Dave Bear
New member
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2007
- Messages
- 681
- Reaction score
- 168
After an early am. Departure from Pat & Audrey’s wonderful potluck dinner Sunshine Chris and I had already decided on doing a smaller scale hike for Sunday. Driving up in the morning I call my mother to see if she was interested in something. Her birthday was Monday and she would be 71. Last year we had hiked out to West Rattlesnake with my wife and she loved the view but felt the hike was too small. She still actively climbs Cardigan and others like the “bushwhack’ to Ragged, and also does a quite impressive amount of swimming and kayaking. I felt a loop such as Welch-Dickey or Percival-Morgan would fit her abilities despite the late start.
We settled on doing Percival and Morgan after picking her up from the family farm. With a late start, almost 2:00PM on the new time, we made sure to bring extra layers, snacks and headlamps. Heading up to Percival was mostly through open hardwoods and very leaf-loaded easy trails. It wasn’t until we got to the steeper pitches that the abundance of leaves made the going a bit treacherous and we all got to backslide in a couple of places. Chris even suggested that she might try her microspikes to see if they helped.
Once we started getting onto some slab rock I would give mom a hand because she is a little less comfortable walking up the rocks. She commented how she probably never got to hold my hand years before when we would hike Stinson because I usually was in the lead. We lived in its afternoon shadows and hiked it at least once a year. We approached the junction for the cave and I said I had not tried it but would like to. Together we made our way to the tight entrance of the cave and not resisting a challenge by Chris I climbed through with my pack on. Luckily I didn’t get stuck! Mom took the cliff route and met us up on top of the cave.
We enjoyed the views out across Squam and a beautiful sunset from the summit. We hit the Ridgepole trail to Morgan and were able to catch a little more sunset from our second conquest of the day! I turned on the two-ways and told Chris to meet me at the bottom of the ladders. The cave on Morgan is less interesting than Percival’s but shut out the lights and it really has more to offer. Would have been a sweet night hike on Halloween! The top ladder is just a little loose for more shock factor!
The trip down was a slip and slide in the leaves so we just took our time. At one point I looked back and Chris’ headlamp was getting dim so we stopped to change batteries. It was a peaceful evening in the woods and just what the doctor ordered for each of us. Mom said “ I feel like my legs would be good for about 10 more miles!” and I’m sure they would have if we had more light. She has been training herself for a mini-triatholon and I can’t wait to greet her at the finish line! It was a great day in the woods and the best way to spend Mom’s Birthday weekend with her. The way I see it I owe her many more hikes together since she was my biggest inspiration to climb mountains! Happy Birthday Mom!!! Two peaks Whoo Hoo!
Pics:http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/568474349fFzsBF
We settled on doing Percival and Morgan after picking her up from the family farm. With a late start, almost 2:00PM on the new time, we made sure to bring extra layers, snacks and headlamps. Heading up to Percival was mostly through open hardwoods and very leaf-loaded easy trails. It wasn’t until we got to the steeper pitches that the abundance of leaves made the going a bit treacherous and we all got to backslide in a couple of places. Chris even suggested that she might try her microspikes to see if they helped.
Once we started getting onto some slab rock I would give mom a hand because she is a little less comfortable walking up the rocks. She commented how she probably never got to hold my hand years before when we would hike Stinson because I usually was in the lead. We lived in its afternoon shadows and hiked it at least once a year. We approached the junction for the cave and I said I had not tried it but would like to. Together we made our way to the tight entrance of the cave and not resisting a challenge by Chris I climbed through with my pack on. Luckily I didn’t get stuck! Mom took the cliff route and met us up on top of the cave.
We enjoyed the views out across Squam and a beautiful sunset from the summit. We hit the Ridgepole trail to Morgan and were able to catch a little more sunset from our second conquest of the day! I turned on the two-ways and told Chris to meet me at the bottom of the ladders. The cave on Morgan is less interesting than Percival’s but shut out the lights and it really has more to offer. Would have been a sweet night hike on Halloween! The top ladder is just a little loose for more shock factor!
The trip down was a slip and slide in the leaves so we just took our time. At one point I looked back and Chris’ headlamp was getting dim so we stopped to change batteries. It was a peaceful evening in the woods and just what the doctor ordered for each of us. Mom said “ I feel like my legs would be good for about 10 more miles!” and I’m sure they would have if we had more light. She has been training herself for a mini-triatholon and I can’t wait to greet her at the finish line! It was a great day in the woods and the best way to spend Mom’s Birthday weekend with her. The way I see it I owe her many more hikes together since she was my biggest inspiration to climb mountains! Happy Birthday Mom!!! Two peaks Whoo Hoo!
Pics:http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/568474349fFzsBF
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