My wife advised me not to write a report on this trip. I usually follow her advice without exception, but this time I am going to provide a brief summary. You decide who was right. I had not climbed a peak in the Whites in four months. I planned a four day trip to the Lincoln, NH, area with driving/hiking on the first and last days. I had been waiting for a string of good weather days—haven’t we all?—and early this week it looked good enough to go—not perfect but good enough.
July 24. North Kinsman, South Kinsman, Cannon; Tecumseh. The Kinsmans and Cannon are a good starter trip for the Whites, maybe because they are the first trailhead you get to when driving south on I-93. I was concerned about rain and possible thunderstorms so they were also good for not being above treeline for very long. The trail to Cannon goes over the ‘Cannon Balls’ and Cannon itself is a pretty steep climb. These three didn’t quite seem to be enough for one day so I tacked on little Tecumseh, 4003 ft, well known not by the mountain but the long drive to get there (fortunately farther down I-93).
July 25. Flume, Liberty, Lincoln, Lafayette; Moosilauke. A loop hike of the Franconia Range is a classic trip in the Whites, and well worth it. I got an early start but the upper part of the range was in the clouds (till I got back to the car) so there were no views to slow me down. I had the trails pretty much to myself till I started up Lincoln when the day-hikers and disgorgement of the hutters filled the trail with people. I had another mountain to climb and it was too cold and windy to stand around on top anyway. I drove over to the Ravine Lodge trailhead for Moosilauke and started up the Gorge Brook trail. TS Irene did a lot of damage which was evident by erosion and where the brook took out the trail. I have wondered why the summit of Moosilauke is so flat, unlike most other mountains in the Whites or elsewhere.
July 26. Owl’s Head; South Hancock, North Hancock. These mountains don’t have much in common except the trailheads are nearby. Owl’s Head is the only mountain of the NH48 without an official trail, but the slide/herdpath are easy to follow. I took the Black Pond bushwhack, which is about a mile in length, to Lincoln Brook. About half of it is a herdpath and the other half an easy bushwhack. It is worth the effort as it cuts a lot of time and two sometimes-difficult brook crossings. The new summit now has a huge cairn in case you don’t notice that the herdpath ends. The Hancocks are a pair of peaks sharing a ridge with a nice trail between them. They are accessed by steep climbs of about ½ mile. Before that it is an easy walk in to the base of the mountains. No views, of course, with the summits in the clouds—but at least it didn’t rain.
July 27. North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, Whiteface, Passaconaway. These peaks were climbed from the Kancamagus highway, combining two sets of peaks which are often hiked separately. The trip involved about a four mile road walk back to the car—I was too lazy to hitchhike and those Massachusetts drivers were going too fast to stop anyway. It’s a nice traverse, if a little long, going up the Pine Bend Brook trail to the Tripyramids, over the Kate Sleeper peaks to Whiteface, then over to Passaconaway and out. I tolerated light rain for the first hour and a half, but after that it was just damp, cloudy and boring. Getting back to the car, I changed clothes and sat down for a nice four-hour drive back home.
Departing from my usual practice, I will not be giving distances and elevations for this week’s adventure. Let’s just say it was--a lot.
Now I will rest a couple of days, wait for some good weather, and get back into Adirondack climbing from home.
July 24. North Kinsman, South Kinsman, Cannon; Tecumseh. The Kinsmans and Cannon are a good starter trip for the Whites, maybe because they are the first trailhead you get to when driving south on I-93. I was concerned about rain and possible thunderstorms so they were also good for not being above treeline for very long. The trail to Cannon goes over the ‘Cannon Balls’ and Cannon itself is a pretty steep climb. These three didn’t quite seem to be enough for one day so I tacked on little Tecumseh, 4003 ft, well known not by the mountain but the long drive to get there (fortunately farther down I-93).
July 25. Flume, Liberty, Lincoln, Lafayette; Moosilauke. A loop hike of the Franconia Range is a classic trip in the Whites, and well worth it. I got an early start but the upper part of the range was in the clouds (till I got back to the car) so there were no views to slow me down. I had the trails pretty much to myself till I started up Lincoln when the day-hikers and disgorgement of the hutters filled the trail with people. I had another mountain to climb and it was too cold and windy to stand around on top anyway. I drove over to the Ravine Lodge trailhead for Moosilauke and started up the Gorge Brook trail. TS Irene did a lot of damage which was evident by erosion and where the brook took out the trail. I have wondered why the summit of Moosilauke is so flat, unlike most other mountains in the Whites or elsewhere.
July 26. Owl’s Head; South Hancock, North Hancock. These mountains don’t have much in common except the trailheads are nearby. Owl’s Head is the only mountain of the NH48 without an official trail, but the slide/herdpath are easy to follow. I took the Black Pond bushwhack, which is about a mile in length, to Lincoln Brook. About half of it is a herdpath and the other half an easy bushwhack. It is worth the effort as it cuts a lot of time and two sometimes-difficult brook crossings. The new summit now has a huge cairn in case you don’t notice that the herdpath ends. The Hancocks are a pair of peaks sharing a ridge with a nice trail between them. They are accessed by steep climbs of about ½ mile. Before that it is an easy walk in to the base of the mountains. No views, of course, with the summits in the clouds—but at least it didn’t rain.
July 27. North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, Whiteface, Passaconaway. These peaks were climbed from the Kancamagus highway, combining two sets of peaks which are often hiked separately. The trip involved about a four mile road walk back to the car—I was too lazy to hitchhike and those Massachusetts drivers were going too fast to stop anyway. It’s a nice traverse, if a little long, going up the Pine Bend Brook trail to the Tripyramids, over the Kate Sleeper peaks to Whiteface, then over to Passaconaway and out. I tolerated light rain for the first hour and a half, but after that it was just damp, cloudy and boring. Getting back to the car, I changed clothes and sat down for a nice four-hour drive back home.
Departing from my usual practice, I will not be giving distances and elevations for this week’s adventure. Let’s just say it was--a lot.
Now I will rest a couple of days, wait for some good weather, and get back into Adirondack climbing from home.
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