#ne674k

[hikertrash101]

MARCH 24th, 2012
Mount Moriah ——————————————- Headed up Mt. Moriah Tr. w Pat. Stopped for a break at the ledges then made a break for the top. 1/2 way up caught a glimpse of the rear of a moose so I stopped Pat and told him. He didn’t believe me. We tip toes around the bend in the trail and sure enough the moose was 20 yards up the trail. In a flash it turned and full on sprinted at us! We bolted off the side of a trail and hid behind a tree. Running down the trail after the moose was some asshole shouting “WHOA MOOSE! WHOAAA MOOSE!” Jackass almost got us trampled. Aside from that terrifying nonsense it was a great hike! Moral is if don’t spook a moose!

[hikertrash101]

AUGUST 28th, 2012 Final 48!: Owl’s Head————————— You always hear that Owl’s Head “is SUCH a long hike” if I knew any better I would have just done it in a day, but I’m glad I didn’t. I never would have met the kids! The night before the hike I camped at Pemi Eastside. I left my overnight set up there and headed up Owls head. I remember it was hot but I was stoked to be hiking my final 48. I met an old man on my way up completing his “3rd and final” round. That sounded un unbelievable at the time. I made the top and rushed back to the river. When I got to the bridge I heard children screaming. I followed the spur to Franconia Falls and found a dozen kids 8-12 years old jumping 20’ off the rock pictured above and into a pristine green pool at its base! They chanted for me to jump without mercy so I joined them. It was super fun but after only a few jumps I felt like a weirdo hanging out with strange kids and headed back across the river. Back at the campsite later that night it turned out that they were ALSO camping there and they shared their fire. They were a camp group and the leader put me on an awkward pedestal. “Tell them what you did! He hiked ALL of the 4,000’ers!” The kids thought I was the coolest 😂 and asked a ton of questions. I wonder if now 9 years later any of them remembers the hiker guy.

[hikertrash101]

JANUARY 7th, 2012
Becky’s First Hike: Mt Garfield Not sure how I managed to get my sister out on a hike but sure enough I did. She made it with in a tenth of a mile of the summit before she turned around. Her hips were hurting I guess. Still a great hike regardless. 10-20’s on packed trail.

[hikertrash101]

NOVEMBER 12th, 2011 Search-And-Rescue: Mount Jefferson via Castle Ridge Pat, a regular at my work, came up to me one day and started talking about hiking. He said he would love it if I could bring him on a hike someday. So I told him “Name a mountain and maybe will go hike it!” Imagine my surprise when he chose Mount Jefferson, New Hampshire’s third highest peak.  He threw out some good reasons and despite my objections in the end we picked a date. My coworker Bobby was with in earshot I wanted in on the adventure. He’d never hiked a day in his life but I figured he was physically fit enough to make it. My hiking partner is Tyler and Pat A. were also down for the hike and I figured with the three of us things will be just fine. Fast forward to the day of the hike. Everyone showed up to the trailhead on time but Pat was white as a sheet. When I asked him if he was feeling all right he told me he went on a bender the night before and made no promises about the day. It was what it was and not to sound like a parent but I wasn’t mad just disappointed. I was really looking forward to getting Pat up on my favorite mountain. Four-tenths of a mile from the parking lot he about he headed for the car. Castle Ridge Trail is one of the more scenic trails in the Whites with a true castellated ridge with three prominent exposed rock abutments. Beyond the nubs there is a mile long walk through schist felsenmere. Temps were in the 20-10’s that day which meant rime ice on every surface. Kush, Tyler’s Rottweiler is a tough dog but her pads never real held up against rime ice. The second her pad began to bleed her turned around and headed back to the car. He was .4 miles from the summit. Now it was only Pat A. Bobby and me. We pushed through 35-40mph winds to get to the summit and didn’t stay long. It was good to see Bobby with a big burst of confidence. The  itinerary called for Castle Ravine down to the car but all of the cairns for that trail were buried in snow. We searched for about 15 minutes in vain across the snow field we could clearly make out Lowe’s Path and Israel Ridge so we discussed it and chose the slightly longer route. Bobby immediately let out “We’re lost! Holy shit we’re lost!” We explained to him that the alternate route was 2 miles longer but it was at least visible and that we had both taken that trail on prior hikes. It was little help however. Any positive mental attitude he gained from the summit was replaced with doubt. His mental state took a nosedive. To keep him moving we had to keep saying “Just two more miles Bobby. Just two more miles.” We watched the sun go down over Castellated Ridge then dipped into Jefferson Ravine. The sun went down and the full moon came out. When we got to the stream crossings they were completely blown out by Irene. At each crossing we had to spend ten minutes finding our way. At one foot prints just lead down the creek. Pat A and I were still completely fine. “As long as we go down we will be fine.” Bobby however, kept sitting down and the ten minute breaks were starting to add up. I took his pack and he complained that it was too dark. So I turned my headlamp around and used the moonlight. He was extremely vocal about his discomfort with the situation and we didn’t blame him. We just prodded and poked him along. “Two more miles” was no longer effective. Finally linked back up with Castle RidgeTrail and all breathed a sigh of relief. When we got to the infamous disclaimer sign we knew we were basically at the parking lot and let out whoops and hollers. Tyler came sprinting out. “Where the fuck have you been?! I called search and rescue YOU NEED to get to the parking lot RIGHT NOW!” The SAR guys were nice guys. They said they had three calls out of Appalachia so we were off the hook. We popped in the car and took off. I vaguely remember pizza but it’s questionable.

[hikertrash101]

AUGUST 22/23rd, 2013                  THE BONDS, S. TWIN AND GALEHEAD.

We headed up the Bonds hoping for a blood moon cliff walk, but it was too cloudy and we found ourselves walking in the dark. All and all a great hike!  Swimming at 13 falls was great minus the random naked dude...

[hikertrash101]

AUGUST 16/17th, 2013       SHELBURNE-MORIAH, MORIAH, THE CARTERS, HIGHT, THE DOME, THE WILDCATS AND ELLIS FALLS. Another overnight with Matt and Meshmita.  Lots of fun, over the Carter Range, overnighting in Carter Notch, racing to keep up with Danny over the Wildcats, and swimming at Ellis Falls.

[hikertrash101]

AUGUST 2nd, 2013       MT CANON Eds first 4K!! Some bees, we met Lizzy, some rain, a sweet nap and over all a beautiful day for a hike!