Instant frostbite! That was my concern as we stepped out of the car on Saturday afternoon, stuck in deep snow at the unplowed parking area for the Appalachian Trail on the southwest slopes of Mount Moosilauke. The snows of Winter Storm Nemo had just ended, and were drifting deeply in strong cold winds that followed the storm. Although the New England coast had been hammered by this blizzard, at home in Lyme we received only 6 inches of snow and up here we found perhaps 8–10 inches. Not much, but very welcome replacement for the icy trails and bare brown fields that were here a few days ago.
Great Bear Cabin
By the time I had dug out a parking space and gotten the skis off the roof of the car, my fingers were numb and the kids were complaining about the cold. We strapped on our skis, hoisted our packs, and skied up the trail toward Moosilauke. Fortunately it is not far to Great Bear cabin – perhaps half a mile – and the fresh snow had been tracked earlier in the day by some snowshoers. We reached the cabin after skiing across windswept meadows, and were pleased to find that it was still warm from the prior occupants. Mara quickly had a roaring fire going, while the boys cracked the ice on the stream to bring back a pot of water. We settled in for a warm and cozy evening as the sky cleared, the sun set behind the trees, and the temperatures dropped below zero.
Sunset after the storm blew away
We played a few rounds of various card games, enjoyed a wonderful pasta dinner, and roasted in the sleeping loft as the wood stove cranked away all night. The next morning was lazy as we cooked breakfast, cleaned the cabin, and got ourselves out at the crack of noon. By then it had warmed up into the teens or maybe twenties, with a brilliant blue sky and sunshine, so we took a nice ski tour through the meadows and woods before heading home. We passed numerous hikers who were returning from the summit, who all reported spectacularly clear views and a stiff windchill up there. I was jealous.
A wonderful if brief weekend! Here are some more photos from that trip and also a walk we took near home on the weekend before.
Gosh, what a beautiful fall it has been. Although it has been rainy at time, the temperatures have been warm and the leaves bright! After our overnight hike along the Appalachian Trail of early summer, John and I have determined to hike every weekend in the fall and to complete the full section of trail from Hanover to Moosilauke. We’ve been on the A.T. for the past three weekends:
On Saturday we took a gentle hike close to home – indeed, we finished the hike at home. The Upper Valley Land Trust has conserved large sections of Lyme Hill [map], which is the long ridgeline behind our house and overlooking the river. We parked at their new lot on Route 10, the other side of the hill, and followed the nice new trail system [map] to the 1050′ “summit” of Lyme Hill. The kids were grumpy (“why do we have to go hiking!?”) but on the downhill side the moods cleared and we had a great time visiting Gilbert Cemetery, at the base of the trail where it meets River Road. This cemetery is the final resting place of the first settlers in Lyme, and we found gravestones from 1777 to 1784. I posted a few more photos in the gallery.
John and I took advantage of beautiful September weather to hike a classic loop in the Franconia Range of the White Mountains (NH). This 8.8-mile loop climbs from Franconia Notch up the Old Bridle Path to Greenleaf Hut, run by the AMC, then to Mount Lafayette. The day was warm and the breeze friendly, with just a few puffy clouds brushing the summits as they passed through New Hampshire. Check the photo gallery.
Although our original goal was simply to summit Lafayette and return, we reached the summit by 12:30 and the southbound ridgeline beckoned to us.
Southbound along Franconia Ridge
We popped south along the ridge, over an unnamed bump and then Mount Lincoln, reaching Little Haystack mountain by about 1:45pm. We then fell down the Falling Waters trail to our starting point at Lafayette Place. I’ve always wanted to hike the Falling Waters trail; aptly named, it passes five or ten gorgeous waterfalls in its lower reaches. However, I learned one painful lesson: one should always hike this steep trail uphill, never downhill! [My knees were screaming this lesson to me all the way down, and throughout the next day.]
John and David pause at a waterfall
As it was a gorgeous day on a Sunday in early September, there were many other people out on the trail. I estimate that we passed about 60 other people, most doing the same loop in one direction or another. On the summit of Lafayette we watched one youthful group repeatedly pose for a group photo, pants dropped and butts bared, the photographer using a self-timer so he could join the picture. Ah, I remember those days 😉
The kids and I spent Labor Day weekend on the upper Connecticut River, visiting its source on the Canadian border, stepping into each of the five Connecticut Lakes, and then paddling one of the first navigable sections from North Stratford NH to Maidstone VT. The weather was gorgeous, indeed, absolutely perfect. Check out the photo gallery!
Kayaking in Second Connecticut Lake
I brought along a kayak and managed to take a brief paddle in three of the four Connecticut Lakes that lay at the headwaters of the river. My paddles were so brief as to be symbolic, and the “river” is not really navigable between these lakes anyway. The gallery shows photos from all five Connecticut Lakes: Lake Francis, and First through Fourth Connecticut Lake.
Source of the Connecticut River
The “Fourth Connecticut Lake”, which is the source of the river, lays a few hundred meters from the Canadian border, and has no road access. We drove to the border station, a recently upgraded monstrosity that before 9/11 was no doubt a sleepy unmanned stop sign in the woods. Confused about where to park, we crossed into Canada and asked at the Canadian entrance where to park. He sent us back to the United States. We never legally entered Canada, but had legally exited the U.S.. “Didn’t I just see you going north?” said the US-CBP guard. He checked our passports and told us where to park – next to the huge sign for the Fourth Connecticut Lake; we never needed to cross the border. We hiked to the lake – it’s quite uphill, not feasible to visit by boat, and managed to walk all the way around this pond, er, lake, and to stand in a tiny inlet stream, the source of the Connecticut River. Very cool! for those of us who live along the river.
NFCT map of the region around our trip
After stopping to visit all five Connecticut Lakes [map] we drove back downstream, stopping briefly at the 45th parallel to marvel that we were halfway from the Equator to the North Pole. In North Stratford, NH we rented two canoes, with shuttle service, because I had only one car (anyway, my Prius can barely carry one canoe let alone two!). There are two great groups that are set up for CT river paddlers, the Connecticut River Paddlers Trail and the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. I found the latter to be far more organized and up to date than the former and we stayed in two campsites managed by the NFCT. That said, the NFCT only covers a small section of the river, but if you check out their home page it is quite an impressive trail!
Dragging the canoe up the Nulhegan River to the Debanville Campsite
I spent a lot of time, in advance, studying websites and guidebooks, and calling the two canoe-rental places. North Woods Rafting strongly recommended that I avoid the Canaan–to–North-Stratford section that I had planned, because late-summer low-water conditions would be unsuitable. So we did a really short segment, from North Stratford NH to Maidstone VT, because I wasn’t sure what to expect or how far the kids could go, and to add another segment would have doubled the distance. So, we had a laid-back experience rather than pushing for extra mileage. (All the best, I think!) Sure enough, at our starting point the river was so shallow we had to drag our canoes, and we met people who had dragged their canoes for miles through the upper section. We had just enough “quick water” to be exciting for the kids, and to make our paddle pretty easy.
Ready to launch our canoes! Nulhegan river in the background.
We had two gorgeous days of paddling, through a largely wild section of river. We zipped through a couple of mild “rapids”. We watched a bald eagle circle right over our heads. We stopped for lunch and a swim. We stayed the night at two wonderful campsites, the second at the site of an old railroad trestle and next to a Vermont corn field. The weather was sunny and warm, and we encountered few other people.
I highly recommend the upper Connecticut River. It’s beautiful countryside, largely farmland and small towns, covered bridges and pristine lakes. We only paddled 11 miles of river, in a day and a half, but could easily have done twice that distance in two days. I hope to go back and pick up where we left off, or (in higher water) try the section to the north. I also hope to go back in the winter – I hear the Connecticut Lakes are great for skiing! Meanwhile, the photos will remind me of warm summer days.
Sunset over Vermont cornfield, from the Railroad Trestle campsite.
We spent the weekend camping at our property on Lake Armington, NH. We try to have a family camping trip every year, and this year we decided to do some car-camping and to spend effort clearing some of the extensive undergrowth on our lakeside lot. We worked really hard for several hours each day, but still only made a dent in the brush-clearing that is needed.
Early morning view of Lake Armington and Mt. Piermont
We took time out to swim and canoe in the lake. The lake was especially peaceful, with a pair of loons calling to each other and, at one point, paddling over to investigate us as we were swimming. Although the weather was nice on Sunday, on Monday it clouded up and really let loose during dinner and overnight. We had decided to try out the 40-year-old canvas tent, which I once used as a child, and which apparently does not have a fly. It stood up in the pouring rain remarkably well, but enough rain found its way inside to leave our feet in a bit of a puddle and our sleeping bags pretty wet. Good thing it was the second night!
One cool thing was my discovery of a bioluminescent fungus. I went out the first night to see the stars, and came across a disturbed area where a rotten stick had become exposed – all the bits were glowing! Wish I had a photo of that. In the photo gallery you can see the stick, in daylight, and some nice photos of clear skies on Sunday morning.
I had the wonderful opportunity to spend three nights at the beautiful and historic Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, NH, in the heart of the White Mountains and in full view of the Presidential Range. I took a few photos of the resort and its view.
Mt. Washington Hotel and Presidential Range
Although I was there for an office retreat, I took advantage of the free time before breakfast, and before dinner, to enjoy six short hikes around the area. On top of my longer hike to Mount Ellen on Sunday, it’s been a 30.3-mile week. You can view all photos, in roughly reverse order, or check out each hike below.
Fri PM: Arethusa Falls and Frankenstein Cliffs [photos] 5.1mi
Although these are small peaks – only Mount Hale counts as a 4000’er – most of them have great views. Indeed, only Mount Hale had no view at all. My favorites were Willard, Sugarloaf, and Ammonosic Upper Falls and Arethusa Falls. On Mount Oscar (the top of Bretton Woods ski area) I had views west at Mount Hale and the Sugarloafs, and east to a glorious sunrise over Mount Washington. I also found that early mornings are great for spotting wildlife – a large turkey on the Willard trail and a bear cub near the Sugarloafs. What a great week!
A nice hike today with long-time friend Lelia. We zipped up Mount Ellen, on the Long Trail in Vermont, from the west via the Jerusalem Trail. It was a cloudy day, threatening rain, but we reached the treed summit in two hours and spent a pleasant hour sitting at the top of the Sugarbush chairlift enjoying the sun-speckled view to the east. Continue reading “Mount Ellen, VT”
Last week Andy and I had to drop off John at Camp Dudley a day early, so we spent the day hiking in the nearby Adirondack Mountains. These mountains were my childhood stomping ground, and it’s always a treat to be able to visit there again and climb mountains that, in some cases, I climbed 40 years earlier. Continue reading “Noonmark mountain”
The boys and I recently took a three-day backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) not far from home. [See photo gallery.] Pam dropped us off at a remote road crossing on Cape Moonshine Road, Lake Armington and just south of Ore Hill. Andy and John were wearing new backpacks and carrying more than they ever had before, which was helpful, but my pack still managed to weigh in at 52 pounds. It’s a good thing we didn’t have an aggressive agenda.
David Kotz 