In a few days I’m heading south to Gatlinburg, Tennessee – the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains. I’ll be right next to the Appalachian Trail.
Gatlinburg entrance.
I’ll be living in a mountain town again and I’m so incredibly happy.
I had high hopes of a Pemi Traverse and a Double Presidential this year. I broke the news to Greg that I won’t be joining him. [If you are reading this you better do it.]
I have not given up on My Grid. I know I’ll be back and I will finish the grid. Similar to starting my first 4,000 footer list in 1988, then leaving NH for 15 years, coming back and finishing it. And a second round.
I’m ready to start my new adventure down south. I’m so thankful for the new friends I made in the last five years in Concord. And, reuniting with old friends. We have mountain biked, hiked, ran, swam and walked all over New Hampshire. I am so thankful for them.
Vicky and Greg
It’s been a stressful few days getting everything moved and making travel plans. A few snafus like car breaking down, ER for dog and planning delays have set me back. But I’m back on track, and “God willing and the Creek don’t rise” I will arrive in Gatlinburg with my two dogs, and eventually all my things.
It’s so fun to start a job in a new place where I know no one. It’s exciting to start over and see what happens. All the logistics stress me out but it will be okay. I have so many new trails to discover. I have so many new friends to make. I have so many new mountains to climb.
Our original plan was to hike/run a Pemi Loop on Saturday. However, with the weather forecast I knew it was going to be a stress-hike, always looking for water with the heat and humidity. We opted for a Saturday Franconia Super Loop: Liberty, Flume, Lincoln, Lafayette and run back on the paved Pemi bike trail back to the car parked at Flume Visitors Center.
The hike up Liberty Springs was bug-free and humid. In the trees it was steamy! We would hike through hot patches and cold patches; there was no wind. The trail was pretty wet down low and then patches as we got higher.
As we climbed to the ridge we were hoping it would cool off and the wind would increase. The Higher Summit forecast was wrong all day, we thought. It was hot and muggy. It had to be around 70 on the ridge. We saw some monorail on the trails that made a few sections slippery and straddling it seemed to be the best option at times.
We saw people coming down from camping up high and we saw hikers coming from the south on the Osseo Trail. Small packs, big packs, all the crazies who were out on this day were having fun despite the hot temperatures.
When we got to Liberty it was undercast – so cool to see.
After Flume and Liberty we headed north on the Franconia Ridge Trail. Hiking towards Little Haystack is no joke. That is one tough climb. And it doesn’t even count as a 4,000 footer. If approached from the north, it is less than a 200 foot climb from Lincoln, however it is a killer hike from Liberty. The clouds cleared and we had beautiful views of Cannon, Owl’s Head and the Bonds.
As soon as we got to the top of Little Haystack we thought we were home free; hiking on the ridge makes you forget all your troubles. However, I was getting low on water and was eager to get to Greenleaf Hut and refill. On top of Little Haystack we talked to a US Forest Service Ridge Runner. She said the wind last night and this morning on Lafayette was fierce and loud. The High Summit forecast was correct up until late morning, when the winds all but died.
It was a slow hike up to Lincoln and then Lafayette. Our legs were toast but the views were fantastic.
We stopped for a break at the top of Lafayette and tried to piece together where we lost the trail in April when we were in white-out conditions. We both looked around the summit and remembered that we started to head to Lincoln the wrong way. We made the right decision to turn back that day.
The summit was warm today. The sun beat down on us despite the wind that picked up a bit. We headed down to the hut, resupplied with water, and down to Lafayette parking. The trail was very wet and my feet were feeling soggy. At the parking lot, we took the tunnel under the highway and headed back to our car on the paved Pemi bike path. About a mile on the path, my right foot started to hurt, badly. When I took off my shoe, the bottom of my foot was soggy and a blood blister was on the ball of my foot. I couldn’t walk anymore; it hurt too much. I’ve never had blisters or anything like this in all the years I’ve been hiking. Greg offered to run back to the car (2.1 miles) and pick me up. I said no the first time he offered, I could do this, I could figure it out. Then I tried to walk again, and accepted his offer. Thanks for saving the day, Greg.
This is from Greg’s Strava. My mileage was 2.1 miles less. Thanks for the save, Greg.
It was a good hike on a terrible weather day. 2 for 2 Mount Lafayette. Too hot, too cold, but we got it done. I’m happy to be done and hobbling a bit with the blister on my foot. Training begins for a Semi-Pemi in June, Full Pemi in July and a double Presidential Traverse in August.
Temperatures and wind created winter conditions on Mount Washington and all the high peaks on our Saturday hike. wind…. snow…. ice…. mud.
Saturday was a good day to spend some time in the Presidentials.
We opted for Jewell Trail to Gulfside to Mount Washington. The Jewel trail was a gradual ascent to treeline. We had great views of Mount Washington once we got out of the trees. The temperature was perfect and not much wind until this point.
You can see Mount Washington between Vicky and Greg.
The snowfields were mostly solid and easy with spikes.
We got off trail a bit once we headed up to Washington and opted to follow the cog for a bit. We talked to some people heading down and they said the winds were 60mph.
We took a bunch of pictures and made our way over the Crawford Path trail to head south and get out of the wind. The sign was covered in snow but I remembered how to go from the traverse in October.
As we headed down from Mount Washington there were several steep angles we had to traverse. Some were a bit sketchy but we made it through. We thought the wind and cold would subside after descending from Mount Washington but the wind continued as we headed up Monroe.
Heading toward Lake of the Clouds and Monroe
It was a day when you could switch between spikes, crampons and snowshoes every five minutes. Since this was my first time in the Presidentials in winter conditions, maybe this is just what it’s like above treeline in April. 90% spikes and 10% bare boots today.
I love being on the Crawford Path. It has such an interesting history and it is so beautifully maintained with rocks lining the trail. My favorite part is heading down to the Eisenhower junction and then starting the climb up. Today there were 360 degree views at the top. I feel like the cairn on the summit gets smaller each time I’m there.
As we headed to Pierce the wind was still pretty strong. I love this descent back into the trees a bit and then up a short hike to Pierce. Pierce is a bit boring after the summits we did but it was nice to end on this peak. We opted not to go to Jackson.
We had sun and wind and high clouds all day. It was an epic adventure to bag Washington in full-on winter conditions. I am excited to go back and do this again next month to see what is different.
I had two great hiking partners today: Vicky and Greg. They were funny all day and were okay with leading the entire time. What a fun day.
When we started the steep climb up Willey, Vicky said she wanted to see a Pine Marten and that she heard they have been seen up here.
The last time we hiked Isolation we ran into a moose. We have a good track record of seeing wildlife on the trail together. Once we were past the ladders on the Willey Range Trail, and hit the summit, we forgot about seeing wildlife. On this beautiful Monday with full-on-sun, the ladders were doable.
There was some ice but the sun made it soft and we maneuvered over the ladders pretty easily.
We were sweating and getting showered on by the melting snow on the trees. The mountains got about two inches of snow overnight and by the time we started hiking, it was melting fast.
The views north to the Presidentials were amazing. It would’ve been a perfect day to be above treeline. High winds were predicted so we stayed away but it was so beautiful to look at from afar.
As we descended to Field on a relatively flat area Vicky spotted a Pine Marten heading toward us on the trail. I heard her shriek in delight at seeing the animal and I saw it dart off the trail to avoid us. It stayed close as Vicky took pictures and then as we passed the Pine Marten he jumped back on the trail and continued on. He was so freaking cute.
Pine Marten on the Willey Range Trail
The trail from Field to Tom is such a nice, gradual hike. The snow was perfect. I didn’t wear spikes for most of this section. Mount Tom had limited views but the white snow against the perfect blue sky made this summit so rewarding to bag. As we headed down A-Z trail back to Crawford Notch we put our spikes back on since it is so steep. Then once we hit 2,300 feet it was back to dirt trail.
Next hike…. We are hoping for a southern Presidential Traverse this weekend if the weather holds.
