Hidden Valley Scout Reservation

Where: Hidden Valley Scout Reservation
When: July 6-13, 2003
With: Andy, Donny, and the Scouts

Andy's first year at summer Scout camp. Hidden Valley is in Gilmanton Iron Works, NH. It's your basic Scout camp - tents, a lake, trails, facilities for various activities, etc. I drove the boys up, intending to do a quick dump & run before heading off to explore the trails nearby, but wound up spending time helping the boys get their gear to their camp and getting things set up. Especially the bug nets that had to be hung over each boy's cot. Eventually everything was all set and I left the boys in the hands of their leaders for the week.

More photos

Popular posts from this blog

Mt. Hale

Image
Where: Mt. Hale (4054'), NH When: 5/28/2024 With: Solo My original plan for this NH48 4K peak was an overnight loop - Haystack Road parking, North Twin trail, Fire Warden's trail, Lend-a-Hand trail, Twinway, North Twin Spur, North Twin trail. It would have tagged Hale, filled in an section of the Twinway that I missed when I took the Zeacliif trail in 1991 , and red-lined the North Twin Spur. At some point earlier this year my plans changed and I decided to claim Hale on a day trip, following a different loop. I can always do the overnight loop another time. The stars aligned and both my schedule and the weather forecasts were clear, so off I went. Out the door around 5:15, and at the Hale Brook Trail trail three hours later. Big storms had come through overnight, and a few lingering showers were around for my ride north, but there were also patches of blue sky. Two other cars were in the trail head parking lot when I arrived. I grabbed my pack and was on my way quickly. The o...
Read more

Mt. Cabot

Image
Where: Mt. Cabot, NH (4170') When: 9/17/2024 With: Solo My alarm was set for 5:00, but I was wide awake at 4:00, and when Jane got up around 4:30 I decided to call it a night. I pulled out of the driveway a few minutes after 5:00, and was at the trail three and a half hours later. This was the first long trip (432 miles round trip) for my new Subaru Crosstrek, and  I'd had to delay this hike by a month or so while I put 1000 break-in miles on it. It did just fine though. There were two other cars in the lot when I arrived: a pickup truck with MA plates and a sedan with Virginia plates. A woman was by the sedan, packing up, and she started up the trail before I had a chance to say "good morning". The temperature was in the mid-50s, so I removed the North Face sweater I'd been wearing and stowed it in my pack, and left my puffy Patagonia jacket in the car. I took a photo of the trail head sign for the timestamp and was on my way. I decided to try something new this ...
Read more

Mt. Madison & Mt. Adams

Image
Where: Mt. Madison (5367') & Mt. Adams (5793'), NH When: 10/3/2024 With: Solo I was already two hours into my drive north when dawn finally broke. I'd had a fitful night of sleep (as usual before a hike), and rolled out of bed 20 minutes before my 5AM alarm. I got on the road quickly and was at the Appalachia parking area three hours later. When I'd driven past Appalachia about the same time two weeks ago on my way to Mt. Cabot , it had been full, with cars overflowing onto the highway, but today there were plenty of open spaces. One other hiker was packing up to go, and he set off while I was getting ready. I was on my way up the Valley Way trail pretty quickly, a few minutes before 8:00, but never saw him again. A few steps along, I came to the junction with the bottom of the Air Line trail. Depending upon how I felt after climbing Mt. Madison, I might climb Mt. Adams as well and Air Line would be my return trail. Or I might just tag Madison and return down Valley...
Read more