Return to the Whites: Mt. Avalon, Mt. Field, and Mt. Tom

What I learned this weekend: There is no better way to combat a tryptophan-induced post-Thanksgiving food coma than to hike a snowy mountain in a blizzard.

After a few delicious days of feasting and indulgence, I was anxious to get back to the mountains, and especially to see the Whites covered in white! Simon and Jon picked me and Emily up at 7am in Boston (we brought our pillows for the back seat). We made a quick stop in Manchester (ahhh to be reunited with Deka!) to meet up with NH locals and we were well on our way north to the White Mountains. We arrived at the trail-head near the Crawford Notch Visitor Center around 10:30am. The trees and ground were dusted with snow, and there were a couple fluffy inches on the ground.

There were ten of us in total as we embarked on our 7.3 mile hike. I was a bit nervous about trying my new hiking boots (purchased for my Nepal trip in a month), but coupled with Simon's liner socks they worked really well! The first leg of the trip was about 1.25 miles, after which we reached a fork in the trail and decided to go left and climb Mt. Field first.

Along the way to Mt. Field we summited Mt. Avalon, which afforded the nicest views along the entire loop. We could see the Presidential range enshrouded in clouds in the distance.

The top of Mt. Field was a bit less exciting since it was mainly just a cairn in the middle of the woods. There was a bit of a view off to the side, but by then the clouds were thicker and it was beginning to snow. Dan managed to act as a bird feeder by holding some trail mix up in the air!

We headed over to the spur to Mt. Tom, where most of the group hiked up to check out the peak. On the way over a blizzard swept through and we all soon sported a pair of frozen, snow-covered eye lashes. The storm stopped about 15 minutes later, and we were pleasantly surprised by a beautiful sunset through the snow-covered evergreens.

Post-hike we headed to Moat (delicious restaurant in North Conway) for dinner and stopped at one of the gear consignment stores where some people found treasures!

I think I could fall in love with winter hiking...

Backpacking the Carter Moriah Range Trail

We (Simon, Travis, Tom, and I) met up at DEKA at 7am on a chilly Saturday morning to depart for the White Mountains. Approximately 3 hours and 1 car shuttle later, we (Memphis and Jordan included) were ready to go!

Memphis & Simon, Jordan & Travis (with his Dunkin Donuts coffee), Me, and Tom

We departed from a trailhead in a small neighborhood in Gorham, NH on the Carter Moriah Trail. It was about 4.5 miles of up, up, and up to the top of Mt. Moriah. From there the plan was to resupply on water at the Imp Campsite before traversing the three Carter Mountains (North, Middle, and South). To get to the top of Moriah we scrambled up some bare rock faces with beautiful views all around us. From the top we could see the Carters looming ahead.

At the Imp Campsite the caretaker warned us to refill on water because there are very few reliable water sources along the Carter ridge. We filled up and headed towards the Carters. It was a steep climb to get to North Carter, and Tom had to drag Memphis (who was carrying a wide pack and sometimes got stuck between neighboring rocks) up the steep sections of trail. Jordan, on the other hand, insisted on sprinting back and forth from the front to the back of the group constantly for the entire weekend.

Jordan exhausted from all her sprinting!

Somewhere between the Imp Campsite and the Carters I managed to slip off a log and step knee-deep into a hole of soupy muck. Luckily Tom had an extra pair of dry socks to lend me, so we carried on!

The hike from North Carter to Middle Carter was fairly easy. North Carter is not classified as one of the 48 peaks above 4000' (even though it stands at 4530') because you don't have to descend (and ascend) 200' before getting to the next 4000'er (Middle Carter).

We planned to stay at a backcountry campsite between Middle and South Carter that Simon had read about online, but as we were nearing South Carter, all we could see was dense, uneven, mossy forest all around us. Just as we were about to give up and squeeze our tents in between the trees, Travis, who had insisted on pressing ahead, yelled back that he'd found a great site. It was perfect! Two flat, soft clearings in the woods with a fire pit next to them.

After making camp we cooked up some beans and rice with broccoli - almost using beer since we were running out of water. Travis started a nice fire right next to Tom's tent, and I attempted to dry out my shoes and socks.

After a restful night we packed up camp and got back on the trail. We quickly ascended South Carter before descending to Zeta Pass where we restocked on water (from a somewhat sketchy stagnant stream). We climbed a very steep but short section of trail to the summit of Mt. Hight, which had a spectacular 360 degree view of the Carter Ridge and the Presidentials:

The Presidential Range from Mt. Hight -- Mt. Washington is on the left

We hopped over to Carter Dome to check our 4th 4000'er off the list (Simon's 20th!) before descending to the Carter Notch Hut and Carter Lakes:

Walking along the ridge to Carter Dome

Jordan's favorite pastime involves frantically digging in the water and picking up large, spherical rocks which she then delivers to us and expects to play fetch with.

From there we headed back down to Rt. 16 via the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. Two days, 4 to 7 mountains (depending on whom you ask), and 19 miles later we finally reached Tom's car. We drove back to Manchester and completed the weekend with a delicious BBQ at Tom's house.

Hiking in the Whites: Mt. Moosilauke

This Sunday Travis and I took a quick day trip up to the Whites to climb Mt. Moosilauke (4802 ft, pronounced Moose - ih - lock). We chose to take the Benton Trail (3.6 miles to the peak), where, according to the guestbook, we were the first hikers of the day. Apparently some of the more strenuous (but shorter) trails would have been very slippery since it rained the previous night.

About a mile a little (~8") owl swooped out a few feet in front of Travis, and landed in a tree to our left. I'm no bird expert, but it looks like it could be a Northern Saw-whet Owl.

About 1.3 miles we took a little side trail that led us to a great view. The tops of the mountains were hidden by clouds, but we were still low enough to have a beautiful view of the valley.

About 0.3 miles from the top we hit the tree line and started following the cairns that marked the trail. I don't think I've ever been on a mountain this tall that is still well-covered in grass. The orange-green mix of ground-cover contrasted beautifully with the dark mountains around us and the storm cloud that looked to be rolling in.

The really high winds were blowing clouds towards us at a very high rate. It was a really neat experience to be at the exact elevation of the clouds. We watched them moving towards us from a distance, and when they hit, the damp whiteness swirled around us until it passed over.

Since the wind seemed to be picking up (and there was a very dark cloud approaching us -- will add photo soon!), we only lingered at the top long enough to take pictures with the summit sign and have lunch in one of the little protective shelters. As started hiking back down, we ran into an enthusiastic (and possibly crazy) hiker who asked us approximately 6 times in a row whether we had hiked this mountain before (we'd had a similar conversation with him in the parking lot earlier). He also warned us of an unusually large bear population on the side of the mountain we had come up. Apparently he'd heard many of them on his way up... 

We made it back down without too much excitement (aside from encountering some piles of fresh bear scat), and headed back to Manchester.

Putting my legs to good use! (Mt. Lafayette and Mt. Jackson)

So this may become my outdoor adventures blog since there are lots of other fun things to do in NH! Like climb mountains!

Last weekend (6/12 - 6/13) I joined some people (Dave, Peter, Julie, Simon, and Travis) from DEKA (where I'm doing my internship) on a one night camping/hiking trip in the White Mountains. The drive up to our campground (Lafayette Campground in Franconia Notch) took about 1.5 hrs. We claimed our turf and promptly walked to the trailhead across the road to being our trek up Mt. Lafayette. There were thunderstorms in the forecast, due to arrive at 2pm. Exactly when we planned to reach the summit. They seemed cool with that... so I put my life in their hands.

Lots of people here are into hiking the 48 peaks above 4000 ft in the Whites, so the two mountains we climbed were both on the list. 46 to go! (ha.)

Below are the trail maps for the two hikes we did (Mt. Lafayette on Saturday and Mt. Jackson on Sunday). For Mt. Lafayette we took Old Bridle Path to Greenleaf Hut and Greenleaf Trail to the summit. We came back down the same way since it was raining and Falling Waters Trail would not have been fun (as the name suggests). 8 miles total.


The top was completely above treeline, which was a really neat (and exhausting) experience. Unfortunately we were completely covered in clouds. Every once in a while a breeze would blow the clouds away and allow a view, but mostly it looked like this:


The next day we met up with Jed and took the Webster-Jackson Trail up to Mt. Jackson, where we were very excited to have a beautiful view! Then we cut over to the Mizpah hut and headed back that way.

Feeling small on the top. One of my favorite feelings :)


On the way home we stopped in North Conway to check out some gear shops that have consignment sections where people sell their used gear at a good price. I bought my first backpacking pack (Osprey)! We had dinner at Moat Mountain Smokehouse - a place that the Deka guys were super excited about (for a good reason!).

All in all a great weekend: beautiful mountains, fun bunch of people, amazing food, and a pair of very sore legs to remind me for the next three days!