East and South Hitchcock

[forestgnome]

My favorite peakbagging hiking partner BeccaM "needed" (whatever) East and South Hitchcock...she told me of the nickname peakbaggers have given to the Hitchcocks....just change the first letter to the second letter in the alphabet...didn't really like cursing a mountain based on the difficulty humans have with climbing to her summit...gave in and started using the nickname during the ordeal...felt wrong afterward...sorry Mt. Hitchcock

a nice young bull moose in the heavy mist along the Kancamagus at sunrise

the lovely BeccaM at one of the many crossings along the Hancock Notch Trail...

a nice pitcher plant in one of the many pretty bog areas along the trail...

hmmmmmm....breakfast....pitcher plants eat bugs who are caught in the pools that form in their leaves...very cool...

Thanks, Becca, for the patience while I do my thing...



labrador tea along the trail...

lady's slippers along the trail...such nice scenery to hike in...

We left trail at the wilderness boundary along the Cedar Brook Trail after bumping into Gary Tompkins....(nice to meet you!).

Soon we were on a steep pitch on the way to East Peak...such pretty scenery...

continued...

 

[forestgnome]

Near South Hitchcock we saw two juvenile gray jays. The parents were not around, and they had not yet learned to mooch trail mix...

more pretty scenery on the mountain...

We took a route more to the north of the ridge on the way east back to the trail, which seemed to be less dense, but it really was occasionally a hitch of a time getting through some of the blowdowns/thick stuff...why we do this is still a mystery to me...

awesome picnic at Otter Rocks...warm Tecate actually tasted good...unbelievable....strawberries and whipped cream for a yummy summer treat...Yay summer!!!

saw a nice mama moose on the way home under beautiful clear summer night skies....crickets chirping...owl hooting....so nice...

summer stars and the Milky Way...

Thanks, Becca, for another awesome day in the forest

 

[Raven]

**snicker**

That's funny. It started getting creepy halfway through. LOL. Well done.

 

[loanshark]

Hey Patrick, Nice trip report. The scenery is certainly alot better than my last trip in that area. At least you didn't need to use a wide angle lense.

 

[Becca M]

more pics of the hitchs...

yay! Here's the photographer!!!!

We saw this cool rock formation, too!

GREAT HIKE!!!! Thank you Forestgnome!!!

 

[Raymond]

Gene Daniell had East Hitchcock dubbed something different in the summit register, if I recall correctly.

You didn’t happen upon my water bottle or, even better, my water bottle cover (blue Early Winters), did you? They weren’t lost together, but both were lost while I was returning from East Hitchcock.

That was a few years ago.

 

[NewHampshire]

Heh heh, that is funny Raymond. When my buddy Mike and did East Hitch I lost my water bottle, but thankfully found it again about 50 yards from the summit. Phew!

Having bagged all the Hitches now I can honestly say the Bitchcock moniker is probably a bit overstated. The only real bear was Middle (well, South was a bit too, but only because we chose to do it in full on winter conditions and not because of the woods.) Of course even Middle wasn't THAT bad....it was the thousands of black flies that almost stripped our faces and arms bare of flesh.

Brian

 

[peakbagger]

Shorts and short sleeves on the Hitchcock's? Brave souls indeed!

 

[blaze]

great photos!

 

[1HappyHiker]

What an awesome hike . . . and your photos are equally awesome, as always! Especially like the last photo which is captioned as: "summer stars and the Milky Way"!

 

[cooperhill]

Great photos. Neat picture of the pitcher plant. The last time I saw one was in Newfoundland at Tablelands (Gros Morne National Park). I think it's NFLD's national plant.

 

[Jean]

Shorts and short sleeves on the Hitchcock's? Brave souls indeed!

Indeed. Reminds me of when I did all 5 last October. Showed up at the Woodstock Inn for a well deserved pint and the first thing the waitress said was: " Sir, you're bleeding!"

 

[Jimmy Legs and Little D]

Patrick,
Great photos, especially the closeups. Always enjoy your ventures.

Donna

 

[RoySwkr]

Shorts and short sleeves on the Hitchcock's? Brave souls indeed!

I was going to say I wanted to see a photo of BM on the summit to see if she was wearing the same outfit as at the brook crossing - and if so a photo of her at the brook crossing on the way out

That is a range I've mostly hiked in winter so it's interesting to see what the ground looks like

 

[NewHampshire]

Ok, call me Mr. Oblivious......I just realized it was you and Becca we saw Sunday on Cedar Brook trail near the Wilderness boundary. My friend BobC and I were the two guys backpacking out to Stillwater Junction for the night. I don't know why it did not dawn on me until now.

Anyways, you may like to know that on Monday morning, on our walk out on the Carrigain Notch trail, a few tenths from the Desolation Trail junction, we saw a lovely cow moose and her baby about 40 yards ahead. We let them scupper off into the woods before continuing. Was a very nice treat!

Brian

 

[forestgnome]

Thanks for nice comments everyone!

Brian, wow that was you! Sounds like you had an awesome time as well. Nice to meet you, and glad you had a nice moose sighting. I've not yet seen a new calf this year Becca saw one in late May, something I've not yet experienced...my earliest ever was June 1st. Anyway, thanks for checking in and glad you had a nice hike...

happy trails

 

[NewHampshire]

Nice meeting you too even though I didn't know I was meeting you.

The moose sighting was a true stunner. Bob noticed the momma first. He thought it was another hiker coming up the trail but then he saw it was a moose. I was looking for a couple of seconds when I saw movement come from off the side of the trail and cross in front of her. I have seen moose on the woods before, but never a momma with her skipper.

Bob and I found a nice spot by the river to camp. It was a great night out! Glad you two had a fun day as well!

Brian

 

[Tom Rankin]

wow fantastic and really liked the stars too!

 

[Darl58]

Awesome TR and love the pics as always!!

 

[Becca M]

I was going to say I wanted to see a photo of BM on the summit to see if she was wearing the same outfit as at the brook crossing - and if so a photo of her at the brook crossing on the way out

That is a range I've mostly hiked in winter so it's interesting to see what the ground looks like

hmmmmm.... yes, wearing the same thing on the summit plus a lot more blood :0 no before/after pics available