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 ...
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...
Where: Mt. Surprise (2159 ft.), Mt. Moriah (4049 ft.) - Gorham NH When: May 13, 2025 With: Solo 40 years ago, on the Pemi Loop hike when I summited my first 4000' NH peaks, I renamed Mt. Lafayette as "Soul Killer", because it kept offering false summits. Today I transferred that name to Mt. Moriah, for much the same reason, along with tough trail conditions. But I'm getting ahead of myself... I've had Moriah as my next NH 4000 footer to tackle for awhile now. At one point I was considering a multi-day traverse from Gorham to Pinkham Notch to claim six peaks (Moriah, the Carters, and the Wildcats), but I couldn't work out the logistics. Then the AMC offered a $99 deal for hut stays in June, so I booked space at the Carter Notch hut, figuring I could knock off the Wildcats and the Carters over the course of two days. If I could get Moriah done before then, I'd wind up with 47 of the 48 peaks climbed, with just Owlshead left. With June fast approaching, I ne...