On Saturday November 19th 2022, my hiking partner Deb and I decided our objective would be the Hancock mountains off Hwy 112. We were initially considering a different objective but the ice and snow conditions made us change our minds. The Hancocks would fit the bill for today.

We ate our continental breakfast at 7AM and drove through Lincoln to the Kancamagus Highway to the hairpin turn where the parking lot for the Hancocks are. The weather for today was supposed to be sunny and clear; much different than yesterday's clouds. I started my watch at 7:49AM.

We crossed the highway and put on our microspikes right away. We hiked in a seemingly flat snow covered well trod and broken path for the first hour or so until the grade rose every so slightly. Traffic on the trails today was noticeably busier than yesterday and we seemed to bump into people every half hour or so. 

We hit the beginning of the Hancock loop in just about an hour and a half after starting our hike. We met a couple coming down already with their energetic dog. Deciding to go towards Mount Hancock or the north and highest summit first we initially downclimbed before hitting a steep 1000ft steep climb straight up that made us feel like our hearts were pounding out of our chests. The hiker in front of me was not wearing microspikes and made a bit of mess of the trail. Instead of nice snow steps. there were snow smears making me have to re-step out the staircase up. We hit the summit about 2.5 hours in. Initially when you finish the ascent you hit the junction with the ridge trail. If you turn left, less than a minute of walking will take you to a nice lookout. The Gray Jays showed up here instantly and Deb got a great photo of one flying by me on the summit (see above). 

We didn't take a break here as we were pretty warm from the ascent and wanted to keep walking along the ridge to dry out our thermo-regulating garments (OR Refuge Air Jacket) and get back to being warm and dry. The ridge trail was covered with loads of rime ice and snow and on this sunny clear day was quite stunning. 

We climbed up over the Middle Hancock bump and passed a few people going the opposite direction. We got to the South Hancock summit where a few other people were lingering at the sunny lookout point. Standing in the direct sun was instantly warming and so we went over to the lookout to join in and have some tea and a bite to eat. Two young guys were there and we exchanged hiking stories and tried to identify peaks in the distance. The Gray Jays were also hovering here and one time when I pointed to one of the peaks with a pepperette in my hand it swooped down and tried to steal the food! It was unsuccessful but it sure made us eager to pack up and move on. We descended down the South Hancock trail (which is steep in places but not as steep as the ascent we came up) and joined back onto the trail we came in on. 

We kept seeing many parties coming in after us including solo and small groups. One small group of youngsters had only running shoes and city clothes on which was concerning. I didn't say anything at the time, but I wish I did now. Only a day later a 19 year old girl Emily Soreto attempted to hike Lafayette Mountain and perished wearing only running shoes and not having proper winter hiking gear. I think our hiking community needs to do a better job at education, and I need to speak up more when on trail. It is so easy in the winter to get into trouble.

We finished the hike on the flat snowy path and were eager for xc ski season to begin. Winter has just arrived, and there is more hiking and skiing to be had. With these 4 summits bagged this trip, I am up to 73/115 for my NE list. Getting there!

Stats:
Time: 6 hours 20 mins
Distance: 16km
​Elevation: 3000ft

I took advantage of a rare school board holiday to head down to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. After a 6 hour long drive, we settled into our hotel looking out a snow covered mountains ready to be hiked. On Friday November 18th, 2022, we decided our objective for the day would be the North and South Kinsman mountains. 

Our free continental breakfast at the hotel didn't open up on this day until 8AM so we waited around for it to open and finally got into the car around 8:15AM. We drove the short distance up Hwy 3 to the I-93 to the Basin parking lot and walked through a tunnel under the highway to start our hike.

The hike begins in a maze of trails at the bottom which could be quite confusing at first. Without a mistake we found the correct trail and started hiking up the Basin-Cascade trail which joins onto the Cascade Brook Trail. This section of trail was absolutely beautiful. Several waterfalls and moving water made me want to stop and take a photo of every one! It would be a perfect short hike for the aspiring photographer or even a great place to spend an afternoon on a hot summer day. Today was not the best trail conditions, as the trail was covered by snow, and iced over puddles were not supporting our weight leading to many soakers. Good thing we put on our gaiters as we luckily didn't get wet. We crossed the brook a few times but before we did we put on our microspikes as there was more grip on the ice and snow covered rocks with them on. We never took them off for the rest of the day! Up on the Cascade Brook and Kinsman Pond Trails I was the first to break since the snowfall two days before. We were delighted to see fresh tracks of pine martens, hare, squirrels and even a bear track on the way up!

Continuing on to the Kinsman Pond trail, we were still breaking trail and hopping on boulders on what the trail was apparently created on....an old stream bed. The snow, water and ice created very moist conditions on this day and required full concentration for each step. We were moving slower than normal, and I realized that this trail would be much better suited for summer travel. We reached the Kinsman Pond and finally caught a glimpse of the summit of North Kinsman. The pond was iced over and the snow depths rose to over ankle depth. Temperatures dropped here so we took a moment to put on heavier mittens and pull up our hoods. We reached the Kinsman campsite and made a left turn to head up to the Kinsman ridge trail.

Here we finally caught up to footprints and noticed that two people were ahead of us on the trail. We turned a corner and found a fellow hiker who had come up from the opposite side than we did and startled him to the point he shouted out loud! He was standing on the North Kinsman summit. I am glad he was there, as I don't think I would have realized it was the summit. It was a snow covered chunk of rock. If you downclimb a couple of steps from here it leads to a nice lookout. We were getting some glimpses of views of the Franconia ridge in the distance but the summits today were mainly obscured. We decided to keep going on to the South Summmit.

Off we went to South, which includes downclimbing a couple hundred feet and then climbing back up to the summit. The South summit is somewhat confusing as there are two locations: The lookout point at the highest point and then a large open area with a rock cairn a few minutes further and slightly below it. Luckily my hiking partner remembered the cairn so we hit both spots in order to make it official. Here again the views were not ideal and we didn't waste too much time before turning around and heading back along the ridge to the North summit. 

On the way back we met two fast-moving 30-something guys that were heading to the South summit. In what seemed like no time at all, they were back behind us so we asked which summit they went to and it was only the lookout they reached. My hiking partner Deb turned them around and sent them back to the cairn in order to make it official. We stopped for lunch on the North Kinsman summit lookout where it was snowing lightly and we were mainly in a cloud. After our break we descended back down but instead of taking the Kinsman Pond trail we took the Fishin' Jimmy Trail. This trail was much easier going as it wasn't a boulder ridden and did not involve creek crossings like the Kinsman Pond Trail does. It also has more infrastructure (boardwalks, etc) as it is part of the Appalachian Trail system. The two guys we saw up on the ridge caught up to us again and blew by us mentioning that they would be finishing their NH 48 on Carragain the next day. 

We reached the Lonesome Lake Hut to see that it was open and functional and met a father and daughter duo outside working on some map and compass skills. We were chatting with the at the corner of our right turn and missed it initially as we were distracted with our conversation. We realized our mistake quickly and turned around and got back on path breaking trail on the connector back to the Cascade Brook Trail and Basin Cascade Trail. 

Just before we finished we lost daylight and had to don our headlamps in order to cross the last brook and head down to the parking lot. We got to the tunnel, took off our microspikes and gave each other a high-five. It felt great to be back in the White Mountains after a 3 year hiatus! 

Stats: 
Time: 8:42 hrs
Distance: 20km
​Elevation: 4000ft

​Camel's Hump is a peak in the Green Mountains of Vermont that has a prominence of 4080feet tall. This peak has a short 2.4 mile approach via the Burrow's trail and was a perfect selection for a short hike before driving 6 hours home later the same day.

We drove a maze of back gravel roads from Underhill State Park to the Burrows Trailhead which was super enjoyable. Vermont is a beautiful state and one I have not spent that much time in. Beautiful lush green fields and forest with beautiful barns and homes all around. We noticed several people out running and cycling on a Sunday morning and liked the vibe of the area. We arrived at the trailhead around 9AM and started upward. The parking lot was already full so we had to park on the side of the road. This hike is popular because of the short distance and there were many users out on the trail today including several trail runners, families with dogs and children, and a full military group of 20. 

We bolted up the forested trail with good dry footing. Some erosion pathways created some rock obstacles to hike over but were not an issue. Soon the gradient steepens and the trail became more rocky, rooty and wet. I was glad I chose to wear shorts on this day as the temperature was much warmer than yesterday's hike and the sweat rolled off our chins and our soaked through our t-shirts on the way up. We noticed the Burrow's trail was being renovated with some new wood steps and several flags and signs indicating work was being done. Covid has really widened several trails as people tried to stay 2m(6ft) apart so I was glad to see that they were trying to narrow the trail again. 

We made it up to the junction with the Long Trail and the Munroe descent trail. Here there is a historical plaque that registers the Camel's Hump as a natural landmark and historic site. The home stretch of the ascent is from here up and after 1hr and 20 mins we hit the summit. There was a large crowd up there already, including a family celebrating grandpa's 83rd birthday which was  great to see! We took a 20 minute break here and enjoyed the 360 degree views. We could see Mount Marcy in the distance as well as Mount Mansfield from the day before. We took a few summit shots and headed back down the trail.

We finished the 8km (5mile), 2000ft hike in 3 hours exactly. This is peak #69 checked off on my Northeast 115 peak bagging list. Our stay in Vermont was very enjoyable and I am happy that I will need to return to hike Killington, Ellen, and Abraham at some point. 

Scoring a last minute weekend cancellation of a lean-to at Underhill State Park, we made the 6 hour drive from Ontario and set up camp at this small and quaint camping location. A thunder and rain storm rolled in and poured for most of the night but luckily we were snuggled inside a tent inside a lean-to and were not worried. 

At 7:45AM on Saturday August 27th, 2022, we left the parking lot at Underhill and headed up hill to the sign-in register past the group camping area. The 500ft ascent here has two options: trail or road. You can pick either to get to the upper trailhead. We signed in and headed up the Sunset Ridge trail. The trail was saturated with moisture from last night's storm and in some places was still flowing down hill on the trail. Luckily the temperature was cool and we could charge up the trail as fast as our feet could take us. Due to Covid, I hadn't been able to cross the border the past 2 summers and was a bit worried that my fitness wasn't up to par but there is only one way to find out if your lungs and legs were ready: go up!

In less than an hour we had reached the turn off to a 0.1mile side trail to view the famous Cantilever rock. I had seen photos of this online previously but was floored by how large it was in person. It is definitely a unique feature and worth the side trip. Back on the ridge trail, we noticed it had been one hour in and we could all use a sip of water. Heading up hill from here, the theme of the trail is ROCK. There are many rock steps, rock ledges, and rock slabs to negotiate. Some views start popping out above the trees and a few welcome cool breezes started to be felt. The trees start to change from deciduous to coniferous and the height of the trees seems to start to shrink with every step. In the alpine zone, Vermont uses white string to guide hikers as to where to walk so that the impact to the alpine zone vegetation is minimized. At the 2 hour and 10 minute mark, we had ascended the 2543ft of elevation to the summit of Mount Mansfield, otherwise known as The Chin at 4393ft. The summit steward answered our questions about landmarks on either side of the summit and took some group photos for us. Crowds were definitely starting to build but we couldn't really figure out where all the traffic was coming from. Then we could see it: a gondola bringing hikers up the Stowe ski hill and a road that some people drive up bringing them about 90% of the way to the top!

We descended from the summit proper back down to the junction with the Sunset Ridge Trail and had a snack and water break before continuing our loop hike along the ridge. The sun had just started to break up the clouds and views were coming into play. The ridge walk is along the Long Trail in Vermont and is mainly rock boulders and slabs. There is a real mix of hikers here - everyone from multi-day thru hikers, to day hikers, to people in flip flops and white shirts who had drove up. Across the ridge, we came across a cell tower and hut and the Visitor Centre. We stopped in at the centre to read more information about the area and speak to some of the staff. We left and continued on the Long Trail to the Forehead and stopped for lunch. 

Here I noticed one of my favourite pieces of gear was broken: my short gaiters from Outdoor Research (Salamanders). Vermont is affectionately known as 'Vermud' among thru-hikers and gaiters were helpful on our hike today, especially after the rains the night before. I have been holding on to these gaiters for years and think they are the best on the market but unfortunately the metal buckle broke and they are dunzo. 

We found the Maple Ridge trail and found the mainly rock trail was a bit treacherous from the rains the night before. Many of the rocks were slimy and sloped and it was tricky in places to get a good pole plant or foot placement. In a few cases we had to resort to lowering down on our butts to safely descend. We all had instances where our feet slipped from underneath us so we slowed our pace down to ensure that no injuries took place. We found the chasm, and all had to jump over the crevasse-like crack to get to the other side. All in all the Maple Ridge trail is do-able, but isn't as fun to descend when wet. The first part of the decent is the steepest and then once it hooks up to the CCC road it is easy going again. The CCC road surprisingly climbs as it traverses at first and then descends back down to the trailhead on good trail. I enjoyed this hike with it's mix of interesting features and good challenging trail that keeps your focus.

Arriving back at the trailhead we signed out of the register and chose to take the road walk back down to the campground. We looked at our watches and it took us 6 hours exactly to do the 14km (8.7 miles) with 3100ft of ascent. This is #68 for me on the Northeast 115 list. 

March 15th, 2022

After our first day back in two years yesterday our legs were feeling the toll of the ascent the day before. We decided on a shorter, one peak hike that I needed for my winter list: Big Slide. We drove from Keene where we were staying over to Keene Valley to start from the parking lot and hike up over the 3 brothers to the summit.

Today our group of 4 was able to start at the same time and hike together after being separated yesterday with our Covid testing appointments. The last time I hiked Big Slide was back in October of 2011 when my husband Glenn and I waded through hip deep snow and crawled to the summit after starting in the parking lot on wet leaves. Surely this official winter ascent would be easier. We would find out!

Even though today was about bagging another winter peak, it was more about our friend Ivan. At 76, he wasn't sure he still had it in him to do a mountain. He had a knee replaced in 2019, and hadn't been back to the 'dacks since. He started with us up the Brothers, and we thought if he had to turn around then at least he would have been about to have a nice hike with views. The weather today was above freezing and we were down to our baselayers in no time. We hit the first brother and realized our pace was slow, but with the daylight available in March, the warm temperatures and the fact that Ivan was trying to push himself we allowed him to continue to set the pace. After the third brother it was apparent that this pace was going to really slow us down, Ivan gave Deb and I a blessing to run ahead to tag the summit and return to the junction that marked the descent down to the JBL area. 

Deb and I took off and ran up the summit which had just freshly been slid down by three women we had just passed. We dug the crampons of our snowshoes in and felt our heart rates increase as we stepped over the area that normally has a ladder (it was buried!). We got to the summit eager to see the furry summit steward (pine marten), but didn't want to linger too long as we wanted to head back down to see how Ivan was doing. We were getting worried he had pushed himself a bit too much and might need assistance getting back down. We downed some water and took a few photos and took off without even sitting down.

Unfortunately after we slid on our bums down from the summit we arrived at the junction to see that no one had gone down to JBL yet. So we headed back to the 3rd brother and within a couple minutes saw Ivan and Paul huffing their way up. They made it! We took a long lunch break at the junction and Ivan was elated that for the next while it was downhill. The downhill was indeed less energy intensive for sure but did cross a creek multiple times that had some ice bridges that were failing or about to fail. By the time we got down to John's Brook, there was little sign of the 10" of snow that fell 3 days before. In fact there was barely any snow left. We kept our snowshoes on until the parking lot though as they were beneficial most of the way. Ivan hit the wall on the way out so on a break I played one of his favourite tunes Irish Rover which we sang out loud which seemed to lift his spirits and give him a boost to finish the home stretch.

I am so impressed with the mental fortitude of Ivan on this day. For someone I thought we'd leave an hour or two into the day, here he was at the end! He had been to Big Slide's summit before and didn't care if he made it, but to walk 15km with over 3000ft of ascent is admirable. I hope I am like that at 76....

Upon return to Canada the next day, we learned about an overdue hiker that apparently had been hiking the Trap Dike in the blizzard on Saturday. Having hiked in the area for the days he was missing but not found which was a bit unsettling. According to the Adirondack Explorer, his body was found buried under 4 feet of snow in what must have been an avalanche. A very sad outcome for this hiker and his family and friends. Stay safe!

Stats:
Distance: 17.2km
Time: 8:31hr
Elevation: 1056m

March 14th, 2022

Finally!! After a long two year hiatus, I finally crossed the border and headed straight to the Adirondacks! We crossed over on Sunday March 13th, a day later than planned but a large snowstorm was warning us that blizzard conditions were going to be imminent and driving would be 'impossible'. When we finally arrived in Lake Placid and then in Keene in felt like being back to our home away from home. I have spent loads of time in the Adirondacks over the past 15 years and it definitely felt good to be back.

One hoop us Canadians had to jump through in March of 2022 was to have a negative Covid test before re-entering Canada. So we found a free one you could get done at Walgreens in Lake Placid and had our appointments booked in advance for the earliest slots on Monday morning around 9:30AM. The drive-thru test was a breeze - they did Deb and I together. Our two other trip mates had to wait a whole extra hour so we went ahead and started our day off on South Meadow road.

I needed Phelps and Tabletop for my Winter 46er list. We thought those two would fit the bill nicely as a re-introduction to the Adirondacks after our 2 year hiatus. We had tried our best to keep our legs in mountain shape by strength training, walking up and down our local ski hill and doing numerous hikes and backpacking trips in Ontario. The hills just aren't as long, so nothing would fully prepare us for our return trip to the 'dacks.

We started the day late around 10 AM at the South Meadow Parking lot and skied into Marcy dam via the truck trail with our snowshoes on our packs. I love these combo days and my goal is to make all my Winter 46ers as interesting as possible. The skiing was really good- it had just dumped 10-12" of fresh snow two days before. We managed to ski past Marcy Dam and up a little bit more across a creek towards Phelps before we transitioned to snowshoes. Being on snowshoes felt a bit weird as I had spent most of the winter cross country skiing. Off we went to the Phelps turn off and started the inclined portion of the hike to the summit. I was in the lead and told Deb I was going to keep a steady pace on the ascent (not blazing fast but not lollygagging either). Turned out we passed two other parties and reached the summit first on that day! It was a bit of an ego boost for us having not hiked a mountain in 2 years! We still got it!

We took a break on the summit with some food and drink and had some photos taken by some other summiters. We didn't linger too long as we had to descend and then continue over to Tabletop. The descent went well despite being not sure how my knee would handle it after having a knee surgery during my 2 year hiatus. The slog up to the Tabletop turnoff is a part I had forgotten about. You do ascend quite a lot in this section.  I was reminiscing with Deb about a AT ski descent I did off Marcy down the ski trail parallel the hiking trail and it is quite steep. We saw a group of AT skiers heading up Marcy earlier which would have been a great day to do it with all the fresh snow. When we finally got to the Tabletop turnoff we  couldn't remember how far it was to the top. Deb thought it was 30-40 mins or so. I think it ended up being 45 so not too far off! I remembered the Tabletop summit from my first round as being unremarkable but I found this time it does have a really nice view from it despite the dead standing trees. 

Our descent went pretty fast but by now the toll of the ascents had worn out our legs and we marched out and down to our ski stash. We transitioned back on skis and found that now being late afternoon, the snow was freezing up again and things started to get icy. The ski trail out from Marcy Dam was incredibly fast....we were averaging 22km/hr not even poling! There was one part of the ski trail that I was concerned about and made a remark to Deb on the way in. A steep descent ends a one foot ledge drop off that would be consequential at speed. Knowing it was coming, I used the metal edges on my backcountry skis to dig into the snow as best I could and snowplowed my way towards the ledge with alarm bells ringing loudly in my brain. Could I stop before the ledge? With all the extra weight on my back (winter daypack and snowshoes) I came to a screaming halt 2meters before the ledge with my legs still in a wide plow formation. My upper body position was so far forward that it catapulted me into a faceplant into the snow! Luckily I did not go over the edge and besides having a mouthful of snow, I was no worse for the wear. Deb had one wipeout too in a different location, so it was definitely fast skiing!

We zoomed out the rest of the way on skis and finished our first day in the 'dacks and a natural high from the adventure we just had. Long overdue! 2 more winters in the bag!

Stats:
Time: 7h 37mins
Distance: 25.3km
Ascent: 1323m (this could be off as my watch wasn't working well)

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
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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

The easiest way to get to the trailhead for Mt Carrigain 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 Carrigain 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