cooperhill
New member
10/11/08. Mt. Washington via Tucks.
I think some (or most?) on here will think Mt. Washington isn’t that great but I’m proud to say I like Mt. Washington and all its craziness. Also you can find solace on the trail but you have to start hiking EARLY. Anyway…
My wife’s family has been going to Pinkham Notch on Columbus Day since the 50s so we were up at Joe Dodge Lodge on Friday for the long weekend. I met my wife at Pinkham so the place is very special to me. I had been fighting a cold since the beginning of the week and was thankfully starting to feel better on Thursday. The weather was looking good for Saturday (30s up top with 30-50 winds) so I started to think about climbing Washington. The initial plan was to hike up via Tucks and then descend by Lion’s Head. I packed Friday night what turned out to be too much but as I’m an Eagle Scout, I’ve learned it pays to “be prepared”.
I started out at 5AM Saturday morning. It was tough to miss the Pinkham breakfast but I really wanted to avoid the crowds. Hiking in the dark isn’t something I’m terribly comfortable with so I put on my ipod (tsk tsk I know) and listened to some Prairie Home Companion for about a half an hour. I got up to around the ½ way house at 6am or so and the sun was starting rise. Once dawn started to make its appearance, I put away the ipod and started to listen to the early morning sounds (apparently not in my ipod). I started to think that you can find solace and peace even here on the probably the busiest trail in the Whites. I had a nice pre-sunrise view into Tuckerman Ravine. I made a stop at the half way huts (most folks who had backpacked up the day before were still sleeping) to fill up with food and watch the sunrise. The sunrise over the Wildcats was very nice.
I started on up to the base of the Ravine – still not having met anyone on the trail. The hike at this point is more of an athletic endeavour than your usual hike in the Whites. It was still very quiet and peaceful and the views were starting to improve. I made good time to the top of the ravine and started to see a few people below me. The views over to Monroe and beyond were very nice and I had views of the ocean in the east.
About ¼ of the way up the rockpile climb I met another climber who had started up Boott Spurr around the same time as me. I mentioned to him that he was flying up the mountain. We both continued up the rockpile and topped out about 9:30am. It was somewhat cold and windy on the very summit (in the 20s with the windchill). There was some patches of snow and some rime ice on the top.
Luckily the winds were out of the NW so Tucks was protected from the winds by the rockpile. I took the obligatory summit shot – luckily the sign was still there. I fueled up and changed up and took off back down to Pinkham. The top was relatively quiet with only a few cars - the first train hadn't made it up yet. I met up with another hiker on the way down (who had come up Huntington Ravine) and we both sped down reaching Pinkham around 12:15pm. Of course we met a lot of people on the way down but it’s easy to disregard them when you’re going fast on a highway like Tucks. A very nice day and a very nice hike. I proud to say I like Washington.
Pics are here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/568082508wvbHvt?vhost=outdoors
10/13/2008 – Carter Notch, Wildcat River Trail, “the road less traveled”
I’ve been interested in this area since I read 1HappyHiker’s TR on hiking Carter Dome. The initial plan was to replicate 1HH’s hike up Wildcat River to Carter Notch, over Carter Dome and down the Rainbow Trail. My wife and I had left Pinkham on Sunday afternoon as she had to work on Columbus Day. I had the day off so I headed back up in the old Honda Accord with 209K – a decision I would regret later. I had a late start and struggled up Carter Notch road and made it to the Bog Brook trailhead around 9am. This time I had Maggie dog along with me.
We started out at 9:30am on the Bog Brook trail. The weather was very comfortable – much warmer than Saturday’s weather on the rockpile. There are a few tricky -but not that difficult- brook crossings on this section (which can be avoided by taking a forest service road). One the second brook crossing I was careless and didn’t break out the hiking poles – I slipped and one foot went in. Argggg. I decided to keep hiking and not change socks. I put on my gaiters to keep warm and hopefully my boots would dry out. We made it to the junction with the Wildcat River trail shortly after my dip in the brook. The WR trail is very nice. It is definitely, as Robert Frost said, the road less traveled. It is a delicate and full footpath not at all like 19 mile brook. There was some nice trail work on this one too. We reached the junction with the Wild River trail at about 10:30am so we were making good time. The weather was cool and cloudy but the trail was very enjoyable. There were some mucky sections where I think my boot disappeared at times. We made it up to the crest of a hill and there were some views of the Carters.
The leaves were pretty much off the birches now so it was a nice contrast of birch white and conifer green. The hobblebush were mostly yellow (turning from red a few weeks ago). The trail is very gradual until the eventual accent to Carter Notch. The hike up into the Notch isn’t that difficult but I think I was low on fuels and water (plenty in my pack but I didn’t want to stop for some reason – never a good idea). I pretty much bonked out heading up but made it to the Notch. I made it to the hut at noon. There were only a few people still left at the hut. I changed into dry clothes and fueled up at the hut. I was pretty tired after a weekend of hiking and changed my mind about hiking to Carter Dome. We went back down the way we came and had an enjoyable hike on the Wildcat River trail making it to the car around 2:30pm. On the way down Carter Notch, the dreaded check engine light came on (like Homer Simpson, I usually fix that with some black tape!). Unfortunately another light came on that indicated a problem with the transmission. The car started to shutter when shifting from 1 to 2. I eventually made it home and brought the car to a Honda dealer in Dover. Long story short, I got a second opinion and this car may be on its third life.
I’ll definitely be back to hike in the Wild River valley.
Pics are here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/568083623yJDpHU?vhost=outdoors
I think some (or most?) on here will think Mt. Washington isn’t that great but I’m proud to say I like Mt. Washington and all its craziness. Also you can find solace on the trail but you have to start hiking EARLY. Anyway…
My wife’s family has been going to Pinkham Notch on Columbus Day since the 50s so we were up at Joe Dodge Lodge on Friday for the long weekend. I met my wife at Pinkham so the place is very special to me. I had been fighting a cold since the beginning of the week and was thankfully starting to feel better on Thursday. The weather was looking good for Saturday (30s up top with 30-50 winds) so I started to think about climbing Washington. The initial plan was to hike up via Tucks and then descend by Lion’s Head. I packed Friday night what turned out to be too much but as I’m an Eagle Scout, I’ve learned it pays to “be prepared”.
I started out at 5AM Saturday morning. It was tough to miss the Pinkham breakfast but I really wanted to avoid the crowds. Hiking in the dark isn’t something I’m terribly comfortable with so I put on my ipod (tsk tsk I know) and listened to some Prairie Home Companion for about a half an hour. I got up to around the ½ way house at 6am or so and the sun was starting rise. Once dawn started to make its appearance, I put away the ipod and started to listen to the early morning sounds (apparently not in my ipod). I started to think that you can find solace and peace even here on the probably the busiest trail in the Whites. I had a nice pre-sunrise view into Tuckerman Ravine. I made a stop at the half way huts (most folks who had backpacked up the day before were still sleeping) to fill up with food and watch the sunrise. The sunrise over the Wildcats was very nice.
I started on up to the base of the Ravine – still not having met anyone on the trail. The hike at this point is more of an athletic endeavour than your usual hike in the Whites. It was still very quiet and peaceful and the views were starting to improve. I made good time to the top of the ravine and started to see a few people below me. The views over to Monroe and beyond were very nice and I had views of the ocean in the east.
About ¼ of the way up the rockpile climb I met another climber who had started up Boott Spurr around the same time as me. I mentioned to him that he was flying up the mountain. We both continued up the rockpile and topped out about 9:30am. It was somewhat cold and windy on the very summit (in the 20s with the windchill). There was some patches of snow and some rime ice on the top.
Luckily the winds were out of the NW so Tucks was protected from the winds by the rockpile. I took the obligatory summit shot – luckily the sign was still there. I fueled up and changed up and took off back down to Pinkham. The top was relatively quiet with only a few cars - the first train hadn't made it up yet. I met up with another hiker on the way down (who had come up Huntington Ravine) and we both sped down reaching Pinkham around 12:15pm. Of course we met a lot of people on the way down but it’s easy to disregard them when you’re going fast on a highway like Tucks. A very nice day and a very nice hike. I proud to say I like Washington.
Pics are here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/568082508wvbHvt?vhost=outdoors
10/13/2008 – Carter Notch, Wildcat River Trail, “the road less traveled”
I’ve been interested in this area since I read 1HappyHiker’s TR on hiking Carter Dome. The initial plan was to replicate 1HH’s hike up Wildcat River to Carter Notch, over Carter Dome and down the Rainbow Trail. My wife and I had left Pinkham on Sunday afternoon as she had to work on Columbus Day. I had the day off so I headed back up in the old Honda Accord with 209K – a decision I would regret later. I had a late start and struggled up Carter Notch road and made it to the Bog Brook trailhead around 9am. This time I had Maggie dog along with me.
We started out at 9:30am on the Bog Brook trail. The weather was very comfortable – much warmer than Saturday’s weather on the rockpile. There are a few tricky -but not that difficult- brook crossings on this section (which can be avoided by taking a forest service road). One the second brook crossing I was careless and didn’t break out the hiking poles – I slipped and one foot went in. Argggg. I decided to keep hiking and not change socks. I put on my gaiters to keep warm and hopefully my boots would dry out. We made it to the junction with the Wildcat River trail shortly after my dip in the brook. The WR trail is very nice. It is definitely, as Robert Frost said, the road less traveled. It is a delicate and full footpath not at all like 19 mile brook. There was some nice trail work on this one too. We reached the junction with the Wild River trail at about 10:30am so we were making good time. The weather was cool and cloudy but the trail was very enjoyable. There were some mucky sections where I think my boot disappeared at times. We made it up to the crest of a hill and there were some views of the Carters.
The leaves were pretty much off the birches now so it was a nice contrast of birch white and conifer green. The hobblebush were mostly yellow (turning from red a few weeks ago). The trail is very gradual until the eventual accent to Carter Notch. The hike up into the Notch isn’t that difficult but I think I was low on fuels and water (plenty in my pack but I didn’t want to stop for some reason – never a good idea). I pretty much bonked out heading up but made it to the Notch. I made it to the hut at noon. There were only a few people still left at the hut. I changed into dry clothes and fueled up at the hut. I was pretty tired after a weekend of hiking and changed my mind about hiking to Carter Dome. We went back down the way we came and had an enjoyable hike on the Wildcat River trail making it to the car around 2:30pm. On the way down Carter Notch, the dreaded check engine light came on (like Homer Simpson, I usually fix that with some black tape!). Unfortunately another light came on that indicated a problem with the transmission. The car started to shutter when shifting from 1 to 2. I eventually made it home and brought the car to a Honda dealer in Dover. Long story short, I got a second opinion and this car may be on its third life.
I’ll definitely be back to hike in the Wild River valley.
Pics are here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/568083623yJDpHU?vhost=outdoors
