Mt. Cabot (Not)

JUST DISCOVERD WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY GO FAR ENOUGH AND NEVER MADE IT TO MT. CABOT, DAMN! WE THOUGHT THE BULGE WAS ACTUALLY MT. CABOT, SO LOOKS LIKE WE'LL BE DOING THIS ONE AGAIN. I THINK I'LL DO IT FROM THE OTHER SIDE NEXT TIME. BELOW IS WHAT I WROTE THINKING WE ACTUALLY DID CABOT.

Mt. Cabot was actually not that exciting, the trail itself was pretty typical with nothing really that interesting, so it was a good thing we saw three moose along the way to make the hike worth while. We saw a huge male with a giant rack, definitely the biggest moose I've seen. He was crashing through the woods and crossed the hiking trail about 75 feet behind us.

The next two moose we saw were right in the hiking trail 30 feet in front of us staring us down. We and the moose just stood there looking at each other, with nobody moving, except Pete and I were reaching for our camera's and trying to get them ready before the moose made a run for it, unfortunately, as I was about the snap the shot, the moose took off, damn! So, no photo documentation of the moose sightings.

Another funny tidbit on this hike was that Pete had one of those shit attacks. Luckily, there was a campsite along with outhouse that he made it to just in time. Unluckily, there was no toilet paper, so he had to make do with a burlap sack along with a plastic bag, neither of which is ideal for cleaning your ass. Pete didn't feel quite right for the rest of the hike, he had the sort of dirty feeling that you get when you don't fully clean yourself in that area. You know what I'm talking about.

The top of Cabot is totally wooded with no views whatsoever, but we decided to go up to the Horn, another peak nearby, only 0.3 miles off the Cabot trail. We were glad we did, the Horn provided nearly a 36o degree view of the area. We could see Cabot, and also further away we could see the Presidential's. The Horn was definitely worth hiking to and was the highlight of the hike, well other than Pete almost shitting himself, oh ya, and the 3 moose. So, I guess this was a pretty good hike overall.

On the downside, I think my hiking season might be over. I could barely make it to the car, my knees were hurting so bad. Hopefully, if I start stretching regularly I can avoid this pain in the future.
10. 4 miles in 4 hrs 30 minutes

Mt. Hale

Another hike, this one was cold and windy. Although we were sheltered from the real winds that were blowing that day. The National Weather Service was calling for gusts of up to 90 mph in the higher elevations. Mt. Hale is pretty sheltered and the summit is just a small clearing, so that is really the only time it was real windy and cold. 4.6 miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes.

There were lots of trees down along the road on the way up to the mountain. We also saw a moose on the way home. I just caught a picture of it through the windshield.

Mt. Garfield and Galehead

Hiked with Pete, Paul, and Andy. Its was damnn cold at the summit of Garfield, probably in the 20's, with winds around 40- 50 mph. There was an old foundation of a former fire tower, so we were able to get out of the wind and eat some food there.

I still don't have hiking boots (my last pair was stolen along with my car), so I used my running shoes. They are mostly mesh, so not too protective from the elements, and not great on ice. I also ran the jeans making for a sweet combination. It's funny to pass people on the trail with all the outdoor gear from EMS, when all I have on is street clothes, they must think I'm an idiot, oh well.

I'm writing this 5 days after the hike and I think I did permanant damage to my knee because it still hurts. This was the toughest hike so far I think, it took us almost as long as the Bonds Hike, but was 5 miles shorter. 15.3 miles in 8 hours and 30 minutes.

The Bonds and Zealand

No scenic pictures since we were in the fog for about 7 hours. Actually there was really nothing to see at all except the trail in from of us. 20.2 miles in 8 hours and 48 minutes.

Mt. Whiteface

Did Whiteface wth Radley...really cool ledges near the top. 8.4 miles in 3 hours. I forgot the camera so no pictures for this one. Went and raced at the track afterward. There's alot you can get accomplished when you don't have a job.

Mt. Moosilauke

Took the Beaver Brook trial to reach the summit of Mt. Moosilauke. It was really steep in the first 1.5 miles, following the Beaver Brook, which was more like a waterfall. There were wooden steps built into the rock along with railings made from rebar. Once past this initial segment the trail became less steep and more enjoyable.

It was sunny except for the summit which was in the clouds and on the chilly side. I only stayed at the summit for about 5 minutes before heading back down the same trail I ascended. 7.6 miles in 3 hours 35 minutes.

Mt. Carrigain

Did Mt. Carrigain with Scott and Pete...nice sunny day. 10 miles in 3 hours and 50 minutes.

Osceola and Osceola East Peak

Hiked these peaks with Karen, her Dad, and Radley. The weather was great as you can see from the pictures. Getting to Osceola wasn't bad at all, but then we wanted to get over to East Osceola, we had to tackle a part of the trail called the chimney. We knew what a chimney was from climbing terminology, we figured it would be pretty much the same thing.

The chimney was the best part of the whole hike, straight down for about 10 feet or so. Radley had to go around the chimney and I had to carry him down a bit, but he was fine. He's about the size of a cat, so he's really agile. Its amazing to see what he can actually climb up/down. He's a better hiker than a larger dog. We made it over to East Osceola, and there was basically no view except for a small patch where we could see over some small trees. The peak was entirely wooded, so we just turned around and headed back to the chimney and for the summit of Osceola, where we would take our lunch break.

After we ate, we headed back down the trail to the car, which was at Tripoli road. We were just about the last people the trail. I guess everyone likes to get an early start, I like to sleep in a little. On the way down Karen was having some trouble with her knee and we had to slow down a bit. It only seems to happen going downhill, which I think is the worst part of hiking, my knees usually start aching on the descent as well. Anyway, after much pain and agony we did make it back to the car. It was about a 8.5 mile hike and we did it in 5.5 hours.

We did make it to the nearest gas station, the low fuel light was on when we got there and we were a little worried whether of not we would have enough gas to get out of there, but we did.

Middle and North Tripyramid

Hiked these peaks with Pete Rhodes and his friend Andy. We went up the Sabbaday Brook trail, which was pretty overgrown. Apparently, this trail is not used all that much. We made a big loop out of it and came down another trail. I think the round trip distance was 12.5 miles or so. The last mile was on the road. Overall a descent hike, views from the summits were limited and there was alot of flys around for some reason, I assume there must have been a dead body nearby.

Mt. Washington

I've been to the summit 3 times that I can remember and that I know the dates of. I've also skied from the summit to the parking lot at Pinkham Notch once. I've skied Tucuman's Ravine on numerous occasions, one season I was up there 6 weekends in a row.

The last time I hiked Mt. Washington to the summit was with Jeff D. We, of course, took the steepest trail we knew of, Huntington Ravine. I've done this trail before, in high school, its a great trail, really steep and exposed near the top. Its like doing StairMaster for an hour and a half. Once we were up to the top of the ravine, we took the Nelson Crag trail to the summit. On our way to the summit we had to cross the auto road, we actually had to wait for about 10 cars to pass us before we could cross. The AMC should consider putting in a cross walk. Its amazing how many tourists make there way to the summit in their cars. Many of the them in there giant SUVs.

We also crossed the the Cog RR tracks on our way to the summit, we had to hurry as the Cog RR was coming and we didn't want to get covered in the coal soot billowing out of the smoke stack on the train engine. We made it to the summit building for a break and some food. I sucked down some granola bars and peanuts, along with some water from my camelbak. Jeff bought a woopie pie figuring the amount of sugar in it would keep him going for the rest of the day.

I took a picture of the summit sign for documentation. There was actually a line to get your picture taken standing next to the summit sign. I just snapped a picture when people were changes places. We then started down to the Lake of the Clouds Hut, where Jeff's sister is a Hut Master. Jeff was planning on bringing her mail to her, but it turns out she wasn't there. She was out hiking, I guess that's what you do when your a hut master.

We left the Lake of the Clouds Hut for Tuckerman Ravine, our chosen route of descent. By the time we got to the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, my knees were starting to hurt slightly. I knew they would be hurting much more by the time we got to the car. We took another break at the Tuckerman Ravine shelter, did some stretching, and continued on our way. The hike down was pretty uneventful, we were glad to get to the car. I think it was something like a 6 hour hike, definitely the hardest hike I've done in a while.