Sunday, June 29, 2014

June 28-29: E Osceola, Mt Osceola; Mt Hancock, S Hancock (peaks 8-11)

Day 3: East Osceola, Mt Osceola

Trails: In Greeley Pond Ski Trail, up and down Mt Osceola Trail, around Greeley Pond North, out Greeley Pond Hiking Trail.
Distance: 7.4 mi, Elev Gain: 3343 ft, Book Time: 5:57, Actual Time: 7:00


 East Osceola

Mt Osceola - John joined me to get his first experience sleeping in a hammock. He also got his first experience using an iPhone camera.

 Day 4: Mt Hancock, Hancock South

Trails: from Kancamagus via Hancock Notch Tr, Cedar Brook Tr, Hancock Loop Tr
Distance: 9.8 mi, Elev Gain: 2940 ft, Book Time: 6:21, Actual Time: 5:30


Mt Hancock

Hancock South - I ran out of fingers, but came up with an elegant solution.

 
Another shot on peak #11. Which is better? My kids say neither! 

People on the Trail


My friend John M. joined me for the weekend of hiking. It was great to have company, especially since we didn't see many other hikers except for at the summit of Mt Osceola.

John and me at the start of the weekend.
The small parking area at Greeley Pond Ski Trail was free, but we the ski trail took us through knee deep mud and mosquito infested swamps. On our return we took the real Greeley Pond hiking trail to the much larger parking lot and walked 1/4 mile on the road back to the car. Had we known, we would have gladly paid our $3 to avoid the bugs.

John and me on East Osceola.

John took a nap on Mt Osceola and missed the group selfie.

John and me on Mt Hancock

Me and John on Hancock South.


From the top of Osceola I could look down and see a few Rippers riding up the Kanc, training for the Mt Washington Hillclimb. Actually, Bill AA emailed me that he saw my car parked along the highway as he, Jim G, and Dave B rode by.



This is how the Rippers knew it was my car they rode past. I hire a sports model to pose next to it while I hike.


After dinner, John and I stopped by the Basin. In the parking lot I ran into Jay P, who worked with me at Teradyne.

Highlights

John and I identified the same 3 highlights of the trip.

#1 - The Chimney

Hiking from East Osceola to Mt Osceola you climb The Chimney. It's not technical, but you are definitely climbing, not hiking. It was really fun. Unfortunately, the photos don't capture how cool it is. There is a bypass trail if you don't want to climb The Chimney, but the bypass isn't walking either. We took the bypass on the way back and it involved cautious downclimbing.





#2 - Mt Osceola summit

Hanging out on top of Mt Osceola. A really wonderful summit with many people enjoying the view. We found two friendly and knowledgeable hikers who pointed out and named the peaks for us. Interestingly, they only agreed on about half the peaks.

Hang on!

A view of the Tripyramids. I'm looking forward to hiking them for the first time on July 12.




#3 - Hobbit Trail

On Hancock Loop Trail, we encountered a white sand path running between dark green mossy banks. It was magical; I expected to find elves or hobbits at the end of this trail.






Cypripedium acaule


Prior to this spring, I'd never seen a Pink Lady's Slipper in the wild. Now I have seen them while mountain biking in the Middlesex Fells and while hiking in the White Mountains. Dozens and dozens of them!



I didn't get any good photos of the Pink Lady's Slippers, but I found some interesting information (and better photos) here:

Pink Lady's Slipper is an interesting wildflower in the Orchid Family. They are endangered in some areas because they take a long time to grow, and because people collect them.
In order to spread and grow new plants, Pink Lady's Slipper needs help from other organisms. First, when a new seed is ready to grow, it must have a fungus help it. The fungus has not been identified by scientists yet, but we know it is in the Rhizoctonia Genus. The lady's slipper seed does not have a food supply inside it, like most seeds do. It needs the threads of the fungus to break open the seed and attach themselves to it. The fungus will pass on food and nutrients to the Pink Lady's Slipper seed.
The seed will grow very slowly into a new plant. Without the fungus helping it, the plant could not grow. The plant will return the favor to the fungus when it is older. The fungus can soak up nutrients from the lady's slipper that it could not get by itself. Pink Lady's Slippers can live to be twenty years old or more.
This wildflower also needs help from bees. Its closed flower means that only a strong insect, like a bumble bee can push its way inside. The flower smells sweet, so the bee is tricked into thinking it holds nectar. When the bee gets inside it not only finds no nectar, but it realizes it is trapped. It cannot get back out the way it got in. The bumble bee explores and find a new way to squeeze out of the flower. To do so, it must push past a part of the flower called a stamen. The bee gets out, but it also gets covered with pollen that was on the stamen.
If the bumble bee gets tricked again by another Pink Lady's Slipper, it will deliver pollen from the first flower, and get covered with pollen again by the new flower. The bee may do this several times before it figures out to avoid Pink Lady's Slipper. The bumble bee gets nothing out of the relationship. Without the bee's help, the plant could not make new seeds.

Flora and Fauna

Walking back to the car along the Kanc (from the Greeley Pond Hiking Trail to the Greeley Pond Ski Trail), we passed a patch of alpine strawberries. Yum!



Poor bunny. It didn't move even when we hiked right past it.



After Hours

After hiking both days, we drove to Truants in North Woodstock for burgers and beers and World Cup soccer. Sunday we watched the amazing comeback victory by Netherlands over Mexico.

Saturday, we got ice cream at Udderly Delicious and watched people stagger home from New England Brewfest.

Gear Talk

We set up hammocks in the woods, a quarter mile from the Hancock Notch Trailhead (and a hundred feet from the trail). Both hammocks have mosquito netting and are easy to hang between trees in terrain that makes it impossible to pitch a tent.

I hiked in my "new" Five Ten approach shoes and they were so much more comfortable than the worn out Montrails I used last weekend, when I suffered toe bang and my left big toenail turned black. My friend Mark P suggested I put SuperFeet insoles in my shoes, and they had two big benefits. First, the only other time I tried hiking in my Five Tens I got painful blisters under my anklebones; the inserts raised my heel just enough to avoid rubbing my ankles. Second, the insoles keep my arch from collapsing which helps prevent toe bang. As Mark explained it, when the arch collapses the foot elongates and the big toe hits to end of the shoe. Ouch!

Rocks and Water


It's the Whites, so even an easy hike has lots of scrambling over rocks.

Channeling Mooka-man... King of the Mountain!
My kids are adults now, but when they were little they hiked with me in the Whites. Last week I hiked some of the same trails we did together 10-12 years ago and it brought back lots of happy memories. This week I channeled Mooka-man, who was want to climb every boulder and proclaim himself "King of the Mountain!"

Lots of stream crossings


The water levels were still a bit high from Wednesday's huge rainstorm, but we were able to keep our feet mostly dry with some judicious rock hopping.






Summer Single Season 48

The Plan - http://loagom.blogspot.com/2014/06/sss-48-plan.html

Sunday, June 22, 2014

June 21-22: Flume, Liberty, Lincoln, Lafayette; Cannon, N Kinsman, S Kinsman (peaks 1-7)

Day 1: Flume, Liberty, Lincoln, Lafayette

Trails: Up Flume Slide, across Franconia Ridge, down Greanleaf and Old Bridle Path.
Distance: 13.63 mi, Elev Gain: 5628 ft, Book Time: 9:37, Actual Time: 7:30



Flume

Liberty

Lincoln

Lafayette

Day 2: Cannon, N Kinsman, S Kinsman

Trails: Up Hi-Cannon, across Kinsman Ridge, down Fishin' Jimmy and Lonesome Lake.
Distance: 12.95 mi, Elev Gain: 5161 ft, Book Time: 9:02, Actual Time: 9:00



Cannon

N Kinsman

S Kinsman

Notes


Bike shuttle. I left car at Lafayette CG and biked to Flume Visitor Ctr to start my hike. It was only 4 miles and all downhill, but it was a good practice run for the Presi Traverse bike shuttle. Should I stick to numbered roads or take the shortcut? Rte 302/115/2 is 27 miles and 1000 feet of climbing; whereas Mt Clinton/Jefferson Notch/Valley Rd is 17 miles and 1400 feet of climbing.

Little Haystack Mountain's elevation is 4780 ft, but it is not included among the 48 peaks on the Four Thousand Footers list. "To qualify for the list, a peak must rise 200 feet above any ridge connecting it to a higher neighbor. As a result, several notable peaks are not included on the lists despite their height." (http://www.amc4000footer.org/faqs.html)

Franconia Ridge was awesome. The weather was near perfect, and it brought out the crowds. I passed hundreds of people--"Excuse me. When you get a chance... Thank-you."--or perhaps, "Merci!" as many of the hikers were from Quebec.



On Saturday, I hiked way faster than book time, even with 2 long breaks--to chat with a fellow cyclist on Lincoln, and for a bowl of potato/dill soup at Greanleaf. I was only passed once, by a runner on Franconia Ridge, who tagged Lincoln, then raced back to Lafayette. I think my summer spent biking made me stronger. But hiking beats you up in a different way than biking. The second day, I was moving much slower. A father and son blew by me on Fishin' Jimmy. I tried to match their pace but couldn't. Even the guy pictured above hopped past me.

Stop and smell the roses


Hiking more slowly on Sunday, I had time to enjoy (and photograph) the scenery.

Franconia Ridge - yesterday's hike

Kinsman Pond from N Kinsman

Lonesome Lake with Franconia Ridge in the background.

People on the Trail

Kevin F


  • Kevin F caught up with me just before the slide, so we hiked up Flume Slide together. 
  • The description in White Mountain Guide is accurate: "It is an extremely steep, rough trail, with polished rock slabs that are extremely slippery when wet (and they are nearly always wet, due to the many seep springs on these steep slopes). It is not recommended for descent, and its use is discouraged in wet weather when the ledges are more than ordinarily dangerous." 
  • Kevin came from CO to finish his 48 on the Bonds, but his brother got sick and Kevin didn't want to finish without him. Same thing happened last year, except it was Kevin that got sick. Here's hoping 3rd times a charm, and Kevin and his brother finish the Four Thousand Footers together next summer.


Kevin and Phillip at the top of Flume Slide

Rachel and Isis

  • I don't remember which trail, but I said hi to Rachel on Saturday because I recognized Isis from her posts on FB's Hike the 4000 footers of NH! 
  • Rachel's Facebook album started, "A hike like this deserves it's own album... You don't get very many days like this on Franconia Ridge"


From L to R: Cole, Alton, Rachel, Isis. photo credit: from Rachel's FB album

Alton and Cole
  • I don't remember passing Alton, but she was on the Ridge the same day, as evidenced by her photo with Rachel above.
  • Alton was completing the Pemi Loop with her dog, in just 10 hours! A couple of years ago, it took me 2 days--each about 13 hours--and I had to stop for a nap on the Lincoln Woods Trail on the return.

The importance of food.


Saturday I ate well. I stopped at Starbucks for coffee and a breakfast sandwich on the drive up. Then I enjoyed Potato Leek soup at Greenleaf Hut. So I barely touched my trail food.
Sunday I woke up at 5am intending to go get coffee and eggs, but the restaurants in Franconia don't open until 7. Rather than waste the morning, I packed my tent and hit the trail at 5:30am. I subsisted on Clif Bars, dried fruit, and half a PBJ. My feet ached, my neck hurt, my quads were tight and I hiked slower and slower, placing each foot carefully as I descended. When I finally reach Lonesome Lake Hut, they served me coffee, chocolate cake, and lentil soup--my first real food of the day. Suddenly, I had renewed energy and nearly ran the rest of the way to the parking lot.

Saturday post-hike dinner with Bill AA and Claire, Jay O and Mason, Don and Anne K at Schilling Beer Co. in Littleton.

I sampled a flight, a Belgian Tripel, a Belgian Duppel, and a Porter.

Sunday post-hike, I stopped at Woodstock Inn and found a relevant IPA.

Burger and a beer -- the perfect meal after a weekend climbing mountains.

Fishin' Jimmy

I was worried that Fishin' Jimmy was going to be too rugged a downhill for my aching feet and legs. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the descent was, but it made wonder how Jimmy managed before all the trail improvements--wooden risers, stone stairs, boardwalks, and even toeholds blasted in rock faces.

Wooden risers. Photo credit: http://upnessmountains.blogspot.com/2012/06/kinsman-pond-hut-overnight.html

Stone stairs.

Toeholds blasted in rock face.

Boardwalk.

What I Carried

Day 1: I didn't use any of the stuff on the right of my bag. Weight: 8 pounds plus 2.5 L water.

Day 2: The unused stuff on the right makes a much smaller pile than the previous day, mostly safety gear that I hope never to use. Weight: Less than day 1--no Steripen, no raincoat, no long johns, no 2nd headlamp, no battery pack, no bug repellent, reduced 1st Aid kit.