7 mountains, 3 days. Trip rpt Whites in NH

“Prologue:

Drove from Hartford to my parents in northeast Massachusetts Tuesday afternoon. Distance: Approx 130 miles. Travel time: approx 2 hours 10 minutes. The goals was to climb 7 of NH White Mountains in 3 days. This would add 6 mountains to my 4000 footer list.


Left my parents at 6:45 a.m. Wednesday, arrived in Lincoln,NH at 9:00am.

Day One:

Drove up the Kanc. to the Greeley Ponds trailhead. 4 cars in the lot, two more arrived as I was getting ready to go. I needed East Peak Osceola for my list. I had done Osceola from the other side (Tripoli Road) a few times. The hike up East Peak Osceola starts very easily with a 1.2 mile hike into the Greeley Ponds area on an easy footpath with moderate grade. It took about 25 minutes to reach the junction with the Mt. Osceola Trail. From that point the trail heads up fairly steeply and without pause to the East peak of Osceola. If memory serves it is about 1.6 miles or so. East Peak is wooded, with only a cairn to mark the summit. I then hiked over to Osceola, about 1 mile. Down and then up. The up includes a 50 yard 'chimney' that requires a certain amount of care in foot and hand placement. The views from the ledges on Osceola were fantastic. Wednesday was clear, dry, sunny and in the 70s. A perfect hiking day. I sat on the summit (about 11:30), had my snacks of bagel, cheese, beef jerky and trail mix. After about 40 minutes I headed back down. Quick trip to the car (down by 2:00pm). Stopped at Otter Rocks a pull out along the Kanc that is a rushing river with smooth warm rocks to lie on. Stripped off my hiking stuff, rinsed it in the river, put on a bathing suit and shot down one of the rock chutes into a swim hole. The water temp was in the low 50s so i was in and out in about 45 seconds. Soaked up the sun until my shorts had dried. Got back into them, then drove up through Franconia Notch to the Lafayette Campground, parked and hiked up to the Lonesome Lake hut.

L. Lake is an easy to moderate grade up 3 long switch backs to the height of land. I had dinner and stayed the night at the hut.


For the day, approx. 8.5 miles and 2 peaks (one new one for my list).

Day Two to follow.”

“so where is day 2 of this adventure???”

“Day Two

After dinner and a slow meander around the lake, I slept at the Lonesome lake hut Wed. night. Made a bathroom trip at 12:00 am. (that in and of itself isn't important). The stars were incredible. Clear as a bell. The milkyway was awesome. There were so many stars that it was hard to pick out familiar constellations.

Up Thursday morning at 6:15. I rolled down to the lake. The sun was golden, well up over the Franconia ridgeline. There were tendrils of fog curling up off the lake. Just beautiful. To round out the scene, one of the hut crew's girlfriends came down. Stripped down to a bikini and went for a swim in the golden lit curling fog. And I thought . . . this is okay.

After breakfast, was on the Fishin Jimmy Trail up to the Kinsman Ridge by 8:00. The Fishin Jimmy is steep in parts, but unlike the trail up East Peak the day before, had some flats and even dips mixed in. I reached the ridgeline in good order, and from there to the summit of N. Kinsman and over the ridge about a mile to the summit of S. Kinsman by 10:30 or so. Had a snack and then started to re-trace my steps back across and down N. Kinsman. At the ridgeline I continued along towards Cannon (where there is a ski area, and until last summer, where the Old Man of the Mountain was). The trip to Cannon from South Kinsman was a long ridge traverse (4.7 miles). Unfortunately it was not an easy ridge walk, but involved a lot of rough footing and a tremendous amount of up and down. Had lunch about 2/3 of the way over and then headed up to the summit of Cannon at 1:30. Strong wind on the exposed summits all day. The observation tower was creaking swaying a bit . . blowing between 20- 40. Rolled down from Cannon back to the Lonesome Lake hut to pick up some overnight gear I had stashed there. Borrowed some boot goop to waterproof my boots as it was supposed to be rainy on Friday.


A side note about waterproofing. Nixwax sucks. I have used their stuff for years because I lost track of a good source of snowseal. It stinks. Resists water until you actually go hiking. At the first sight of granite the stuff jumps off your boots and runs back down the hill. It stinks. At the hut they had a supply of boot goop from the Limmer boot folks. Its GREAT!!!

Anyhooo . . .down from the hut to the car. Off to Sugar Hill NH to look at the fields of Lupine, and from there up to Gorham to spend the night. On the road to Gorham, while I was scanning for moose, I saw a BIG black bear. I pulled over, backedup and watched him for two or three minutes. 75 yards across a small pond snuffling away. Standing pulling on hemlock branches etc. Pretty cool.

Spent the night in Gorham. Ate at Mr. Pizza. Soaked in a hot tub!! Three Beers!!

Damage report. Left knee hurting (purchased brace). Little toe getting abused.

Mileage for the day 11.5. Three new peaks for me.”

“Day Three Friday

Up at 5:45. Breakfast at 6:15 in Gorham, out of the motel at 7:15. Longish drive up throught Berlin (classic New England papermill town, much like Millinocket).

Trail head up byYork Pond on the way to Milan. Long badly paeved and dirt road to a state fish hatchery. Raining lightly.

Got out of the car. .it stopped raining. Pack a light day pack and head up the trail 4.7 miles to Mt. Cabot. Not a soul around except the hatchery guy I talked to at the trail head.

Got going at 8:50. The first part of the trial is all open logging roads (about 1 mile). They are overgrown with ferns, brush, brambles etc. Thin footpath winding through. Lots of mud. Lots and Lots of moose prints. Th path headed into the woods. Narrow overgrown green tunnel. Lot and lots of moose prints. Some big, some small. I am trying to remember which way the moose is heading when you see the print. Then I see tracks going both ways. The nice thing was that, unlike my trip up Kinsman, where I was running into spider webs the whole way . .the moose had cleared out the webs for me. I never saw the darn meese. I had pretty much convinced myself one was going to come tearing around a corner and take me out. The Bunnel Notch trail follows Bunnel brook a lot of the way so any noise I was making was pretty well covered. No moose. The ground was very soggy. Lot of mud holes that were pretty easy to negotiate. At the height of land on Killkenny ridge the trail signs had all been scratched and bitten to shreds. They all stand at 5.5 to 6 feet off the ground. Suddenly I wasn't worried about moose anymore.

The trip up to the Cabot cabin remained uneventful however. I went beyond the cabin to the top, returned and had a snack The peak is another wooded summit with no view, but at the cabin the clouds had lifted and I saw some of the valley. I was pretty wet from tree drips, a brush rubbing and sweat. It was only 45 at the cabin and I was chilled, so I boogied on back down. I was back to the car by 1:00 . It was sunny and warm. Stripped off my wet stuff, soaked up the sun for ten minutes of nekkid stretching (hey girls!), decided to try to climb again that afternoon.

9.4 miles, 4 hours. 6th mountain, 5th new one.


Picked up a burger sandwich in Gorham, drove Route 2 west to Jefferson to the Starr King Trailhead. Was on the trail to Waumbek by 3:00. The trip up Waumbek flew. It was 2.6 to StarrKing, and then another mile to Waumbek. Total 3.6 (for those slow at math). The grades were all easy, footing was good. It flew along. Saw some folks finishing up their hikes. None once I had gone any distance. The trip up and back was uneventful. Right at the top of Waumbek, when I was peeing on the summit cairn (something I like to do) (don't ever rest your sandwich on the summit cairn of a mountain I have climbed), when it started to rain lightly. I pulled my Marmot out, but didn't put it on. (I did this climb with just a fanny pack and two gatorade bottles. I did the others with a 96oz 2500 c.i. hydration pack). I tied the Marmot around my waist to prevent rain and boogied back down the hill. Nice woods, gentle grades. I jogged part of the way. Back at the car by 5:50.

7.2 miles, 2:50. 7th Mountain, 6th new one.

Total for the day.

2 mountains. 16.5 miles of hiking 6:50 on the trail


Epilogue.


Drove home across route 2 to St. Johnsbury and south on 91. Rolled into the sriveway just before 10 pm.


It was a great, great three days,



I have 6 4000 footers left in NH. Carter, Carter Dome, Middle Carter and Moriah (all on the same ridgeline across the street from Washington, next othe Wildcats). And then two more remote, wooded peaks, Owl's Head and Isolation.


Hope to do The Carter range this fall and the other two next spring/summer.”

“Looks Like I will loose my little toenail.

It is black and purple. And hurts.”

“thanks for the report! I haven't finished reading it all yet...

Do you have a blister under the toenail? that's happened to me before. If so, try and break the blister to release the pressure and it won't hurt anymore...it'll still fall off though.
=D”

“Nice report! Glad you had some fun. I'll keep your Cabot and Waumbek report in mind for when I finally get to them.”

“Sounds like a nice trip with great hikes - and a bear sighting!”

“Twig --

The toenail was bleeding pretty freely when I peeled my boot off. And is now (I ran 4.5 on it at lunch today . . .not sure why it still hurts though . .).

Ped --

Waumbek could be a great place to get your hiking legs back under you when the time comes.

the grades are just great. Could be the first mountain I have ever climbed where I didn't hear my heart pounding in my temples and ears. (that's normal right??????).

Gentle grades, good footing.

Nice hike.


I kind of regret not leaving it for last so that my family could join me.


They can handle more rugged stufff . . but not the Carters in one day.

Or the 18 mile round trip to Owlshead, or 15(?) to Isolation.”

“Thanks Lee for taking us on your trip. Congratulations on the Peaks you climbed!”

“Nice report Lee, I really enjoyed reading it. Any pictures?

I lost two toenails within the past two months. They hurt and act like they're coming off right away and then take weeks to actually fall off (all the while getting hung up on your sock and causing much irritation). When they finally fall free there's a new little toenail. My last one came off while I was having my first ever pedicure. I was a little bit embarrassed. =)”

“Thanks WLd --

Sass -- thnks . .that's about where my toenail is now .. .I trimmed it back, but I think it'lljust catch on stuff until it finally comes off . . ..

Not sure that'll happen during a pedicure in my case!”

“duct tape...
=D”

“Sounds like a fun three days, lee!

I just did 11 peaks in three days, but they were strung together in a nice convenient loop. (I did carry a 35-pound pack over all but one of them. Trip report to follow in a few days.)

Congrats to you on being so close to your goal. I am glad you are having fun with it.

Have you done the Carter range as planned?”

“Fritz!

I was suprised to see this thread pop up.


Congrats on your 11 mountains. I will look for the trip report.

Was it the Pemi loop as was under discussion???


Let me see if I can do this off the top off my head:

Flume, Liberty, Lincoln,haystack, Lafeyette, Garfield, Galehead (is this the one you dropped pack for??), South Twin (did you go out and back to N. Twin), uhm . . .uhm . . .Guyot (not 4000, uhmm .. . from Guyout is it right into the Bonds??? West Bond , Bond and Bondcliff??


I just counted up . . .I think so.


Which direction did you go??





RE: the Carter's. I am trying to get my friend to consider it for our fall hike. He hates the concept of the huts . .. but has never stayed in one. Carter Notch will be on a caretaker basis (we are gooing Veterenans day weekend).

He has soem idea about the CT lakes and lakes St Francis. Ain't NO way I am paddling then!!!

Anyway . .. hopefully the Carters and Moriah on Veteran's Day weekend. If not, next spring.





My wife and I were talking this weekend. She wants to do a week long retreat this summer for some exercise program she does. If she does that, I may take the boys (will be ages 10 and 7) up to the Whites. I am thinking I could string together 2 or 3 nights in the huts.


RIght now I think Mizpah and Lakes are doable. (Crawford Path)

Maybe, maybe: Greeleaf, Galehead and Zealand.


That second day (Greeleaf to Galehead) can be tough . . .I forget how tough the third day of that is. . . .


I know the hike up South Twin . .. .that is steep but short . .. how is the going from there down to Zealand?????”

“Your list is very close.

I went clockwise, skipping the optional Galehead, North Twin and Zealand side-trips. Went to West Bond after dropping my pack at the Guyot Shelter. Guyot summit is shown as 4580 on my map, included as one of my 11, although maybe you meant it is not on "the list"? That might be because there is not enough of a col between South Twin and Guyot, a pretty easy walk from one to the other.

The hike up South Twin from Galehead Hut is steep but short....1000 vertical feet in 0.8 miles, one of the caretakers said. With full pack that took me an hour. I felt humiliated. :-)

Oh...and my "three days" depends on how you count. I started Thurday at 3:00, finished Sunday at 1:15. Four-days-three-nights in general terms, just over 70 hours total.
last edited: 10/12/04 12:09:57 PM”

“Wow. Great hike Fitz!!! Solo, right???

I had skipped Galehead the last time I was there, years ago. The most recent visit, with my wife, I did climb it from the hut.


We had come up the Garfield trail to the summit and then over the ridge to the hut. The next morning we went up South Twin and over to North Twin and down.


From the hut, after a nice breakfast and a good night's sleep, without a pack, the run up Galehead was pretty short. I think I made the round trip from the hut and back in about 20 minutes.

You are riht on Guyot .. .I keep thinking it is under 4000 .. . but that's not it .. .its because of the lack of elevation drop adn gain.



Glad you had a good trip. . . .That is a great area. I'll look for the trip report”

“Yo Fritz....sounds like an awesome trip...can't wait to read the full trip report...

You take any pics?”