dr_wu002
Well-known member
Got out for my first hike this spring (and only second hike this year) on Sunday, up Crawford Path over to Pierce and Eisenhower and back. Along the way I spent over an hour, alone, on Eisenhower -- snoozing, looking around, taking pictures and whatnot and then about 1/2 hour on Pierce alone again.
I started the walk up Pierce at about 8:30 after a nice 3 hour car ride from Easthampton MA. It took my outta-shape self about 2 hours to get up to the first ledges on Pierce where I hung out for a few minutes. Until now I hadn't seen a soul but a few groups came down from Jackson and I let them pass because I didn't want to keep running into them on the way to Eisenhower.
The walk over to Eisenhower was beautiful as always with that nice feel being above treeline. Even though I was dressed pretty minimally (nylon shell, no hat or gloves) I could have easily walked over to Eisenhower with shorts and a t-shirt and felt entirely comfortable. The ice was pretty negotiable and I was able to bareboot the entire hike. Once on Eisenhower there was about 2 or 3 groups on top but they headed back to their cars pretty quickly so I had the whole summit to myself for well over an hour. What an amazing, quiet and lovely place to be all by yerself. No winds, beautiful sun and great views in all directions. After about an hour another solitary hiker came by and quickly departed for Monroe while I decided that it was time to head out. I had considered Monroe myself but I had some foot pain, I'm pretty outta shape and I had to get home early anyway so a leisurely walk back to Pierce was the proper option.
Once back at Pierce I walked up to the actual summit (the first time I didn't bother) and on the way down to the ledges had the pleasure of meeting LenDawg and Chinooktrail for the first time. We chatted for a few minutes and then I hung around, alone, on the ledges for about 30 minutes before saying goodbye to the open expanses and jogged back to my car in about 45 minutes.
I was lucky to have a day like this where you can lounge around on a summit like Eisenhower for over an hour without all the bugs and people. When you're above treeline and you can look around for miles and not see or hear a soul you feel pretty special. I guess today was my lucky day.
I'll post pictures in a bit.
-Dr. Wu
I started the walk up Pierce at about 8:30 after a nice 3 hour car ride from Easthampton MA. It took my outta-shape self about 2 hours to get up to the first ledges on Pierce where I hung out for a few minutes. Until now I hadn't seen a soul but a few groups came down from Jackson and I let them pass because I didn't want to keep running into them on the way to Eisenhower.
The walk over to Eisenhower was beautiful as always with that nice feel being above treeline. Even though I was dressed pretty minimally (nylon shell, no hat or gloves) I could have easily walked over to Eisenhower with shorts and a t-shirt and felt entirely comfortable. The ice was pretty negotiable and I was able to bareboot the entire hike. Once on Eisenhower there was about 2 or 3 groups on top but they headed back to their cars pretty quickly so I had the whole summit to myself for well over an hour. What an amazing, quiet and lovely place to be all by yerself. No winds, beautiful sun and great views in all directions. After about an hour another solitary hiker came by and quickly departed for Monroe while I decided that it was time to head out. I had considered Monroe myself but I had some foot pain, I'm pretty outta shape and I had to get home early anyway so a leisurely walk back to Pierce was the proper option.
Once back at Pierce I walked up to the actual summit (the first time I didn't bother) and on the way down to the ledges had the pleasure of meeting LenDawg and Chinooktrail for the first time. We chatted for a few minutes and then I hung around, alone, on the ledges for about 30 minutes before saying goodbye to the open expanses and jogged back to my car in about 45 minutes.
I was lucky to have a day like this where you can lounge around on a summit like Eisenhower for over an hour without all the bugs and people. When you're above treeline and you can look around for miles and not see or hear a soul you feel pretty special. I guess today was my lucky day.
I'll post pictures in a bit.
-Dr. Wu
