I have a love/hate relationship with getting out of bed. I am not an early riser, and loathe the sound of alarm clocks waking me up every morning. Alpine starts are a bit different however, as the reason you are getting up is motivated by an activity you want to do, and hiking mountains will always justify an early start and spring me into action willingly and eagerly. Our objective for the day, the Seward Range in the High Peaks Region of the Adirondacks, almost always requires an early start. The range includes 4 High Peaks but on this day we were shooting for 3 that are along the same ridge: Mt Donaldson (4140ft), Mt Emmons (4040 ft) and Seward Mountain (4361ft). In term of Adirondack Peaks, the Seward Range is not home to the highest of the high peaks but always present a challenge due to the distance you have to travel, the ascent gained and the unmarked herd paths that connect the peaks. I have done this range twice before but never in the winter and was eager to see it in a new season. We stayed at Shaheen's motel in Tupper Lake the night before the hike and set the alarm for 5:30AM.

We were lucky to be able to drive into the summer trailhead parking lot on this day and the Subaru was able to drive through the snow on Corey's Road no problem. Parking at the winter lot adds an extra 10km to your hike day, one that we wanted to avoid. We arrived at the trailhead parking lot at and signed in at the register before dawn at 6:45AM. With the recent snowfall we were hoping to xc ski into the Caulkins Brook turn off but there still was too many open drainages and downed tree fall. A friend of mine had been in to do this range 2 days prior but there was little to no snow in the range. How conditions can change in a day! We left the trailhead with microspikes on our feet and snowshoes on our back and hammered down the trail. We noticed a plethora of deer tracks and scrapes in the snow and then out of the blue two deer ran by us. We got to the junction just as light started to peak over the ridge and we took a quick break to turn off our headlamps and take a sip of water. The next leg of the journey is hammering down the wider double track horsetrail to the Caulkins Brook cairn and turnoff. About a minute before the turn, another solo hiker caught up to us and mentioned that he had found one of Glenn's 'past-it's-prime' microspikes. Glenn looked down at his feet and realized he had lost one some time ago! The hiker had hung it up on a tree over a 10 minute walk back and we decided to leave it there and continue on. The solo hiker whizzed by us and headed up the herd path on his snowshoes. As the ascent begun, we switched to snowshoes for more traction. It was a good call, because the snow depths increased quickly as we ascended. From my memory, I knew that the Caulkins ascent was gradual but steady and was around 2000 feet gain. For the past couple years I had been using a Garmin Fenix 5S for gauging progress on ascents with it's altimeter but as soon as I started my ascent the altimeter stopped working. I later fixed this with a software update but at the time I somewhat enjoyed not knowing how much further I had to go. It was great to follow a broken path up Caulkins - there was no trace of my friend's group's tracks from 2 days ago. Only one quick snack and drink break on the way up and were were starting to see the views.   

​After our break, we headed back up to Mt Donaldson and then followed Joe's track over to Seward, including some steeper areas in which the snow depth increased dramatically feeling like every snowshoe step sunk further backwards instead of moving upwards. It didn't help that under most of this deep snow was a thick coating of ice, so several steps sunk backwards and then slid backwards even more. Seward is a few hundred feet higher than Donaldson and Emmons, and the snow depths were that much deeper making forward progress more energy intensive. We weren't expecting to see Joe again as he would descend off the far side of Seward to continue on to his fourth peak of the day Mt Seymour. About 5 minutes from the Seward summit, Joe popped out from the trees to say he had changed his mind and conditions were too slow today for him to try to hit all 4 peaks. He was backtracking on the ridge - something we were going to do too. We hit the Seward summit at 1:20PM and then turned around and followed our broken trail back to the junction at Donaldson at 2PM.

Here we walked down the Caulkins Brook trail crawling over and under several obstacles including down trees, open streams, and re-routes around some blowdown. The trail looked definitely better packed down than when we ascended and later we would find out a third group that had a late start was up on the ridge. When we finally reached the cairn, we took our snowshoes off and I returned to my microspikes to walk in the snow on the way out. Glenn was re-united with his missing microspike which was hanging on a tree and as we marched along to the junction daylight was fading. At the junction we donned our headlamps (at the same place we had taken them off earlier in the day) and walked out to the parking lot with one thought in mind: food and drink. We arrived at the parking lot at 5:15PM and signed out at the register, noticing that the there was a third group on the ridge. We then walked over to our car, noticing that the parking lot had been plowed!! Elated we knew the drive out in the dark wouldn't be hairy and we would be back at the hotel in no time. Then we saw it....the Thule ski box on on the top of my car was open with my keys in it! I guess in the darkness in the morning I had taken out our hiking poles and forgotten to close it and didn't notice at all that I hadn't locked it up!! The hiking community is such a trustworthy bunch and nothing was stolen or taken. What a mistake! And that wasn't the last one....Glenn had unknowingly left his red gloves on the roof of the car in the dark on the way out and on the way out we sped out of the parking lot and left them lying on the road! After returning from our trip, I posted a few photos on the Adirondack 4000 footers Facebook page about the trail conditions where a member of the third party had found the gloves and are mailing them to us! The hiking community is so amazing!

Another amazing hike in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks. Up to 22/46 peaks for my Winter ADK 46er round!

Stats:
Date: January 2, 2020
Hike Distance: 24.96km
Time: 10. 5 hours
Ascent: 5500ft
Moving average: 3.2km/hr
Overall average: 2.3kmr/hr
.gpx file

The forecast for August 8th, 2019 wasn't optimal. After a full night of hard rain and thundershowers we opted against the possible ridge walks and slide hikes on our list. With rain in the forecast for the day, we chose a short hike up Cannon Mountain in the Franconia area of the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

Cannon Mountain stands at 4080' and is  known for it's ski hill and tramway. The summit has a viewing tower that I wasn't aware of when I started this hike and apparently has awesome views of the Franoconia area on a clear day.

We started late at 10:15 AM after changing our plan and attempting to wait out rain storms. We parked at the Lafayette Campground hiker parking (1900') and walked up through the campground following the signs to the Lonesome Lake Trailhead. Quickly after the hiking trail begins, it splits and we took the right hand option: Hi Cannon Trail. The 2.8 mile trail up begins with a severely eroded section that is covered in a small granules akin to kitty litter. The trail takes no time to become steep and remind you that if you wore too many layers you will want to take them off ASAP. 

The middle third of the trail is the most challenging. Boulders become larger and larger and require more hand and foot actions. The skies opened up on us here and before we knew it every foot hole became a deep puddle and water streamed down the steep slope. The final third of the trail opens up to more slab friction hiking which I will note is tricky when a river of water is flowing on top of them. At about 3500' the slabs apparently offer views of the Franconia ridge that we unfortunately weren't able to see on this day.  A mixture of sweat and rain entered my mouth and soon every square inch of my body was soaking wet.

By the time we reached the ridge, every flat spot had become enormous puddle and water started to squish out of my boots as it had flowed hard down my legs soaking my socks for the past hour. We dodged puddles despite having soaking wet feet and found two more junctions to head up to the tower at the summit. 

Upon arrival the summit tower is completely enormous and impossible to miss. We hadn't taken a single photo of the hike before this point because of the rain so we raced under the roof after the first set of stairs and pulled out the camera for some summit shots. There was no point going up to the top with this weather so we packed up and ran down the trail. Our bodies were chilled from being wet and not moving for a few minutes at the summit. About 20 minutes into our descent the rain slackened and the sun started to break through. 

The return trip down the Hi Cannon trail is nothing to shake a stick at. It's steep, slippery when wet, and requires focus and attention. We barely spoke and concentrated on our footing. I was hoping we would have some views on the way down but we didn't. A old well-used ladder takes you up and down a steep section and there was one slab section that could be consequential if you lost your footing as it seems like you might just go off the edge!

We finished the hike at 1:45 PM and definitely thought that even though it was the shortest hike we had done this trip, it was the toughest in terms of trail conditions. It reminded us of a 'normal' Adirondack hike. I may have to do this hike again in nicer weather...I am sure the views are worth it! 

Stats:
Elevation gain: 2309 feet
Distance: 8.5km
Time: 3 hours, 30 mins

Up to 67/115!

Mount Tecumseh is a ski hill peak in the Sandwich Range in the southern White Mountains. The formerly 4003' peak has been re-measured in 2019 to read 3997'. As a peakbagger looking at completing the NE 111 (115er) list, I bagged this peak on August 7th, 2019. There are rumours that this peak might be taken off the NH 48 list but I hope it stays on the NE 111 (115) list. Fingers crossed my hiking efforts count!

Today's plan was altered due to a strong forecast that was to include rain and severe thunderstorms.  We decided instead to head up Mount Tecumseh from the longer Mount Tecumseh trail from Tripoli Road. Today we started at 9:30 AM, expecting a shorter hike than yesterday. The 6.2 mile round trip hike would be a perfect day out.

The trail from the parking lots jumps over two small brooks and then heads straight up. The grade is consistent and unrelenting. As it was hours before thunderstorms, the humidity levels were peaking and then wind was non-existent. Sweat dripped off our chins and flowed out of all our pours and we put one step in front of the other on this trail. That combined with numerous cobwebs made for a sticky mess on my skin. The trail was a soft soil slope with rocky boulders throughout. The trail is dense with forest cover and offers little to no views to gauge your progress.

After a 1700' slog up we were at 3700' an hit our first peak. The trail then drops into a col and hits a final ascent to the summit proper. We hit the summit 1 hour and 45 minutes after leaving the parking lot and were very grateful to feel the breeze at the summit ledge. A family of 5 were also at the summit (had come up from the ski hill side) that were lovely to talk to. We were surprised that the daughter had forgotten her shoes and had hiked up barefoot! 

The summit has a brand new summit marker and some beautiful views of the Tripyramids and Osceolas. Some longer distance views were obscured by clouds on this day as the storm clouds were building in the sky. After a drink, snack and obligatory summit photo shoot, we turned around and made our way back to the car.

Stats:
Distance: 9.5km/6 miles
Elevation: 2592 feet
Time: 3.5 hours

Mount Osceola (4320') and East Osceola (4156') are two peaks that lie in the southern part of the White Mountains near the Sandwich Range.  These two peaks are on the NE 111 (115er) list  which I am working on and so we planned to hike these two peaks in one day on August 6th, 2019.

Our group decided to stay at Russell Pond Campground located on Tripoli Road just off the I93. This campground offers flush toilets, showers, waterfront and quiet private camping. The short commute to many hikes from this campground is also an attractive reason to stay at this campground. Tripoli road also offers road side camping for cheaper but with limited facilities. 

Four months prior to this hike I had knee surgery and was eager to test out my new and improved knee. That said, being uncertain of how the knee would react (especially on the descents) made me a bit nervous on this hike.

Starting at 8:15 AM from the parking lot on Tripoli Road, ($5 day parking fee), at a elevation of around 2200' . We set off up the gradual but rocky ascent up to Mount Osceola. The trail is well shaded and has a manageable grade the entire distance. My husband Glenn was part of our group and begun the hike at a slow pace due to an ankle injury. After 1600' of climbing and dodging rock boulders, he threw in the towel and turned around. That left two of us to head the rest of the way to the summit which we reached at 10:15 AM. The summit ledge from this peak is outstanding with beautiful views on sunny days like we had. We quickly identified our next objective from this summit and went on our way. 

The trail over to East Osceola is fairly straight forward except for one section called the Chimney. I hadn't read any trip reports or trail descriptions for this hike so I was surprised to hear the nervousness in many hiker's voices as they approached this section and asked us about how treacherous it was. The section is steep rocky section that can be up or downclimbed in about 4 moves.  Being a climber this section wasn't even an issue for me but for others I can see it might be scary. We chose the left route when coming from Mount Osceola.

The summit of East Osceola is treed and there is a rock cairn to indicate the summit. A trail coming from Greely ponds comes up from North side. We took a snack break here with a mother and daughter group before our 40 minute return trip back to Mount Osceola. On the return trip we chatted with a young woman who is a nurse from Long Lake area in the Adirondacks and we had a good chat about Adirondack hiking.

Crowds were starting to build on the summit of Mount Osceola upon our return with many people enjoying the views in various states of dress. Many were fully clothed but some were airing out their footwear and one had even taken off her pants! We took a quick drink break and headed down the trail to meet up with Glenn who was waiting in the car. My knee had no problem with this descent and I was pleased that I could be fully confident hiking mountains once again. We met a few more characters on the way down an saw some unprepared groups hiking with little to no gear or water on a hot summer's day. We returned to parking lot at 1:15 PM making it a 5 hour day.

Stats:
Distance: 12.93km/8.0 miles
Elevation gain: 2862 ft
Time: 5 hours

The Spanish River is a south flowing river that lies north west of Sudbury, Ontario. The river has a rich history that includes being a travel corridor for Ojibwe natives, fur traders and in the last century for logging. The river is protected in Spanish River Waterway park and is home to two channels (east and west) that converge into one about half way down the river at a junction called 'The Forks'. 

The West Branch is known as the more difficult one beginning at Biscotasi Lake. It can be accessed by VIA passenger train which you can hop on in Sudbury or Cartier, Ontario. To avoid a full day of flatwater paddling, we chose to start our trip at Sinker Creek and paddle through to Agnew Lake. You can also choose to take out at the the Elbow but I would recommend continuing down past as you would miss a great section of river. Train tickets can be purchased online through the VIA rail website.

Maps: Please purchase a Spanish River map before planning your trip through Chrismar Mapping.

Day 0: Home to Agnew Lake Lodge
After a 6 hour drive to Agnew Lake Lodge, we set up a camp at a campsite along the lake. Note that the lodge offers a grassy spot with picnic table for camping or small cabins for paddlers. For camping, amenities like tap water, garbage, a firepit and outhouses are the facilities.

The Agnew Lake Lodge offers shuttles for paddlers. Rates can be found here. We drove to the train station in Sudbury and the drivers drove our vehicles back to the Lodge for us. The Lodge also arranges camping permits for the river (~$10/night/adult). Fee information can be found here.

Day 1:Saturday July 13th, 2019 Agnew Lake Lodge to LeBell Rapids

Our group left the Agnew Lake Lodge at 6:50AM and drove about an hour to arrive at the Sudbury train station at 8:00AM. We unloaded our gear and boats and handed the keys to the drivers. One of our cars stayed at the train station  (make sure to pay for a parking pass). 
We had to pay $50 + tax cash for each canoe that got on the train. At 8:25 the train arrived and the loading began. There were 14 canoes being loaded on the day we left so you can imagine it takes some time. The train did leave exactly at 9:00AM, enjoying the air conditioned seats. 

The train passes through several small communities before the first views of the river. It's apparent that the train track follows the river for several kilometres passing through old logging communities that have now been converted to fishing cabins and hunt camps. We got off at our destination Sinker Creek at 11:20 which was about 20 minutes late after having to wait for a freight train to pass us on the tracks. Our group of 11 and 7 boats were unloaded, and we quickly ate lunch and started our paddle. 

Sinker creek meanders for about 1.5km. We had been told the river was running at a medium-high level and the members of our group who had paddled this river before agreed that it was higher than normal. The first rapid we came too had to be portaged. We hoped that this wasn't going to be the case for the entire river. The next two rapids (Hook and Tourville) were lovely class 2 rapids that empties into Lebell Lake. The Lebell rapid was runnable by the solo canoes in our group but not by the tandems. When scouting this rapid look closely at the very bottom as 3 of our light boats got temporarily stalled on rocks here.

We found our first campsite between the Lebell and Breadner rapids. This campsite is too small for a larger group but we made it work. The late spring and floodwaters of 2019 imposed a harsh July bug season full of vicious black flies, mosquitos, deerflies and horseflies. Good fishing (mainly bass) was found at the bottom of the LeBell rapids.

Day 2: Sunday July 14th, 2019 Lebell Rapids to  Pogomasing

Temperatures dropped into the single digits overnight and the morning hours were chilly. Not wanting to get out of our sleeping bags we lingered inside until 7AM despite some group members being up for an hour by that point. After a quick breakfast we were on the water at 9AM headed to the Breakner Rapids. We paddled the top half and then portaged around the mandatory falls section of this rapid. Below the Breakner falls is long scoutable rapid that our group chose to run with empty boats after portaging gear through.

After the rapids, the river eases off as it enters the Inch Worm section with it's windy twisting flows and high sand riverbanks. This is a great section to observe wildlife be it  beavers, otters, kingfishers, various ducks, and sandpipers. This slow moving section took us 1.5 hours to complete. We stopped at an island campsite at the Forks where the two river channels converge.

The river changes it's character at the Forks with many swifts and easy rapids. The train follows the river here and it is fun to paddle alongside a whistling freight train. The sun on this day was intense and the river offered little to no shade for any relief. Make sure to pack sun hats and sunscreen - many  of our group got sunburned. A  total of 27km for the day.

We made it just past the Pogomasing train drop off and camped at a large site on river left. This site had a brand new privy in July 2019. Only 150m from the train tracks, we were awokened a couple times to hear the trains roar through feeling more like we were in a city than on the side of a remote river. We were in the tent at 8:40 seeking refuge from the hoards of biting insects.

​Day 3: Monday July 15th Pogomasing to Zig Zag Rapids

The 4km section of river just below our campsite was super enjoyable with several swifts and and stellar scenery. The river was alive with singing birds and wildlife and if the river continued like this everyone would have had a smile on their face a mile wide. That said, the river mellowed temporarily through a flatwater section until it hit the very beautiful Cliff Rapids. Here a tall cliff on river left which towers over a few good-looking campsites below. We stopped here for a quick break before the real work began. We headed into a 8km flatwater section that unfortunately for us had a difficult headwind that lasted all day. This section was a slog and we got through it. The only highlight was the large Osprey that flew overhead of us. Just before Spanish lake and after we had paddled 22km, we stopped at a sandbar for lunch with the group. We had split into two pods at this point - the faster tandem boats and the slower solo boats. 

Crossing the Spanish Lake took some time despite hugging the shoreline. We were relieved finally when gravity took over again and we hit some current. We ran Zig Zag Rapids and found a home at the campsite along the portage there. For some reason (maybe the warm wind) the bugs weren't as bad here which made this site enjoyable. We had stopped after 26.5km day at 2PM. Our group split up onto two sites as tentspots were sparse on these sites.

Day 4: Tuesday July 16th Zig Zag to Graveyard Rapids

This short 11km half day of paddling started out with some fun small rapids and swifts. The river makes three sharp 90 degree bends nicknames the Knuckle, the Wrist and the Elbow. The Elbow is a popular take out for many who want to do a shortened version of the river. 

We continued down to the section known as the Graveyard Rapids. We paddled to top of the Little Graveyard rapid and took out just before the falls at the bottom. The portage was shortened to about 80m but was tricky as the rocky nature of this portage became slippery with some light rain.

We ran the next short rapid and then hit the Big Graveyard Rapid which we portaged on river left. A kayaker in our group ran it an swam, another solo canoer ran it and barely made it down at this water level.

The final rapid in this series is the Cascades which you can lift over on the rocks on river right. We chose this as our campspot for the night. This site is nice and open and has many rocky outcroppings with small pools good for swimming and fishing. The relaxing afternoon here was spent fishing, swimming and hiding in the shade. The heat of the day was absorbed into the rocks making them feel like an oven at some points forcing us to take multiple swims.

We found some unripe blueberries at this site and deeply hidden in one patch was a small ground nest from an unknown with 5 blue eggs in it. The anglers of the group caught pike and walleye at this site which made for good eating.

​Day 5: Wednesday July 17th Graveyard to Reynold's Creek Campsite

We headed off at 9AM with a Bald Eagle family (mother, father and young) riding the thermals overhead. Just downstream from the Graveyard rapids was Agnes rapid which is a technical rocky rapid that I would classify a 3-.  We successfully ran this one without scouting and might have been my favourite of the trip. Just downstream is a long class 2 rapid called the Cedar Rapids which was also very enjoyable.

Our plan for the day was to paddle out to Agnew Lake, following the 'conveyor belt' of current from Cedar Rapids out. Unfortunately my husband and canoeing partner came down with a bout of heat exhaustion when the sun started to heat up at 10:30AM (most likely dehydrated from the oven day the day before) that included vomiting and nausea making canoeing impossible. After a two hour stop in the shade of a riverbank we were able to move him 6km downriver (unable to paddle and motion sick). A group effort included wet towels and cloths, filtering fluids, first aid meds, gathering salty foods, and planning our evacuation strategy. We had to stop at the Reynold's creek campsite (sidenote: this is a beautiful spot) so that he could spend the afternoon recovering in the shade, drink, and eat salty foods.  He did feel much better around dinnertime and the group didn't mind staying at this beautiful site with Old Growth trees, a creek and virtually no bugs! This put us about 20km behind schedule for the day but we made up the time by getting on the water early the next day. As we were paddling in the middle of the 7 boats, the first 3 boats went on without knowing what was going on. The stopped for lunch and waited for us but in hindsight we figured out that with 3 InReach satellite communication devices on the trip we could have communicated between devices in this emergency. We set that up that evening in case that was to ever happen again. 

Day 6 Thursday July 18th Reynold's to Agnew Lake Lodge

Up at 6AM and on the water by 7:20AM we whipped through the conveyor belt for the first 10km. At around the 12km to go mark on the map the river breathes a sigh of relief an relaxes into a delta of islands and flatwater. Here we saw our first sign of civilization: a motorboat! Just at the end of the river a tall cliff is noticeable on river left. Here we saw a family of red tailed hawks on a ledge with young flapping and squawking loudly. The two campsites nearest the lake look good. The wind gods were on our side from this point onward and we crossed Agnew Lake quickly. Our 4 hour paddle covered 26km from the Reynold's campsite, landing us at the lodge at 11:30AM. 

We settled up with the lodge for all of our campsite, shuttle and permit fees and headed home. 

Post trip: The Spanish is an excellent canoe tripping river for the intermediate canoeist. It's easy accessibility, scenery, and manageable whitewater make this river an instant classic.

The easiest way to get to the trailhead for Mt Carrigan is to drive on Sawyer River Road. This road is not open in the winter so it's best to check here to confirm it's still open. The 3.5km/2.2mile drive in on this gravel road was very easy in the fall of 2018. The road is narrow but smooth and good for any type of vehicle. The parking lot can hold about 20 cars and can get busy as it was on the day we chose to hike it: October 20th, 2018.

We arrived at the parking lot and as we were collecting our gear for the day I realized I couldn't find my hiking poles. After tearing the car apart, I used some creative visualization and realized I hadn't seen the poles since the end of our hike the day before. Hopping back in the car we drove 20 minutes back to Crawford Notch, expecting to find nothing in the parking lot from the day before. When we pulled in we found that some wonderful soul had stuck my poles in the grass beside the parking lot! We found them! I almost cried - these poles have been with me for thousands of miles on them. It's amazing how attached you can get to your gear! We quickly drove back to the Carrigan trailhead and begun our hike at 8:45AM.

Leaving the parking lot and for the next 4km (2.5miles), the trail ascends only 700ft. This fairly flat trail follows and crosses the Whiteface brook. During the fall season, the trail winds through deciduous forest which is a delight to walk through. On our hike day the wind was up and the skies opened up with a mixture of snow and rain. Our quick pace moved us around a few groups (one group had 16 people in it!) and found us spending most of the hike with no one around!

At the 2100ft mark, the slope angle begins to change and ascends at a steeper incline. For the next 2650ft the slope angle stays relatively the same and the trail makes a few switchbacks climbing gradually up the mountain. The skies dried up but the winds sounded fierce and we knew that the summit would require us to add a few layers to the one baselayer we were currently wearing. At 4400ft you arrive at the Signal Ridge - a flat exposed ridge with alpine scrub bordering each side of the trail. We layered up just before entering here and moved quickly through the wind and cloudy weather we found ourselves in. 

We scampered up the last few hundred feet to the summit and found it at 4757ft (I think the official height is 4700, but the firetower brings you to 4757!). We climbed the fire tower and took our summit photo with some fellow hikers celebrating a second NH round. Just below the fire tower we found a sheltered flat area that we used to fuel up and socialize. 

As we descended back to the ridge, the clouds broke apart and the sun came out. We got some views! Out came the camera and we snapped a few photos before descended down the trail again. Peeling off one layer at a time, we started with 5 layers at the summit and finished with one baselayer at the bottom. Taking one more lunch break at the brook crossing, we took in the fall colours and warm temps and enjoyed the natural surroundings. A short time later we were back at the parking lot - temperature in the parking lot was +14C as opposed to near freezing at the top with the windchill! Another great hike in the Whites! 

Hike Totals:
Distance: 10 miles or 16km
Time: 6 hours
Total Ascent: 4144ft
​.gpx track
Accommodations: Dry River Campground

After completing all of the Adirondack 46 peaks over 4000 feet, I am now hoping to complete the NorthEast 111 (115er) list including all of the 4000 footers in New Hampshire.On this trip,  I decided to tackle three summits in one day in Crawford Notch State Park: Mount Tom, Mount Field, and Mount Willey. 

​After a chilly night in a tent at the Dry River Campground, we woke up to find the temperatures still below freezing and a blanket of snow on the ground. Winter sleeping bags and down mats kept us warm overnight, but it always a bit difficult to leave the warm cocoon come daybreak. After a quick cup of warm coffee and a bowl of oatmeal, we drove off to the trailhead (look for the yellow building below) and begun our snowy trek up to our first summit of the day: Mt Tom.  We began our hike at 8:20AM with snow in the parking lot!

The Avalon trail begins ascending a gentle slope through a beautiful deciduous forest. We stayed right at the first two trail junctions continuing up a ravine in the shade. Continuing up to a col we found the spur trail for Tom's summit. An hour and 40 mins after we left the parking lot, we had ascended the 2100ft of trail and made it to summit #1 of the day. Tom's summit is treed and a rock cairn indicates the summit point. We enjoyed seeing a few small views of Mount Field and embraced the sun's rays as they reflected off the snow covered fir trees. After a couple of summit photos, we scampered down the trail passing a few groups still on their way up. Back at the junction with the Avalon trail, we turned right and 80yds later turned left to continue on the ridge trail up to Mt Field.

The ascent up the Willey Ridge Trail up to Mt Field is gradual. At this point there was about 2 inches of snow covering everything in sight, making for a very picturesque hike. I focused my footing onto untouched snow areas as the fluffy white stuff made for good grip. 1 hour after leaving the summit of Tom, we found ourselves on the summit of Field. A small lookout gave us a great view of the snow-capped Mount Washington, but our ooooooing and aweing were soon over after 2 Gray Jays started swooping in looking for a free snack. That reminded me that I hadn't eaten yet so I grabbed a snack and luckily was able to eat while keeping one eye on the feathery predator nearby. We took a few summit photos at the cairn and in the field (photo above)  and tried some timer shot fun poses that didn't work out but were a great way to keep warm!

The trail off the far side of Field was being hit by the sun and starting to get slushy and wet. We carefully placed our feet down a few steeper sections - there was a mixed bag of ice and slush - easy to slip on. After a 300 ft descent we continued on a fairly flattish trail before gradually increasing again up to the top of Willey. It took us 50 mins to get to this summit - another rock cairn in a treed forest summit. Here we took a good lunch break drinking and eating hot tea and home-baked goods. We decided to complete the loop by returning to Field amongst wet rock, slushy and iced trail. Back on the summit of Field, we turned right and descended a different trail back.

We descended a connector trail called the Avalon Trail from Mount Field's summit. This steep, shaded icy trail is a shortcut back to the parking lot.  On this trail I decided to don my microspikes. We passed multiple groups who were obviously not prepared for the winter-like conditions on the trail and who were moving very slowly unsure of their footing. I took the microspikes on and off a few times on this trail, but took them off for good once hitting the main Avalon Trail. The temperature from here on down continued to climb rapidly and once we hit the parking lot it was well above freezing and had no sign of snow like it had in the morning when we left. 3 more summits in the bag!

Time: 6 hours 15 mins
Ascent: 3782 feet
Distance: 15.3km or 9.5miles

Looking for a short canoe trip in Algonquin south of Highway 60? Look no further than a spectacular trip from Smoke Lake to Rock Lake that our group of 6 did over 4 days in August 2018.

Day 1: Smoke Lake Access Point to Big Porcupine Lake
Upon arriving at the Smoke Lake Parking area, you actually need to cross over the highway to the Canoe Lake Permit Office to collect your camping and car permits before your trip. Park one car at the Rock Lake parking lot by running a shuttle with your second vehicle. The shuttle will take 50-60 minutes depending on traffic, construction, and wildlife-gawking tourists that stop in the middle of the road.

After the shuttle is set and you load your boats along the docks, head out on  Smoke Lake to the southern terminus. We paddled Smoke lake on a day without wind, and it took the better part of 1.5 hours to complete. We portaged the short uphill 240 meters into Ragged Lake. I would suggest here that if you have a long drive (over 4 hrs) to get to the park stay here for the night. Ragged has a plethora of campsites and they all look to be descent ones.

Continuing through Ragged we paddled into the swampy South Bay and to our next challenge: a heart-thumping uphill 590m portage into Big Porcupine Lake. Once this one has been completed head out of the bay into the breeze of the main part of the lake. Once we arrived we immediately looked for a campsite but this being August, the lake was almost completely full. Normally the extra paddle around looking for sites isn't such a big deal but with thunder and lightning approaching we were on a time crunch. We finally found our site at the last possible spot on the lake and quickly set up tents and tarps to prepare for the imminent rainstorm that of course didn't hit us!

Total travel time: 4 hours

​Day 2: Big Porcupine Lake to Kirkwood Lake

Booking later than I normally do for this trip my only option for night 2 was Kirkwood Lake. This would make today's journey a short 2 hour jaunt. Adult-only groups that want to push the pace could easily combine our Day 2 and Day 3 itineraries. As we were travelling with children and wanted a more relaxed pace we decided to try our Kirkwood.

To get there we had to portage an easy 200m from Big Porcupine to Bonnechere Lake. Bonnechere is home to a few charming campsites that would be great spots to camp on at some point. Paddling to the north end of Bonnechere, we took the right fork and found the 175m portage to Phipps Lake. What we found on the Phipps side of the portage is a creek that was too low to paddle. A portage extension through the grasses and wetland doubled the length of this portage until we could load and continue on. 

Phipps didn't look that inviting for camping and so we hopped over the 60 m portage to Kirkwood and found our campsite for the night on the island in the middle of the lake. What we didn't know is that this campsite had a name: Magic Island! We spent a beautiful afternoon there swimming a lap around the island, catching frogs and napping in hammocks. The magic ended however with a hard rainstorm over night that lasted a few hours. Luckily we all stayed dry but the rain sure tested out our gear.

​Day 3: Kirkwood Lake to Lake Louisa

The rain ended around 9:30AM and we set off in the boats around 10AM. The plan for the day was to tackle 3 portages and end up into the gorgeous Lake Louisa and score a good site for the night. Unfortunately the plan didn't quite unwind as we first thought.

The first portage of the day begins at the end of Kirkwood and carries on for an easy 715m, ending in Lawrence Lake. I was the first one to carry through here with a canoe on my head limiting my vision. I saw the lake and put down my canoe. What we couldn't see on the two maps we brought is this portage trail fork at the end: one trail leading to Pardee Lake and one leading to Lawrence. I had taken the wrong trail.

After paddling Pardee and realizing that we were not where we should be, we backtracked and did a 10m (more like 25m) hop over portage back into Lawrence Lake. We lost about 30mins with this mistake. One of maps was large-scale and the other small-scale and neither noted that there is a split trail.

Back on track on the boomerang shaped lake of Lawrence we quickly arrived at the 415m portage into Rod and Gun Lake. This portage in August of 2018 had a large tree down near the Lawrence Lake side on a hill. At the time it was difficult to get over the tree (the only option) with a canoe on (take my word for it) so make sure you have another set of helping hands nearby before attempting. Continuing uphill again, you reach the small lake and scoot across it to complete the last portage, the 515m to Lake Louisa. This 515m portage had two tree obstacles to overcome as of August 2018. 

Lake Louisa is one of Algonquin's gems. It is home to a number of excellent campspots and is a favourite lake of trout fishermen. This year we found an island site to call home for the night. With the breeze we dried out our wet gear and spent the afternoon swimming and playing bocce ball. Total travel time for the day was 3.5 hours.

Avery and West Peak are the tallest peaks on the Bigelow Mountain Ridge just outside of Stratton, Maine. These peaks are part of 2 popular hiking missions: The Appalachian Trail and the NorthEast 115er list. My goal is eventually summit all of the NE 115ers, a goal that will  take me decades to complete given the distance to travel to the areas to hike; especially the 14 peaks in Maine. As luck would have it my husband and I needed to travel through this part of the world to attend a wedding so we stopped to bag these two peaks en route. 

This trip did not get off to a good start however. Upon arrival at Cathedral Pines Campground in Eustis, Maine, we realized that after packing the car full of camping gear, hiking gear and wedding attire we had independently forgotten BOTH our sleeping bags. Seeing as though it was already dark and a thunderstorm was approaching, we hunkered down in our tent with multiple layers on along with towels and Gore-tex jackets thrown over top. We survived the cool July night albeit with much tossing and turning and general discomfort. This area of Maine is pretty sparse in terms of finding camping supplies but we did end up finding a store that we bought warm but short blankets for the rest of the trip.

After our chilly evening, we filled our bellies with hot porridge and coffee and set out for the Fire Warden's trail at 8:30AM. We found the trailhead at Stratton Brook Pond on our first try (other reports say it's difficult) and parked at the busy trailhead and set off towards the pond. This area is obviously a popular free camping area in the summer - we found many people sleeping in or beside their cars.

The Fire Warden's trail takes about 5miles/8km to ascend to the col on the ridge between the two peaks. It begins on a flat trail beside the ponds before turning into the forest for most of the remainder of the hike. The trail is marking with light blue blazes until the col where blazes turn white. The shade provided by the trees here is welcoming on a hot summer day. The trail ascends about 1000ft  before leveling off again further up. 1.6 miles in you reach the junction with the Horns Pond Trail and a trail register to sign-in for the day. 

​Continuing on a gradual up hill, you reach the Moose Falls campground complete with privy and a water spring. From this point on, the terrain significantly steepens.  For  about 600ft there is a section I will call 'The Staircase', where the trail follows steep rock stairs that is sure to get your heart pounding. Just when you're red in the face and covered in sweat you think "Are these stairs ever going to end?", the trail eases off a bit before hitting a Appalachian Trail camping area just before the junction on the ridge. Tent platforms and a caretaker's cabin can be found here. We thought we might see some AT hikers but instead the area was full of day hikers. It was only 11AM.

Once hitting the junction you can choose to take West Peak (0.3miles) or Avery (0.4miles) first. We chose to bear left to West Peak first. The mossy vegetation and well trod path lead up to a prominent rocky outcropping at the top of an obvious summit, complete with a summit cairn and sign. Beautiful views of Sugarloaf ski hill, the Crockers and Flagstaff Lake make this summit one to remember. It took us 3 hours from the Trailhead and 3000ft of climbing to get to this summit at 4145'. 

​After a quick snack, we descended back down to the col and junction and continued on to Avery. After a few scramble moves to get around the backside of Avery's first rock bump we continued on good trail to the actual summit. Here another summit cairn with sign will signify your accomplishment along with many views of the ridge. An old man-made brick square structure (supposedly an old fire tower base) can also be seen from Avery's summit. A plaque commemorating Myron H. Avery's efforts to extend the AT into Maine is also worth a read here.  We were lucky to hit this ridge on a sunny day - you can see for miles. Avery's summit is slightly less than West Peak's at 4088'. There is no advantage to do one over the other first in my opinion. 

Descending down the staircase and forested trail was fairly straight forward and before we knew it we were back at the ponds and out to our car. The totals for the day were:

Date: July 29th, 2018
Distance: 9.72 miles/15.65km
Ascent: 3022ft
Time: 6.5 hours
Map: Rangeley Lakes Region Trail Map
.gpx track

Philip Edward Island is located in Georgian Bay, Ontario and is one of the world's largest freshwater islands. It's exposed granite, turquoise water, and and thousands of small islands make this a bucket list destination for any sea kayaker.  Our trip in July 16-19th, 2018 included a circumnavigation of the island, a multi-day route including over 50km of paddling.

Pre-trip:

Before the trip started we needed to collect a few essential items that include:
- The Adventure Map for Philip Edward Island, along with a map case, GPS, and compass
- Safety gear: SPOT device, paddle float, bilge pump, throw bag, whistle, PFD
- Sea kayak, paddle, and sprayskirt
- Camp gear: tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, tarp, camp chair
- Personal gear: clothes, toiletries, meds, hats, rain gear, camp shoes, boat shoes, sunscreen, bug spray, headlamp, and several small 10L stuff sacks
- Kitchen gear: stove, fuel, lighter, pots, bowls, mugs, cutlery, spatula, knife, dish soap and scrubbie, garbage bag, and food
- Toilet bag which includes: trowel, brown paper bags, toilet paper, hand sanitizer
- Camera, GoPro, etc.

Day 1: Chikanishing to Jaws Island

Our group decided to use the Chikanishing access point located 2km from the Killarney Park Office. Make sure to stop at the park office to pick up a parking permit for the duration of your stay. The cost is around $15/day per car.

After driving for most of the day, we arrived at the parking lot to find a excellent drop off and staging area. After unloading our gear and parking our cars, we spent some time figuring out the puzzle of how to most efficiently pack the boats and make use of the space. After everything fit we were ready to head down the 500m creek to the big waters of Georgian Bay. We had been given a heads up by another paddler returning from trip that the winds were up and the swells were growing. At the terminus of Chikanishing creek, we could hear the waves crashing into the rocky shoreline and feel the wind's strength increase. I'm sure we were wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. Our group of 4 were all experienced whitewater and flatwater paddlers, but had never done a sea kayak trip before. When we turned the corner and got a glimpse of the big water, the swells were over 2 feet high. Our mission, if we chose to accept it was to make the 700m crossing over to the Philip Edward Island (PEI). We accepted the mission and began to cross directly over. Alternatively, some groups paddle downwind to Crossing Island, and then continue over to the north shore of PEI, while others turn around and wait out the wind if it's too unsafe.  As we began to paddle into the open water I couldn't help but feel nervous at first as the bow of my boat crashed down in the troughs of waves and my sprayskirt got blasted with water. It didn't take long however to realize that sea kayaks were made for this type of travel and they are both confidence-inspiring and stable even in rough water. Before we knew it we had reached South Point and turned the corner. We got to a small campsite on Jaws Island about an hour after we had set-off and set up camp and had a lovely evening watching the sun set behind the LaCloche mountains in the distance.

Day 2: Jaws Island to Hincks Island

Day 2 started with excitement and anticipation as we woke to find that the winds from the day before had dissipated and the sky was cloudless. After a quick breakfast we packed up (trying to remember how we had packed the boats the day before) we jumped in the boats and set off. It didn't take long to realize that after plotting our UTM coordinates from the GPS onto the map that travel in a sea kayak is FAST. We we averaging 5km/hr and by no means were we trying to break any speed records. 

The south shore of PEI is the real gem of the trip. Spending time exploring bays and various islands is really what this trip is all about. The setting is incredible and this is where you should plan to spend the most time. The Fox Islands are pretty incredible and are worth a visit. 

We had made our way to Hincks Island in just over 4 hours after leaving camp. In hindsight I wished we had done some more meandering and exploring but the thought of the wind changing direction and picking up was always in the back of our minds. Hincks island is home to several campsites so we claimed one and set up camp. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the cool clear water, napping, and enjoying the view.

​
Day 3: Hincks Island to Collins Inlet

​Our third day on began entering Beaverstone Bay. The vibe of the trip switched as this area was a route for motorized craft moving up to the north channel. The clear blue water transitions to more traditional tannin stained tea coloured freshwater. Paddling in this bay is easy going and goes by quickly.

Turning left at the northeast point of the island we found ourselves in Collins Inlet; a narrow channel flanked with granite walls. The lodges around Collins Inlet weren't worth a stop so we continues on to Mill Lake where we stopped to have lunch.  We considered camping here for the night and explored this lake looking for campsite options. After an hour or so of paddling it was evident that this Lake was not used as a destination to camp. My advice would be to skip right over this area.

We continued down to the narrowest point of the channel and began looking for campsites. We found two side by side on the island, not on the map just before the second cabin property after Mill Lake. It's important to note that not all campsites are marked on the map and some of the better sites are the ones not marked. After a longer day we made camp and watched numerous motorized craft pass by, imagining what the fur traders life was like that used this route 400 years ago.

Day 4: Collins Inlet to Chikanishing

Day 4 was a short day including a 3 hour paddle along the rocky shores and paddling over the waves of boat wakes out back to the parking lot. We tried to find the pictographs supposedly along the rocks in this section but could not find them. Navigation is easy here as you have many marine markings to follow out to the western entrance. We felt a sense of accomplishment as we completed the circumnavigation of the island. A fantastic place to sea kayak!

Tips for Sea Kayaking PEI:
- Make sure your canoe or sea kayak has a good spray skirt
- Make sure you know how to take a GPS coordinate and plot it on a map before you go.
- Allow for 3 full days to circumnavigate
- Skip over Mill Lake
- Camping is sub-optimal : not much flat ground, tent sites often on exposed rock, often not small sites
- Majority of campsites do not have an outhouse or kybo. Campsite often had shallow ground to dig into so we implemented the poop bag: A trowel for digging a 6" hole, toilet paper and a brown bag to put the used TP in, and hand sanitizer to clean your hands afterwards. I often take 2 small sticks to create an "X" over the area I used to dig.  No one likes to see your used TP on the ground. Ever.
- Blueberry bushes were found on every campsite. 
- Massassauga Rattlesnakes are a poisonous snake found on PEI. We did not see one, but had our eyes peeled everywhere we walked.
- Tent stakes were not very useful. We had to use rocks to anchor our tent down most nights.
- Take breaks every 2 hours. We found that if we didn't our bodies really felt it. 
- If I were to return to this area, I would spend all my time on the south shore exploring the islands and bays there. 
- In July, mosquitoes came out in hoards at 9:30PM every evening. If you make sure you are in the tent by then and you can avoid the nuisance.
- Fishing - apparently supposed to be good, but our two guys came up unlucky.
- Consider a longsleeve high UV sun shirt as your upper body clothing. The UV is high!
- Bring your thickest or most comfortable sleeping pad
- Bring numerous small carabiners to clip things to the deck of your boat
- Be on the look-out for camp spots.  Not all the sites are marked on the map, and the ones on the map aren't necessarily always the best or most often used sites
- Hatches are theoretically supposed to be leak-proof but in rough water that flows over your bow or stern let in a small amount of water into both hatches
​
Any lingering questions? Feel free to ask in the comments below!