The early weather reports showed clouds on either side of saturday, the day of our hike – so we were skeptical of the weather, but the day came, and with it, a cloudless sky. We drove to the Highland center the night before, planning on staying the weekend and hiking the Willey range from south to north returning at the end of the day to the center. Up early, with a hearty breakfast, we hopped the AMC shuttle shortly after

Hiked: 25-Sep-10 While not one of the 4000 footers, this hike offered some great views with not nearly the effort of some of the bigger mountains. Once again, we were surprised (and pleased) by the free parking for the day – in celebration of Public Lands day – thank you, someone! The day was warm and humid, and because of the humidity, there was some valley fog. As the day progressed, the fog mostly burned off, though with a bit

Imp trail to North Carter and Carter-Moriah (the AT). Overnight at Carter Notch hut, then the Wildcats, finishing at the Joe Dodge Lodge.  Had some beautiful weather. The first day was a bit ‘agressive’ – the last leg, from Carter-Moriah down to the Carter-notch AMC hut was a bear!  becoming gradual then very steep – really toasted our legs! We originally planned to start off on the South Imp trail, but then some quick friends on the AMC shuttle suggested

In our quest for the 48 4K peaks, we’ve incorporated an annual hike on 9/11. As we discovered last year, there’s a movement each year to post flags on each of the 48 peaks on 9/11 to remember those lost in that tragedy. You can read about that movement here: https://www.flagsonthe48.org/ This year, our 9/11 remembrance took us to the Kinsmans, both North and South. We made a weekend of the effort, playing hooky on Friday to bag Moosilauke, a

Hiked Mt. Washington again on 6-Aug-2011.   We began at the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trailhead parking lot – crossed the Cog Railway road to head up Jewell trail.   The weather was good, though the report suggested rain in the late afternoon. The plan was to head up Jewell trail, bag the summit, then head down Ammonoosuc Ravine trail, stopping at the Lake of the Clouds hut a brief mid-afternoon break. As many of the posts say, Jewell is an easy way

Tecumseh was to be one of our last hikes of the 2011 season – a day hike: a “quick drive” to the Whites, hike, and return home, all in a day. The morning of 22-Oct-11 dawned overcast, not raining, though some probability of light showers.  We decided to head north, regardless of the weather reports. Parking in the Waterville valley ski area, the trailhead wasn’t too far off. The leaves had already turned, so there wasn’t much left for foliage

This was a birthday weekend, so we were looking some weekend activities that might give us some time on a mountain, some fresh air, and would leave us a bit of time to have some “play” (relaxation) time. Mt. Hale fit the bill perfectly.    We chose the Hale Brook trail, round trip to Mt. Hale – 38th of the 48’s.  Book time on the hike was 3:20, though other postings said as much as 4 hours or more.   We decided

This was a 2-day hike, with a planned overnight at the Madison Spring hut. Knowing that AMC hut space fills up quickly, we’d planned/booked this hike in early/mid January. Of course, you never know what you’re going to get in the weather department, but clearly, we had someone smiling on us this weekend. We stayed in the Woodstock/Lincoln area at a cute B&B – the Wilderness Inn. While the room was small, it was adequate for our overnight needs. The

We continue to be blessed with outstanding weather for our hiking adventures.  This hike proved no exception.  The day before had been hot and very humid, but today dawned with a cloudless sky – breezy, but low humidity.    For this hike, both Kara and Kristin joined us for an overnight stay at the Highland Center (in Crawford Notch). The Center is a beautiful building, right in the northern part of Crawford Notch, with a big expansive field in front,

This was one of our “big ones” – our first multi-night hike in the White Mountains and the AMC huts – and a one-day length of over 13 miles!    Because the huts are reservations-only and fill up quickly, we’d made our reservations back in January, so we’d been looking forward to this one for some time. We began our trip, parking the car at Gale River trailhead and catching the AMC shuttle to Zealand trailhead. From there, it was

Today was a day for a day-hike – we had a free weekend and the weather was a bit undecided – not threatening, no rain/snow, but no full sun either.  Undaunted, we packed up our gear and headed north, this time for “The Hancocks”. There’s really only one trail for these peaks – the Cedar Brook and Hancock Loop trails (lp: 9.8 miles, 2,650 feet, 6:15).   We arrived at the trailhead shortly after 9am – right at the hairpin

With visions of piles of snow and plenty of cross-country skiing at Bretton Woods, we’d planned a weekend at the Mt Washington Hotel many months ago.  New England weather being what it is, the few 60-degree days during the preceding week wiped out all of the snow on the ground – at least in the open areas. Prepared for any sort of activity (and to bring more spontaneity to New Hampshire!), we brought along our hiking gear and eye-balled Mt.

Tropical storm Andrea was set to blow through on Friday, the 7th, but with gradual clearing throughout the weekend. We’d been looking forward to our first significant hike of the season, so we optimistically latched onto the “gradual clearing” part and set off northward in the pouring rain. We were able to grab a room at the Wilderness Inn B&B in Woodstock for Friday night – which would enable us to hit the trailhead earlier on Saturday. Our plan had

There’s no easy way to get to Mt. Isolation – it really earns it’s name. Our plan was to stay at the Joe Dodge Lodge on both Friday and Saturday nights, and do the 13-14 miles all day saturday. After the near wash-out hike at Garfield and Galehead hut last month and all the rain we’d had during June, we were a bit worried about the weather prospects, but as the week progressed, the good weekend forecast was holding steady,

Weather always plays a key role in a hike – amazing in good weather, turns sour in bad – this was one of those amazing hikes. The Tripyramids are a challenge – we’d planned the “lollipop loop” to capture all three of the Tripyramid peaks. You can view the route via GPS Trax on google. It starts/ends at Tripoli road, and follows the Mt. Tripyramid trail (loop: 11.0 miles, 3,000 feet, 7:00); as recommended, we opted to go up the North Slide