Last weekend I went up to New Hampshire for the Flags on the 48 event, where flags are flown on all 48 New Hampshire 4000ers in commemoration of the 9/11 victims. I drove up Saturday morning. On Saturday I climbed Tecumseh. That night I stayed at the Passaconaway Campground. On Sunday I led the Middle Tripyramid crew for Flags.
Saturday 10 Sept.: Tecumseh
I went up Tecumseh from the ski resort parking lot up Mt. Tecumseh Trail. It was my third time on Tecumseh and my second time on Mt. Tecumseh Trail, but my first time on Mt. Tecumseh Trail when it wasn't under snow. So I finally got to see the extensive stone trailwork I'd seen in other people's pictures.
There were a lot of people hiking on Mt. Tecumseh Trail that day, but of course no snowboarders barreling down the trail like my last time there. When I was on the summit I saw the illegal cutting and the sign about the illegal cutting for the first time.
Halfway back down, at the ski run lookout, I decided to go the rest of the way down on the ski run.
Sunday 11 Sept.: (North and) Middle Tripyramid
This was my eighth consecutive year as the Middle Tripyramid peak coordinator for Flags on the 48. The size of the crew has varied a lot over the years, from just me in 2013 to a full crew of ten this year. Most of the crew started later and met us on the summit, though. It was three of us, myself, Bruce, and Matt, starting first, carrying the gear up, and waiting until the end to carry the gear back down.
We went up Pine Bend Brook Trail. It rained a lot at first. It also was thundering, so much so that we stopped on the trail a little below the Scaur Ridge intersection and waited about fifteen minutes in the pouring rain for the thunderstorm to move on. It did, though, and soon after we passed Scaur Ridge Trail it stopped raining, and didn't rain again all day.
Pine Bend Brook Trail is pretty tough in spots, but once you get to North Tripyramid the hike over to Middle is pretty easy. By the time we got to Middle much of the rest of the crew had caught up with us, so we had a lot of help setting up the flag.
There seemed to be fewer non-participant hikers showing up than most years, probably because of the weather, even though the weather improved slowly throughout the day. We did see the helicopter this year, but no other flags.
After two o'clock we dismantled the flag and returned the way we came, passing the North Tripyramid crew on the way down.
Tecumseh is number 46 (out of 115) for my project of redoing the NE111 in my sixties. That puts me at 40% done. Both Tripyramids were new peaks for both Bruce and Matt, but I don't remember where that puts them for any of the lists they're on.
Here are the pictures for Tecumseh (Sat.).
Here are the pictures for the Tripyramids (Sun.).
Here is the Flags on the 48 site.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 46/115 (36/67, 10/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 39/39; WNH4K: 39/48; NEHH 84/100
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
Saturday 10 Sept.: Tecumseh
I went up Tecumseh from the ski resort parking lot up Mt. Tecumseh Trail. It was my third time on Tecumseh and my second time on Mt. Tecumseh Trail, but my first time on Mt. Tecumseh Trail when it wasn't under snow. So I finally got to see the extensive stone trailwork I'd seen in other people's pictures.
There were a lot of people hiking on Mt. Tecumseh Trail that day, but of course no snowboarders barreling down the trail like my last time there. When I was on the summit I saw the illegal cutting and the sign about the illegal cutting for the first time.
Halfway back down, at the ski run lookout, I decided to go the rest of the way down on the ski run.
Sunday 11 Sept.: (North and) Middle Tripyramid
This was my eighth consecutive year as the Middle Tripyramid peak coordinator for Flags on the 48. The size of the crew has varied a lot over the years, from just me in 2013 to a full crew of ten this year. Most of the crew started later and met us on the summit, though. It was three of us, myself, Bruce, and Matt, starting first, carrying the gear up, and waiting until the end to carry the gear back down.
We went up Pine Bend Brook Trail. It rained a lot at first. It also was thundering, so much so that we stopped on the trail a little below the Scaur Ridge intersection and waited about fifteen minutes in the pouring rain for the thunderstorm to move on. It did, though, and soon after we passed Scaur Ridge Trail it stopped raining, and didn't rain again all day.
Pine Bend Brook Trail is pretty tough in spots, but once you get to North Tripyramid the hike over to Middle is pretty easy. By the time we got to Middle much of the rest of the crew had caught up with us, so we had a lot of help setting up the flag.
There seemed to be fewer non-participant hikers showing up than most years, probably because of the weather, even though the weather improved slowly throughout the day. We did see the helicopter this year, but no other flags.
After two o'clock we dismantled the flag and returned the way we came, passing the North Tripyramid crew on the way down.
Tecumseh is number 46 (out of 115) for my project of redoing the NE111 in my sixties. That puts me at 40% done. Both Tripyramids were new peaks for both Bruce and Matt, but I don't remember where that puts them for any of the lists they're on.
Here are the pictures for Tecumseh (Sat.).
Here are the pictures for the Tripyramids (Sun.).
Here is the Flags on the 48 site.
--
Cumulus
NE111 in my 50s: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2)
NE111 in my 60s: 46/115 (36/67, 10/46, 0/2)
NEFF: 50/50; Cat35: 39/39; WNH4K: 39/48; NEHH 84/100
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
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