"Bring in Spring - 2005"
April 15-20, 2005 White Mountains
(North Kinsman, South Kinsman, Tecumseh, Jackson, Lincoln, Lafayette, Moosilauke)

Total Peaks:  7
Total Miles Hiked:  38.2
Total Elevation Gain:  15,650'

Wow!  We couldn't have asked for better weather during our hiking extravaganza that would take us up to seven challenging summits.  Mild temperatures allowed me to hike in shorts for the first time this year, and the skies remained true blue with excellent visibility from the peaks for the entire trip.

Day 1
Friday, April 15th

I arrived Friday in the late afternoon to secure a spot at the Hancock Campground that would be our base camp for the next five nights.  I then set up my tent to face a roaring brook that would lull us all to sleep each night.  A few hours later, Bruce and Hannah arrived, followed soon afterwards by Bob and Jeannette.  We sat around the campfire that evening, chit-chatting and planning tomorrow's hike. 

Day 2
Saturday, April 16

Peaks:  North Kinsman (4293'), South Kinsman (4358')
Trails:  Lonesome Lake to Fishin' Jimmy to Kinsman Ridge to Lonesome Lake
Elevation Gain:  4300'
Miles:  11.6

The five us started out on the Lonesome Lake trail, but because of icy conditions, Bob and Jeanette opted to turn around.  At the lower elevations, snow and ice were spotty at best.  Up higher, slushy snow prevailed in most spots below treeline, making crampons necessary at times.  However, areas above treeline were bare.  We also planned to bag Cannon, but more on that later.

It felt good to do this hike, since my attempt two months ago at summiting the Kinsmans was botched due to unfavorable conditions (click here to read about that trip).    Not the case this time around.  The weather was much milder, and the snow that remained on the ground was slushy.  I think it's safe to say that the days are numbered for winter conditions on many of the peaks.  Spring was definitely here, and I soon became hot in pants and a long sleeve shirt.

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Hannah's one-year old dogs played in the snow the whole way up, enjoying the warm weather and showing off the energy of their youth.   After a few steep sections along the Fishin' Jimmy trail we reached the junction for the Kinsman Ridge trail, and followed it to the summit.

Reaching the summit of North Kinsman was an important milestone.  At this point, I had 24 of the 48 peaks over 4000' bagged.  In other words, I was halfway there.  I contemplated this as I sat at the overlook and enjoyed the views of Mt. Lafayette and Mt. Lincoln, which I'd bag in a couple of days.

Hannah and her dogs turned around at this point, but Bruce and I continued on to bag South Kinsman.  Now another milestone was reached:  I was now more than halfway done with my quest to bag all 48 peaks.  Sweet!   On the way down, we ran into Bird and Head of Birdhead Studios. We had previously planned for them to meet up with us at camp that night, but we had already gone to bed when they arrived.  However, they graciously left us some Saranac Black Forest Ale on our camp chairs while we slept.  Thanks guys!

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Bruce and I continued along with our plan to summit Cannon Mountain as well.  We almost got there, but the unbroken trail made the going tiresome, and we opted to bail out.  This was hard to do, seeing as we were just one mile away.  But we were both bonked, and were concerned about overexertion when we had a lot planned in the days ahead.  However, it was the right choice.  Cannon can wait for another day. 

We reached the car and headed back to camp.  Hannah opted to bail that evening, since her two dogs were wiped out and she wasn't feeling well.  Still, she got in her first 48'er and was stoked about that.  

That night, Steve visited our campsite.  He had contacted Bruce and I several months ago about advice for winter boots, and inquired about hiking with us the next day.  However, we had conflicting routes planned.   But it was nice to meet him face-to-face, and it wouldn't be the last time we'd see him. 

Day 3
Sunday, April 17

Peaks:  Tecumseh (4003'), Jackson (4054')
Trails:  Tecumseh - Mt. Tecumseh Trail,  Jackson - Webster-Jackson Trail to Jackson Bridge Trail
Elevation Gain (total):  4350'
Miles (total):  10.2

Bob and Jeanette left this day as they had planned, leaving just Bruce and I.  The two of us headed down to Tecumseh, the southernmost of the 48 peaks, as well as one of the shortest.  We parked at the parking lot of the ski lodge and headed up the trail to the top.

The path up was a steady grind through the woods.  My legs felt a bit tired from yesterday, but not as bad as I thought they might be.  We made good time, reaching the summit in less than two hours, and I now had my 26th peak.  We ran into a group of hikers from Boston on the top, who were quite comical.  It's good to know we're not the only dorks on the trail. 

For the hike down, we opted on something a bit different.  Rather than take the same trail down, we took a side trail over that would lead to the top of the resort's highest ski trail.  Even though the resort was closed, most of the ski trails were still covered in snow, and we took full advantage of that by glissading much of the way down, which was BIG fun!  On the black diamond trails, we were able to get good speed and make controlled turns with our boots.  It was a real hoot!  Needless to say, we got down in no time. 

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We reached the car and headed off to try and bag Mt. Hale.  Along the way, we fueled up on Subway wraps which would really give me a second wind later on.  However, the road was still closed to the trailhead for the winter season.  We quickly opted to bag Mt. Jackson instead, and it was conveniently just down the road.

Bruce and I marveled at Jackson-Webster trail, enjoying the variety of ups and downs and the scenic brooks it passed.  It didn't take long to reach the Jackson Bridge trail, and it was here that we ran into Steve again!  This was strange, since he had planned on doing the Kinsmans and Cannon this day.  And none of us had planned on Jackson, yet here we were, running into each other miles into the woods on the side of a mountain.  We chatted a bit, and Steve continued down and Bruce and I trekked on up. 

It didn't take long for Mt. Washington to come into view, and soon after that we were at the top.   While the temperature was warm, the wind chill wasn't.  A steady 30-35 mph wind with higher gusts was blowing, which was in stark contrast to the near absent wind yesterday.  However, wind is the norm in the Whites, and I didn't mind its presence. 

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We headed back down after that, enjoying a quick descent.  At one point, we descended 1000' in 23 minutes, just three minutes shy of our record.  We reached the car and headed back to camp, where we gorged on pasta.

Day 4
Monday, April 18

Peaks:  Mt. Lincoln (5089'), Mt. Lafayette (5260')
Trails:   Falling Waters to Franconia Ridge Trail to Old Bridle Path
Elevation Gain:  3900'
Miles:  8.8

I had heard several hikers say the loop we had planned was their favorite, so I had looked forward to it for quite some time.  It didn't take long to discover why it was so popular.  For the first few miles, the trail ran alongside several spectacular waterfalls.  As Bruce and I ascended the trail to see what waterfall would be next, we nearly forgot that we were climbing.

Once the trail left the waterfalls, it remained tame for a while, but for the last half mile or so up Little Haystack Mt. (not a true summit, due to it's close proximity to Lincoln), it became very steep and I was glad to have my crampons on. 

We soon ascended above treeline, and enjoyed spectacular views all around us.  To the north, I could see Lincoln, and we traversed the treeless ridge up to the summit, which was my 28th peak.  We continued to marvel at our luck with the weather, as the skies were still clear and the views magnificent.   To the east lay the mountains of the Twin Range and beyond that, the Presidentials.  To the west, lay the Kinsmans and Cannon, and to the southwest, Moosilauke.

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We hung out for a while and then began the trek over to Lafayette. Along the way, we saw two hikers coming down the path in our direction.  As they got closer, I saw that it was Todd and Laurie, who graciously took my picture last week on the summit of Mt. Moriah the week before because I had forgotten my camera!  How's that for a small world?!  We chatted for a while, and when we said "see you later", it was likely literal.

We bagged Lafayette, and enjoyed the views from the ridge here as well.  Then we ascended down the ridge, where Bruce took a fall and snapped one of his trekking poles in two.  He wasn't hurt.  Therefore, it was quite funny.  Hilarious in fact, especially given that he slipped on a bare rock that didn't have any ice or snow on it.

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We made it down to the trailhead and drove back to the campsite exhausted, where we feasted on a dinner of chicken and rice, and mashed potatoes with salmon.

Day 5
Tuesday, April 19

Peaks:  Mt. Moosilauke (4802')
Trail:   Beaver Brook Trail
Elevation Gain:  3100'
Miles:  7.6

Though we'd do just one peak on our last day, this was perhaps our most challenging hike of the trip.  Like the Falling Waters Trail going up Lincoln, the first few miles of the Beaver Brook trail would also parallel beautiful, cascading waterfalls. However, this trail was MUCH steeper.  It's relentless, near vertical ascent for more than a mile and a half gave it the honor of being the most brutal section of trail I've ever hiked.  However, this is not to say I didn't enjoy it.  In fact, I relished it.  Our crampons allowed us to fly up the trail like Spiderman, and I was also still feeling surprising energetic.   It was an excellent workout.

We reached a lean-to, at which point the trail became only moderately steep.  The snow here was deeper than any other trail we had been on during the trip.   This was likely due to relative flatness of the area, which was above 4000' but still below treeline and therefore protected from the snow and wind.

We traversed over the ridge and began the final ascent up Moosilauke, the western most peak of the 48.   Once we reached treeline, we kicked off our crampons and hiked up the last few hundred yards of bare ground to summit. 

This was my 30th peak, and I now only have 18 left.  I contemplated this heavily at the summit when I wasn't busting on Bruce .  The views here were excellent as well, and the majority of the peaks spread out before me I had already climbed.  It was humbling to stand there and look at all of them and remember the treks up each one.  And now, there are so few left.  It really hit me here that I was getting very close to my goal. 

We made excellent time coming down the trail, and that night at the campsite, we feasted on pizza purchased in the town of Lincoln.

Day 6

Wednesday, April 20th

We woke up, finished packing up our gear, and left.  It was great seeing everyone again, and a special thanks to Bruce for making the long trek up here to do some buttkickin' hiking with me.

~FIN~