Bob Kittredge
Active member
Forecast was for sunny and in the 60s so I decided it was time to return to the Baldfaces again. Up at 5:45AM, on the road by 6:10, and arrived at the TH about 9:40 to find the parking lot full and many cars parked along the road. Oh good! I won't be alone. The drive up 113 had been lovely and clear. Nice fall color; mainly vibrant oranges. The last couple miles of road do rather roller coaster up and down, but that's fun in moderate doses.
Geared up and hit the trail with the camera at the ready. Up to Circle Junction and hang a left. Decided to take the little detour over to Chandler Gorge. Pleasant enough but not all that impressive. Didn't photograph all that well either. Up at the shelter I encountered a group and exchanged some pleasantries with the leader whom I then recognized as Doug Hunt.
He was leading a Roll Your Own weekend (not sure for whom). They started for the ledges while I snacked and watered and talked with young Luke who had blown by me on the trail earlier. He talked about doing the skyline; continuing past N BF and Eagle Crag and on up to the Royces. Sounds like a death march to me.
So then I headed for the ledges and soon caught up with Doug and his crew. Nice and dry for the most part, but I wish the trail were better marked. I eventually left them behind; I was feeling pretty good and moving well. I popped along taking a fair number of pictures including the trail signs so that I could place where I'd taken the rest of the pics. On S BF there was a group of younger folks (30s and 40s?) who were fast movers. I tried keeping up for a while but was clearly was not in their league. Found them at N BF having a rest when I arrived. There was also a couple with a very tired-looking black and white dog. They said she was about nine and hadn't hiked for a couple of years; they seemed to be in denial about how tired she was. Great views of the Carters and Washington to the west.
On the way down from N BF I met a party of three women coming up who didn't seem to be sure of where they were or where they had been; one woman seemed to think they had been on S BF already. Mainly they just wanted to get down and have it be over. I explained that they were headed up N BF and would then also have to go up S BF and then down the ledges. I tried to emphasize that sane people did not go down the ledges. Not sure whether they had a map or whether I had made myself understood. I left them to talk with other hikers and continued on.
The first time I did the Baldfaces, I took the BF Circle Trail the whole way. Now I turned right onto the Bicknell Ridge Tr. and was rewarded with a descent on open ledges with very nice views. Was surprised to meet 3 or 4 groups coming up. Seemed a little late in the day, but what the heck. After this point I saw no one til I arrived at the TH; a little strange given that there were still about 40 cars parked there. I also swung by Emerald Pool to photograph it and soak my feet. Out before 4. A beautiful day.
Geared up and hit the trail with the camera at the ready. Up to Circle Junction and hang a left. Decided to take the little detour over to Chandler Gorge. Pleasant enough but not all that impressive. Didn't photograph all that well either. Up at the shelter I encountered a group and exchanged some pleasantries with the leader whom I then recognized as Doug Hunt.
He was leading a Roll Your Own weekend (not sure for whom). They started for the ledges while I snacked and watered and talked with young Luke who had blown by me on the trail earlier. He talked about doing the skyline; continuing past N BF and Eagle Crag and on up to the Royces. Sounds like a death march to me.
So then I headed for the ledges and soon caught up with Doug and his crew. Nice and dry for the most part, but I wish the trail were better marked. I eventually left them behind; I was feeling pretty good and moving well. I popped along taking a fair number of pictures including the trail signs so that I could place where I'd taken the rest of the pics. On S BF there was a group of younger folks (30s and 40s?) who were fast movers. I tried keeping up for a while but was clearly was not in their league. Found them at N BF having a rest when I arrived. There was also a couple with a very tired-looking black and white dog. They said she was about nine and hadn't hiked for a couple of years; they seemed to be in denial about how tired she was. Great views of the Carters and Washington to the west.
On the way down from N BF I met a party of three women coming up who didn't seem to be sure of where they were or where they had been; one woman seemed to think they had been on S BF already. Mainly they just wanted to get down and have it be over. I explained that they were headed up N BF and would then also have to go up S BF and then down the ledges. I tried to emphasize that sane people did not go down the ledges. Not sure whether they had a map or whether I had made myself understood. I left them to talk with other hikers and continued on.
The first time I did the Baldfaces, I took the BF Circle Trail the whole way. Now I turned right onto the Bicknell Ridge Tr. and was rewarded with a descent on open ledges with very nice views. Was surprised to meet 3 or 4 groups coming up. Seemed a little late in the day, but what the heck. After this point I saw no one til I arrived at the TH; a little strange given that there were still about 40 cars parked there. I also swung by Emerald Pool to photograph it and soak my feet. Out before 4. A beautiful day.
