Success!

We visited Mt. Success and the site of the 1954 plane crash today.  I'll post a trip report late tomorrow evening.

JMT Training, Peak 2 of 21: North Percy Peak (52WAV and T25).

All I can say about North Percy is...wow.  This is now, by far, my favorite peak in New Hampshire when it comes to views.

North Percy Peak via Percy Peaks Trail, Percy Loop Trail, and a roadwalk.  Six mile loop hike with about 2150 feet of elevation gain.

Sage and I used our new ultralight Gossamer Gear backpacks today.  Alex's backpack had not yet arrived, so she brought her old, trustworthy (but not ultralight) Osprey 25 on this hike.  Sage carried her new ultralight sleeping bag, a change of clothes, water, and one day's worth of food in her new backpack.  Her pack weighed less than Alex's...and Alex carried only a change of clothes, water, and half a day's worth of food.  My backpack held my new ultralight bear canister, 6 pounds of food, our new ultralight three-person tent, two sleeping pads, a change of clothes, and two liters of water.  All of that weighed far less than what I carried on the Camino last year.  Of course, I'll be schlepping a lot more food and a bit more gear when we actually do the JMT, but still...gotta love going ultralight!  I'll do a full report on each item we use on the JMT after we return in September.

We arrived at the trailhead to find a friendly fellow named Creston gearing up.  Creston's a veteran NH hiker; we enjoyed speaking with him about various trails and peaks, and we enjoyed meeting his dog, Daisy.  The girls and I "played leapfrog" with Creston and Daisy throughout our hike, and we shared some summit time with them on the peak.  It was a pleasure meeting them both.

At the trailhead...

Heading into and through the woods (the grades were usually moderate)...

Love the tree on this boulder!

We hit the base of a wet ledgy area at about 1.2 miles...

The trail went steeply up, to the right of the wet ledgy area...

...then it crossed a few slanted, dry ledges...

...before heading back into the woods.  The path flattened out a bit for the last couple tenths of a mile before the intersection with Percy Loop Trail.

From here, it was a steep half mile up to the peak of North Percy.

Breaking out above treeline was glorious...the weather was perfect and the ledges were easy to climb...and oh my goodness, the views views views views views!

These ledges are what qualify this hike for the T25 list...
this trek is fine in good weather, but I'd hesitate to try it during rain or in the winter)

We'd take a break from ascending the ledges every few minutes to turn around and look at THIS --

We reached the summit (congrats on another 52WAV peak, Sage!)...

then we sat, ate, and enjoyed the incredible morning.

Eventually, we began heading back down.  The girls and I loved descended the ledges, since the views were simply fantastic.

After reaching the intersection, we decided to take the Percy Loop Trail and then roadwalk back to our car.  Percy Loop Trail was fairly easy to descend...it wasn't as steep as Percy Peaks Trail and the footing was relatively free of rocks and roots.

We made it to the road...

...and walked the mile or so back to the car.

What a wonderful morning!  Sage and I love our new packs!

Our first week of training is complete.  Next week, we'll kick it up a notch by hiking three times a week (two 52WAV hikes and one TW72 hike).  Alex will have her new pack, and each of us will carry a bit more weight.  Within two weeks, each of us will be carrying everything we'll carry on the JMT.

I must say, though...I don't know what the JMT has to offer that NH doesn't...today's scenery was so breathtakingly beautiful that I can't imagine a prettier view on earth.

We visited North Percy today...and it was gorgeous!

I'll post a full trip report tomorrow afternoon (Friday).

JMT Training, Peak 1 of 21 -- Mt. Hayes (52WAV)

We're back -- and we're ready to roll.

FIRST -- many, many thanks to Jim and Jackie St. Cyr and Plymouth Regional High School's Spanish 3 class for their donations to Feeding America!  Alex, Sage, and I greatly appreciate their generosity - we are now almost to our fundraising goal!  If you too can help, click here -- remember, every cent goes directly to Feeding America.

We are now in training for the John Muir Trail, which we'll hike in August.  Our training plan consists of hiking Sage's remaining mountains on the 52 With a View list and Alex's remaining mountains on the Trailwrights' 72 list.  Before we leave for California, Sage will likely finish the 52WAV and Alex will probably get all but two of the Trailwrights' peaks.  We'll hike the remaining two TW72 peaks in September.

In other words, between today and the end of July, we hope to bag at least 21 mountains.  Today, we did Mt. Hayes, a moderate 52WAV hike just north of the Carter Range.

Hayes has easy-to-moderate grades, which is just what we needed to ease into our training regimen.  Our new, ultralight backpacks have not yet arrived, so we used our old ones and included enough gear to make the weight approximate to what we'll carry on the JMT, minus food.  We'll build up to fully weighted packs during the next few weeks.

Mt Hayes via Mahoosuc Trail, just over 5 miles roundtrip with approximately 1800 feet of elevation gain.

Here are the girls in front of the trailhead.  We initially walked right past the entrance to the trail; some locals out for a walk turned us around and showed us the way.  FYI, this entrance is less than a tenth of a mile from where you park (on Hogan Road, across from the hydroelectric dam), and it's directly across the dirt road from a large sign warning of thin ice.

The trail goes up a short while through the woods, then crosses this open area underneath the power lines.

View from the open area, between tall bits of vegetation...

After heading back into the woods, the trail maintains a fairly easy-to-moderate grade.

About an hour after leaving the trailhead, we reached the first ledges, which are a few tenths of a mile or so from the summit.  We didn't stop at this point; instead, we waited until we were on the way back before we rested and enjoyed the views (photos below).

Onward...

We hiked over a few ups and downs and passed by a few cairns that seemed to mark the summit, but we weren't sure of the location of the official high point.  We therefore wandered all around until we reached the intersection with Centennial Trail (past the official summit).

We then wandered back to those southern ledges...

...and hung about for a while.

We ate, we drank, we enjoyed the views...and then we descended.

Finished!

This was a nice way to kick off what will be a frenetic seven weeks.  In addition to hiking peaks, the girls have karate twice a week, schoolwork (we keep up with math, foreign language, reading the classics, writing, and spelling during the summer), a bunch of social gatherings/field trips with other homeschoolers, bird club outings, playdates, and a two week Shakespeare camp.  Life is busy, which is how we like it.

We're hiking again this Thursday -- 'til then,
Trish

Reminder -- Museum of the White Mountains in Plymouth, NH

If you're coming by the Whites anytime soon, stop by the Museum of the White Mountains in Plymouth, NH.  Sarah Garlick put together a fantastic exhibition on the geology of the Whites.  Her husband, adventure filmmaker and professional climber Jim Surette, created this wonderful film, which can be found on a big screen in a room within the main exhibit hall --

Jim also filmed our book trailer two years ago -- Alex and Sage look so tiny! They sure have grown.  :)

By the way, I'm in the process of collecting links of blogs and/or Facebook Pages/Twitter feeds of mothers who hike with their daughters.  More about this soon.  In the meantime, if you know of any mom/daughter hiking links, send them my way.  patriciaellisherr@post.harvard.edu

Vacation

The girls and I are on vacation until mid-June.  When we get back into the mountains, we will attempt to finish the 52WAV peaks and the Trailwrights peaks.  That'll mean about 20 mountains or so in 6 weeks.  If we can pull that off, then we should be more than ready for the John Muir Trail in August.  :)  We're in pretty good shape right now, but we all want to be in GREAT shape so the JMT feels more like a pleasant walk than a hard core trek.

I have all our gear except for last minute clothing items for the girls.  Clothing items for the kids always have to be bought at the last second, since both Alex and Sage have a habit of growing out of things quickly.  I'll post a full gear report after we return in September.

Have a wonderful couple of weeks.  From mid-June through July, I'll post trip reports of our peakbagging adventures...and I'll also get back to the fundraising requests for Feeding America.  We only have 30% more to raise of our $2104 goal.

Til mid-June,
Trish

Black Mountain (52WAV, Jackson). May 20, 2014

Black Mtn. Ski Trail, 3.5  miles roundtrip.

Yesterday, we saw the wonderful A.R.T. production of Shakespeare's The Tempest.  Since we had to be in Cambridge, MA by late afternoon, we elected to cross off a short, easy 52WAV in the morning.

This Friday, we'll do a longer hike...then the girls and I are headed overseas for various reasons unrelated to hiking.  There, we'll keep up our exercise (though it won't be hiking), then, when we get back to NH, we'll hike mountains three days a week until it's time to board a plane for California.  Sage would like to finally finish the 52WAV list (she's been casually working on it since she was four), and Alex would like to finally finish the peaks on the Trailwrights 72 list (she's been casually working on those since she was six).  We figure finishing those lists in six short weeks will be an excellent way to get in shape for the John Muir Trail.

Black Mountain (in Jackson, NH) is a short, moderately steep trek up a local ski mountain.  There's a cabin 0.4 miles from the top...I took a fabulous picture on my iPhone of the girls by the cabin, with the snow-capped Presidentials in the background...but then I accidentally deleted that photo (and three fabulous other images) before I had a chance to copy it (and them) to this blog.  Arg arg arg.  Here are the four photos I managed not to delete.

Starting out

Cabin ahead

Summit!

This was an enjoyable walk.  We look forward to Friday, when we'll take on a more traditional, longer hike.  Then, once mid-June hits, we'll be all over the Whites knocking down peaks right and left until we leave for the John Muir Trail in August.