alpinista
Active member
SherpaK, his daughter, Kayla, and I started out at Caps Ridge around 9 a.m. -- a little bit later than we'd planned, but we had an unintended detour back to my car at Lowe's when I'd realized I'd forgotten my hat and gloves behind.
Yet again, the guidebook had spooked me about a trail, and I spent countless hours fretting about this hike and trying to keep myself calm. Sherpa could sense it and as usual, came through with encouraging words at just the right moment. Yikes, he must be getting sick of playing my personal cheerleader!
The trail starts out in the woods, thick with roots and some mud but before long, you break out above treeline. We had some awesome views up the western slopes of the presidential range _ from the thick black plumes of smoke from the cog to Mt. Washington struggling to break loose from the clouds.
When we hit the whirlpool ledges, I got my first view of the Caps. Yikes! Do I really have to climb over those??!!! We'd run into DaveP by then, and he and Sherpa and Kayla took off up the trail, while I did the slow-poke shuffle behind them. By the time we hit the first Caps, though, I'd gotten through my fright and was actually enjoying the scramble up a mountain. Near the top, we ran into MtnMagic and a few other VFTTers, as well as dozens of others enjoying an incredible day in the mountains.
I lingered atop Mt. Jefferson (#45) just long enough to get a summit shot, a few swigs of Cytomax energy drink and some shots of chocolate GU (an energy gel, not alcohol!) ;-) It was here that I bid farewell to SherpaK and Kayla, and made my way down toward Gulfside. I had another peak to bag!
I found Gulfside slower going than I expected. While there are some sections with nicely laid out stones, most of it is very rocky terrain, and I was cautious not to twist an ankle or take a tumble. My first views of Adams were obscured by clouds. But I could see they rolling through at a decent clip and I hoped they'd blow by in time for my summit of Adams.
I took Israel Ridge up to the summit -- and indeed, there was a gorgeous blue sky all around! #46 was a beauty!
I had intended initially to take Lowe's Path down but when I saw how close AirLine was, and relished being on more even ground, I decided to head down AirLine.
This is the trail I'd adopted, but I'd yet to be above the turnoff for the Upper Bruin Trail. So it was nice to see the so-called Knife's Edge (really not all that "knifey" or "edgy") , spy a bit of the King Ravine, and get below treeline in decent time.
When I'm working on this trail, it seems unrelentingly steep and ledgy. Must be the loppers and hazel hoe I'm carting around, and I didn't relish going down it. But given the hour _ it was about 6 p.m. by the time I hit treeline _ I knew I didn't want to take the time to take a cutoff trail to Valley Way. In the end, I found Airline a relative breeze to descend. Things really do look different from different angles!
Well before I hit Randolph Path, I was in darkness. But I had my trusty headlamp, and took my time. I'd toggle between pointing the light directly in front of me and then just ahead of me, to make sure I was still on the trail. At the Randolph Path turnoff, I got a bit turned around, and ended up passing AirLine and heading down ValleyWay. But I took my time, trusted my lamp -- and banged my poles every now and then in case any creatures were there around me -- and made it to the road by 9 p.m.
The worst part of the trip was walking along Route 2 back to Lowe's. I walked against traffic and took a mental note of the terrain off the pavement in case I had to jump out of the way of a reckless driver.
I must have been a tad delirious because off in the distance I thought I spotted three hikers with headlamps bobbing as they approached me. As I got closer, I realized it was glow from the dimmed lights of Lowe's -- a welcome sight!
I knew my legs wouldn't cooperate for me to do any more hiking in the next several days, so I passed on the idea of staying in NH to bag Isolation. It was time to pamper myself. So I hightailed it to the Highland Center and plunked down big dough for a comfy room.
Oddly, the first room I was to stay in was called Mt. Jackson. But the key wouldn't work. The next room I got: Mt. Jefferson. Awesome!
Pics can be seen here: http://community.webshots.com/user/alpinistanh4ks
Yet again, the guidebook had spooked me about a trail, and I spent countless hours fretting about this hike and trying to keep myself calm. Sherpa could sense it and as usual, came through with encouraging words at just the right moment. Yikes, he must be getting sick of playing my personal cheerleader!
The trail starts out in the woods, thick with roots and some mud but before long, you break out above treeline. We had some awesome views up the western slopes of the presidential range _ from the thick black plumes of smoke from the cog to Mt. Washington struggling to break loose from the clouds.
When we hit the whirlpool ledges, I got my first view of the Caps. Yikes! Do I really have to climb over those??!!!
We'd run into DaveP by then, and he and Sherpa and Kayla took off up the trail, while I did the slow-poke shuffle behind them. By the time we hit the first Caps, though, I'd gotten through my fright and was actually enjoying the scramble up a mountain. Near the top, we ran into MtnMagic and a few other VFTTers, as well as dozens of others enjoying an incredible day in the mountains.I lingered atop Mt. Jefferson (#45) just long enough to get a summit shot, a few swigs of Cytomax energy drink and some shots of chocolate GU (an energy gel, not alcohol!) ;-) It was here that I bid farewell to SherpaK and Kayla, and made my way down toward Gulfside. I had another peak to bag!
I found Gulfside slower going than I expected. While there are some sections with nicely laid out stones, most of it is very rocky terrain, and I was cautious not to twist an ankle or take a tumble. My first views of Adams were obscured by clouds. But I could see they rolling through at a decent clip and I hoped they'd blow by in time for my summit of Adams.
I took Israel Ridge up to the summit -- and indeed, there was a gorgeous blue sky all around! #46 was a beauty!
I had intended initially to take Lowe's Path down but when I saw how close AirLine was, and relished being on more even ground, I decided to head down AirLine.
This is the trail I'd adopted, but I'd yet to be above the turnoff for the Upper Bruin Trail. So it was nice to see the so-called Knife's Edge (really not all that "knifey" or "edgy") , spy a bit of the King Ravine, and get below treeline in decent time.
When I'm working on this trail, it seems unrelentingly steep and ledgy. Must be the loppers and hazel hoe I'm carting around, and I didn't relish going down it. But given the hour _ it was about 6 p.m. by the time I hit treeline _ I knew I didn't want to take the time to take a cutoff trail to Valley Way. In the end, I found Airline a relative breeze to descend. Things really do look different from different angles!
Well before I hit Randolph Path, I was in darkness. But I had my trusty headlamp, and took my time. I'd toggle between pointing the light directly in front of me and then just ahead of me, to make sure I was still on the trail. At the Randolph Path turnoff, I got a bit turned around, and ended up passing AirLine and heading down ValleyWay. But I took my time, trusted my lamp -- and banged my poles every now and then in case any creatures were there around me -- and made it to the road by 9 p.m.
The worst part of the trip was walking along Route 2 back to Lowe's. I walked against traffic and took a mental note of the terrain off the pavement in case I had to jump out of the way of a reckless driver.
I must have been a tad delirious because off in the distance I thought I spotted three hikers with headlamps bobbing as they approached me. As I got closer, I realized it was glow from the dimmed lights of Lowe's -- a welcome sight!
I knew my legs wouldn't cooperate for me to do any more hiking in the next several days, so I passed on the idea of staying in NH to bag Isolation. It was time to pamper myself. So I hightailed it to the Highland Center and plunked down big dough for a comfy room.
Oddly, the first room I was to stay in was called Mt. Jackson. But the key wouldn't work. The next room I got: Mt. Jefferson. Awesome!
Pics can be seen here: http://community.webshots.com/user/alpinistanh4ks
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