Last hikes of the year

Baldfaces

On September 27th i visited Mount South Baldface, North Baldface, Eastman Mountain and Eagle Crag. Being it Friday i did not meeta lot of people during the hike, i had Misha with me as my companion. The day was warm and sunny with awesome blue skies.

Twins and The Bonds

October 25th brought me to Twin Mountains followed by Guyot Mt and Bond and West Bond mountains. Misha by my side as a only other moving creature that day. Unexpectedly there was snow on the ground and the winds on the ridge were pretty high. I have planned to hike to the Bondcliff but i decided not to push all the way worrying of running out of the day light.

That day also i lost my camera on my way to South Twin coming back from North Twin. It was pretty challenging hike wearing just a trail runners which ended up snowballing very badly.

HaBaSa - Adks 46

Sept 21st'13

Yesterday was another trip to Adirondacks Park. I got up at 3 am to get ready and was on the road around 3:45. The drive was nice and easy. I got to the Garden parking lot around 8:06 only to find out it was full an i had to turn around. Thankfully they have a shuttle service from nearby Marcy place where i drove to, and after 3 or 4 minutes waiting i got on the shuttle.

I started the hike at around 8:36 half hour later than expected. Last shuttle was leaving at 6 pm so i had a little less than 10 hrs to do the hike.

When i signed in the register i only put Basin and Saddleback but i was hoping to hit the Haystack as well, it all depended on my timing.
Half mile before hitting the Adirondack Lodge there was another register where i signed in as well. There was a ranger on patrol walking he asked me where i was going. I asked him if i was too late to do the two peaks,he said that indeed i was and if i had a headlamp, i assured him that i had it with me and i continued, i tried to be fast and not have to finish in the dark.
I was worried that i havnt seen any people on the trail. I figured that everybody that was hoping to bag peaks left at reasonably earlier time. That only motivated me to move faster.
I passed two people after i crossed the river nearby the lodge. The were moving slow, i left them in the dust thinking that i might have a good chance to go for Haystack.
The weather started to change around that time, sun which was peaking through the clouds for the first hour of the hike, now was totally covered by heavy darkish clouds. It was getting cooler as well,and my hopes for the warmer temps to dry out the trail were gone. It was wet everywhere, rocks were covered in moisture and it was slippery. It was not a perfect weather to catch any views. Nearby the slant rock leanto i meet two young guys. We talked and looked at the maps. They were going for the grate range in its whole awesomeness. I was surprised that they were in that section of the trail that late but they seemed to be moving fast. They told me that the got info on the weather at the loge and that there were supposedly thunderstorms approaching. I was not happy to hear that. At this point i had to decide if i was going to do Haystack or just Basin Saddleback. I decided that at 10:36 i still had pretty good chances to avoid the thunders and go to all three peaks. The wind picked up in strength. It got colder.I put my gloves on an pushed on. It was not far from there to Haystack summit.
It was tough climb of one mile and i tried to keep moving steady. It didnt take long before i saw Little Haystack in the horizon. Also i met group of people heading up the main summit. I felt a little better to see more people around because i was getting concerned to be in the woods on my own. When i got to the Summit there was another group of people there celebrating reaching their goal. Also those two young men were there as well.
The wind was so strong it was hard to keep balance. Clouds were covering everything and you could barely see anything around. I decided to just take couple pics with my cell phone not even bothering to get my camera out. It was going to be picture less day.
After maybe 10 minutes i headed down. One of the groups was going to go to Basin as well what got me reassured i was not going to be there alone.
On my way own from the Little Haystack i passed the same two guys talking to the group of girl scouts, i briefly asked them where they were doing there knowing there were going to do the Great Range, they said they changed their plans and were going to do the same hike as i was. I was glad to hear it because i doubted they would be able to finish their original plan. Also one of them kept complaining how hard for him was to get a good footing and that he was getting tired. Also i didnt mind having more company on the same hike as i was!
I continued quickly down the mountains and hoped to get to Basin fast. It was only 0.8 miles from there but i was getting tired as well. Yes it took me only around 3,5 hrs to do that section but my muscles were screaming at me for going up again. Basin summit was very uneventful. I didnt even take a picture. I didnt spend much time on it and continued with my trip down anticipating the cliffs that were awaiting me at the Saddleback. On my way down i passed another group of hikers, but they were moving slow and i knew i was not going to see them again today.
I was a little surprised that the two guys didnt reach me and it looked like i was going to be alone again for the climb. Right before hitting the cliffs i met two hikers going down. They said it was tough and it took some time to figure it out but they made it. They asked me questions about my experience and said i was brave to be there alone. I was thinking if indeed i was brave or reckless. They wished me luck and moved on.
So yes i was there alone facing the infamous cliffs.
At that point i was happy i didnt drag Misha with me on this hike, while i believe its doable for the dogs, it also could have been very stressful an dangerous for a dog.
Ok so i started for the cliffs. The very first climb was the hardest!! i ha to brainstorm for couple of minutes to figure the was to getup. It was tricky and i almost got scared i was not going to be able to do it!
But i made it through. There was another spot that gave me little headache but beside that it was not that bad. Counting that it was cold, no visibility and crazy winds wiping my back i did a good job climbing it fast.
At the top of the cliffs i met three Russian hikers getting ready to go down. hey had little dog with them as well. But weighing not more than 5lbs he could be easily placed in the backpack if there were any problems.
We talked a bit and then went each our own way.
I was more than half the hike done and had great timing. I just had to go down the Saddleback slide and down Ore bed to get back to the lodge and from the retrace my steps from the morning.
That also was the only place where i got my camera out. The sun was trying to get through the sky and i though i might as well take some pictures of the amazing slide and the work that was done there to help hikers out.
The trip down from the slide was ok. A lot of rock hopping and sliding down the boulders. Also i lost a trail at some point and got a little scared. I had a vision of me going down the river bed from year ago on a Dix range hike where i lost the trail and bushwhacked for almost two hours. This time fortunately i walked back to the trail and found a spot where i took off the main trail. After that i had no problems and i was going fast down.
The last 5 miles were dragging. I knew i had enough time to catch the shuttle, but didnt feel like enjoying the walk any more. The sun decided to get out and i was bummed that it was so nice out then. Some people must have enjoyed beautiful views. There were no thunderstorms all the time i was there.
I got to the parking lot at 3:22, it took me less than 7 hrs to do the whole hike. It was fast. I was ready to get to the car and hit the road. I waited maybe 5 minutes for the shuttle and was able to start driving before 4 pm.
I got home at 8:13 and hit shower 5 minutes later. I was stinky!!!

Percy Brothers with a little extra!

Thur August 22nd '13

North Percy,South Percy peaks - Percy Tr tr
Buldge,Cabot -

Finally!!! After almost year and a half of trying to get to hike Percy Peaks i managed to do that today. Yesterday night i found out i was not going to work next day and decided to drive to the Whites for a hike. Since it was late during the night already i was not in the mood to plan stuff,so i decided to go for the short hike to the north country since i had it planned so long ago already.

I woke up at 4 am in the morning, got ready and set up for the ride around 4:50. I reached the trailhead just before 9 and i was on the trail minute after 9 am. I need to admit i was a little hesitant to take Mishi with me but hoped that she would be able to manage on the slabs.

It got pretty steep quick and we got hot right away. I was breaking in my new trail runners today as well, i did not like how bulky and heavy they felt on my feet, i am so used to my old Salomons.

The ledges came out unexpected an it looked pretty impressive. I was very happy that right next to it on the right side there was a path going parallel an with easy footing. There was no need to try and tackle the slabs after all. Misha went up on the rocks in few places and i was happy she was ready to do iteven though she didnt have to. There were couple more side rock walls on the way but it was very easy to walk on it.

We were doing good time and i was looking forward to getting to the summit quick. As it turned out we went to north peak first. Yeah i didnt even know that we took that turn, i realized when i saw the summit sign!!
The approach to the north peak had some more slb ledges to offer but it wasnt anything different than Baldfaces or Welch and Dicky type of climb. We didnt have any trouble. There were a lot of blueberries on the way but we didnt really eat it. I did not bring any water with me for MIsha and she was panting heavily, i decided to share my dring with her, i started worrying a little if she was going to make it, but after all it wasnt big distance, only 0.5 mile from the intersection to the summit. The bare peak offered amazing views and i was happy to finally be able to see it. We didnt stay long though, Misha was tired an there was no shade to hide.

We went back to the merge and started for south peak right away. I like the hike up South Percy a lot. The trail was very pretty and had special feel to it. Summit turned out quick and i founf myself scribbling our names on the little notebook hanging in the jar not too long after we started. I fed Misha lunch and gave her some more of my drink. We were going down fast, i wanted to get her to the brook along the beginning of the hike as fast as possible. Half way down we met two other hikers with their dog. I didnt spend much time talking since i knew Misha did not like the young dog dancing around her.
We got back to the car a little after 11. I was covered in sweat and Misha hot but i knew that could not have been the end of the day for us!
I had two choices. I could have followed the road we were on and try to hike up mt Sugarloaf that was suppose to be not to hard, but i had no map and no real idea where exactly was the trail located, i would have to drive slow looking for it and i was not sure if i wanted to risk getting lost in the woods later on. My other option was to drive back to route 110 and look for Mill Brook road which would bring me to Unknown Pond Trailhead and from there on to Cabot Mt.

Yes the Cabot Mountain!!!! The one of the mountains that i thought would ever hike to!! After bailing from Kilkeny Ridge trail two years ago and not summiting Cabot i really didnt think i was gonna end up hiking it at all. Its such a remote peak that takes so long to drive to. But as it turns out its not that far away if you are driving to hike Percy peaks!!! So thats was what i decided on. I was going to finish my hike i started two years ago!

Mill Brook Road was not paved and under construction when i got there, it was not a fun 4,5 mile rive. I drove over some big rocks that made unhappy sounds hitting the bottom of my car, i was just hoping nothing was gonna fall out from under the car. I thought the road was never going to end.
When we finally pulled in to the so called "parking lot" it was close to 12. I did not want to spend overly long time on this hike so i set myself a goal to finish it in less than 5 hours. I had 10 miles to go and possibility of summiting 3 peaks. I was going to leave Horn for the last in case i was running late.

I wasnt impressed with the first section of the Unknown Pond trail at all. It was very boring i didnt even bother to take one picture. We got to the first intersection fast and my hopes for fast hike were high. Killkeny ridge trail was in much better shape and after short swim for Misha in the pond we took off . It was suppose to be 2.7 miles to Cabot summit and we were going through Bulge as well. I couldnt wait for the summit.

I loved the trail, it was very quite and the fact that there was nobody else through out the hike beside me made it even more special. I was going fast and i drunk a lot. It turned out that i did not have enough to drink with me. I ran out of of it all 3 miles before the hike was over!!

When we got to the summit, we were both very tired. Misha especially, it was a little to hot for her, even though we were under the cover of the trees all that time. I run around the summit looking for the marker. I found it after two wrong tries. We got some pics and i was ready to go back. After that little break on the summit i was ready to get to the car.'

 I had a lot of energy that is why i decided to run down a little, oh silly me. I didnt take to consideration that i never run after i eat, so after short burst i felt little weird. I think i git heart burn!! Poor Misha didnt appreciate it at all. She was tired. I ran here and there later on again but mainly we were just walking really fast.
At the pond we met family looking for camp sites. I couldnt help them i had no idea where any of the sites were located. Those were the only people i saw during this hike. I need to say i was happy it turned out like that. Sometimes it is so nice to be in the woods by yourself.
We got to the car 15 minutes before 4pm. I reached my goal!! We made it in less than 4 hours!!One of the fastest hikes so far.
I drove home happy and satisfied. Misha was zoning off in the back of the car. She looked mega tired. We had great time together again. It was such a nice day.

Defeated by Sandwich Wilderness

Sat, July 27th '13
Paugus Sth Peak, Square ledge

Gordon Path Tr, Big Rock Cave Tr, Old Paugus Tr, Lawrance Tr, Paugus Pass Tr, Square Ledge Tr, Passaconaway Pass Tr, Square Ledge Tr, Old Mast Road Tr

Oh what an ambitious plan i had. Bushawack mt Mexico, Mt Paugus, go to Square Ledge, Bushwack mt Hibbard and top it off with Mt Wonalancet.
It started with some bumps along the road and i had that little thought that it was a sign i should not be doing it but i disregarded it and continued. I was not sure exactly where did the Gordon Path go. There were intersections with trails along the way an nothing was marked, and i was getting worried that i wasnt even into the hike yet and i was getting lost already. I just followed what my gut was telling me, in may places the trail almost disappeared and i went on what looked like continuation. My feet were wet after 10 min, there was a lot of water still standing on the ground, grass was covered with water and all the shrubs and trees were shedding water like crazy. I crossed several little bog bridges an told myself that if somebody put effort to put those there it must have been an active trail at some point. I knew i was suppose to come out to the clearing near the little white chapel and continue on the rout 113 for maybe 0.2 of a mile till i was gonna reach cabin trail trailhead.  What a surprise it was when suddenly i emerged into the intersection of a Big Rock Cave and Cabin trail!!! Not sure how i managed to do that but i was satisfied, i did not have to do the road walk!!!
From there i followed the Big Rock Cave trail. It was fairly gentle and i wasnt paying much attention to the surroundings. The ground was wet and i was focusing on not getting my feet even wetter. I turned my Map my run app to track my progress. I got to the Big Cave when i realized i passed Mt Mexico. Ah i was so mad at myself for not paying attention. I thought the summit was after the cave but i was mistaken. I also did not remember where was the trail suppose to be from that section. I was wandering around the cave for several minutes when i decided to get the guide out and find out. Yes, i had the White Mountains Guide book with me, for the first time ever. I had that feeling that i might need it today. Oh boy was i right. So after reading i found out the trail was suppose to be to the left of the cave, not behind or through the cave as i thought. The trail followed down from there and pretty soon i got to the intersection with Old Paugus Trail. I was a little unsure because there was suppose to also be Whitins brook Trail there as well but there was no sign for it. I decided what was gonna be Old Paugus and got ready for some tough hiking. Ive read several trip reports an some were not very inviting. The section between the Paugus and here was one tough cookie. I was covered in sweat and Misha was panting heavily. Thankfully there was plenty of water for her everywhere. One thing i dint have to worry about.
I think the worst part was the climb up the gully. The slide looking like trail was in bad condition. Big rocks piled one on another, eroded dirt and water on everything didnt help. I slid couple of times but kept my calm. Had to lift Misha here and there but nothing major.Of course i coul forget about dry feet. After that section i got to more open forest. It was all pines!! Sea of trees. Unfortunately there were  several blow downs to cross/go under, walk through thick brush and figuring out where did the trail go. I decided to take a break and have some food. Also studied the map more and read the guide. The book was in bad shape, i let Misha carry it and unfortunately water was slowly getting through her pack. After some extra energy from food i was ready to tackle the rest of that dreadful trail.
When we finally got to the first ledges i didnt even care for the views. I glimpsed once and kept moving. Not sure why but i didnt enjoy it any more. I just wanted to get to the south peak and see if i could bushwack to the main summit.
So the whole bushwack thing did not go good at all. I wasnt even sure if i was still going for South summit or main summit because i didnt see any extraordinary views that were suppose to be obtain somewhere in the area. I followed something that looked like a trail but it slowly started to disappear, found was soaked in places and my feet got wet once again. It started to get really thick and i had trouble going forward with Misha. I had to pull her through some of the piles of brush. I really had no idea which way to go. And honestly i should have not even attempt it in the first place. I decided to slowly retract my steps. I got to the clearing and studied the area. Tried different places and discovered a hidden trail to the main ledges. Yes that was where you get all the views!!!
We were both tired . I just wanted to get moving because i knew we were not even half done with the hike. On our way down i met first person this day. He reassured me where i was and wished me good luck. He gave me some odvice on what trails to take on my way down the square ledge. The trail from Paugus was really nice, quiet and cool. We got some rest with no incline to have. At the 4 way intersection i met three folks. They were heading to Hibbard and Wonalancet Mountains. I was on my way to the Square ledge. I was hoping to get back to those guys on my way down, it never happen as it turned out.  I was happily surprised that the trail was so easy to follow mainly going down. It started to get slightly steeper when i hit the first stream crossing. I was going fast, not stopping for anything, jumping over mud and hopping on rocks. Couple spots were very overgrown, there were some blow downs as well. Nearly at the second stream crossing i realized i forgot my camera at the first stream crossing. I was so pissed. I could not believe it. It was around 0.4 miles to go back to get it. I was very mad at myself. I ran as fast as i could. And of course the camera was sitting there, near the water. I was exhausted. Misha probably wondered why the heck we were going back and forth. It was around extra 0.8 miles we did. I got yet another sign that this hike was not meant to be.
Climb to the Square ledge was steep. Few high rock walls where i had to lift Misha. It was impressive to see the rock wall emerging. I think that was even better then the view we got from the ledge. I was happy we were there already and i wanted to get moving to the next section. It was getting close to three and i still had ways to go. GPS was saying i ve done close to 9 miles and i wanted to have it recorded before the phone ied so i rushed down. I rushed down so quickly that i did not pay attention to anything. I ran fast, jumping over rock and roots. I got the the little intersection near the stream crossing. Thats where i figured was suppose to be next intersection. The trail did not look like it was used at all so i decided i should follow the main trail thinking i was on a right track. I was going fast again. Finally o got to the big stream crossing. I crossed it fast and went on going. The trail started to flatten a lot. I slowly started going through the last part of the hike in my head. Its been a while since square ledge and i did not see any signs for Walden trail. It felt like i have done at least a mile and the fact that i crossed big stream and the trail fast almost flat was not adding up. I looked at the map and figured that i must have taken wrong trail. It looked like i was on Passaconaway Cutoff. I studied the map closer. I was tired, i was hiking for 6 hours an have done around 12 miles and still had two Mountains to go up to and i was on a wrong trail for around 1,5 what meant that i would have extra 3 miles on my back when i turn around. I started thinking maybe i should just go to the trailhead and ask somebody for the lift. Unfortunately it didnt look like an easy drive from Kankamangus Highway to Frencroft Rd and i was worried i might hard time to find help. I decided to turn around. A minute later i noticed two hiker coming my direction. They confirmed my suspicions. I was on the wrong trail for so long. That was really big disappointment. I felt defeated. The couple looked at me worried. They told me it was 3 o'clock already and it was late to go up. I reassured them i was fine and able to get to my car. For the first time it was me that was in trouble and somebody was worried about me!! I knew i had to go fast. I thanked them for all the info and moved on. I was almost out of water and had only little food left. I started doubting i could finish the hike the way i planned. The longer it took me to go up the harder for me it was to believe i could have gone that far in the wrong direction. Finally i got to the sign. I stopped and stared at it for a while. It was there and i have not noticed it before!!!I remember running pass that section focusing on getting my 9 mile mark on the gps. How careless i was!!! I took out the map and started studying my options. I had two choices: go for the Walden tr and from there decide if i was going to do the remaining mountains or retrace my steps over Square ledge and go down on Old Mast Road. I decided on the latter. I was very tired. Sweat rolling down my forehead. Misha was tired as well. I didnt have much water and food. I lost interest in everything and just wanted to get to the car. Vision of climbing the remaining mountains was not appealing to me any more. Going back Square ledge was easier, the Old Mast Road was suppose to be almost flat.
I didnt even stop to look at the views again. I was just focusing on my footing. Nothing else mattered. I met couple of guys near the Square ledge and then one more person below the ledge. From then on it was just me and Misha. We got to the car at 4:41. around 8 hrs of hiking and around 16 miles. I was really dirty and smelled. Misha jumped to the car right away getting ready to head home. I was defeated and tired. It was one of the worst hiking days i have had.

Chuckle gets his first big hike - Trans Presidential Traverse

Sat July 13th, '13
Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay, Washington, Monroe, Franklin, Eisenhower, Pierce

Since starting hiking ive been hearing about few of those special long hikes in the Whites that are treasures. One of them was Presidential Traverse. I wanted to do it for the last year and a half. I was little concerned at first about my abilities to do so and maybe thats why at first i didnt really truly plan on doing it. But with my experience getting better and me getting more fit and able to hike for longer periods of time i was getting antsy to finally do it.

I have planned it on doing it in winter, hearing that it was actually easier with all the snow packed in between huge boulders that all Presidentials are made of. Tha way you skip hopping and most of the scrambling. Unfortunately last winter weather did not cooperate that well. My few dates that i could actually do it had to be cancelled because of snowfall or way below freezing temperatures. I was very disappointed when on my last date the winds decided to be over 60mph on Washington summit. Winter Presi Traverse was a dream once again.
Spring has passed and the Summer approached and i had my hopes growing again. I decided to ask one of the experienced Facebook friends to join me, hoping for some advice and ideas for future hikes.
We had to delay the date couple weeks because of the family visiting and Riches hiking plans.
But finally on July 12th i found myself driving to Highland Center to meet with Rich and spot cars. We then spent the night in Hikers Paradise motel and put the foot on the trail at 5:15 at the Appalachia parking lot.

We started the trek from Valley Way trail.That section of the hike, kicked my ass!! I was barely catching breath and sweating profusely. We were going fast paced, around 5mph and in 2 hrs we were at the Madison hut.  Quickly we left the packs and "ran" up the mountain. For the first time on Madison i had views!! Usually there was some fog accompanying me. We had another hike take a pic of us and Chuckle had his first "chuckle"on the mountain.
On the way down i fell in the spruce trap (yeah in the summer, who would have thought) and scratched myself a little, my leg would burn me all the way to Washington and then again around Pierce.
We got some extra water from the hut at the bottom and out some sunscreen on, sun was getting higher on the sky and it was suppose to be almost cloudless day.
                     

      We went off  to Adams shortly after. Going up to first section of Adams is hard, there are several sub peaks around and you have to know which is actual Adams summit and not too climb unnecessary peaks. I almost went up one of those! Thank god for Rich, he knew where we were going.Swarms of bugs greeted us on top of Adams. We did not spend much time around there. Quick shots and we were on our way down lookig for Thunderstorm     Junction. From there it was all the new things for me. I have not been in that section of the range before. I was really excited.What a beautiful area it was. I could not believe my eyes. This part of the hike was for sure one of my favorites. Great Gulf Wilderness is just breathtaking.
I did not realized how broad the whole Jefferson massive was. I only hiked it one before from the other side of the mountain. I liked this view much better. It was pretty easy to get up there though. I recognized the summit area and all the intersections nearby. I have been there before with my dogs only and had the summit to myself. This time it was also pretty quiet.

One person swung by while we were there but he didnt even stay for a minute. Monkey and Chuckle got their shot taken and we went down looking for Gulfside trail.The area there is suddenly very flat and covered by grassy field. Its called Monticello Lawn and its very beautiful. Rich said he would love to be able to camp there one day,  you just do not wanna leave that area right away.
On a way to Clay i started feeling a little more tired but still with tons of energy. We didnt see any signs there just little cairn.
Then it was the final approach to the mighty Washington. Also never have been on that side of the mountain before. I admired the rail cog on its way down. There were many colorful wagons on the trucks but only two of them actual rail carts. One of them passed us on our way and we took pics of it, also we got photographed by people riding in it. Yeah, we were the stars!!! After walking under the rail i decided to pick up the pace even more. I felt that summit rush, wanting to get the the summit even faster. Silly me, wasn't paying attention to where i was going. After maybe 10 min Rich is calling after me, it turned out i totally missed a trail and i was following something else. We could not even see where was the right trail any more. We decided to "rockwack" it.

That section of the hike turned out almost the most tiring. There were patches of grass in between the rock sections and it was really hard to walk in it fast. My feet were sinking in grass and i slowed down a lot. There went my summit fever. I was sweating and puffing.After a little while we finally found the trail. From then on it was much easier, we also started seeing a lot of people.
And of course at the summit we saw tens of tens of tourists. There was no chance we could get a pic of us at the summit. We had our lunch and studied the map a little. We checked if maybe the line shortened but there were still a lot of people so we just run up and touched the marker. Also at the summit i met my friend Kim. It was nice to chat for a bit.

I was itching to go back to the hike though so we hit the trail once again. That part i knew well. I have done it twice before so i focused on footing more and dodging the crowds going up.
We got ourselves more water at the hut and got ready to go.
Monroe seemed like a breeze. It always is very fast but this time seemed even faster. Next in line was Franklin and Eisenhower. Once again part that i have not been on before. I have not realized how pretty the area was! I was absolutely amazed. Second of my favorite part of the hike. The ridge walk was just out of this world. I stopped several times to admire the scenery. We talked to an AT hiker on his way to Mitzpa hut,he was on his Second month of hiking and said he loved White Mountains as well.
We went over Franklin but i was not sure where the actual summit was, from there to Eisenhower was just a short section. Trail there was very pretty and i liked it a lot, the summit itself was less attractive and we only stayed couple of minutes.

At that point we got to some sections where the trail goes in the tree line, there was still a lot of ridge walk but slowly you were getting ready for your way down in the trees.
Summitting Pierce wasnt as exciting and i got a little deflated. I wasnt too tired just sad it was over already. We opted for not going over Jackson and headed down back to the intersection and on a path that would take us down towards Highland Center. Whole descend seemed longer than it was and i almost jogged parts of it. We were happy to get the the end. Surprisingly i was not that tired. I think i could stretch the whole thing a little and hike for even longer.
So i think i should plan my next long hike soon.
Rich was an awesome hiking partner and we had really nice time. Our pace matched pretty well and i hope to hike with him soon again.

Little hike up to Giant Mountain

Wed, June 19th


Me and the dogs took off on an adventure to Upstate New York today. Weather forecast was calling for sunny skies and upper 60- low 70s.

When we got to the parking lot there were several cars parked alongside the road. I think i counted around 11 groups of people in the register book. I was eager to start the hike, over 4:30 hours of driving was enough to get you going. 

Trail started with couple water crossings and muddy spots, but everything was easily avoidable/crossable. There were many, very interesting sections at the beginning, we were very happy to be able to hike during the week with less people around. Trail took off steep pretty quickly and we were panting heavily right away. I was glad there was plenty of running water for the dogs to drink along the hike. 
Whole approach to Giant was pretty steep and involved a lot of rock climbing and boulder crossing. There was wonderful section of the ridge walk. Something i like the most!!

 Couple view spots were occupied by some people so we did not spend much time around there. When we got up to Giant there were 5 people there. I took couple pictures and we headed off for Rocky Peak. 
Kappa slowly started to get tired and i started worrying if he could make it through. The decent of Giant was a little tricky with several big rocky slabs that you could slide down on, a lot of roots sticking out and rocks allover. I started thinking how i was going to get the dogs back up all of that after ascending Rocky peak. 
After we got to the flatter section we could catch some breath. Ascend to the Rocky Peak was fairly easy and we had the whole summit to ourselves. We spend probably around 30 min up there. It was beautiful. Amazing views and weather. 

We decided to get going when first couple of people came to the summit. The whole way back from Rocky was very tough on Kappa and i had to help him out in several places. While MIsha was flying by he was struggling. I tried to help him as much as i could, but we had to slow down a lot.
 I stopped and talked to several people who were on their way to Rocky. It was so nice out and i was so happy to be out there. 

It was amazing hike and worth repeating. Its going to be Kappas official last hike up the mountains. He has to stick to the low land from now on. Its sad that i wont be able to take him with me on any more adventures, but hopefully he can still join me on my morning runs.

Huntington - bring it on baby!!

Tuckerman Tr
Huntington Ravine Tr
Bald Crag Tr
Tuckerman Tr
Alpine Garden Tr
Nelson Crag Tr
Old Jackson Road Tr

It was another Meetup hike with Random group of hikers. We met at the Pinkham Notch Center and started a little after 8:30. Weather was doing us a favor and let sun up for all day. We started off pretty quickly, moving with fast pace, cutoff to Huntington Tr showed up unexpectedly. First part of the trail delivered some pretty views of the river, couple of crossings weren't to bad. After that it was just a walk to the final section which i started to dread a little.

I wasnt exactly sure what to expect so when i saw "the wall" i got a little scared. Half way there the group split, with 3 of us going of much faster pace. Thats how it lasted till almost the end of the hike. The rest of the group as i later turned out decided not to summit Washington and head back home by Lion Head Tr.
The approach to the main section of Huntington was fairly easy with few scrambles and tight spaces. The main part was, what was making me nervous. It looked so intimidating from the distance. When we finally approached it i wasnt as scared any more. We werent going to go through the parts that looked impossible, those are for those with experience in rock climbing, especially in the winter when the section is filled with ice, the "fold" in the rocks is a place where people test their abilities. We took off slightly to the right and climbed steadily through several ledges and slab of rocks.

There were couple little sections with wet rock that were easily avoidable. I had to stop and rethink my steps two times, the rest of it was not that difficult at all and i was very relieved. Did i mention that the views were amazing? All the way to the top you could admire the scenery. Whole Huntington Ravine is something you dont see on a regular basis. I have not been in this section of mt Washington before so it was very special for me. That was also the last time we saw the rest of our group.

At the very finish of the climb there is a section called chimney where you have to pull yourself more up with your hand without perfect footing, but even that wasnt that hard as is it turned out.
We rested at the big cairn for a minute but i was more interested in catching some more views, in that section you can take a little cutoff to the mount washington road, and on that day there was road race happening on top of the biker week!!! I saw some runners going down after the race and some motorcycles getting their way up to the summit. It was loud and busy.

I took a look on some of the north presidentials and short after we started our final push through the Bald Crag the summit. The wind picked up and we layered up. As we later found out some of the wind gusts were up to 49 mph!! Ina few places i had to try hard to keep my balance and not being pushed off the rocks.

When we finally got up to the summit we saw many people. Race was already over but there were still tens of tens of visitors. It was much cooler at the top but still sunny. I got to try some of the food items that were served in the visitor center. I was getting cold and decided it was perfect timing for a bowl of chilly!! And what more it was a bawl made out of bread!!

It was delicious and helped me keep warm fora little bit more. We hung around the summit for about an hour thinking that maybe the rest of the group would join us, but after a while we figured that it was time to head back. We took couple of shots at the summit sign and headed down. There were a lot of people on the rocks and it was hard to go by. I had to go around of several groups of people to avoid getting stuck. From now on it was more of a rock hopping than regular walk. To keep warm we had to move fast. But also that gives you different feel of completion when you know you had to put some effort in your moves. I kept focused and only slipped couple times, for the most of it it looked like i knew what i was doing. We lost one of the members on out way to the Alpine Garden Tr, he decided to go down Lions Head Tr instead, not being able to keep up with our fast mountain goat pace.
Alpine Garden Tr was a little disappointing, there were almost no flora in blooming left. I had hard time regulating the body heat.

It was still very windy also i was warm from jumping and running. We got to the Huntington Ravine tr in no time to see if anybody there saw our group. But whoever we met on our way did not see them. We talked to the guy that was resting on top of the wall for a while, he treated us with some fresh strawberries. Oh they tasted deliciously!! We moved on a little while after, i was getting chilly. From then on we only had to get to the Nelson Crag summit to be finally able to go down.
Nelson Crag trail is a continuation mostly of rock hopping. Going down you could see auto road and we even got to be photographed by some of the crazy folks in the car as a "real hikers".
Old Jackson road takes you to the tree line and gives a impression of more of a private feel, trail is very narrow and surrounded by tall trees. With still a lot of running up and rock hopping it didnt take us long to get to the flat spots. And from there it was an easy walk to the beginning of our hike.
It was pretty exciting hike.

It allowed me to be able to move fast and keep my reflexes in check. Also it was my first time going up mt Washington not in Winter! I was able to see everything from a different point of view, and event though i loved most of the surroundings i still prefer to see the summit cone covered in snow and shared privately with  hikers instead of masses of families with kids, motorcyclists and random people who drove up in their cars.

Getting fried in Catskills

June 23rd '13
Long Path Tr(0.95m)
Devils Path Tr(3.9m)...not really sure bout the mileage...


Since i did not feel good yesterday i decided to run up to NY state today and hike up couple mountains in Catskills. 

Today it was going to be Indian Head and Twin Mountains. Drive up was very nice and only around 3:15hrs. I had a little trouble locating the trailhead but mainly cause i wasnt paying attention on how long i was driving on the Platte Cove road. When we parked i quickly got ready and we headed out right away.
The trailhead for this hike was a little down the road. I registered at the beginning of the walk and we went quickly into the woods. 
It was hot! Much warmer then i expected. Right before we left i checked the weather and it said 67-70 degree day. It was already much warmer when we started. I was sweating right away and Misha started panting. But i tried not to pay too much attention to that and soak in as much of the surroundings as i could. It was very pretty. I am amazed how Catsklills differ from White Mountains. The trail was wide and open. There was nobody around. There was no hard intersections, everything was marked visibly, and we were moving pretty quickly. 
When i was reading trail reports yesterday there were suppose to be some very difficult spots ahead of us but everything turned out very easy. I am not sure if people who tackle Catskills are not experienced hikers or what but i would not call anything from todays hike, extremely difficult. One spot involved a little thinking but it was not hard to find a way to climb it at all. I helped MIsha in a few spots where she could not climb but even for her it was not hard, it was the heat that got us more than actual difficulty of the hike. 
We got some pretty views on the Indian Head summit, and almost missed it because i was going so fast. Big thank you to MIsha who made me stop and rest a sec . 
From Indian head to Twin mountains it was like a breeze, fast and easy. Sweat was pouring down my forehead, and you could hear MIsha puffing, from the distance. We met 4 people at the summit of Twin mountain and one of the hikers took the picture of both of us. We passed some more hikers along the way and everybody was hot and tired. It took us much quicker than i thought to reach both summits so thats when i decided to add the third one, on the same ridge, the Sugarloaf, it was only around 2 miles away. 
I was a little worried that we would have to turn around or do some road work. At the end i opted for road walk, i did not want to walk back up the mountain.
HIke up Sugarloaf was the hardest, we were very hot and i was rushing it to get up to it,and it seemed like we would never get there. I ran out of water for Misha on top of Sugarloaf, so i was hoping that there was some sources of water down the mountain. I need to admit that i did not research that part of the hike, since i did not plan on doing it. Thankfully there were many. The hardest part for us was a little over 3 mile road walk, it was so hot, around 90F,way too hot for MIsha. But we made it and were really happy to get to the car. It was very beautiful hike and i would love to repeat it on a cooler day and with actual camera, not a phone camera. 
The whole Trip turned out to be around 14 miles.

Socializing Time

June 9th, 2013
Beaver Brook tr

Todays hike up mt Moosilauke had one goal, to meet some of the people from facebook hiking forums. We talk on facebook pretty often about our hiking plans but many of us didnt really know each other. Today, we were hoping to change it.

We started around 9 o'clock. There was 7 of us: me, Allison, John, Erick, Dan and Bill and Kimball. Most of us haven't seen each other before so it was pretty exciting to be finally able to put face next to the name. We all were sicked to do the hike together and couldn't wait to get to the summit to meet the rest of the people coming from different directions.

Even though we came to socialize, we started at a pretty fast pace and it turned out everybody could keep up pretty easily.                            

Slowly, we got to know each other and shared a lot of stories from our previous hikes and other interesting facts from our  lifes.

 It could not have been nicer out. The sun was shining and temperatures were slowly getting higher and higher. And the scenery......ahh....hard to describe. It was absolutely beautiful.

For most of the hike the trail follows Beaver brook with tons of cascades and little waterfalls. It starts out steep pretty quickly, but that couldn't  slow us down.

Most of the trail was covered with rocks and boulders and 90% of it was wet from yesterdays rain. We had to be very careful and watch our steps because one wrong move could have send you down the brook and believe me it would not have been pretty experience.

We took one long break at the Beaver Brook shelter to kill some time, we expected everybody to get to the summit near 1 o'clock. It was slowly getting chiller and i actually had to put additional layer on. We decided that on our way up we were going to look for a little herd oath on the right going to nearby mt Blue, unofficial 4k peak. I tried to find that peak one time before when i was hiking with my dogs but with not much luck. This time we didnt have much trouble locating it at all. The path was very visible and easy to follow. It was amazing scenery, ground covered by thick layer of moss, a lot of  deformed trees and ferns everywhere.
The peak was marked by the canister hanging on one of the trees, inside which we found little notebook and couple of pencils.

Each of us wrote their names carefully on the paper and we took our first group photo. I was very excited about that, i think more than hiking the Moose again!! I loved the fact that everybody wanted to find the summit and that we all could enjoy something new together.
From then on we met several people going down. It started to become colder and the sky was covered by layers of clouds. A moment before we hit the Benton trail intersection we met one of the hikers that we were suppose to see up top. She and her friend decided to head back down because of cold up top. They said that some of the people went back down already and that most of them were on the summit at least around an hour waiting for us. That was not good news!! If we knew we would not have taken all the extra time to do other things! We thought we had a lot of time and didnt wanna get to the summit too early.
From then on we wanted just to get up top to see if there was anybody left waiting.

When we got to the beginning part of the broad summit there was no views, clouds were all over and the wind was fierce. I went fast ahead and after couple of minutes i could see shapes of people. Thankfully there were many on top still waiting for us. Everybody got an invite hug from Mike and started to introduce to the rest of the group. It was really cold, i put all my layers on and was very thankful that i had my gloves with me.

We spent some time at the summit but not  nearly as much as everybody was hoping for. Weather was not cooperating and there was no point on staying any longer in the strong wind. There were still no views so i was a little disappointed. We snapped couple of pictures and said our goodbyes.
Right before we hit the treeline, clouds moved a little and we were able to catch some of the panoramic views.

Half way down the skies cleared and we were able enjoy the rest of the hike back down. A lot of rocks were driy now so it was a little easier to walk down. I was worried about that on a way up but i was relieved to see the path much dryer than in the morning.

Our way down went very quick and in no time we were hitting the parking lot.

To our surprise, Kimball offered us some of his beer which he stored in his cooler. It was very refreshing to have, after the hike.
We stayed for a while at the parking lot before heading home.
It was great hike with great new friends. We all hoped to hike together more in the near future.

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.