rocksnrolls
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Today started as the first all-male group hike I think I've ever been on. PoisonIvy would join up with us later in the day...
The group included myself, Amicus, Dougeh, ScenicNH, Nartreb, Skapig, and Yellowdog and his yellow dog Chester. Chester was raring to go and barked a few times as we were gearing up, as if to say 'come on, let's go!'
After a short stop at Emerald Pool - looks like a nice place for a dip - we headed up Slippery Brook Tr for a nice easy start to the day. We split into two groups - the fast guys: Amicus, Nartreb, Skapig and Yellowdog; and the slow guys: me, Dougeh and ScenicNH.
We took a short snack break at the junction with the Eastman and baldface Knob Tr's. I noticed a well-defined herd path at the junction and speculated it might lead to a campsite. We all headed up to Eastman and were quite pleased by the views. It seems not too many people head over to this peak and I can suppose it would be less impressive if you had come over the Baldfaces on the way, but for the first peak of the day it was quite rewarding for our group. The summit has views all around and has some nice open ledges. We bagan the first of many rounds of 'name that peak'. We were surprised later in the day when looking back to Eastman that it looks like it has a fully wooded summit. Well worth checking out!
After heading back to the junction we met a group of women coming up that herd path with full backpacking gear. Guess I was right about that campsite.
From there it was a wonderful hike to the Baldfaces. First the Knob, then South Peak and finally North Peak. I had read many reports of the beauty of these bare-summited peaks and was not disappointed in the least. The other was close to perfect. Nice clear skies, warm but not too hot, with a few clouds, mostly toward the Presis, to break up the blue. We might have enjoyed more of a breeze as the air was nearly still, but you can't have everything.
We didn't have too many animal sightings on this trip, mostly toads. I spotted a quick-moving snake and a frog at one stream crossing. The most exotic was a hummingbird moth enjoying some of the alpine flowers. Was it on Baldface somewhere that we saw it? That was my third time spotting one of these impressive bugs and they're one of my favorites. Speaking of bugs, we were pleasantly surprised to not have too much trouble with the blood-sucking kinds that we had been warned might be a trouble in this range.
So, after the Bladfaces, Yellowdog headed back down - Chester was overheating - and so did Skapig who wasn't feel all that well himself. The remaining 5 hikers headed off toward Eagle Crag. Nearing this rocky cliff area we finally ran into a well-cooked PoisonIvy. She had arrived a couple hours earlier and had taken a brief nap in the shadow of a large boulder. Turns out that was a good recipe for a cure of her tendencies to bring up the rear in group hikes.
We headed over to Mt Meader from there. Near the junction with the Meader Tr we spotted the base of an old fire tower in the nearby woods. Right at the junction was an obvious herd path that probably would have lead us to the true summit, but we all figured we had enough on our plates for today without the sidetrip. I'll look forward to heading over there when I return to redline some more of the trails here. Never did see any sign of a herd path over to Ragged Jacket after Meader. I guess it'll take more of a whack to get to that one.
Amicus needed to get home at a reasonable hour so left the group to head down via the Meader Tr. PoisonIvy headed down with him as she was feeling a little over-done from having spent so much time on the exposed Eagle Crag.
The remaining four of us headed off onto the less-travelled Basin Rim Tr to head to the Royces. The trails so far today had been nicely cleared and very easy to hike. Now we started to have to push through a lot of evergreen branches to make our way. Nartreb and Dougeh were shirtless and ended up with many needles stuck all over their skin. Along the Rim we had some gorgeous views down into the Basin.
Heading up to West Royce the dreaded word 'interminable' came to mind. Many false summits were attained and left behind as we continued on and up, finally reaching a trail sign which indidcated we had just passed the unmarked summit. The trails down and then over to East Royce were beautiful. Amazing cliffs along the trail, some nice steep sections. I look forward to heading back to these peaks again some day. It was hard to fully appreciate the scenary at the end of such along day and none of us were taking too many photos at this point. We probably had over 1000 pictures from the earlier part of the day amongst us.
ScenicNH took a nap at the last juction to East Royce - he'd been there before - while Dougeh, Nartreb and I climbed the last steep 500 feet up to our last peak of the day. East Royce has some great views as well and was a great cap to the day.
East Royce had been planned to be my first Maine Peak. But I had decided at the last minute to head out to check out the trailheads the day before. On the advice of Steve Smith I then headed up to Little Deer Hill, a 1000 footer that is reached by heading east from the Baldface Loop parking lot. That hour loop featured some great ledges and a cave (on the Ledge Tr) and sweet views of the range I would soon be the next day.
Thanks to everyone who came along. This was one of the best hikes I've ever been on! I highly recommend this area to anyone who is interested in hiking some of the sub-4K peaks in the Whites. I will certainly be back some time in the future.
The group included myself, Amicus, Dougeh, ScenicNH, Nartreb, Skapig, and Yellowdog and his yellow dog Chester. Chester was raring to go and barked a few times as we were gearing up, as if to say 'come on, let's go!'
After a short stop at Emerald Pool - looks like a nice place for a dip - we headed up Slippery Brook Tr for a nice easy start to the day. We split into two groups - the fast guys: Amicus, Nartreb, Skapig and Yellowdog; and the slow guys: me, Dougeh and ScenicNH.
We took a short snack break at the junction with the Eastman and baldface Knob Tr's. I noticed a well-defined herd path at the junction and speculated it might lead to a campsite. We all headed up to Eastman and were quite pleased by the views. It seems not too many people head over to this peak and I can suppose it would be less impressive if you had come over the Baldfaces on the way, but for the first peak of the day it was quite rewarding for our group. The summit has views all around and has some nice open ledges. We bagan the first of many rounds of 'name that peak'. We were surprised later in the day when looking back to Eastman that it looks like it has a fully wooded summit. Well worth checking out!
After heading back to the junction we met a group of women coming up that herd path with full backpacking gear. Guess I was right about that campsite.
From there it was a wonderful hike to the Baldfaces. First the Knob, then South Peak and finally North Peak. I had read many reports of the beauty of these bare-summited peaks and was not disappointed in the least. The other was close to perfect. Nice clear skies, warm but not too hot, with a few clouds, mostly toward the Presis, to break up the blue. We might have enjoyed more of a breeze as the air was nearly still, but you can't have everything.
We didn't have too many animal sightings on this trip, mostly toads. I spotted a quick-moving snake and a frog at one stream crossing. The most exotic was a hummingbird moth enjoying some of the alpine flowers. Was it on Baldface somewhere that we saw it? That was my third time spotting one of these impressive bugs and they're one of my favorites. Speaking of bugs, we were pleasantly surprised to not have too much trouble with the blood-sucking kinds that we had been warned might be a trouble in this range.
So, after the Bladfaces, Yellowdog headed back down - Chester was overheating - and so did Skapig who wasn't feel all that well himself. The remaining 5 hikers headed off toward Eagle Crag. Nearing this rocky cliff area we finally ran into a well-cooked PoisonIvy. She had arrived a couple hours earlier and had taken a brief nap in the shadow of a large boulder. Turns out that was a good recipe for a cure of her tendencies to bring up the rear in group hikes.
We headed over to Mt Meader from there. Near the junction with the Meader Tr we spotted the base of an old fire tower in the nearby woods. Right at the junction was an obvious herd path that probably would have lead us to the true summit, but we all figured we had enough on our plates for today without the sidetrip. I'll look forward to heading over there when I return to redline some more of the trails here. Never did see any sign of a herd path over to Ragged Jacket after Meader. I guess it'll take more of a whack to get to that one.
Amicus needed to get home at a reasonable hour so left the group to head down via the Meader Tr. PoisonIvy headed down with him as she was feeling a little over-done from having spent so much time on the exposed Eagle Crag.
The remaining four of us headed off onto the less-travelled Basin Rim Tr to head to the Royces. The trails so far today had been nicely cleared and very easy to hike. Now we started to have to push through a lot of evergreen branches to make our way. Nartreb and Dougeh were shirtless and ended up with many needles stuck all over their skin. Along the Rim we had some gorgeous views down into the Basin.
Heading up to West Royce the dreaded word 'interminable' came to mind. Many false summits were attained and left behind as we continued on and up, finally reaching a trail sign which indidcated we had just passed the unmarked summit. The trails down and then over to East Royce were beautiful. Amazing cliffs along the trail, some nice steep sections. I look forward to heading back to these peaks again some day. It was hard to fully appreciate the scenary at the end of such along day and none of us were taking too many photos at this point. We probably had over 1000 pictures from the earlier part of the day amongst us.
ScenicNH took a nap at the last juction to East Royce - he'd been there before - while Dougeh, Nartreb and I climbed the last steep 500 feet up to our last peak of the day. East Royce has some great views as well and was a great cap to the day.
East Royce had been planned to be my first Maine Peak. But I had decided at the last minute to head out to check out the trailheads the day before. On the advice of Steve Smith I then headed up to Little Deer Hill, a 1000 footer that is reached by heading east from the Baldface Loop parking lot. That hour loop featured some great ledges and a cave (on the Ledge Tr) and sweet views of the range I would soon be the next day.
Thanks to everyone who came along. This was one of the best hikes I've ever been on! I highly recommend this area to anyone who is interested in hiking some of the sub-4K peaks in the Whites. I will certainly be back some time in the future.
