Summer 2013 Mission: Spend more time in the White Mountains!

I moved to New Hampshire in May 2006. I immediately fell in love with Mt. Monadnock and hiked it regularly. Every summer since moving here I always said that I wanted to spend more time in the Whites however Mt. Monadnock, Pack Monadnock, Gap mountain always seemed to be my "go to" because they were close by. I made it up to the Whites a few years ago for my first hiking experience. I hiked the Briddle Path loop and hit a few 4,000 footers including Lafayette and Lincoln. A couple years ago I power hiked up Moosilauke and last year I hiked the Welch-Dickey loop. This summer I wanted more. I had completed the Winter Wild series which took me up to Bretton Woods so when I went back up that way for the USATF NE series (Bretton Woods Fell race) I decided to camp out the night before. Found a great spot at the Zealand Campground, right along the main road but also along the river too. A nice open area with some shade and no bugs. I had time to explore the area after I set up camp. It had started to rain and the radar showed some brief showers passing through so I drove

My favorite campsite at Zealand Campground

around. I found the trail head for North and South Twin mountains with 10-11 rustic campsites along the road leading to the trail head. I drove up the Zealand trailhead and then Mt. Washington Ammonoosuc Ravine trail head and Cog railroad and explored some of the road side stops along the way. I started making my plans...my hiking plans.


After my Michigan vacation in early July I began fine tuning my plan. I consulted with a friend who has hiked the 4,000 footers in NH, he recommended that  I get a waterproof map and gave me some trail suggestions. I picked up the map at EMS and created a route similar to the one suggested to me. The weekend of July 12th I had no races scheduled and put my plan into motion. I busted a move to get up to Twin Mountain on Friday so that I could reserve my favorite campsite at Zealand. I was psyched that it was still available and excitedly set up camp. It was going to be an early bedtime for me since I was planning to be up at 3:30 with hopes to be on the trail around 4:30. Everything went as planned and I had dropped my bike off at the Castle Trail and found one of the last official parking spots at Appalachia trail head. I was on the trail by 4:45. It was a chilly morning and I dressed in layers but less than 5 minutes up the trail (which was runnable) I started shedding. I headed up Valley Way trail. I soon heard water and was delighted to be hiking along a flowing mountain river. I took a side trail along the water then made the decision to take Watson's Path. From what I read it was the most direct route up to Madison. I couldn't see hiking to the hut, up the mountain then back down again so the direct route up it was. Watson Path was an aggressive trail, I was careful to not make any wrong moves...a wrong step could have led to a not so fun tumble down the mountain. When I got above tree line it became a little more interesting and was definitely a new experience for me. I was hiking up what looked like a boulder field. Boulder after boulder...up, up, up. Thank goodness for the cairn rock piles. I stopped to turn around to enjoy the view several times. So beautiful! It was still pretty early when I reached the top of Madison.   There were a couple people already up there including a female AT through hiker. She was super nice and super hairy. That convinced me that I could not be an AT hiker. ha ha

So. Many. Rocks.

I present Mount Washington

I took a bunch of pictures and moved on. Hiked down, down, down past the hut. Hiked around Star Lake and hiked up the Star Lake trail to Adams. The trail had a great view and the hike went much faster than I thought it would. The last little push up was a little tricky but fun. The peak was a little crowded but I met a couple groups of people-a group you teenaged/college boys and a group of 3 middle-aged men. The 3 men were nice, one of them took a picture for me since I am embarrassed to do selfies in front of other people. They shoved off before me so guess what? They were my targets. Hiking up there was more difficult that I thought it would be. It was all rocks and boulders. I passed by some more through hikers with big ole packs on and it really didn't look like they were enjoying themselves on these rocks. At the next intersection I caught up with the men and we all took a break, had a snack and I listened as they engaged in some smack talk. There was another group of guys taking a break as well. They too had big ole packs and were hiking the presidential range-for 3 days. My men took off and I got my pack on and was on the chase again. I made a ity bity mistake and was hiking with my head down, missed the cairn or blaze and found myself somewhere I didn't want to be. I could see the men above me and the boys below me but I was not on the trail. I thought I could cut over to the trail next to me. No can do, the pine shrubs were too thick. So I back tracked back down and was on my way again. I thought to myself...so that is how hikers find themselves lost. I met up with the men again at the top of

Jefferson. Dang the bugs were so bad up there! I threw my buff over my hat to keep the nasty things off me. They were unbearable and no one stayed up there for long. At this point the men and I went our separate ways. They were heading to Washington where a ride would be waiting for them below. I needed to get back to my bike.

Bugs!

I took the Castle Ridge trail. It appeared to be the road less traveled and I was only slightly creeped out as I headed down alone through the boulder laden trail marked only by cairns. After what seemed like forever I reached what looked more like a trail. there were 3 or 4 peaks along the ridge-the castles. It was something to see but WOW. Its was crazy in parts. I had to just hold on and let myself drop because there was no real way to get down. It was challenging and fun but I was ready to move on. I finally made it to some runnable trails and was excited to be able to run most of the 3 miles down once I got under tree line. This trail also ran along side of a river near the bottom. I stopped for a picture and dipped my buff in and washed my face to cool down. I started to think it would be fun to have to cross this river but alas...no river crossing here...yet. Its funny, I pushed on running and noticed a sign that said "Trail" but I didn't see the trail and kept going a few more feet to a dead end. I retraced my last couple of steps and yep...the trail was on the other side of the river. Funny, I really didn't want to have to cross the river now. I did and it was refreshing up to about mid thigh. I knew I was close to being done and I found the river crossing to be refreshing so the last

1/2-3/4 mile was a blur. I did have to stop for a quick potty break and wouldn't you know it, 3 seconds later I ran into a couple guys on the trail. That would have been embarrassing! I made it back to my bike and with a big ole smile on my face I rode back to the Appalachia trail head. Finished around 1:30pm. I downed a coconut water then cracked open a cold adult beverage. I had my whole afternoon ahead of me, it was great to be done. I was feeling BAD ASS!

My first solo day hike in the Whites. I immediately started planning my next hiking adventure but first I had another adventure in the works. The day after my Presidential hike, I hiked Passaconaway and Whiteface with a couple of friends. It was a little cloudy by the time we got to Whiteface but it was still a great hike!

Scared to death for this pic!

I can't think of a better way to kick off my mission to spend more time in the White Mountains!