Mt Jackson - August 14, 2010 - #2

Alex completed his first 4000 footer!  And what a long hike it was.  Just he and I were camping at the Dry River Campground and headed out early Saturday morning.  This would be his longest and toughest hike so far so I had a few different plans in mind pending our progress.  The ultimate goal was to head up the Webster Jackson trail to the summit of Jackson, then over to the summit of Webster, and then return.   Friday night I was also considering other hikes in the area, one of which was Mt Pierce via Crawford Path but that would be even longer so Jackson it was.

Alex at the trail head

After a big breakfast of pancakes we headed out and arrived at the trail head around 7:50AM.   About 12 hours until sunset to plenty of time and a few places to shorten the trip if we need to.  Took out the map one last time to show Alex the path we were taking and snap a picture at the trail head.  Now the reader that is paying attention to the photo at right will notice what it says on the trail sign...

Ooops, guess I was on auto-pilot after reading about Crawford Path and Mt Pierce late the night before and didn't realize we were at the wrong trailhead until I pulled out the map!

Alex at the correct trail head...

Ok, so back down the road to the correct place, feeling like an idiot.  But I guess that is why you double check the map before you head out!
So up we head at about 8:30 now.  The time I set was to leave no later than 9:00 AM if we were to return by sunset so we were good.  On that pace we had three hours to reach the junction where the Webster Jackson trail splits off to each mountain.  We saw some other hikers getting ready at the parking lot.  There was suppose to be an AMC planned trip on this loop today, not sure if that was them or not.

Alex heading up trail near the start

We headed up by ourselves but for the next several hours were passed by many people, most of whom commented on Alex hiking up such a big mountain.  Heck, according to the records the youngest to hike       all the 4000 footers was only 4.5!  Anyway, it was a nice hike and started to climb uphill pretty quickly though not to steep at all.   We passed the spur to Elephant Head and we wanted to go down.  But since we were coming back this way I told Alex that we could head out only if we returned early enough on the return.  It was .4 miles round trip so certainly enough to make a difference if we were pressed for time later - best to save it for the end if we have time.

This was also the first real hike with the new GPS so I was pulling it out often to check its progress.  I set it to keep a record of our track and log our progress in mileage, stopped time, and moving time.  The times were completely bogus unfortunately as it was only registering a little moving time and almost all stopped time.  The mileage however was increasing and we were making slooooooow progress.  Very slow in fact, so much I had serious doubts if we were going to even be able to reach the summit.  But we would go as far as we could and turn back when we need to.  The first check would be at the trail junction.  I was trying to push Alex along w/o being a slave driver and still keeping it fun - that is a hard balance to keep!   Did not see too much wildlife except many spider webs glistening in the morning son and lots of little frogs.

Alex took this photo of a tiny frog

Saw lots of spider webs like this

Starting to get a little steeper

After a ways there is a short trip out to Bugle cliff which grants the first views back down into the valley at Saco Lake and the Highland Center lodge.  Giving the first visual reward of our progress so far!

View from Bugle Cliff

I kept checking the GPS and we were still way behind schedule, almost 2 hours now and not even half way to where we needed to be after 3.  Oh well, we'll go as far as we can and then turn around and enjoy the trip just the same.

Wouldn't want to slip on this rock!

The trail was pretty much this all the way up - fun!

All of a sudden we reached the trail junction at just over 2 hours, but the GPS mileage said we were not even half way there.  Huh?  Not to happy with that, maybe I am not using it correctly.  More on that later...

Trail junction - 1.4 miles down, 1.2 to go to Mt Jackson

So since we reached the first milestone at 2 hours with a pace time of 3 were good to go and looking good for the summit of Jackson!  We had stopped several times up to this point and eaten some snacks: bananas, peanut butter crackers, cheese&crackers and chatted with  many people passing us by.  No flip floppers!

I figured I deserved at least one picture of me since all the rest were of Alex and the scenery - so Alex too this one.  Great photo!

As we were approaching the summit the trees began there tell tale sign of getting smaller and smaller and consisting of mainly spruces.  I explained this to Alex which of course turned into a half hour conversation.  We ran into a family who passed us earlier in the day who were descending from the summit.  They told us there were lots of Gray Jays up there that were eating out of the palm of people's hands.  That would be cool if they were still there when we got there. Before long we could hear the crowds of people on the summit before we first spotted the bald summit of Jackson.  Almost there!

First view of summit

Getting much steeper now, and requiring some climbing

Careful steps...

Quick rest before final ascent...

Last scramble to summit...

We made it!  Alex at the summit of Mount Jackson.  Elevation 4052 feet.  Mount Washinton and the southern Presidentals are in the background, Dry River valley on the right and you can make out Mizpah Spring Hut on the left on Mount Pierce.

Two of us at summit, with Washington behind us

The summit is mostly bare rock with some small scrubs in the middle but the views were outstanding in all directions.  The summit was crowded I must say but it did not detract from the experience.  The Gray Jays apparently had finished the lunch as none were nearby.  We hung out at the summit for close to an hour, rested, and ate lunch.  Alex also spent a fair amount of time looking at the distant mountains with the binoculars.  I really need a new camera as these pictures do not do justice at all to the views.

Looking west I think towards Crawford Notch, Mts Willey and Tom?

Willey and Field I believe.  In the very far distance is probably the Green Mountains in VT

North out the Notch, view of the Mount Washinton Hotel

Montalban Ridge including Mount Isolation.  One book I have says you can see parts of Sebago lake from the summit on a clear day, if you can I believe this would be the direction.  Didn't read this until after the trip in a book I bought the next day, had I realized I would have looked at the compass, taken out the binoculars and taken a look.  Sebago might be off the picture to the left though, not sure.

South, end of Montalban Ridge on left

Mount Webster in foreground - our next target for the day!

Not sure what mountain that is, but Webster is on the right

Alex enjoying the view

Watching me take pictures

Southern view

After spending probably too much time at the summit we headed down the trail towards Mt Webster.  This is part of the Appalachian trail so Alex and I had a long conversation on how the trail goes from Georgia to Maine but we were NOT going to be hiking all of that today...

Alex decided but first was the safest

The trail got pretty steep right off the summit, but nothing we couldn't handle.  We were making good time to Webster and in no time made it to junction with Webster Cliff trail and the Webster link of the Webster-Jackson trail.  Just 50 feet from here was a geocache so we followed a heard path into the woods looking for it.  Found it real easy and it is at one of the debated highpoints of Carroll County, GPS said elevation of 3850 feet.  The scrub was so dense Alex had to make the final crawl to retrieve the cache or I would have had to take my backpack off to get it.
After a time check I decided not to summit Mount Webster.  Even though it was only .1 miles from this junction at our current pace up we were due reach the bottom at just about sunset.  Had we not spent so much time on the Jackson summit we could have headed up to Webster summit for those views.  We most likely could have made it anyway as it is so short, but better get down as fast as we can - plus the clouds were starting to get dark at this point.

Gray Jay

Eating out of the palm of my hand

After a half hour or so I heard a noise behind me and I looked back on the trail and there was this funny bird looking back up at me only 2 feet behind me.  I heard a flutter and another landed in a tree about 3 feet out eye level giving me these really curious looks.  Just 2 birds bouncing around us like they wanted something.  Figuring they might be the Gray Jays we were told about I took off my backpack and pulled out the crust from Alex's sandwich he didn't eat and held it out.  Sure enough, they swooped on in and took it.  Alex and I had a blast feeding these two crazy birds.  Several times I had them land right on my hand to snatch the bread.  They were also grabbing the bread out of Alex's hands but the claws were too sharp so he didn't hold the bread out flat.  Took lots of pictures and a video or 2.

Quick grab and fly away!

Silver Cascade and pool

After feeding the birds we continued down the trail.  We were making good time as I told Alex we had to get to the Elephant Head Spur by 6:30 if we were going to have time to go out.  He was real excited to see the Elephant Head so that motivated him some.  We came to a really neat waterfall, the upper end of Silver Cascades which you can see from rt 302.  This pool of water was just as clear as could be and looked to be 10-15 feet deep.  Although depth is hard to tell so who knows, but it definitely was deep and looked VERY inviting to go in for a swim!

Alex wanted to stop for a rest all the way down and I told him to if he wanted to, but he was determined to see Elephant Head and get there by 6:30 so he continued on.  We made it to the spur at 6:33. OK, so not by 6:30 but I wasn't going to keep him from seeing it over only 3 minutes!  Besides, we had our headlamps and only .5 miles to go to the view, back, and down and 80 minutes to sunset to plenty of time.  We went out to the Elephant Head, and searched for another geocache that was suppose to be there.  We searched and searched and found nothing.  Thought we found it but it was just some pins someone stuck in a tree.  Our first did not find, oh well - will have to come back and look again.  We also could not find the elephant profile anywhere!  We tried to use our imaginations on the mountains up and down the notch but I saw no Elephant!

From Elephant Head looking south into the Notch, Mount Webster on left

North from Elephant Head, our truck can be seen in the parking lot

Hold on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alex emerging from the trail at the end, officially finished his 1st 4000 footer!

After a snack on the ledge and a short break we headed off for the final .3 miles of our trip back to the truck.

This turned out to be another great hike but a long one.  According to the GPS track log we hiked a total of 10 hours and 48 minutes.  Of that we were moving 1:10 and stopped 9:38.  OK, so that is bogus.  We traveled a total of 4.25 miles.  Um, I dont think so!  Mileage according to the maps is 6.3 miles including trip to Elephant Head.  After we got home I went online and these are known bugs with this particular GPS  (Oregon 450) and Garmin either fails to acknowledge the bugs or refuses to fix them.  It messes up the moving/stopped time as well as distance traveled.   Which is really disappointing, that is one of the reasons wanted a GPS.  It does great for geocaching but trip calculator is messed up.  It reported a total ascent of 2,728 feet.  I have no idea if that is correct given the other issues it had.  I am debating returning it for another model.  Everyone on the forums reports that their older Garmin model's work flawlessly.  Perhaps I'll call Garmin and give them a piece of my mind - not that it will help, but will make me feel better.




But a messed up GPS trip counter surely didn't damper the day - its just a piece of technology and we are out there to enjoy nature and get away from technology anyway!

One 4000 footer down, 47 to go! Will we reach them all?  Who knows, its just fun to get out there and enjoy the hikes along the way and if we do great - if not I'm sure we'll have plenty of exciting adventures in the years to come!

Oh, there is the Elephant Head as seen from the parking area.  The trail is TO the head, not to a VIEW of the head.  duh

Cobb Hill, Hancock, NH - August 12, 2010

Was looking online last night for recently placed geocaches near home and found a couple that had yet to be found over in Hancock on Cobb Hill which is about 30 minutes away.  Given the close proximity, the chance to be the first to find the caches and the fact that it is only a 1.2 mile hike up I got up early this morning and did a quick hike. 

Arrived at the trail head at about 6:50 AM greeted by some very obnoxious and loud dogs.  Their owner was out walking them but I had to put up with the barking until I got up the trail out of site.  The first cache was right at the parking area but I let it be in order to get away from the dogs.

The trail follows an old road before turning left and heading up the hill.  Passed a bog and tried to keep quiet, good chance of seeing some wildlife this early in the morning but saw no moose nor deer - probably heard me coming if they were nearby.  Quiet morning with only the sounds of the birds.  Came to one area and startled several pheasants as they flew up out of the sea of ferns.  When I came back down to this same spot a couple more took off, must be where they hang out.   The trail is very lightly traveled, so much so that if not for the very frequently placed white disks on the trees I would have lost the trail.  It looked more like a deer run than a trail in some places.  But that is fine with me, that means less people! 

Sea of ferns, trail goes right through - can barely make out white circle on some trees marking the way

The trail then meets up with another old road, and stone walls around.  I always wonder what it was like 100+ years ago when these roads were built and what they were used for as well as the stone walls - both of which are now accessible only by foot.  After a short jaunt down part of that old road the trail turns right and heads up to the viewpoint.

Where the trail leaves the road approaching the viewpoint.  Sign says Jane Greene Trail, I thought (and the map said) I was on the Cobb Hill Trail - oh well, still got to my destination.

Not long after the trail left the road I reached the view, and what a very nice view of Monadnock and Skatukakee lake.  The cache was about 100 feet behind which I found very easily.  Was the first to find it and grabbed the geocoin which was not yet activated - 1st one of those I have had.  Returned to the view, sat down and ate my breakfast while gazing at Monadnock.  Before winter comes I want to take Alex up, we're just never home on weekends it seems!

Southerly view of Monadnock and Skatukakee Lake

After eating I headed back down, ran part of the way and got back to the truck and look for cache#2 which was hidden nearby.  Found it quickly, also first to find and sign the logbook, listened to more crazy dog barking and headed back home.  Hike took about 1.5 hours including the rest and eating at the top and made it back home by 9am to start working.  Not a bad morning!

This was on land that is cared for by the Harris Center for Conservation and there is a whole network of trails located in the area.  This is yet another local place to hike that I had not previously been aware of that I found thanks to geocaching and will have to return with the whole family one of these days to explore more of this trail as well as others.

1st Geocaching

Just pictures for now - our first two geocaches with new Garmin 450 GPS

Skeleton Island Cache - Geocache #1 - 8/7/2010

Candle Woods - geocache #2 - 8/8/2010

Welcome to the King Family Hiking Blog

Welcome to the hiking log of Kevin and Denise King and our two sons, Alex age 6 and Ethan age 1.

After many years of little to no hiking I started back up now that Alex is old enough for more than the gentle nature walk.  I hiked many mountains when I was a kid, in high school, and college mostly in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in Maine 15-20+ years ago.  However I don't remember all the mountains I have hiked.  At one point I was working on many of the New England 4000 footers and can remember probably 15 or so, but for each one I remember I know there has to be another that I forgot.  So I guess I'll have to start the list over and bring Alex along for the ride.  So I created this blog to keep track of the trails that we hike and our accounts and experiences along the way.  Perhaps 15-20+ years from now when another generation of King hikers arrive (maybe 25-30 years :) we can look back to see what we have done, which were the most enjoyable and refresh our memories with the tales and pictures that we create today.

Enjoy the trips - I know we will!
 
Oh, almost forgot to mention - today is our 13th wedding anniversary! 

Mt Hedgehog - August 1st, 2010

A day after our Champney Falls hike Mt. Hedgehog was on the itinerary.  This would be Alex's longest hike up to this point and he was very excited.  This time we also remembered the diapers so all four of us could make the hike.

At the UNH trail head

We hiked the UNH trail in a clockwise loop and based on the number of cobwebs we walked through we were the first to head down the trail that  morning.  After about an hour a man and his 8 year old son passed us and we kept catching up to them while hiking up.  Alex and his son were friends well before the summit and it turns out they were from Palm Harbor, FL only a few blocks away from where my dad lives.  Small world they say!

An interesting hollow tree

We had slow going but again Alex was his usual very talkative and inquisitive self all the way up the mountain.  We stopped several times and had quite a few snacks letting Ethan out of the pack when we did.  He only got cranky a couple times at which we would make an extra stop to let him "stretch his legs".

The views along the path when they were available were outstanding.  Very clear day and very excellent views, especially from the East Ledges where I wanted to stop and eat lunch.  But Alex would have none of that and wanted to continue on to the summit.  By this time, Ethan was out like a light and snoring in my ear.  I guess that drumming on my head tired him out.  We reached the summit and ran into many hikers up there who all got a laugh out of Ethan being sound asleep.

Ethan walking on his own

Eastern view along the trail

Chocourra in the distance

Nice view of Passaconaway

There were great views of Chocourra and Passaconway, the latter I plan on hiking along with Whiteface when we return in three weeks for a camping trip on Conway Lake.

On the eastern ledges, summit in view

Ethan sleeping at the summit

Denise started to get blisters with her new boots so when re reached Allen's Ledge only me and Ethan went out, Alex wanted to stay on the main trail.  The views from that ledge were great - Alex and Denise don't know what they were missing!  Literally as Denise had the camera.   I stayed there about 10 minutes just enjoying the view then headed back down and quickly caught up with Denise and Alex.  I heard Alex talking long before I caught up with them.  By this time the pack with Ethan in it was getting very heavy and my shoulders and hips were starting to get sore.  The pack has so many adjustments, perhaps it was not adjusted the best or perhaps I am not use to carrying 36 pounds around.  And when 25 of those pounds are set back more than a regular pack and moving - it only makes things more difficult!  But I still had no problems and still never really got tired - not like I did on the last trip I made with a full pack 10 years and 25 pounds ago.

Alex and Mom

Ethan, Dad, and Alex

At one point we stopped on a relatively flat section for another snack and for Denise to fix her moleskin on her blisters which somehow became unstuck - will need to wear a 2nd very thing pair of socks next trip.  Anyway, as we started to leave Alex headed down and boom, there goes Ethan right behind him 20 feet down the trail before we turned around.  Well, OK - fine by me as I would rather carry a 10 lb pack then 35!  I bet he went a good 100 yards all by himself, falling very often and getting back up and keeping his cracker tightly grasped in his left hand.  One time he fell and the cracker broke in half, he got up and started walking then noticed he had half a cracker.  He turned around and headed back up the mountain when I saw him bend down and pick up the other half in his right hand.  Ahhh there we go, now he is equally balanced with half a cracker in each hand.  That must have been why he kept falling.  Then off we went, I walking backwards holding out my hands as Ethan came down behind me.  I would try to hold his hand and he would have none of it yanking it away and giving me  a look that I swear said, "Leave me alone, I can do this!"  Ok, go right ahead.  Though a few times  he would hesitate before stepping over a large root or down a rock and reach out to take my hands.  After quite a while of this Denise and Alex were long gone and Ethan had done 1 too many face plants (although never cried and kept getting back up to catch up with his big brother) I decided to put him back in the carrier and catch back up with Alex and Denise.  He didn't want to get in, wanted to keep on his own - but we needed to get down before Christmas and I figured 100 yards most of which was downhill was a good first hike for him! :)

On our way down

It was a long hike and we made it back to our car in 6 hours I think.  Based on these last three hikes it is probably best to plan on double book time when Alex is going hiking.  Which is good to know and also means I'll plan on max of 3X book time for daylight.

"Why did we stop?"

We all thought this hike was superb, and excellent views for not much effort.  This is a mountain we'll definitely hike again - especially if we ever stay at Passaconaway campground right across the street.  When the kids are older it should be easily hiked in an afternoon or morning.

Distance: 4.86 miles
Elevation Gain: 1681 ft
High Elevation: 2532
Total Trip Time: 6-7 hours I think

Oh, and zero Flip Floppers!

Some more random photos: