Mt Tecumseh - June 30, 2006

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p2piper

New member
Joined
May 10, 2006
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Location
Jaffrey, NH
Nancy and I climbed Mt Tecumseh, our 9th 4,000 footer. The weather wasn’t perfect and I had a 6pm softball game so we decided to hike the southernmost and shortest 4,000 footer. We left Keene at 6am, ate our ritual MacDonald’s breakfast in Hillsborough and hit the Mobil Station in Meredith off I93 where they bake fresh muffins daily. They smell so good and the ladies who bake them are wonderful to talk to. We decided to hike the Tecumseh Trail off Tripoli Rd – 6.2 miles. Our most recent hikes have all been 9 miles or longer so a 6-mile hike sounded like nothing. Surprise…

The air was humid, and the skies slightly overcast, with occasional glimpses of the sun when we started out at 8:34am. After two water crossings close to the parking area, the trail started up and up and up and up – no gentle warm up, just up. Not steep, just up. Both of us sweated more intensely on this climb than on any of the others. I’m sure it was the humidity, but I wasn’t prepared for it. First lesson learned by Nancy: don’t exercise twice a day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and do a fast 7-mile hill walk on Thursday and plan on having any legs on the up hills climbing a 4,000 footer on Friday. Nancy bonked a bit on the way up.

Second lesson learned by Pat: Just because the day is overcast and the temps are in the 70’s doesn’t mean I can skimp on water. I need to be sure to check the humidity before deciding how much water to bring.

The trail was relatively dry and the bugs stayed away for the first few hours. Eventually we reached a ridge and had a partial view. Tree branches and ferns encroached on the trail – must not be heavily traveled. Saw lots of moose droppings. We crossed a short ridge then started down and down before starting back up the final climb to the summit. The top offered limited views, but I’ll take a limited view over no views any day. We at an early lunch since we got up by 11am. The black flies, however, were ferocious and basically ruined any possibility of sitting in the sun, taking our boots off, and really enjoying ourselves. We ate in a hurry, put on more bug dope, and got out of there by 11:20am.

Third lesson learned by Pat: Even though it is a short hike, I have got to take Ibuprofen an hour before hitting the trailhead and again at the summit. It makes the pain in my knees much more tolerable on the descent. This was an easy descent compared to others, but my knees are old and tired and need to be babied.

We hit the parking lot at 1:11pm, took a WE MADE IT picture and were just changing into sneakers when the heavens opened up with an isolated shower. But it was a heavy rain, filled with hail and huge dollops of water. We drove out of it after a while and the sun came out to stay as we drove south and headed to Keene with plenty of time to get to Wheelock Park to play our 6pm softball game. We lost – 8-6 – but it was an exciting game and we were in it all the way. A bad call at second cost us a couple of runs – that’s amateur sports for you. Hit the shower around 8:30 – it felt sooooooo good.

What a great day! Despite Nancy bonking on the way up and my knees pouting on the way down, we enjoyed being outdoors, climbing, and hanging with each other.
6.19 miles
20,415 steps
577 kcals
 
Like the stats. Tecumseh is a great peak. Perhaps the bonking is due to your choice of breakfast foods? I recommend Cliff bars to keep the body moving. All natural!

-percious
 
p2piper said:
and hit the Mobil Station in Meredith off I93 where they bake fresh muffins daily.

I love those muffins!!
 
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