mtnbound
New member
I just spent the past week up in the Whites for the AMC Connecticut Chapter’s Fall Hiking Week. This year we were based out of Woodward’s in Lincoln. My fiancée and I got up in time for dinner on Friday night and met up with friends from the Hudson Valley area, Connecticut and made new friends as well. The staff at Woodward’s were great. Breakfast and dinner are in the restaurant and at breakfast they lay out a cold cut table to make your lunch for the day. The CT Chapter organizes volunteers to lead hikes from the “A” hikes (usually 4000’ers and big miles) to “C” hikes, which may just be a short walk to a waterfall. Then there are the “bootleg” hikes, when peak baggers like me already have done the scheduled hike. Here are the hikes I did last week:
9/11- Adams and Madison- The group started together at the Appalachia trailhead with the mostly pre-arranged plan to split up. Some wanted the challenge of King’s Ravine while I had peak bagging in mind, so three of us headed up the Air Line trail to Adams. We heard a helicopter quite a few times on the way up and were hoping that it wasn’t there for a rescue. Once we got above tree line however we could see that it was bringing supplies up to Madison Hut. We reached the summit of Adams after 12 and had lunch there with others gathered for FOT48 and we were able to spot some flags on the other peaks. We didn’t linger for long and headed down towards Madison. Since my partners for the day had already done Madison I “ran” up and back while they waited near the hut. Once we regrouped, we headed down Valley Way to the parking lot.
9/12- Garfield was the scheduled hike for the day but after looking at the map I thought hey why not stay up on the ridge and go for Lafayette and Lincoln? I was able to talk friends into driving my car up to Garfield and drop it off at Lafayette Campground after their hike (I’m glad I brought 2 sets of keys!). I also talked 2 friends into hiking with me. We broke off from the group pretty early on the Garfield trail and headed up. The weather would not cooperate with us on this hike and the summit of Garfield was socked in. At least the rain held off all day, we just got wet from the mist from the clouds. We headed out for Lafayette and since there were no views to be had my friends headed down the Old Bridle path while I headed on to Lincoln. I was cruising along in the clouds with maybe 40 foot visibility. I didn’t even realize I had been on Lincoln until I hit the trailhead for Falling Waters. Headed down and actually met my friends at the trail junction! Talk about timing. I’ll definitely have to get back up on the ridge in better weather.
9/13- Conway hike. The rain in the morning and forecast for the day sent us to town for shopping. My only contribution to the economy was a new map and a growler from Woodstock Brewery on the way back
9/14- Hale loop- 3 of us headed out for Hale with 2 cars to do a loop over Hale. A beaver slowed progress as there was a tree down and across Zealand Road. We were able to move it off the road enough to get by. After a car drop at the Zealand trail we headed for Hale. Limited views at the summit and it was windy so we headed towards the hut. Just past the summit for Hale we came across 5 spruce grouse in the trail, they stood still and didn’t want to move so we got to watch them for a few minutes before continuing. When we got to Twinway, Zealand beckoned for one of us so we had lunch at the stream then I headed up to Zeacliff to wait while peak bagging continued since I already had Zealand. As I waited the clouds broke, the sun came out and I saw a rainbow to the north off Zeacliff. The views were incredible and time flew by as I waited to head back down. Met a few folks who had come through from camping before the Bonds and I was wishing I had the foresight to coordinate a traverse. The Bonds would have to wait a couple of more days… Rain started on the way back down but stopped by the time we got to the hut. The hike back out was quick. We didn’t see any moose in the ponds but friends who hiked to the hut the following day saw one!
9/15- Hedgehog- I needed a day to “rest” and spend time with the fiancée so we joined a group hiking Hedgehog, clockwise on the UHN trail. The weather was great that day so we had awesome views from the ledges and summit where we had lunch. Passaconaway loomed close by… one of the peaks I still need and will maybe finish on.
9/16- Bonds in and out from Lincoln Woods- The forecast said the rain was going to hold off until the evening so we decided to give this a go. There were just two of us crazy enough for this hike today. Hit the bridge at 7:55, start of Bondcliff trail an hour and 15 minutes later and were on West Bond for lunch at 12:30. The Wilderness trail was great, nice and flat to start on and I had never been on the section past Franconia falls. The views from all Bonds were incredible and probably the best of any of the peaks to date. I loved the rugged terrain and the fact that you could only see a few man-made structures. We ran into a few folks on this hike including a few who were coming from Guyot campsite or one of the huts. Got to thinking about that traverse again….. At 1 we packed up and headed back to Lincoln Woods, stopping for a few short breaks and got back to the car at 5:30. We surprised quite a few folks when we got back to Woodward’s in time for “social hour” to talk about our hike and also for dinner. Guess I didn’t need to pack the headlamp after all!
9/17- With the AMC trip officially over, folks were looking for something to do on the way home. We were only heading to Goffstown (outside Manchester) to visit friends and I still needed Tecumseh so a group of us headed there from the roadway. It was cloudy all during the hike and no real view from the top. After the Bonds hike for me and a long week of hiking for everyone, the 3.1 miles seemed to take forever! At least the rain held off. Several people came up to the summit from the ski area and we met a trail maintainer on the way back to the car.
Tecumseh was #44 for me. 10 peaks hiked this week. It was another great week with old and new friends. I can’t wait to get back up to finish the 48, although I’m not sure when that will be. I think it’s funny that I’ll probably finish “the list” here before the Adirondacks or the Catskills which are much closer to home. I guess I need to take a week off to concentrate on those!
9/11- Adams and Madison- The group started together at the Appalachia trailhead with the mostly pre-arranged plan to split up. Some wanted the challenge of King’s Ravine while I had peak bagging in mind, so three of us headed up the Air Line trail to Adams. We heard a helicopter quite a few times on the way up and were hoping that it wasn’t there for a rescue. Once we got above tree line however we could see that it was bringing supplies up to Madison Hut. We reached the summit of Adams after 12 and had lunch there with others gathered for FOT48 and we were able to spot some flags on the other peaks. We didn’t linger for long and headed down towards Madison. Since my partners for the day had already done Madison I “ran” up and back while they waited near the hut. Once we regrouped, we headed down Valley Way to the parking lot.
9/12- Garfield was the scheduled hike for the day but after looking at the map I thought hey why not stay up on the ridge and go for Lafayette and Lincoln? I was able to talk friends into driving my car up to Garfield and drop it off at Lafayette Campground after their hike (I’m glad I brought 2 sets of keys!). I also talked 2 friends into hiking with me. We broke off from the group pretty early on the Garfield trail and headed up. The weather would not cooperate with us on this hike and the summit of Garfield was socked in. At least the rain held off all day, we just got wet from the mist from the clouds. We headed out for Lafayette and since there were no views to be had my friends headed down the Old Bridle path while I headed on to Lincoln. I was cruising along in the clouds with maybe 40 foot visibility. I didn’t even realize I had been on Lincoln until I hit the trailhead for Falling Waters. Headed down and actually met my friends at the trail junction! Talk about timing. I’ll definitely have to get back up on the ridge in better weather.
9/13- Conway hike. The rain in the morning and forecast for the day sent us to town for shopping. My only contribution to the economy was a new map and a growler from Woodstock Brewery on the way back
9/14- Hale loop- 3 of us headed out for Hale with 2 cars to do a loop over Hale. A beaver slowed progress as there was a tree down and across Zealand Road. We were able to move it off the road enough to get by. After a car drop at the Zealand trail we headed for Hale. Limited views at the summit and it was windy so we headed towards the hut. Just past the summit for Hale we came across 5 spruce grouse in the trail, they stood still and didn’t want to move so we got to watch them for a few minutes before continuing. When we got to Twinway, Zealand beckoned for one of us so we had lunch at the stream then I headed up to Zeacliff to wait while peak bagging continued since I already had Zealand. As I waited the clouds broke, the sun came out and I saw a rainbow to the north off Zeacliff. The views were incredible and time flew by as I waited to head back down. Met a few folks who had come through from camping before the Bonds and I was wishing I had the foresight to coordinate a traverse. The Bonds would have to wait a couple of more days… Rain started on the way back down but stopped by the time we got to the hut. The hike back out was quick. We didn’t see any moose in the ponds but friends who hiked to the hut the following day saw one!
9/15- Hedgehog- I needed a day to “rest” and spend time with the fiancée so we joined a group hiking Hedgehog, clockwise on the UHN trail. The weather was great that day so we had awesome views from the ledges and summit where we had lunch. Passaconaway loomed close by… one of the peaks I still need and will maybe finish on.
9/16- Bonds in and out from Lincoln Woods- The forecast said the rain was going to hold off until the evening so we decided to give this a go. There were just two of us crazy enough for this hike today. Hit the bridge at 7:55, start of Bondcliff trail an hour and 15 minutes later and were on West Bond for lunch at 12:30. The Wilderness trail was great, nice and flat to start on and I had never been on the section past Franconia falls. The views from all Bonds were incredible and probably the best of any of the peaks to date. I loved the rugged terrain and the fact that you could only see a few man-made structures. We ran into a few folks on this hike including a few who were coming from Guyot campsite or one of the huts. Got to thinking about that traverse again….. At 1 we packed up and headed back to Lincoln Woods, stopping for a few short breaks and got back to the car at 5:30. We surprised quite a few folks when we got back to Woodward’s in time for “social hour” to talk about our hike and also for dinner. Guess I didn’t need to pack the headlamp after all!
9/17- With the AMC trip officially over, folks were looking for something to do on the way home. We were only heading to Goffstown (outside Manchester) to visit friends and I still needed Tecumseh so a group of us headed there from the roadway. It was cloudy all during the hike and no real view from the top. After the Bonds hike for me and a long week of hiking for everyone, the 3.1 miles seemed to take forever! At least the rain held off. Several people came up to the summit from the ski area and we met a trail maintainer on the way back to the car.
Tecumseh was #44 for me. 10 peaks hiked this week. It was another great week with old and new friends. I can’t wait to get back up to finish the 48, although I’m not sure when that will be. I think it’s funny that I’ll probably finish “the list” here before the Adirondacks or the Catskills which are much closer to home. I guess I need to take a week off to concentrate on those!
