Sunday, August 10 - North Twin Mountain (4761', 11)

I was planning on Washington today, if the weather would cooperate at all. I dawdled as usual and by the time I got in the car, it was about 3 o'clock and totally cloudy. Before I made it out of the driveway, the radio program was interrupted for a severe thunderstorm warning. Yeah, maybe I'll take a pass at Washington. Fortunately, I've got great views of the sky and mountains on the drive, so I wait for inspiration. After 12 minutes I was inspired as I entered the town of Twin Mountain, just at the point where the road runs directly toward the looming masses of the Twin Mountains (North and South, mostly from the north you see north twin. They are the 11th and 9th tallest peaks in NH, respectively and appeared relatively clear, while Washington and the rest of the presidentials were having a kettle drum contest.

I checked my map and drove to the trailhead just a few miles up the road. It's at the end of about 2.5 miles of dirt road heading directly south into the heart of the pemigewasset (pemi) wilderness. From the trailhead, north twin is 4.3 miles and south twin is 1.3 miles past that. I figure that I'd need a time cushion of 6 hours to do both, though I'd hopefully need less than 5. It was 3:30. I brought my headlamp, just in case. I really never planned to do both at this hour, in this weather. It's no big loss not to bag south twin even with it being only 1.3 miles away. It's even closer to Galehead, so it can easily be added when bagging the rest of the many pemi peaks. I'll need up to 12 hours for that 20+ miler. By doing this today, it lets me avoid a 2.6 mile side trip later.

Total 8.6 miles
3:00 exactly elapsed time
1:42 up
1:10 down

Saturday, August 9 - Mt. Jefferson (5716', 3)

It was cool and overcast most of the day, with occasional glimpses of blue sky. Still, it's the nicest day in weeks. I want to stay away from the major trailheads like Appalachia, and off the main trails. After great lengths of internal debate, I decided to do Jefferson by way of the caps ridge trail from Jefferson Notch. It feels like cheating. The Jefferson notch road is the highest public road in NH (closed in winter). You take 9 miles of dirt road to the AMC parking area at the Notch, which is at just about 3000 feet of altitude. The caps ridge trail is 2.5 miles to the summit of jeff, some of it pretty rough with some ledge scrambling, but mostly soft, smooth and quick, relative to most trails in the presidentials. The sky was beginning to clear, at least on the lower parts of the mountain, and I thought the peak might just clear in time for me to arrive. The Caps are three large promontories near the top of the ridge leading from Jefferson Notch to Jefferson. They were in clear air and had very nice panoramic views of the valleys. The tops of the peaks were still wrapped with heavy clouds.

I reached the summit after an hour and 25 minutes of steady climbing. It is a much easier climb than Madison or Adams, each of which has long, tedious, half hour boulder scrambles at the summit approach. Jefferson's boulder scramble takes about 30 seconds. Completely clouded over, not a view to be seen. I spent about 5 minutes at the summit then another 5 to eat my banana at the first cap, and had a nice little talk with a mom waiting for her hubby and kids who were going up a second time in the fruitless hope of getting a stunning view. Let's call it 1:25 up, leave at 1:35, arrive at trailhead at 2:42 (67 minutes down).

It felt quick and easy. The trail really is pretty tough, only averaged 34 min/mi uphill, and I can usually maintain faster than 30 on all but the steepest or most technical slopes. Nevertheless, 85 minutes to a more than mile high summit just seems too easy.

That was fun. If tomorrow is nice, I may go out for a long peak-bagging series.

Friday, August 8 - Mts. Tom, Field & Willey

Friday, August 8 - Mt. Tom (4051', 39)
Mt. Field (4340', 23)
Mt. Willey (4285', 29)
Total 10 miles, 3:52, 3450' climb

The legs felt fine today, but the weather called for thunderstorms again, especially in the afternoon in the mountains. Screw it, I'm going anyway, it's too nice a day not to be on the trail. (mid-60's, windy, rainy)

I figured the Willey range would be an easy afternoon foray. It's supposed to be a pretty easy trail and you can get all three done (one of them twice) in 10 miles. And it is very sheltered - no open ridged or rocky summits - trees everywhere. Should be OK even if there is some cracklin' and boomin' along the way. Checking the map, and reading tim seamon's comments from his record breaking run (all 48 of the NH 4000 footers in 3 days, 13 hours), I figured on finishing in between four and five hours. A bit quicker if I can match seamon's times.

On the way to the trailhead at Crawford Depot, the rain picked up a little bit, and the sound of not-quite-distant thunder punctuated the entire hike. It never got too close, though, and I never did see any lightning.

Much of the trail is runnable, both low and high, but the runnability was more or less negated by the mud. This would be another great trail to run when dry. Even the steep sections have steps just the right height to make running easier than hiking. It rained much of the way, and the air was cool, so I was completely comfortable the entire way. I reached Mt. Tom (2.9 mi., 68 min., 23 min./mi.) just as I was beginning to feel good and warmed up. I ate a banana and rushed off to Mt. Field (1.5 mi., 36 min., 24 min./mi.), then to Mt. Willey (1.4 mi., 30 min., 21 min./mi.), where I ate my second banana. I'll need to get used to taking food along, as many hikes will now be over 10 miles. A downhill mile to Mt. Avalon (3442', 1 mi., 22 min.) which has very dramatic views over Crawford Notch, much better than any of the three major peaks which all have obscured peaks. That's what my guidebook says. The only thing I saw today was gray and wet. This weather is so much nicer than florida and virginia!!! Avalon had some flat rocks at the summit which were slick like marl. I ran most of the last 1.8 miles (32 min., 17 min./mi.) - the trail was almost like a cross country course. Legs felt great the whole way, no little aches at all.

Eight down, forty to go. Is there any way I can get them all done before the running school?

nfw

Thursday, August 7

Thursday, August 7

I was heading out to Cannon Mountain for a quick up and down before dark, and hadn't gone a quarter mile in my car when a thunderstorm warning interrupted my entertainment. In fact, I could see that the mountains in that direction were all covered with roiling black clouds. With accompanying lightning and thunder. Screw it, maybe I'll run later.

By seven most of the rain had passed, and there were even some breaks in the clouds. I stretched and ran 3.2 up and down the road. I can tell one thing right away, my training has not been geared to speed. Mile splits, 10 min, 9 min, 7:55, 1:32 (28:30). I was beginning to feel a bit better by the end of the second mile.

My left leg has taken the bulk of physical damage incurred on trail, plus it's got that gouty foot going on. So naturally it's my right leg which hurts. Outside of the lower leg just above the ankle, one of the stabilizers/extensors. It hurt a little throughout the day, so I paid a little extra attention to it while stretching. It didn't bother me while running, and I iced it and took some ibuprofen before bed. Other than that, my legs feel great after a couple easy days.

Wednesday, August 6 - Mt. Hale (4054', 38)

My battered legs rested all day, stretched at 3:30, drove 15 miles to the Pleasantville trailhead and started on trail at 4:39. This is supposed to be one of the easiest of the 4000 footers, 2.3 miles with a gain of about 2400 feet. I figure at best I'll get up in an hour, at worst 75 minutes.

It's a great trail; the bottom 2/3 is almost all runnable, both up and down. I didn't run up, but after yesterday's adventure, every step that wasn't balanced on the corner of a broken piece of granite felt like a foot massage. There is dirt on trails!! The grade was consistently steep, and wet all over, of course, but I was able to maintain a steady pace with about 4 fifteen second rests spread over the first hour. Because the pace felt quick, I decided to rest at the top, rather than after 60 minutes. At about 57 minutes, the grade began to level off and there was light from a clearing up ahead, so I rushed ahead and reached the mist-blown summit in just under 59 minutes. That works out to 26 minutes/mile up an average grade of over 1000 feet/mile. That really felt refreshing, in addition to the cool, clammy winds blowing strands of mist across the broad, flat, tree-surrounded summit. Nothing but gray. I enjoyed the feel of the wind for about 6 minutes, then headed down at 65 minutes. The top third of the mountain isn't much faster downhill than up, but the trail downhill is easily runnable for the entire last 1.5 miles, with some sections on the bottom you can even open up on a little bit. I really must consider making this a regular recovery run. Made it to the trailhead at 1:52, for a downhill time of 47 minutes (20 min/mi). Every time my feet landed on dirt, it felt like Dr. Scholl's gel insoles. Even the rocks felt soft. And less than 20 minutes away. What a country.

Summited at 5:38. 5 peaks climbed so far, each summited between 5 and 6 pm. The happy hour 48, I'll call it.

Tuesday, August 5 - Mt. Adams (5799', 2)

Adams kicked my ass. The way up was long and uneventful, going for the long, easy route to the summit. From Appalachia take the link to lowe's path which basically runs along the top of Nowell's ridge. There were two parts to the trail, first the crossover to Nowell's ridge from Durand's. It's 2.7 miles crossing over, with moderate climbs. Once on lowe's path (3.0 miles), the trail gets steeper and rockier, and like most of the presidentials, the summit is a long, arduous clamber through broken boulder fields. Mt. Adams is much like Madison in this regard, but the boulders are bigger and there are more of them. I took it pretty easy and reached the top in a bit under three hours. Having started at 2:20, this brought me to the top at about 5:16, right on schedule. As long as I can get down as quickly as I got up, I'll be down before dark. No prob. Nothing can possibly go awry.

On the way down, things quickly went awry. In my own defense, however, please consider that I wouldn't know how awry for another hour or so.

I took a different route down, though I had planned to go up and back with lowe's path. The trail became very steep, very quickly. And it wasn't really a trail, either, just a miles long river of boulders, slowly making their way downhill. You can see this in the picture.

About two minutes from the top, before the trail even turned cruel, I stepped off trail by just a couple feet, but the surface wasn't solid and I bashed my left shin in two spots. Damn that hurt. Before the day was over, I would also tear off the scabs on my left knee, bash my left knee on a rock, bash my right knee on a rock, break my camera lcd and stub my left toe. I felt like some wiseguy had taken a Louisville slugger to my legs.

Anyway, the trail is crazy. I've been on some rough trails the last few weeks, but they were all blazed blue. I don't know what blue means, but it includes some pretty rugged climbing. If you see orange, think twice about following. I see pretty quickly that this trail goes straight down the headwall of King ravine, which generally forms the border between Mt Adams and Mt Madison. On the Madison side of King ravine is Durand ridge, along the top of which runs air line directly to Madison hut, between Madison and Adams. Durand runs north from Madison. On the other side of King ravine is Nowell's ridge, running directly up Mt Adams. Running along the top of Nowell's ridge is lowe's path, which I took up. King ravine is between the two ridges, a classic glacial cirque with a knife-edge ridge (Durand) and a huge, flat headwall. And I was climbing straight down the headwall. The boulders ranged from the size of small cars to small buildings, and while they appeared at first glance to be stationary, after a few minutes at the crazy angle of the headwall it was possible to sense their inexorable downward flow. This was punctuated by the fact that you couldn't trust any size rock. I stepped on one the size of sofa and it began to slide downhill. Crap. All I need is a rockslide. And we've been getting record rainfall for over a month, including every day for three weeks. The ground is soft and soggy and the rocks want to go downhill. This is serious scrambling, all four arms and legs getting a good workout. At some points, it must have been about a 50 degree slope. Extremely slow going. Many of the boulders were over 10 feet long, and a slip could easily drop you in a hole you can't get out of. Possibly with a broken leg or skull. I definitely want to pass on that.



Great view, too, of the whole valley. After about an hour, I had gone maybe a half mile, and dropped probably a thousand feet. Looking down, an endless stream of boulders descended and disappeared into the early evening gloom, through which my path was destined. This was exhausting, both physically and mentally, what with the removal of any margin of error. I did start one small rockslide, with about 20-30 rocks, the largest being about 50 pounds or so. I got lucky and they didn't pound me, but it was close thing. This trail is nuts, even for me. It's drizzling out and the sharp rocks are very slick. For the most part, I don't move my feet without also having two solid handholds. And, like this paragraph, the boulders and rocks and climbing just went on and on and on. I'm well into a second hour of this (and I'm not taking rests, either) before the trail eases off. For another mile or so it's just a hard trail (now blazed yellow rather than orange - woo-hoo!). By now 2 ¼ hours have passed, and I may not even be halfway down. It's past 7:30 with total overcast, so it's dim and flat and getting darker by the minute. My legs are hurtin'. I try to keep up as fast a pace as possible while I have whatever light I still have. I know that in half an hour half the rocks and roots will become invisible.

Despite the dark, the next hour was productive and uneventful. I practically kissed the sign which read "Appalachia 100 yds" because I really didn't want to go another mile in the dark (I was hoping it wasn’t the sign that said "Appalachia 0.9 mi.). It was 8:39. My legs were covered with mud and bleeding in four places. I can't wait to do it all over again tomorrow!

Here's what one of my mountain books says about the King ravine trail which I descended in the rain today. "Traverse of King Ravine involves rough scrambling over boulders and ledges and is not advisable in wet weather or for descent." No shit. It further describes the "very steep, rough ascent of the headwall" with a climb of over 1100 feet in less than half a mile. Yes, I remember. See photos. Looking up at the wall could give you vertigo. Could but didn't. It was a good day not to break my leg!



2:56 up 5.7 mi
3:20 down 4.6 mi
6:21 total time on trail
about 10.3 total miles
4600 foot climb

Sunday, July 27 - Mt. Cabot (4170', 33)

Sunday, July 27 - Mt. Cabot

It rained.
I never wrote it up.
Didn't even bring the camera.

Saturday, July 26 - Mt. Waumbek (4006', 46)

Picked some low hanging fruit - Mt Waumbek (4006'). Started at 4:10.
63 minutes to Mt. Starr King (3907', 2.6 mi.), Waumbek summit (3.6 mi.) at 83 minutes. Rested a couple minutes, then headed back, passing starr king after 18 minutes and reaching the car in 58 for a total time on trail of 2:23, a total climb of about 2600' over 7.2 miles. I ran most of the way back - very good trail for running, both uphill and downhill. I don't often brag on running 15 minute miles, but it's still a lot faster than hiking pace and not much difference in effort.

Friday, July 25 - Mt. Madison (5366', 5)

Friday morning. Wow, what a great day to climb some mountains! Mostly sunny with enough fluffy cumulous clouds to provide occasional shade without threatening rain. The air is dry. Can you imagine, the air is dry. My plan is to get on trail by one and do a mini presidential traverse this afternoon. I think I'll take Howker's, because it leads directly up Madison, should be dry, has great views from the Howks, and crosses over a waterfall. It's a pain in the ass to climb down, but it's a quick climb up. I'll stop by Madison hut for lunch, then summit Adams via Star Lake, and return by Lowe's path, maybe cutting over on Randolph pass. I'm figuring six hours. It's probably between 10 and 12 miles total with elevation gains of over a mile. Lemme check. About 11.5. Hmm. Maybe I should go down air line. I'll just have to improvise, and see how I feel. Regardless, I've been up over 4800 feet too many times not to actually start bagging peaks. Maybe I'll grab Jefferson too, as long as I'm up there, right? If I bust my ass, I could reach Madison in about 2:10, Adams in 3:10, Jefferson in 4:10, back by 7 hours. I think I'll pass on Jeff.

Even I think this is crazy.

Started on trail at two sharp, reached Madison summit (5367') at five sharp, hung out about 5 minutes, then made it Madison hut by 5:25, where I rested for 10-15 minutes, slugging water and eating a couple slices of leftover bread. Howker's is much longer than Valley Way/Watson. Took air line down, running some lower sections. Time down from the hut about 1:35 for a total time on trail of 5:15 (2:00-7:15) a total distance of about 9 ½ miles and a total climb of about 4100 feet.