White boy.......

[Rik]

White Boy meets Black Fly in White Mountains and gets Black eye

Ok, not a literal black eye but let’s just say I took a punch. Charlene, Dali, and I took off early Friday morning to drive over the White Mountains of New Hampshire to do a weekend of hiking and camping. Our original plan was to backpack the Kilkenny Ridge but because of my continued back problems we changed the plans to staying at a campground and day hiking. When we got to New Hampshire we went straight to Sugarloaf campground and got a site. This is a National Forest campground that we have stayed at once before. This time we were able to get the site we wanted last time. It’s a nice walk-in site away from the loop road so much less stimulating for the dog. We basically registered, threw some stuff at the site and covered it in a tarp in case of rain which was forecasted for late afternoon. From there we headed up to the trailhead of the Starr King trail. Right out of the car the bugs attacked. They were bad but not “Adirondack bad”. It was 2pm and we left the empty trailhead and hurried up the trail to escape the bugs. They were not terrible when moving but stopped they swarmed. Charlene chose to wear a head net but since I can’t stand those things I just walked and swatted. The forest down low was very open and the floor was carpeted in wild flowers. I wish I knew better what they all are but trillium (both red and painted) are about the only ones I could name. There were small four petal purple ones, small white star shaped ones, white ones a little bigger with pink lines in the petals, yellow ones with long petals that seemed to usually face the ground. I will try to post pictures at some point and people can chime in with names to the flowers. A little more than half way up the forest changed from deciduous trees and flowers to pines and moss. At this point the bugs were nonexistent. The views from the top of Mt. Starr King were not as spectacular as I expected but I guess that’s what I get for having expectations. They were nice none the less but it was also very hazy at the time. The walk over to Waumbek was easy except for avoiding huge piles of moose poops. The summit of Waumbek is wooded but some poking around found some ok views through the trees. On the way down we re-entered the “bug zone” right where we had left it. Going downhill we were able to walk quickly enough that they weren’t a problem but back at the car we changed quick and got in to avoid them. Back at camp we set up the tent and tarp just in time to beat the rain. We cooked and drank beers under the tarp until a little after dark. The good thing about the rain is that it kept the bugs down.

[Rik]

It was still raining a little on Saturday morning and we didn’t get as early of a start as we would have liked but we also had no interest in starting a hike in the rain knowing that the forecast called for some clearing later in the day. The plan for the day was to drive up to York Pond Road and hike the Weeks peaks. The trailhead for this hike is at a fish hatchery and the gate is only open from 8am to 4pm which can make day hikes a little pressured knowing you can get locked in for the night if you come out too late. (this would factor in to my black eye later in the trip). We decided to let the rain clear and go to one of the short back up hikes I had planned. This hike was to climb Mt. Crescent from Randolf Hill Road. So after some breakfast at camp we headed out for the hike. We saw a moose on the side of Rt. 302 so this felt like a sign that we had made a good decision. The start of the trail has enough room for about 2 cars and we were the only ones there. We had seen no one on Friday’s hike and it looked like we would have another mountain to ourselves this weekend. The climb up the Mt. Crescent trail is pretty stiff. We saw a lot of the same flowers we had seen on Friday only not in the abundance we had seen them the day before. We did however see even more moose poops and both bear scat and tracks on the trail. The tracks were fresh since the night’s rain. So were some of the poops while others were waterlogged. Near the top of the mountain the trail loops with the ridge trail and the plan was to do the loop over the summit. We took a side trail to the Castleview which looks over at Mt. Jefferson. Mt. Jefferson and the other prezi peaks were in the clouds. The views from the south viewpoint on top were nice and we sat there in the sun and snacked. The bugs had faded a couple hundred feet below. The walk across the summit was nice and appears to be used more by moose than people. The north viewpoint was fantastic as it looked into a very wild looking area of forest. Knowing that the next days hike was up there got us excited. So did the clearing weather. We completed the loop and headed back down the trail we had come up. About half way down we ran into another hiker. He was the first we had seen in a couple of days of hiking on this holiday weekend. Back at camp the sun came out in full force and the sky cleared. We built a fire to keep the bugs away, had some dinner and drinks, and waited for the stars to come out.

[Rik]

On Sunday morning we got up early to maximize our parking time at the fish hatchery. We pulled in to the York Pond trailhead just before two other cars. On our way in a hawk was sitting on the fence over one of the pools of fish. The car behind us pulling up scared it into the woods. I talked to one of the guys working at the hatchery feeding fish and he told me he thought it was a Broad Winged Hawk. Unfortunately the camera was in the pack so no picture. He also showed me how the fish gather at his shadow over the pools because they know that means they are about to get fed. He said the hawk had been observed doing the same thing. Sitting on the edge of the pool to create a shadow and then letting the fish come to him/her. Again we had bugs right from the trailhead but today the skies were blue and the sun was shining. The other hikers set off before us down the York Pond trail. This trail is described in the guidebook as wet and it was by White Mountain standards. By Adirondack standards it was a nice trail with a few wet spots. We had to take our boots off to make one stream crossing and bushwhacked around to find a spot to cross at another point. The trail was lovely with wildflowers and ferns just starting to unfurl. The bugs followed us up to Willard Notch and a little beyond before letting up. At Willard Notch we met the Kilkenny Ridge trail and headed towards Terrace Mountain. We still hadn’t seen anyone since the parking lot. As we approached Terrace Mountain Charlene wasn’t feeling great. Hot and tired already. On the summit of Terrace we spent some time sitting and had a snack and some water. Once we were headed downhill she felt much better. This trail is amazing. Just a thin soft path through the woods. We went up and down over the other peaks of Terrace and then down into Bunnell Notch. Here we finally ran into some backpackers that had started at Starr King on Saturday and stayed in Willard Notch. Charlene said she was feeling better so instead of going back down at that point we went up Cabot. The path up was much more worn and rocky here. There was a nice view point about halfway up that made for a nice break. There was a breeze and no bugs. Up at the cabin below the summit we had a snack on the porch. There were a few people there. Up we went to the site of the tower and then on to the summit where we met a few more people. After offering a ride to some folks that had come all the way from the Starr King trailhead , which they declined to go down the closed Mt. Cabot trail, we headed on. At this point Charlene became worried about our time and getting to the car before the gate closed. This anxiety saps her energy more than hiking. We went over The Buldge which was pretty uneventful except that Charlene told me she was done climbing and had no interest in climbing The Horn. At the side trail to The Horn I dropped my pack and Dali and I quickly climbed up to the amazing views on the open rock summit. Best views of the weekend by far. I was sad that Charlene hadn’t come up but I took some pictures for her to see and told her I would climb it again someday with her. Dali and I ran back down the spur to the ridge trail and Charlene. From here the trail is rocky and has several ups and downs which were a little annoying at the point in the day. We arrived at Unknown Pond to see hordes of campers. The pond looks beautiful but we didn’t stay long as Charlene was still worried about getting the car beyond the gate before it closed for the night. She later confessed that what she was really anxious about was that there were only two beers in the car and that wouldn’t be enough to make it through the night sitting in the car. :rolleyes: We had a good pace going down from here. We had drank the last of our water above the pond and so had about 3.5 miles to walk without any (or so we thought). The trail down was nice as it followed the stream that empties Unknown Pond and all it’s campers. Didn’t even consider drinking out of it after seeing all the people camped up there. Did drink out of another feeder stream coming in from the north. As we went down it got hotter and hotter. We would later learn that in Berlin (the nearest town) it had been 89 degrees. I knew we were making good time but since I had never been on this trail before couldn’t say how far to the trailhead which is up the road from the one the car was parked in. At 3:30pm Charlene asked me to go get the car beyond the gate. We made a plan that I would retrieve the car from the other trailhead and then return to where she would come out. If she wasn’t there by 3:50pm I was to leave a bottle of water and drive the car to the gate and start walking back towards her as she would be walking down the road at that point. So I ran the last mile to the trailhead and car. It was hot. Just as I was ready to leave the water bottle and go I saw Charlene coming though the woods. She jumped in and we got out right at 4pm deciding it was really no fun having a curfew. The hike was fantastic but having to rush for such a silly reason definitely took something away from it. We both felt great to have our freedom and celebrated with the two beers that were in the car. On the drive back we stopped for more cold drinks and even saw another roadside moose. The breeze from the open windows felt great and even better when we saw in Berlin that it was 89 degrees! The problem came when we got back to camp and were stopped. I couldn’t seem to get cool and felt nauseous. I sat in the shade sipping water and eating potato chips for about an hour before feeling like I had cooled down enough. A walk of a couple hundred yards to the bathroom had me overheated again and I was back in the shade for another half hour. Once the sun settled I felt normal again. After dinner and drinks sleep came easy. In the morning we packed up camp for the drive home. It was at this point that I went into Charlene’s daypack for something and discovered the liter of water she had carried the day before without realizing it was in her pack.
Another great trip to the White Mountains was topped off by our traditional stop at the Long Trail Brewery.

[neighbor]

cool, there's a 3ker(unnamed peak;unknown pond) right next to the pond that's open birch glades. easy whackin'. it would be a nice combo when you go back to the horn!! :tup:

east terrace is on a spur trail,it leads to a nice ledge :tup:
the true summit of crecsent is a short whack off the trail,same goes for north randolph :tup: those 3'kers are everywhere!!!

[Rik]

cool, there's a 3ker(unnamed peak;unknown pond) right next to the pond that's open birch glades. easy whackin'. it would be a nice combo when you go back to the horn!! :tup:

east terrace is on a spur trail,it leads to a nice ledge :tup:
the true summit of crecsent is a short whack off the trail,same goes for north randolph :tup: those 3'kers are everywhere!!!

We went up the spur to east Terrace for a break. Is there a jar on Crescent? I poked around for a few minutes since it seemed the trail didn't go over the high point but didn't see a jar and the wife was waiting back on the trail so I didn't want to spend too much time looking.

[neighbor]

no jar that me or "the human moose " could find. to the best of our collective knowledge the true summit is a small clearing(kinda blowdowny type) it was winter so don't know what it looks like now. it was a little thick. hey if your ever in the area,and you wanna head out,lemme know!! :tup:

[Rik]

hey if your ever in the area,and you wanna head out,lemme know!! :tup:


Ok, and you do the same if your headed over to NY or even VT.

[neighbor]

Ok, and you do the same if your headed over to NY or even VT.
:tup: will do!! :drink:

[Daniel Eagan]

The forest down low was very open and the floor was carpeted in wild flowers. I wish I knew better what they all are but trillium (both red and painted) are about the only ones I could name. There were small four petal purple ones, small white star shaped ones, white ones a little bigger with pink lines in the petals, yellow ones with long petals that seemed to usually face the ground. I will try to post pictures at some point and people can chime in with names to the flowers.

Purple petals: probably common blue violet
white star shaped ones: could have been starflowers, or white violets. Probably not cinquefoil.
white ones with pink lines: this early probably spring beauty, later on sorrel.
yellow ones with long petals: trout lily

[Rik]

Purple petals: probably common blue violet
white star shaped ones: could have been starflowers, or white violets. Probably not cinquefoil.
white ones with pink lines: this early probably spring beauty, later on sorrel.
yellow ones with long petals: trout lily

Thanks Daniel. Blue violet, white violet, and I think also Canada violet from my pictures and ones I found online. Spring beauty and trout lily are definitely right. There are also some with eight pointed petals. They are white with some yellow in the center but not great pictures for more detail.

[Daniel Eagan]

There are also some with eight pointed petals. They are white with some yellow in the center but not great pictures for more detail.

Might be starflowers, which have yellow stamen and up to nine white petals.

[Rik]

HERE (http://community.webshots.com/album/551007462TdLpMH)

are some photos from these hikes (end of album) as well as other spring hikes.

Daniel, if you get a chance to look at the one labeled with question mark and can tell from my lousy photo if that is a starflower I would appreciate it.

[Daniel Eagan]

HERE (http://community.webshots.com/album/551007462TdLpMH)

are some photos from these hikes (end of album) as well as other spring hikes.

The two photos on the first page are both spring beauties. They start out pink and turn white as they mature.

Page 4 are all correctly labeled.

Page 5 looks like a star flower, although the photo's pretty washed out. The others look right.

[Rik]

The two photos on the first page are both spring beauties. They start out pink and turn white as they mature.

Page 4 are all correctly labeled.

Page 5 looks like a star flower, although the photo's pretty washed out. The others look right.

Thanks Daniel.

[Skyclimber]

Page 5 looks like a star flower, although the photo's pretty washed out. The others look right.

I believe that is definitely a star flower.