Posts

Showing posts from 2021

Mount Monadnock via Dublin Trail

Image
Where: Mt. Monadnock, NH When: 1 December 2021 With: Solo I was thinking of a hike for this day, and it came down to two destinations - the Osceolas, off the Kanc in the White Mountains, or Mt. Monadnock. The Osceolas would give me two more 4K peaks for my list (#s 27 & 28), but would require an early rise, a 2.5 hour drive and a 3.8 mile hike. Plus, I'd have to summit East Osceola twice (on the way to Osceola and on the return). Monadnock was a shorter drive (1.5 hours), and a shorter hike (2.2 miles) on a trail I've had on my wish list for some time, the Dublin Trail. As I thought about Monadnock, I realized I was actually looking forward to it. Unusual for me.  So I woke at my usual time, took Wilma for a walk, made coffee for Jane, packed a lunch and a backpack, left Jane a note, and I was off. I pulled out of the garage at 7:25. I landed at the trailhead a few minutes after 9. It was probably the last time before spring that my old Accord could get there. The access ro...

Mt. Isolation

Image
Where: Mt. Isolation, NH When: 18 November, 2021 With: Steve & Sam Here's how it started: While I continue to work on summiting the 48 NH 4000' peaks, Steve is working on The Grid , and in a post about another hike he'd done for his November summits, he mentioned Mt. Isolation. It's true to its name. Remote and genuinely isolated, it requires a long, tough hike to get to it. It's just barely over 4000 feet (4004'), and despite spectacular views from the top, it probably wouldn't get much traffic if not for the 4K list. I figured I'd get it eventually, but there were plenty of other peaks to get to first. Still, here was an opportunity to check it off. Though I had a few chances to back out (or not agree to go in the first place), I kept saying I was still in for the hike. The final call from Steve came the day before the hike. Showers were predicted all day, and I hadn't been sleeping well the past few days, and there was that twinge in my back, ...

Mt. Tecumseh

Image
Where: Mt. Tecumseh, Waterville Valley, NH When: November 2, 2021 With: Solo There are a number of reasons why this hike happened. It came up in conversation during Halloween with a neighbor who hikes, it's slightly closer than other peaks in NH, I'm in something of a lull of activities as the high school sports I cover for HCAM have moved into their post-seasons so my schedule was open, the weather looked good, peak foliage (and the crowds) had passed...  But the clincher was that when the updated elevations of the NH peaks are made official next year, Mt. Tecumseh's height will be less than 4000 feet. As of today however, it is still on the official list of 48 NH 4000 foot peaks, so I decided to claim it for my #25. I'd set the alarm for 6AM, but had a restless night. When I got up to use the bathroom and saw it was 5:47, I decided to call it a night. I dressed, put together a lunch, grabbed my gear and was out the door at 6:06. An accident on 495 led to an interestin...

Stupids on the AT

Image
Where: Appalachian Trail, Great Barrington MA When : 9/11-12, 2021 With : The Stupids (Chip, David, Xeth) Chip began lobbying last spring for a Stupids hike in early summer, with a vague thought of finding a trail in the Catskills. His back & neck required surgery however, and the hike was pushed out to September. The Catskills was still being considered as a destination, in part to save Xeth some driving and also because it was someplace new. The more we looked into it though, the more issues arose. Long drives for the rest of us, long walks on tough trails to get to a campsite, and bears. Lots of reports of bears. So we shifted our focus to a spot midway between Xeth and the rest of us, which turned out to be around the NY/CT/MA border in southwestern MA. We'd hiked in the area a couple of times before, along the South Taconic Trail, and enjoyed it. Both Chip & I had been in the area recently...me in 2020, hiking to the tri-state border marker, and Chip visiting and hikin...

Cannon Mt.

Image
Where: Cannon Mt. When: 26 May 2021 With: Solo My plans to continue climbing the 48 NH 4000' peaks were backburnered last year because of the pandemic, so I've been stuck on 23 for a while now. I knew the peak - Cannon Mt. - and route for #24...I just needed a date/time to go. Suddenly, things began to fall into place. COVID restrictions lifted, trail conditions improved from the late spring mix of crumbling snow & mud, and I noted an empty spot in my calendar. Then Cannon Mt. announced that the Tram would resume operations in two days. That was the clincher, since the Tram meant crowds at the summit. I pulled together a backpack, set the alarm for 5AM, and was ready to go. As it turned out, the alarm wasn't needed. My dog decided to wake me at 4:17, demanding to go out. As I sat on the deck steps while she attended to her needs (as the eclipsed Super Flower Blood Moon set through the trees), I figured I might as well just head out. I was on the road at 5:00, and settle...

Wachusett with Wilma

Image
Where: Wachusett Mountain When: 3 May 2021 With: Wilma I had nothing on my schedule, everyone else was busy, and the weather was due to turn stormy later, so I grabbed Wilma for a hike at Wachusett Mountain. I had a vague goal of redlining some trails I hadn't walked before, but the primary priority was to get out and put some more miles on my new hiking boots. I didn't know how much Wilma (two months away from 14 years old) would be able to handle - she'd come up lame in the past after vigorous hikes - and figured we'd just do whatever we could. The ride to the mountain was uneventful, and I pulled into the parking area at the base of the Stage Coach Road trail. It gave us a number of options for routes, but I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. I pulled out my map and decided to continue on a bit further to the Harrington Trail trail head. I'd walked the upper portion of the Harrington before, but not the lower section. It was just a few minutes down the road, a...

Mt. Watatic

Image
Where: Mt. Watatic, Wapack/Midstate Trail When: 25 March, 2021 With: Solo I had a new pair of hiking boots to break in, and this seemed like a good place to go. I last visited in 1984 , when I was breaking in a new car. Then, I was driving from the outskirts of Boston. Today's ride was some 30 miles shorter, and took about an hour. The remains of an overnight storm were still around, which worried me a bit because I hadn't brought rain gear, but it cleared up by the time I reached the trailhead. The parking area was different than I recalled - a full-on parking lot vs. the roadside pull-off in the picture from the 1984 hike. I figured I'd either missed the old lot, or my recollection of the location of the old hike was wrong, or perhaps things had changed over the past 37 years, but no matter. I pulled in to a rather muddy spot, laced up my new boots, and was on my way within a few minutes.  There were maybe a half dozen other vehicles sharing the lot, and two more came in ...