Bondcliff, Bond, West Bond (NH #32, #33, #34)

to do; Post it...and back fill Garfield

Garfield (NH #31)

Flags on the 48

To the legions of people reading this, and those who may not know, there are 48 peaks in New Hampshire that officially qualify as being equal too, or over 4,000 feet.  After setting out to 'bag' all 48 myself, I've performed a fair amount of research looking for trail information, the rules and regulations among others.  Last year I stumbled upon a website called 'Flags on the 48'.  In short, since 2002 a group of local hikers and patriots have decided to remember and pay respect to the terrible events of 9/11/01, by raising old glory simultaneously on all 48 peaks between the hours of  12 and 2pm.  So, with promising weather being forecasted, I thought that it would be fun to go hiking and check it out.

The family and I left the house around 4:30 AM for the long drive up to the White Mountains with intentions of bagging Mount Garfield.  We folded the middle row of seats in our vehicle in an attempt to make things as comfortable as possible for Taylor and Veronica, with hopes of letting them to sleep a bit more.  They stayed up for a bit, surely excited about the hike, and freaking out from being up at such an odd hour.  But after 10-15 minutes on the highway, they both were able to sleep.  After stopping to eat a decent breakfast We arrived at the Garfield Trailhead and started up around 9 AM. 

Making our way up the slow grade trail.

Posing for a shot!

On our way up we saw this cool mushroom and then a neat caterpillar.  Veronica and Taylor argued about who gets to name it, but I'm pretty sure they finally agreed on 'Honey'.

Just prior to the summit, we witnessed a helicopter fly what seemed to be a couple of hundred feet overhead.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the camera out quick enough, but you can see it in the picture below.  The wife said, she felt like we were in 'close encounters' the movie.

Finally reaching the summit, here's our first look.  I figured a small group would be present, but certainly wasn't expecting this many.  I haven't seen a crowd like this on any other mountain than Manadnock.

And here's my girls with the flag in the background.

We had a packed lunch and made our way down.  Unfortunately, Veronica took a pretty good fall and skinned her knee and shin.  She was very upset, but was okay after I cleaned it off and gave her two band-aids.  I asked her to pose for the photo below, and she smiled when I said I intended on putting it on the blog!  

WAR SCARS!!

Finally...just before the end, my daughters spotted a mushroom growing on a tree.  They both insisted that it resembled a 'Krabby Patty' from Spongebob and asked me to take a photo of it.  So...here it is!  Natures very own Krabby Patties!

Lafayette & Lincoln +Little Haystack

Overnight at the Greenleaf Hut

After what felt like forever without hiking, I finally made my way back to the Whites!  Instead of continuing my quest for all 48 4000 footers (currently idle at 30), I took the whole family up for an overnight hike and stay at the Greenleaf Hut.  Due to some unexpected traffic, we ended up getting a pretty late start, but still made it in time to wash up and dry out a bit before dinner.  The food was decent, and I especially liked the tomato basil soup they provided.  After dinner we took a few pictures and my girls worked on some junior ranger type of activity to earn a Greenleaf Hut Pin.

Afterwards, we all headed to the bunk room to get settled for the night.  The Hut sleeps 48, but I'm guessing the occupancy rate for the night was in the neighborhood of 30.  Lots of little kids were present, which I'm sure helped my daughters feel a bit more at ease as this was our first time staying in a AMC Hut.  We did enjoy it, and it certainly lessened the burden of the hike, breaking it out over two days.

Veronica Hamming it up climbing up to her bunk!

After a good nights sleep, the view below is what awaited us.  There were some clouds hanging around the entire Franconia Ridge, which was kind of a drag, but I was hopeful that the clouds would break as we approached the summits.

The whole family!

As we progressed up to the summit of Lafayette, we had some pretty neat views towards Cannon Mountain and the Hut.

Working our way towards the summit.

Veronica soaking it all in.

A slight pause for a group shot!

Not really sure what was going on with the trekking poles??

Success!  Here are my girls Taylor and Veronica relaxing and posing on the summit of Mount Lafayette.  As soon as we arrived, the girls both asked..."Daddy, where is the marker"?  Unfortunately, visibility was only about a 100 feet or so.

Working our way across the ridge towards Mount Lincoln, the clouds started to break.

As we crossed Mount Truman, the clouds continued to be thick, but did break occasionally.  Here are my girls celebrating their 3rd 4000 footer.  For my wife Kathy, this is her 5th!  Way to go honey!! :)

Our last summit of the day was Little Haystack.  Below Taylor was satisfied with her accomplishment, and found a nice spot to chill for a bit before we headed back down to our car.

And here's Veronica....doing some kind of pose!

We encountered quite a few other hikers on the summit of Little Haystack, and the haze returned.

The hike down was pretty smooth other than one wipe out...I won't mention any names! :)  We rested at a couple of the water crossings that we encountered along the way

And had one last snack.

Overall, it was an absolutely great hike and we are already discussing when to go hiking again, and which hut to stay at next time.

Thanks to the entire family for a great time!

Wachusett

Fireworks

This year, I took the fam for a small hike up Wachusett Mountain to catch the fireworks from a mountain top.  Unfortunately, the top 50 yards or so on the summit was socked in with clouds.  However, we did manage to find a spot on the road that allowed us to watch about 5 or so towns all at once!  It was very cool, and we plan on doing it again next year. :)

On the hike up, I grabbed this shot of my wife & 2 girls! I love you all!

And though the quality isn't very good, I love seeing my girls so happy!

Manadnock

"Kilimanjaro Training, Yo!"

A friend of mine has begun training for an upcoming Kilimanjaro hike and asked if I wanted to join him for a quick hike up Mount Manandnock.  We hiked up Parker Trail, Lost Farm, Cliff Walk, to White Arrow and went down White Dot.  An easy uneventful hike, though we did spot and startled a porcupine who was chillin in a tree as we hiked by.  Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera in hand.


Jeff and Pedro doing their best to make sure they don't get passed by 11 year old girl.

Jeff getting ready for the final push to the summit.

Jeff (Jr.) & Kyle on the summit.

Thanks to Pedro, Jeff, Jeff and Kyle for a fun little hike up Mount Manadnock.  

Hamlin Peak (ME #2)

On day 2 of my hiking trip to Baxter State Park, I hiked up Hamlin Range to capture my second Maine 4000 footer in as many days.  The weather was patchy and the views were in and out the whole day.  Below is a photo of the summit marker.  The summit itself is very flat and is sort of a plateau with scattered rocks and grass.

The hike itself went fast and was much easier than hiking up Katahdin.  I did manage to snap another pretty cool shot of the Pamalo and the start of the Knife's Edge.

And here is a panorama containing, Pamalo, Chimney Peak, Katahdin and Hamlin.

I took the Saddle trail back down which was short and easy.  Great weekend hiking and I look forward to heading back up there when my girls get bigger.