June 21, 2008
Yard work was calling so we settled for a short jaunt up Gunstock from the end of the carriage road. Not bad when you can drive half way up :-) This was a a good 700' climb. The trail was close to being overgrown a bit in spots. Unfortunately, there was a bit of trash along the way--a good bit of which we packed out. It was very interesting to arrive at the summit to see the chairlift. Weird seeing such an unnatural site.
When you fail to charge the camera battery you don't get to take any photos :-(
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Mt. Mexico - 2020'
June 14, 2008
Here is a hike that would be fabulous for kids. Big Rock Cave Trail heading out of Wonolancet was an easy hike with a fun destination. Mt. Mexico has no view from the top, but just a little bit further down the trail is big pile of erratics that kids would love to explore. Our trip had a very large bonus--hundreds of Lady Slippers, both pink and white (which we had never seen).
This toad was fist-sized:
The top side of one of the erratics had plenty of stuff growing out of it:
White Lady Slippers:
And the Pink:
Inside the "cave":
Muh peeking inside:
Here is a hike that would be fabulous for kids. Big Rock Cave Trail heading out of Wonolancet was an easy hike with a fun destination. Mt. Mexico has no view from the top, but just a little bit further down the trail is big pile of erratics that kids would love to explore. Our trip had a very large bonus--hundreds of Lady Slippers, both pink and white (which we had never seen).
This toad was fist-sized:
The top side of one of the erratics had plenty of stuff growing out of it:
White Lady Slippers:
And the Pink:
Inside the "cave":
Muh peeking inside:
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Alpine Garden
June 7, 2008
Clear at the bottom 50' visibility on top (if that). Mt. Washington--holy smoke! How can you not take great photos here? The drive up the auto road was hairy to say the least. The visibility was nearly 0' even before the fog lines start on the roadway. I was very happy to see the fog lines! Unfortunately, we couldn't see the parking lot for the Alpine Garden on the way up. We got to the top before we figured that out :-)
With the visibility so bad, we actually decided to take a nap in the car at the top waiting for the cloud cover to burn off. Wishful thinking! After an hour we (literally) felt our way to the summit building. Call me paranoid, but I actually got out the GPS and set a waypoint at the car. We literally waled twenty feet and saw nothing in any direction. Pretty scary.
After a brief stay at the top and visiting the museum we headed back down to cut our losses...but not before getting a snap of Muh:
Surprise! We could see the Alpine Garden lot on the way down and quickly turned in and headed down the trail.
Cairns leading up Nelson Crag:
Red-tipped goblet lichen:
Muh checking out the view of Wildcat and its Carter neighbors:
Diapensia aplenty:
Alpine Azalea:
Bearberry Willow:
Deer's-hair Sedge:
Lapland Rosebay:
Adams and Madison with the Auto Road in the foreground:
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Wonalancet Range Trail
May 17, 2008
What a downer. Sometimes you're just not into it. The Porta-Potty at the trail head might have been the highlight. It just started off wrong. We're not keen on hiking sideways which is how Wonalancet Range Trail starts off. We turned around just before Short Cut and called it a day. 113A looked a lot different than the last time we were here during/after a foot of snow a couple of months ago! No more 8-10 foot snowbanks...though there still were snowbanks in some shaded areas.
A very cool fungus.
A lone painted trillium.
What a downer. Sometimes you're just not into it. The Porta-Potty at the trail head might have been the highlight. It just started off wrong. We're not keen on hiking sideways which is how Wonalancet Range Trail starts off. We turned around just before Short Cut and called it a day. 113A looked a lot different than the last time we were here during/after a foot of snow a couple of months ago! No more 8-10 foot snowbanks...though there still were snowbanks in some shaded areas.
A very cool fungus.
A lone painted trillium.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Lows Bald Spot
May 10, 2008
Oh what a glorious hike this was. My favorite hike...ever. We left the AMC's Joe Dodge Lodge amidst a large flock of spring skiers. It must be nice to be that young. We saw a teenager taking off on his hike up Tuckerman Ravine in jeans. Yikes.
I was afraid that Old Jackson Road would end up being some wide carriage path. Bzzt. I pity the poor folks who used this for a road--if they ever did. Steep. Strewn with large rocks. Beautiful.
Muh's checking out one of many nice cascades and the first load of moose droppings we saw. Once we crossed the auto road onto the Madison Gulf Trail we saw a pile every 5 feet. For us, it was remarkable. (It took a lot of coaxing to get Muh that close! :-)
Muh's usually a good navigator but she was going to go straight here. Another mile or so and we hit a couple hundred yards of snow by the bog bridges...on May 10.
The scramble on Madison Gulf was well-rewarded--as was the decision to continue the final 100 "blind" yards from the "faux" bald spot tot he real McCoy.
Muh-N-Duh enjoying the spectacular view toward Gorham.
360 degree views:
Chocorua
Wildcat
Huntington Ravine
Adams and Madison
Adams made a great backdrop:
A mother and her daughters drove up the Auto Road to the small parking lot where Old Jackson Road intersects and made the 5 minute hike to Lows Bald Spot. Maybe the biggest payoff for a 5 minute hike in US. One of the daughters was kind enough to memorialize our trip with a rare shot of Muh-N-Duh together.
The flowers were just barely starting to poke out. (Trout Lily)
Oh what a glorious hike this was. My favorite hike...ever. We left the AMC's Joe Dodge Lodge amidst a large flock of spring skiers. It must be nice to be that young. We saw a teenager taking off on his hike up Tuckerman Ravine in jeans. Yikes.
I was afraid that Old Jackson Road would end up being some wide carriage path. Bzzt. I pity the poor folks who used this for a road--if they ever did. Steep. Strewn with large rocks. Beautiful.
Muh's checking out one of many nice cascades and the first load of moose droppings we saw. Once we crossed the auto road onto the Madison Gulf Trail we saw a pile every 5 feet. For us, it was remarkable. (It took a lot of coaxing to get Muh that close! :-)
Muh's usually a good navigator but she was going to go straight here. Another mile or so and we hit a couple hundred yards of snow by the bog bridges...on May 10.
The scramble on Madison Gulf was well-rewarded--as was the decision to continue the final 100 "blind" yards from the "faux" bald spot tot he real McCoy.
Muh-N-Duh enjoying the spectacular view toward Gorham.
360 degree views:
Chocorua
Wildcat
Huntington Ravine
Adams and Madison
Adams made a great backdrop:
A mother and her daughters drove up the Auto Road to the small parking lot where Old Jackson Road intersects and made the 5 minute hike to Lows Bald Spot. Maybe the biggest payoff for a 5 minute hike in US. One of the daughters was kind enough to memorialize our trip with a rare shot of Muh-N-Duh together.
The flowers were just barely starting to poke out. (Trout Lily)
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