Ed'n Lauky
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All I Have To Do Is Outrun You! 7/13/07
My friend Rick who had hiked with us in the past asked if we would do the Bald Faces with him so Friday we set out to do one of the classic hikes in the Whites. The last thing I heard as I left the house was my wife saying: “The TV just said that rt. 113 is closed from Bethel to Fryeburg.” I believed that that could well be cut up on the north end, but that the whole route was closed didn’t make sense. There are a lot of houses on the southern end of that route and no one was talking about people stranded in their homes. It turned out that my supposition was correct. The route was open from the south and we had no trouble reaching the trailhead, and we set off on the Bald Face loop heading first up the South face.
We made good time up to the lean-to and took a brief ‘Granola bar’ break. As we were sitting on the edge of the lean-to I got to telling Rick how Duffy and I had been charged by a moose a couple of weeks ago. Somehow he hadn’t heard about it. He then asked me what I would do if a Bull Moose came charging after us right there. I told him I would take off running as fast as I could. 'That’s crazy' he said, 'there is no way you can outrun a Bull Moose that wants to get you.' ‘I don’t have to’ I said, ‘all I have to do is outrun you!’
Well now you know why no one likes to hike with us, but I digress.
The trip up the ledges went without too much difficulty, although the lower ledges were quite wet and slippery from ground water. We nevertheless continued on up and found the upper ledges to be fairly dry offering pretty good traction.
The skies which were blue when we left home had clouded over by the time we reached the ledges and we wondered if it was going to rain, but as we made our way up the clouds started to break up and the sun returned. The views were spectacular.
When we reached the top of the ledges there was a light breeze but it was not cold. We took a few pictures then continued on up to the summit of South Baldface. As we stood there we saw down below us two hikers who had come up from the direction of Baldface knob. We also saw some hikers on the North peak.
After eating another Granola bar and giving Duffy a good drink we headed off to the North Peak. The sun was out, the views were spectacular there was a gentle breeze blowing. It was great to be alive and to be there.
We arrived on the North peak around 11:00 AM and decided to eat lunch. Looking over to the South peak we saw the hikers who had been below us when we were back there. I took some more pictures and we headed down. Just as we arrived at the Bicknell trail we caught up with the folks we had seen from a distance on the North Peak. They were backpacking and carrying some pretty big packs.
I had read somewhere that the views were better on the Bicknell trail so we decided to go down that way. The views are great, but it is a trail that takes some care to follow. I have a feeling that it would be very difficult to follow this trail in the winter if you were breaking trail in the snow. There are some spectacular views of the cliffs from that trail and you ask yourself: “Did we really climb up those cliffs?”
The lower half of the Bicknell trail is very smooth underfoot and you can make pretty good time on that section.
Nearing the bottom we crossed over a stream and picked up the Circle trail. That crossing was quite easy. The second crossing of the stream farther down was more difficult. You can rock hop but it takes some dexterity and poles are a big help. Duffy ended up swimming a couple of sections at that crossing.
As we neared the trailhead there was quite a bit of noise coming from the Emerald pool. One look at the parking lot told you why. The place was full of cars and I suspect most of them were there for folks who were swimming at the pool.
It was about 1:30 when we got back so we decided to drive north on 113 to check it out. We got all the way up to the Hastings campground. The road was cut shortly after that.
Pictures of the hike can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Boondeck/SouthAndNorthBaldface?authkey=43zwtDQUPeg
My friend Rick who had hiked with us in the past asked if we would do the Bald Faces with him so Friday we set out to do one of the classic hikes in the Whites. The last thing I heard as I left the house was my wife saying: “The TV just said that rt. 113 is closed from Bethel to Fryeburg.” I believed that that could well be cut up on the north end, but that the whole route was closed didn’t make sense. There are a lot of houses on the southern end of that route and no one was talking about people stranded in their homes. It turned out that my supposition was correct. The route was open from the south and we had no trouble reaching the trailhead, and we set off on the Bald Face loop heading first up the South face.
We made good time up to the lean-to and took a brief ‘Granola bar’ break. As we were sitting on the edge of the lean-to I got to telling Rick how Duffy and I had been charged by a moose a couple of weeks ago. Somehow he hadn’t heard about it. He then asked me what I would do if a Bull Moose came charging after us right there. I told him I would take off running as fast as I could. 'That’s crazy' he said, 'there is no way you can outrun a Bull Moose that wants to get you.' ‘I don’t have to’ I said, ‘all I have to do is outrun you!’
Well now you know why no one likes to hike with us, but I digress.
The trip up the ledges went without too much difficulty, although the lower ledges were quite wet and slippery from ground water. We nevertheless continued on up and found the upper ledges to be fairly dry offering pretty good traction.
The skies which were blue when we left home had clouded over by the time we reached the ledges and we wondered if it was going to rain, but as we made our way up the clouds started to break up and the sun returned. The views were spectacular.
When we reached the top of the ledges there was a light breeze but it was not cold. We took a few pictures then continued on up to the summit of South Baldface. As we stood there we saw down below us two hikers who had come up from the direction of Baldface knob. We also saw some hikers on the North peak.
After eating another Granola bar and giving Duffy a good drink we headed off to the North Peak. The sun was out, the views were spectacular there was a gentle breeze blowing. It was great to be alive and to be there.
We arrived on the North peak around 11:00 AM and decided to eat lunch. Looking over to the South peak we saw the hikers who had been below us when we were back there. I took some more pictures and we headed down. Just as we arrived at the Bicknell trail we caught up with the folks we had seen from a distance on the North Peak. They were backpacking and carrying some pretty big packs.
I had read somewhere that the views were better on the Bicknell trail so we decided to go down that way. The views are great, but it is a trail that takes some care to follow. I have a feeling that it would be very difficult to follow this trail in the winter if you were breaking trail in the snow. There are some spectacular views of the cliffs from that trail and you ask yourself: “Did we really climb up those cliffs?”
The lower half of the Bicknell trail is very smooth underfoot and you can make pretty good time on that section.
Nearing the bottom we crossed over a stream and picked up the Circle trail. That crossing was quite easy. The second crossing of the stream farther down was more difficult. You can rock hop but it takes some dexterity and poles are a big help. Duffy ended up swimming a couple of sections at that crossing.
As we neared the trailhead there was quite a bit of noise coming from the Emerald pool. One look at the parking lot told you why. The place was full of cars and I suspect most of them were there for folks who were swimming at the pool.
It was about 1:30 when we got back so we decided to drive north on 113 to check it out. We got all the way up to the Hastings campground. The road was cut shortly after that.
Pictures of the hike can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Boondeck/SouthAndNorthBaldface?authkey=43zwtDQUPeg
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