Wapack Traverse - getting back with old friends

I hiked the area last time 2 years ago. I was getting ready for Presidential traverse at the time and even though it never happened this hiked helped me understand how my body reacts to the long day of hiking (around 11 hrs).

So this year i knew what to expect repeating the hike for the second time. We met at the mt Watatic parking lot to spot cars and after waiting for everybody to show up we headed to the middle spot to leave one car with lunch food for our half day break.
We got to the beginning of the hike around 8'oclock. We started right away, and all the memories from the last hike came back with the speed of light.
I just love that first section of Wapack here the moss country covers most of the woods. It has that special feeling to it, moving your mind away from the everyday problems. I tend to inhale all the beauty and try to remember as much as i can.
We got off with pretty fast pace and after a little bit we already could tell the group would have to divide somewhere because some members just could not give up. We stayed pretty close to each other on that first part of the hike, even though i was itching to move faster.
The group was of 9 people where more than half of the members were foreigners, with German women,

Polish man, German-Sweden-Italian girl, Japanese girl and a boy somewhere from west Asia (forgot the exact country) and of course me from Poland.
We got to the North Pack Monadnock later than expected but everybody was in a really good mood and the day so far was wonderful with sun and no bugs around. We had short break at the top of the mountain, where some members of the group got to climb little fire tower to get some better views. From there was not that far to main parking lot for north Pack Monadnock where we saw a lot of people with dogs getting ready to start their hiking day.
We regrouped quickly and headed for the hidden water spot, where one of the members left some bottles of water day earlier. We filled our bottles with fresh water and headed to finish first half of the hike.
I was really anticipating it because i was getting hungry and i could not wait to be able to grab my salad from the trunk of the car.
i was getting little sleepy and i was glad to be able to rest for a little bit. From there we were all talking how we would like to speed up a little because we were going much slower than everybody expected.
When the two remaining hikers joined us, our German friend decided she was gonna stop the hike here, because she could not keep up and she did not want to slow the whole group down.
We said our goodbyes and after around half an hour we started our second part of the hike.
And that's when the problems started. People could finally go fast but i slowly started feeling not good. My stomach started bothering me and it was difficult for me to go fast.

Now it was me who could not keep up. I decided that i was not gonna say anything and just see how long can i go for. Some members of the group went really fast,i lost sight of them pretty quickly. There was one man that started slowing down and even i could pass him.
I was struggling. The hills were killing me, i started sweating e lot and got really hot and nauseous. I was trying to stay with the girls and i told them i wasnt feeling well. One of the leaders of the group decided to stay close to the slowest hiker and  we separated.
Now there were 4 subgroups. First 3 super fast guys, then two other guys, then me and the girls and then two remaining guys. I was making a lot of little stops and drunk a lot of water. At some point we got together   with two other guys and from now on we stayed close. Finally one of the girls gave me some kind of pill that she found in her pack that was suppose to help me with nausea. After around 20 min i could feel it working. I had more energy and i could go much faster.I was so happy. We got close to the mount Watatic around 3pm and tried to stay strong. Weather was still nice and everybody was in a good mood.

We got to the summit and rested a little bit. We did not want to stay there too long because we knew that the first group was waiting for us at the end. On our way down we met the slowest member of the hike, he decided not to summit Watatic and was on his way to the trail head. We got to the trial head a little bit after. I was glad it was over, i started feeling blister forming in both
of my feet and my knee started to bother me at the end. I was really tired and ready for bed!!!We waited a little bit for our leader, he decided to summit Watatic after leaving the other guy. Around 15 min later we were all at

the end of the hike.

Everybody was ready to get back to their cars so we did not spend much time on the parking lot.

It was really nice hike, i just wish i felt better through it, i was a little disappointed that i could not keep up with the fastest group but i had fun time.
I hope to repeat this hike again next year.

Hike up to Mt Liberty and Flume

Liberty Spring trail (2.9)
Franconia Ridge trail (1.5)
Osseo trail (4.1)
Lincoln Woods trail (1.4)
April 6th. Group of 9 people.


The plan was to do Franconia Ridge including all five peaks. When we got to the trailhead Michael (organizer) let us know we were doing only Liberty and Flume due to high winds on the ridge and temperatures close to single digits.
I was a little disappointed but since we already drove for 3 hours it was better to hike up those two peaks than nothing! On  our way to the trailhead we almost had a collision with wild turkey. Crazy guy was flying so low that we barely got to slow down before he flyby us trying to get across the highway.
When we got out of the car i was shocked by how cold it was. My hands immediately started to freeze and i had to put extra layers not to get too cold. We had to wait for one more person so i did not want be under dressed before even starting the hike. After 15 min we decided that he was not coming so everybody got ready and we started the hike at 8:05.

First section was fairly easy, i got warm pretty quickly and had to shed some layers. But when we got to the steeper section, pace of the group slowed down and i started to get chilly. We made several short stops to catch a breath and get a drink. It was cold and each stop had to be limited to just couple minutes to not have to put layers on. Before we got to the tree line we put windbreakers on and face protection. We knew the winds up high were gonna be strong. I started to get really cold, and back of my thighs started to get numb.
When we got out of the trees it was like in a different world. Wind was so high and it was so much colder. I had my warmest mittens on. I rushed to the peak to get some quick pics and be ready to leave the peak when the whole group got to the summit. Sky was clear and sun was up but it was not pleasant at the top of the mountain.

After we went down part of our 9 people group decided to turn back due to difficulty getting over the steeps of the mountains. 3 people went back and the rest of us was going to go up Flume.
Stretch from Liberty to Flume was much warmer and easy. I started to feel all additional layers that i had on getting hot on me. I even managed to take my hat off and my mitts for some time.
We also changed to snowshoes at this time because the trail was not as heavy packed as all the way to Liberty. We met a group of three people going down Flume. They were very happy to see us wearing snowshoes. They told us that there was a group of barebooters that made walking on the trail uneasy.

Right before the reaching Flume we put the face protection back on and we were ready to get to the peak. It was not as windy as before but still very cold, that is why we did not spend much time on the summit. We took couple of group shots and headed down to Osseo trail. At the intersection below the summit we took little break in the sunny spot.

We all decided the we were going to continue down the Osseo trail instead getting back the way we came.
From now on it was really easy and fast hike. Mostly downhill with much less snow. Trail was nicely packed but we wore snowshoes till almost the end. When we got to Lincoln Woods trail there was much less snow so we took the snowshoes off.

From there there was a lot of icy patches and several of us took some crazy falls on their butts!
Last stretch went by very quickly. It was first time that i got to go on Lincoln Woods trail during the day hours and that way it didnt feel that long and ugly.
It was still sunny when we got back down to Lincoln Woods. We waited around 30 min for our remaining friends to come and get us to our cars.

It was very nice hike and even though
we did not manage to do what we planned it was very satisfying  day.

 I was thinking about hiking Tom, Field and Willey range for quite some time, and finally on March 23rd me the dogs and Garrett with Boone set up for the trip. We were not rushing, started the hike a little after 9. It was very windy and snowing. We put our snowshoes on right away when we got out of the car, we were advised at the Highland Center that with at least 4 inches of fresh powder that would be the best option.

Misha on the summit of Avalon

There were three sets of people going before us, but as usually we passed them pretty quickly. 
Because the three groups started ahead of us the trail was broken for the first 20 min. I was not worried about anything, but after we passed all the people it started to look worse. Normally i would not worry, but that day Kappa was with us, and he has been having hard time lately with his back legs, i was afraid that breaking the trail might be too much for him. And being him silly self he would not let anybody in front of him.

We got to Avalon pretty quickly, some parts of the trail were hard to find but for most of the time we did not have hard time following the trail. Summit did not greet us with any nice views so we went back down pretty quickly.

 From that point trail was getting harder to break. I had to shoe Kappa away and go first, i could see he was getting more tired, this time he didnt even object and went behing Misha and Boone. I started getting tired as well. Snow was well above the ankle, some spots with drifts, close to knee level. Around 0,3 miles from Field we let the group of 5 people go in front of us because i did not think i could continue with that deep snow with the dogs.

What a great idea that was!!!! Walking behind them was like a dream, trail was packed and easy to follow. We reached Field summit in a strong wind and i decided that we should head down, skipping Willey . I thought we might try go for Tom if Kappa does ok when we reach Tom spur cutoff. 
Almost at the intersection for Tom spur trail i realized that i left my poles at the AZ-Avalon trails intersection. I was really upset because those were pretty new poles, but i also knew that i did not want Kappa to get additional miles added on. SO i decided i will hope for somebody else to retrieve them for me.
We got to Tom summit in a pretty nice time, on a way passing single women which we talked to on the summit as well.

It was still very windy and it was still snowing. We did not spend much time at the summit. We went back down without stopping much, passing couple of people on skis going up. 
We reached the parking lot around 2:20. I went ahead to Highland center to leave info about my poles and around 2:45 we were already on the road home.
So the day did not go as expected. We did not reach the 4th summit of the day, Kappa got really tired and i lost my poles.
Hopefully i will get back to Willey some time soon.

Washington , Monroe, winter approach on a beautiful , sunny day.

I was anticipating that trip for quite a while. I have done similar hike two years ago on a last day of Wnter. At that time i did not know much about my abilities, and with the large group the climb was slow. I could notice i was able to get higher faster and with less effort.

It was March 9th, we had 5 people in the group. We met at 8 am at the parking lot and after around 20 minutes we were ready to start. We snapped one picture before heading up. At the Marshfield station we saw several groups doing last check up of gear, adjusting packs and snowshoes. We started for Ammonoosuc ravine without any delay.

Marshfield Station

It is only 3.1 miles to the Lakes of the Clouds hut and with a pretty fast pace it did not take us too long. I believe a little over two hours and we saw roof of the hut on the horizon. The weather was very nice, i had hard time keeping my hat on. It was very sunny and warm. The trail was lost in couple of places and we followed little off trail paths used by previous hikers. There was not much ice as i remembered from two years ago.
At the hut we met several people, some were already getting ready to go towards Washington, some to Monroe. I suggested to leave the packs behind and the group agreed. I went towards Monroe not waiting for the rest of the group. There was no way we could loose vision of any member of the group on that day.
When i got to the summit there were several people there chatting and enjoying beautiful views. We snapped several pictures, talked to many people and after around 30 min headed down.
I always have that feeling of happiness when i am above tree line. I find tons of extra energy and go faster and faster.
We got to the hut, ate some snacks and started our climb toward Mt Washingotn. First half a mile was pretty fast. The trail was nicely broken and with snowshoes on, it was not that hard. Unfortunately thats about where two big groups going down passed me.  All of their members were wearing crampons. They ripped the trail apart. It was hard to walk and in many places i had to go off to the side to be able to avoid postholes.

Also thats about where the climb got a little slower and i had to take several short breaks to catch my breath. The group was still behind me and it was harder to tell them apart. I decided to push on and wait for them at the summit.
What a surprise it was to see all the people already there when i reached the peak. I think there were at least 100 people enjoying the day on the top of Mt Washington.

Everybody managed to get a summit picture and we settled down for some lunch and sun tanning. After a little while it started to get a little chilly so we decided it was time to get back. It didn't take long until we got our sleds out and slid down the slopes. That way we cut down on time going back.
 We used the sleds in many places during our decent. Sometimes it was enough to just sit on your butt without anything else. We were not the only ones having that sort of fun on that day.

I was a little disappointed we had to go back, i love being above the tree line and every time i have to leave its making me little nostalgic.
We got to our cars a little after 4 pm. Everybody was in good mood and happy about our achievement. The sun was still up and we were driving home in daylight.

That was another one of those great days that only makes you thrive for more!!