Dunbar
New member
With a nice weather forecast and wanting to avoid the chance of ice as much as possible, I decided to climb some smaller peaks - Chocorua and Paugus. I sought to enlist others to my cause and ended up meeting Rob, Jason, Gillian, and three canines at the Wonalancet trailhead. We left my car there and drove around to the start of the Piper trail. It must have been close to 9AM when we started. At the junction with the Nickerson Ledge trail Gillian opted to continue up the Piper trail while the rest of us headed up over the Sisters. We soon had plenty of nice views from the many open ledges on this trail. There was a tiny bit of ice here and there in shaded spots but nothing that impeded travel in any way. We went over the bumps of the Sisters and met Gillian at the top of the Piper trail before continuing the rest of the way to the summit. We probably saw 5-10 people on the summit ridge and then only 5-10 people on the actual summit. Not too busy.
It was turning out to be a perfect day. We had times of sun and less sun. The temperature was just right to be able to hike in a t-shirt but not sweat too much. There was a little bit of a breeze in open areas but not enough to really be cold. We did add a layer while sitting on the summit.
We headed off the west side and picked up the Bee-line trail. There were some rocky slab sections that actually gave me a bit of trouble. I was rocking a new pair of Hoka One Ones, which I had been warned did not have good grip on rock. I had already taken one unexpected wipeout earlier but now I was having trouble on some rather modest wet slabs. I think I was more uncomfortable on those sections that on many MUCH steeper slabs where I had good shoes on. I managed not to cry too much before we cleared the rocky sections.
The trail over to Paugus was nice. Lots of fresh leaves to crunch under your feet although they did make the trail a little more treacherous. The open hardwoods without their leaves made it so you could look around a lot more than usual. The climb up Paugus was steep and left the calves burning. I think someone from the Adirondacks must have come over and cut that trail. We started the short bushwhack to the true summit of Paugus on a nice herdpath. It took us about halfway there and then there was a short section of thick stuff before some more open woods. We wandered around a bit on top until we found the true summit. After a short snack break, we took a direct route SW back to the trail. It got pretty thick but didn't last too long.
Now it was time to catch up to Gillian who had opted to skip the 'whack and just continue down the trail. Jason and Rob started running, so I figured I better start running too. The trail off the west side is near perfect for running - nice smooth surface and nicely graded. I gotta say it is a ton of fun to go running through the woods. Cruising through fresh (and rather noisy) leaves on a mild November day is just so delightful. We caught Gillian just before the next uphill. A short distance further on we picked up the Kelley Trail and headed back to the car. It was a bit difficult talking over the rustle of the leaves, but Jason managed to fill me in on good ways to hike the NH48 which are on my plate for this winter.
This was a great hike for this time of year. Definitely one of the more enjoyable November hikes in recent years for me.
-PICTURES-
It was turning out to be a perfect day. We had times of sun and less sun. The temperature was just right to be able to hike in a t-shirt but not sweat too much. There was a little bit of a breeze in open areas but not enough to really be cold. We did add a layer while sitting on the summit.
We headed off the west side and picked up the Bee-line trail. There were some rocky slab sections that actually gave me a bit of trouble. I was rocking a new pair of Hoka One Ones, which I had been warned did not have good grip on rock. I had already taken one unexpected wipeout earlier but now I was having trouble on some rather modest wet slabs. I think I was more uncomfortable on those sections that on many MUCH steeper slabs where I had good shoes on. I managed not to cry too much before we cleared the rocky sections.
The trail over to Paugus was nice. Lots of fresh leaves to crunch under your feet although they did make the trail a little more treacherous. The open hardwoods without their leaves made it so you could look around a lot more than usual. The climb up Paugus was steep and left the calves burning. I think someone from the Adirondacks must have come over and cut that trail. We started the short bushwhack to the true summit of Paugus on a nice herdpath. It took us about halfway there and then there was a short section of thick stuff before some more open woods. We wandered around a bit on top until we found the true summit. After a short snack break, we took a direct route SW back to the trail. It got pretty thick but didn't last too long.
Now it was time to catch up to Gillian who had opted to skip the 'whack and just continue down the trail. Jason and Rob started running, so I figured I better start running too. The trail off the west side is near perfect for running - nice smooth surface and nicely graded. I gotta say it is a ton of fun to go running through the woods. Cruising through fresh (and rather noisy) leaves on a mild November day is just so delightful. We caught Gillian just before the next uphill. A short distance further on we picked up the Kelley Trail and headed back to the car. It was a bit difficult talking over the rustle of the leaves, but Jason managed to fill me in on good ways to hike the NH48 which are on my plate for this winter.
This was a great hike for this time of year. Definitely one of the more enjoyable November hikes in recent years for me.
-PICTURES-
