Dry River Wilderness Traverse

Date of Hike: 9/18/10

Davis Path / Crawford Path: 16.5 miles
Crawford Path / Monroe Loop Trail: 2.1 miles
Dry River Trail: 9.6 miles
Route 302: 2.5 miles
Total Miles: 30.7 (8,000 elevation gain)

 Trip Report:
- With fall beginning in less than a week it was time to head up to the mountains for one last marathon endurance hike of the summer.
- I decided to head to the Davis Path and when I told my old man of my plans he said "Davis Path that's a great hike up to Mount Washington, how you getting back down?"  I told him "I'm doing an out and back" his response "That's f**king stupid!".... So with my dad's blessing it was off to the White Mountains to beat feet up the Davis Path and celebrate it's one hundredth year as a foot trail.
- On Trail at 7am, Mount Isolation 11:10am, Mount Washington 1:35pm, Mount Monroe 2:45pm, Dry River Shelter #3 4:05pm, finished 7pm. Mostly clear with awesome views, temps in the 40's and 50's, light wind.
- I had only hiked the Davis Path between Mount Isolation and Mount Washington so I was excited to hike the rest of the trail.  The first two miles up to Mount Crawford spur path was a steady uphill climb that was pretty easy going.  At the spur path I headed .3 miles to Mount Crawford's summit over open sloping ledges.  The views into Crawford Notch, the Presidential Range - Dry River Wilderness, and Mount Washington were incredible!
- The next stop along the Davis Path was Stairs Mountain.  I took a nasty fall descending to the Crawford/Resolution Col but other than a few scraps was good to go.
- I made the quick .2 mile trip out to the view point from Stairs Mountain summit where I ran into the first hiker of the day.  He had hiked up by way of Rocky Branch and Stairs Col trails and was having a great time taking in all the views.  After a few minutes of chatting about the mountains I headed back to the Davis Path to continue my trek.
- From here I had over four miles until my next stop, the summit of Mount Davis.  This section of the hike absolutely sucked as I was trudging through messy boot-sucking mud along with pretty nasty footing with exposed roots and rocks and worst of all no views.
- When I reached the Mount Davis spur path I headed up to the 3,819 foot summit where I had the summit all to myself and enjoyed the terrific 360 degree views.
- Next I headed to Mount Isolation where the views were spectacular as well. While taking a break on the summit I started to rethink my plans of retracing my steps from Mount Washington back to my car.  I came to the conclusion that re-hiking the section between Mount Isolation and Stairs Mountain would be a drag so I decided to change my hike and head down to Lakes of the Clouds, up to Mount Monroe, drop back down to Lakes, and take the Dry River Trail back to 302.
- About an hour after leaving Mount Isolation I popped up above treeline on the Davis Path.  From here I would spend the next couple of miles hiking on what is my favorite sections of a trail in all of the White Mountains (especially the short part between the Boot Spur Trail junction and the Crawford Path) The cairns on this section are perfect and look magnificent!!
- I arrived at the summit of Mount Washington just after 1:30pm and it was a zoo!  I took a few pics stopped in at the cafeteria and quickly retreated to the pack room to get away from the crowds to relax, refuel, and change layers before heading down to Lakes of the Clouds. (side note - when I summited Washington it was the 100th official 48 - 4,000 footer I had stepped on this year)
- The 1.5 mile hike down to Lakes and the short burst up to Monroe went quickly.  I ran into all kinds of hikers, a couple of dogs, and one or two trail runners taking in the tremendous views along the way.
- Lakes of the Clouds Hut is now closed for the fall/winter and it was kind of relaxing that there weren't swarms of people popping in and out of the hut.  After a few minutes it was time to start the long descent back to Route 302 on the Wild Dry River trail.
- The first section of the trail is pretty cool, at the start you get unique views of Lakes of the Clouds Hut and the backside of Mount Monroe before dropping down below treeline.
- The long hike back out was pretty uneventful, the trail is even more of a muddy mess than the Davis Path but by this time I was caked in mud up to my shins so I could care less, plus the mud was such a relief on my legs which had been taking a pounding.
- Along the way I passed Dry River Shelter #3 which is in great shape, ran into a couple of hikers heading to the shelter, and a few others heading to the primitive campsites.
- When I reached the Dry River Campground I had 2.5 mile walk back to my car.  I didn't try to hitch as I was a muddy mess and probably smelled like a moose so I just hoofed it.  I got back to my car just as it became dark and was thrilled to take my disgusting muddy boots and socks off and relax after a kick ass long hike!

Pictures: Click here for all Pictures

Mont Monroe from Mount Davis Summit

View of the Boot Spur, Washington, and Monroe

from Mount Isolation Summit

Davis Path

Davis Path

Cog Railway and Mount Jefferson

Lakes of the Clouds and Mount Washington

Lakes of the Clouds Hut from the Dry River Trail

Abandoned Downes Brook (Passaconaway) Slide Trail

Date of Hike: 9/12/10

Downes Brook Trail: 2.0 miles
Downes Brook Slide Trail: 2.0 miles
Walden Trail: .7 miles
Square Ledge Trail: .7 miles
Passaconaway Cutoff: 1.7 miles
Oliverian Brook Trail: 1.9 miles
Kancamagus Highway: 1.0 miles
Total Miles: 10 miles (3,800 elevation gain)


Trip Report:
- One of my favorite things to research in the White Mountains are abandoned trails.  I'm fascinated about where these trails where, when they were last hiked, why they were closed, can they be found, and how hike-able they are. This summer I have been lucky enough to hike a couple of lost trails such as the Mount Hale Trail (AKA Fire Warden's Trail) although this one is so well traveled it's in better shape than some still in use trails! Also I was lucky enough to hike up the Adams Slide Trail which was a wicked challenge and wicked steep!
- Next on the List was the Downes Brook Slide Trail (AKA the Passaconaway Slide Trail).  It was abandoned in the 1940's because of hazardous footing on steep slippery ledges and when in use it came with a warning of "This trail is dangerous, especially after a rain, and is not recommended to amateur climbers." 1940 AMC White Mountain Guide. Hopefully I would get some good weather and be able to hike up the slide and get some great views.
- However when I woke up Sunday morning at Camp Dodge I was surprised to see such crummy weather considering that the forecast called for starting in the clear and trending towards cloudy with a chance of showers. 
- As I headed down Route 16 to 302 and over Bear Notch Road I was holding out hope that the weather was just crummy in the Presidentials but would better in the Sandwich Range Wilderness.  Unfortunately it wasn't as it started to rain a little bit.
- I was pretty bummed out but I decided to at least hike down the Downes Brook Trail and locate the slide and check it out so I at least knew where it was.
- While researching where the Downes Brooke Slide Trail branched off from the regular Downes Brook Trail I found that the 1922 AMC Guidebook said it was 2.0 miles from the Old Swift River House (where the Kanc is now).  Low and behold it was just about on the money as there was a huge rock washout and as you looked up you could see the beginning of the slide.
- Within a hundred feet at the foot of the slide there is a sign posted on a tree warning that this is an unauthorized trail, public use of these lands is welcome but trail maintenance on the slide is against the law.  Apparently about a dozen or so years ago someone went in and cleared out the old trail and blazed it. (Click here for more details)
- As soon as I stepped on the slide it started to rain so I was only going to hike until it got to dangerous. 
- The Slide itself starts off not to steep over sloping rock faces and the old bootleg blazes have been removed from the rocks but you can still see where they where albeit washed out. The bootleg blazes have also been removed from the trees by what seems to be some sort of acid material that burned the trees making them ooze black goo where the blazes once were.  Instead of white bootleg blazes you have black scabby blazes!
- I continued to follow the bootleg blazes and only lost the trail a for a minute or two here and there.  I wish that the weather was better because I was missing out on some killer views and could have explored more of the slide itself if it wasn't wet.
- As for myself I decided to keep on going, I was totally soaked from head to toe.  Every time the trail went to the side of the slide into the woods I would just get more wet if that's even possible!
- At no point did I ever feel that this trail was extremely dangerous as has been stated as I was able to hike up in the rain.  The Steepest part of the trail is the last .3 miles which runs strait up in the woods below the outlook.
- Once at the summit I changed into dry clothes, and just booked it down the north side of Mount Passaconway to the Kanc and walked back to my car.  The whole day I didn't see one person on the trails which made sense because it was a miserable day in the high 40's to low 50's with no views.
- I wonder if the bootleg trail was able to follow the original trail the whole way or if I was missing out on something.  I'll definitely come back next summer when it's been dry out for a week to see if there's more fun to be had on the Downes Brook Passaconaway Slide!

Pictures: Click here for all Pictures

Looking down the start of the

Downes  Brook Slide Trail

Downes Brook Slide

On the Downes Brook Slide

Hiking up the Downes Brook Slide

Sphinx Trail Work and Mount Jefferson

Date of Hike: 9/11/10

Caps Ridge Trail: 2.1 miles
The Cornice / Gulfside Trail: 1.0 miles
Sphinx Trail: .5 miles
Gulfside / Jefferson Loop Trail: .9 miles
Caps Ridge Trail: 2.5 miles
Total Miles: 7.0 (3,400 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- Saturday's forecast was looking great so I decided to head back to the Sphinx Trail to do some trail work in the morning then head to Mount Jefferson to catch the flags on the 48 (tribute to 9/11) before heading to Camp Dodge for the AMC volunteer BBQ!
- On trail at 7:30am, Sphinx Trail at 9:00am, trail work until 12:00pm, Jefferson summit at 12:45pm, finished at 2:15pm.  Weather was in the 50's and 60's, 25mph wind gusts, mostly clear skies with great views.
- My main goal for the trail work was to brush back some more overgrown parts of the trail and to fix a rock bar drainage so the water could easily run off the trail.
- The first two hours were spent clipping back krummholz and fern branches to open up the trail so hikers traveling on the trail after rain or early in the morning would no longer be annoyed of getting soaked from the overgrowth. (Click here and Click here for before and after picture)
- The last hour I spent repairing a rock bar drainage.  This was dirty and much tougher than I thought it would be.  I had to dig out two big rocks that where originally the side walls of the drainage that were pretty heavy and buried on top of one another.  Once I was able to dig them up and move them into place the rest of the work was much easier.  (Click here for before and after picture)
- Once done with the trail work I head up to Mount Jefferson to take pictures of the flag flying on the summit, eat lunch, and enjoy the great views.
- The hike back down the Caps Ridge went pretty quickly and then I was off to Camp Dodge to stuff my face with awesome food and hang out with a bunch of other people who do the adopt a trail program as well!

Pictures: Click here for all Pictures

Glacier-Melt Potholes on the Caps Ridge Trail

Flags on the 48

Ridge of the Caps and Mount Jefferson

The Arrow Slide

Date of Hike: 9/6/10

Hancock Notch/Cedar Brook Trail: 2.5 miles
Hancock Loop Trail: 1.1. miles
Arrow Slide .7 miles
Hancock Loop Trail: 2.0 miles
Hancock Notch/Cedar Brook Trail: 2.5 miles
Total Miles: 9.8 (2,650 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- After hiking 38 miles over two days I decided to take it easy and do a short hike in order to beat the Labor Day traffic back home to RI.
- I figured doing the Hancock's was a great idea for a quick hike but to make the normally boring hike more interesting and fun I decided to venture up the steep Arrow Slide up to the summit of North Hancock.
- On Trail at 7:15am, foot of slide 8:30am, North Hancock summit 9:45am, South Hancock summit 10:15am, finished at 11:45am.  Clear skies with temps starting in the mid 40's rising to low 50's on the slide to high 60's back at the car.
- There was nothing out of the ordinary for the hike along Hancock Notch/Cedar Brook Trails.  Saw a couple of tents set up across Cedar Brook but it was early so no one was out.
- Once I arrived at the split on the Hancock Loop Trail I headed to North Hancock and dropped down to a flat area where there were signs of recent camping and a fire pit.  From the campsite I ventured into the woods and within a few minutes I arrived at the foot of the slide.
- The Arrow Slide starts off with small rocks and loose gravel through a narrow area then as it starts to open up the rocks turn into a mix of medium to boulder sized as the the grade steepens. Views start to open up as the middle of the slide is reached and this is where the real fun starts!
- From here the slide is excessively steep with a mix of polished sloping ledges with decent handholds to wet slimy rock slabs which are dangerous and not to be attempted.  There are also some areas of soft gravels/sand and loose rocks.
- I first went left up over a short dry section followed by a gravel/sand section and then angled my way back into the middle of the slide.
- From here I started to go left up dry polished rock slabs but after about fifty feet I got a little nervous and decided to head back down from where I was. If I was with people I would have scrambled up this part but hiking solo I take extra caution to avoid getting myself caught in a real bad jam.
- After backtracking down I decided to go up the middle and quickly cross a tricky short slimy section over to rock slabs and into a crack with loose rocks and gravel where I ascended diagonally left towards a big cairn at the top section where the slide splits.
- The Views while hiking the middle and upper part of the slide of the Osceola and Scar Ridge were great and looking down into the bowl of the Hancock's while on the slide gave a real sense of just how steep this slide was.
- At the cairn you can go left or right, I decided to go left where the slide becomes narrow until ending at a dense section of fern trees.
- From here I would be bushwhacking .1 miles to the summit of North Hancock through nasty dense fern trees with awful footing.  It was the thickest and toughest bushwhack I've done so far.  I headed at a an angle of one o'clock and after about ten minutes I popped out right at the outlook for the North Hancock summit!
- I took a break to relax and refuel before heading over to South Hancock and booking it back to the car all the while thinking of other slides to hike...Passaconway, Lincoln, South Twin!

Pictures: Click here for all Pictures

Looking Down the Arrow Slide

Up the Steep Arrow Slide

Osceola's

My Route up the Arrow Slide

Upper Section of the Slide

The Arrow Slide (photo shopped)

Wildcat / Carter Traverse

Date of Hike: 9/5/10

Lost Pond Trail: .9 miles
Wildcat Ridge Trail: 5.0 miles
Carter-Moriah Trail: 5.9 miles
North Carter Trail: 1.2 miles
Imp Trail / Bushwhack: 3.0 miles
NH Route 16: 4.0 miles
Total Miles: 20 miles (6,500 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- This summer I had been hiking all over the Presidential Range and Pemigewasset Wilderness but had yet to venture out to the Wildcat-Carter range so I figured it was time to do a long day hike on the Appalachian Trail.
- On Trail at 8am, finished at 6pm.  Temps in the low 60's below treeline, and high 40's above 4,000 feet with 25 plus MPH wind gusts, with good views.
- The Wildcat Trail always seems to kick my ass pretty good, it is relentlessly steep from Pinkham Notch up to Wildcat "E" Peak. The good news is that there are some pretty fun rock ledges with outstanding views down into Pinkham Notch and even better views across of the Gulf of Slides, Tuckerman, and Huntington Ravine up to Mount Washington and the northern Presidential Range.
- The Wildcat Ski Area lift runs up to the col between "E" and "D" Peak and is a nice place to relax and take in the views before heading along the numerous up and downs across the rest of the Wildcat Ridge. Also the observation deck on Wildcat "D" Peak has been rebuilt so you can take in some great views from there as well.
- From Wildcat "D" across to "A" is a bit of a pain in the butt as you are mostly in the woods traveling up and over "hog-backs" along with rough footing through a narrow trail. Luckily by this time I was able to hike at a good pace and make good time to Wildcat "A" Peak where I enjoyed great views of Carter Notch and the Carter Range.
- The descent to Carter Notch is steep followed by a steep ascent back up to Cater Dome.  While hiking this section all I could hear was the wind above and the loud barks from a dog near the hut below, he barked all the time and was wicked loud, it never shut up, I love dogs but this dogs bark was so bad I skipped out on visiting the hut!
- From Carter Dome I made sure to go up to Mount Height which has some of the best views in the White Mountains.  Views to the east were incredible although views of the Presidential Range were clouded in.  It was very windy and cold on the summit and to stay warm I had to put my hat on while taking a break to relax and refuel.
- The hike over South and Middle Carter was uneventful as usual. South Carter is a wooded summit with no views and Middle Carter has decent views to the east and north.  Both summits have a hand made stick summit sign which are hard to spot but pretty neat.
- The rest of the hike was new to me, I had never been over to North Carter but found it alot of fun, the hiking was pretty fun dropping down to Mount Lethe with good views and a pretty cool section of bog bridges.
- The hike down the North Carter and Imp trails was a drag as I was in the woods and it started to lightly rain.  The highlight was after about two miles on the Imp Trail I bushwhacked over Cowboy Brook southwest to Route 16, it was an easy bushwhack through mostly open and mossy woods.  My original goal was to come out onto the Nineteen-Mile Brook Trail but I didn't go south enough and ended up coming .3 miles north of the trailhead which was good enough.
- Now came the fun part of playing let's not get hike by a car for four miles back to Pinkham Notch Visitor Center.  I tried to hitch a ride for about 15 minutes before it became pointless.  Being labor day weekend the notch was swarming with tourists so I knew they wouldn't stop, so I just enjoyed the walk back to PNVC.
- Back at the car I got my sock full of quarters out and took a nice luke warm shower in the pack room.  The hike over the Wildcat and Carters was a fun hike as  I passed by a few dozen people and a couple of dogs along the way, most of which were having fun.  The hike up to Wildcat "E" Peak is a favorite of mine eventhough it kicked my ass again.  Hopefully someday I'll be able to go back and do the Wildcat-Cater-Moriah Shelburne Traverse and beat feet up to Wildcat "E" Peak!

Pictures: Click here for all pictures

Wildcat Ridge Trail

Looking South to Mount Chocorua

Carter Notch Lake and Wildcat "A" Peak

North and South Baldface

Mount Hale, Zealand, South & North Twin Loop

Date of Hike: 9/4/10

North Twin Trail: 1.0 miles
Mount Hale Trail (Fire Warden's Trail): 2.5 miles
Lend-A-Hand Trail: 2.7 miles
Twinway: 6.2 miles
North Twin Spur/North Twin Trail: 5.6 miles
Total Miles: 18.0 miles (5,300 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- My original plan was to meet up with hikers and take the Caps Ridge up Mount Jefferson and then head over to the Sphinx Trail to do some trail work.  However with high winds forecast for the Presidential Range I figured it would be more enjoyable to find another hike to do and hit the Sphinx on a better day.
- Luckily enough I was invited by Bob and Geri to do the awesome Loop hike over Hale, Zealand, South and North Twin Mountains.  Also joining in on the fun was Mike, Chris, and his girlfriend Christine, since there were three Chris's I was called Chris 3, along with Chris 2, and Ms. Chris!
- On trail at 9am, finished at 5:45pm, Temps in the 60's below treeline, 50's above treeline, light wind, with high clouds and good views.
- Last month while hiking solo I was able to do this hike counter-clockwise because the forecast called for better views early in the day.  This time the forecast was for better views later in the day so the route for the hike was clockwise.
- Our first objective was to find the obscure turn-off for the defunct Fire Warden's Trail, the trick is to locate the strongest little tree on the trail and you'll find the old trail! (click here for picture)
- We made good time up the Mount Hale/Fire Warden's Trail through the beautiful Birch glades.  As we gained elevation fog slowly fell into the trees making for a pretty cool atmosphere.
- At Mount Hale summit we relaxed for a few minutes before heading down the Lend-A-Hand Trail.  While descending the clouds started to lift and the sun started to come out and from here on out we'd be hiking in mostly favorable conditions.
- Once we reached the Twinway we took a break on the rocks above Zealand Falls to refuel and fill up on water before heading up the Twinway to Zealand Mountain.  The views from the outlook into Zealand Notch over to Carrigain Notch were great along the way.
- From Zealand the Twinway drops down into a col then back up to Mount Guyot and over to South Twin. One of my favorite places to hike is the short section above treeline on Mount Guyot looking down into the Pemigewasset Wilderness to Owl's Head with the Franconia Ridge rising high above it.
- We made good time over to South and North Twin and enjoyed the fantastic 360 degree views from South Twin and the terrific views of Galehead and the Garfield and Franconia Ridge from North Twin.
- Now was the long decent back to the river, the first part of the decent was steep but then the grades moderated as we reached the third water crossing.  We decided to use the herd path and bypass the first two crossings as Gerri lead the way setting a good pace as we jogged the remaining mile or so.
- We were all excited to finally be back at the car and having completed such a great hike.  I was also excited to have been able to hike with other people who like to hike at a quick pace and have lots of experience that I can learn from.  Last winter Mike and Bob both completed a single season 48 (Bob twice!), Chris and Christine have completed and are training for a marathon, and throughout this hike Geri was our leader making sure we made good time. Thanks guys fro letting me join in on an awesome hike!!

Pictures: Click here for all pictures

Hiking through the Birch glades

 on the Fire Warden's Trail

View toward Carrigain Notch from the Twinway

Mount Guyot Summit with the

Franconia Ridge off in the Distance 

High Clouds over the Pemigewasset Wilderness

Owl's Head and the Franconia Ridge