TJH
New member
We loaded up the mini-van on Saturday and headed up north around 6:00 pm. My 6 year old son Brody, Molly the dog and I had planned on hiking the Welch-Dickey loop on Sunday. I didn't feel like making the 3 1/2 hour drive on Sunday so I planned on using the mini-van as a tent for the evening. We parked at what I thought was a park and ride by the McDonald's and the Super 8 hotel in Tilton. The lot was full of cars and I saw a sign that said McDonald's customers only, unauthorized vehicles will be towed at owners expense. Not one to break the rules, we ate at the McDonald's around 9:30p.m before attempting to turn in for the night in the van. ( Now we were technically McDonald's customers ).
It was probably around 10:15 or so when the Tilton police drove through spotlighting vehicles in the lot. I sat up and then just laid back down expecting to have someone shining a flashlight and knocking on the windows shortly. It never happened. I noticed that we were the only vehicle in the lot with Mass. plates when pulling in. I also had full intentions of staying at the hotel if we were told to leave the parking lot. Brody fell asleep right away. Every time a car pulled into the lot and car doors opened and shut throughout the night I would always wake up expecting it to be the police. No one bothered with us but I don't plan on doing this again. Next time we'll just leave a little earlier and stay at one of the 4 season campgrounds and just sleep in the van there. Molly was hogging the camp cushions which also made for an uncomfortable night.
We got up around 6:30 or so and had breakfast. We were northbound again and got to the trailhead sometime between 8 and 9 o'clock. With plenty of daylight I wasn't paying to much attention to the time. We were the first car in the lot. Shortly after a few more cars began to pull in. We stepped off around 9:30 or so. We have done this hike several times and we always find ourselves coming back. I like the fact that in about a mile and half and only about 700-800 feet elevation you have such great views from the lower cliffs on Welch mountain. Two years ago in the summer or 06, the three of us did the whole loop so there was no pressure today.
We opted for the usual counter clockwise direction heading up Welch mountain. The first water crossing, which I was concerned about prior to seeing it, was easily crossed. Once across we put on our snowshoes. The snowshoes were absolute overkill and the trail would have been easily bare bootable. Stabilicers or yak-trax at most would have been helpful. Brody likes wearing them so were wore them while going up. The trail was well packed but at some spots you could easily posthole a couple of feet on the sides of the trail if you weren't careful. There was a bit of mud at some areas but it was easy to walk around.
We were passed by several nice folks on the way up who were all bare booting. Once we came upon the first cliffs we were greeted with nice views of the Tripyramids and Sandwich range. There was some cloud cover but the sun would come through now and again. We've done this trail numerous times but this time I could clearly see a ski slope which would have been south of us and also one on the west side of Rt. 93, I think. I was thinking maybe Ragged Mountain, I'm not sure. Maybe Mt. Sunapee.
After a short break we continued on. I kept my snowshoes off, but had Brody put his back on. Shortly we came upon the steep bare rock sections where I had Brody take his snowshoes off. We ended up stopping about half way between the first cliffs on Welch and the summit. We took about a 20 minute break on a large rock face where we had a snack and greeted hikers going by us. The sun was out and there was very little wind. I was warm with just a light base layer and a thin fleece on.
We barebooted the descent and made great time going down the mountain. At times I would have to yell at Brody to stop running. He would deliberately stay on the sides of the trail so he would post hole. He kept getting a kick out of it. We passed a few people on the way down who were heading up. At the final water crossing Brody slipped and fell about knee deep into the water. He was not happy. Luckily it was on the way down and we were only about 40 yards from the car. A quick change into some dry clothes and all was well. The next hike will be in the summer when all the snow is gone, hopefully. I'm already looking forward to it. Tim
A few photos here www.flickr.com/photos/hikingtrips
It was probably around 10:15 or so when the Tilton police drove through spotlighting vehicles in the lot. I sat up and then just laid back down expecting to have someone shining a flashlight and knocking on the windows shortly. It never happened. I noticed that we were the only vehicle in the lot with Mass. plates when pulling in. I also had full intentions of staying at the hotel if we were told to leave the parking lot. Brody fell asleep right away. Every time a car pulled into the lot and car doors opened and shut throughout the night I would always wake up expecting it to be the police. No one bothered with us but I don't plan on doing this again. Next time we'll just leave a little earlier and stay at one of the 4 season campgrounds and just sleep in the van there. Molly was hogging the camp cushions which also made for an uncomfortable night.
We got up around 6:30 or so and had breakfast. We were northbound again and got to the trailhead sometime between 8 and 9 o'clock. With plenty of daylight I wasn't paying to much attention to the time. We were the first car in the lot. Shortly after a few more cars began to pull in. We stepped off around 9:30 or so. We have done this hike several times and we always find ourselves coming back. I like the fact that in about a mile and half and only about 700-800 feet elevation you have such great views from the lower cliffs on Welch mountain. Two years ago in the summer or 06, the three of us did the whole loop so there was no pressure today.
We opted for the usual counter clockwise direction heading up Welch mountain. The first water crossing, which I was concerned about prior to seeing it, was easily crossed. Once across we put on our snowshoes. The snowshoes were absolute overkill and the trail would have been easily bare bootable. Stabilicers or yak-trax at most would have been helpful. Brody likes wearing them so were wore them while going up. The trail was well packed but at some spots you could easily posthole a couple of feet on the sides of the trail if you weren't careful. There was a bit of mud at some areas but it was easy to walk around.
We were passed by several nice folks on the way up who were all bare booting. Once we came upon the first cliffs we were greeted with nice views of the Tripyramids and Sandwich range. There was some cloud cover but the sun would come through now and again. We've done this trail numerous times but this time I could clearly see a ski slope which would have been south of us and also one on the west side of Rt. 93, I think. I was thinking maybe Ragged Mountain, I'm not sure. Maybe Mt. Sunapee.
After a short break we continued on. I kept my snowshoes off, but had Brody put his back on. Shortly we came upon the steep bare rock sections where I had Brody take his snowshoes off. We ended up stopping about half way between the first cliffs on Welch and the summit. We took about a 20 minute break on a large rock face where we had a snack and greeted hikers going by us. The sun was out and there was very little wind. I was warm with just a light base layer and a thin fleece on.
We barebooted the descent and made great time going down the mountain. At times I would have to yell at Brody to stop running. He would deliberately stay on the sides of the trail so he would post hole. He kept getting a kick out of it. We passed a few people on the way down who were heading up. At the final water crossing Brody slipped and fell about knee deep into the water. He was not happy. Luckily it was on the way down and we were only about 40 yards from the car. A quick change into some dry clothes and all was well. The next hike will be in the summer when all the snow is gone, hopefully. I'm already looking forward to it. Tim
A few photos here www.flickr.com/photos/hikingtrips
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