camp. I was well settled in when I heard a noise on the trail. Four young women soon appeared and we chatted. It turned out they had discovered t...

Mt. Hitchcock

Where: Mt. Hitchcock When: Summer, 1986 (?) With: Chip & Dave I'm not sure how we decided to head where we did on this hike. We started in on the Wilderness Trail (WT) and at some point crossed the river and scrambled up the other shore. We made our way through thick growth and finally came out on a dirt road. We crossed that and started to head up the mountain, aiming toward some water. We found one good stream...I recall skinny-dipping and having Dave rescue a wayward sock floating downstream. We continued through the woods toward the sound of more water. The map showed a sizable stream that we established as a goal. We found the other stream and the remnants of a road on its bank, which we followed upstream. We termed the area the Dead Woods, because of the scrubby growth and general dampness. We set up camp on a small level spot and set up a fire down by the stream. After some exploring further uphill, we returned to the camp for dinner and an evening by the fire. A...

Old Osseo Trail

Where: Old Osseo Trail When: Summer, 1986 (?) With: Solo One odd thing about the last hike...I'd expected the Osseo Trail to come out on the highway, west of the Wilderness Trail trailhead. Instead, while hiking in I found it hooking up with the WT, with signs saying it'd been relocated. A little investigation told me that the relocation had been due to condo construction at the old Osseo trailhead. "Hm," says I, "I wonder if any of the old trail is still there?" So I went in from the Wilderness Trail and headed up from the new trail junction. Up and up and up. Steeper and steeper. Toward the top the trail had steps and ladders, it was so steep. Finally I made the top and stopped at an outlook for lunch. A nice view over the Pemi Wilderness. The trail was flat from here and I went looking for some sign of the trail. Suddenly I saw a plastic marker on a bush and sure enough, there were the remnants of the trail. I followed it on a ridge through some p...