.September 30, 2006 Hike #1
Today will be Madison's first big hike. I've taken her on some smaller ones and I've been exercising her every night at the park. We have also been working on our sit, stay, and come commands. I plan to keep her on the leash at least most of the day. She's a runner and I can't quite trust her yet.
Today I hope to get two hikes in. The first hike will be to hike North and South Twin. I hiked South Twin once before when I did the Appalachian Trail through the Whites. It was fogged in so I am going to hit it again and come in from a different direction. The second hike will be to a couple of smaller mountains in the area. More on that later.
It was almost a two hour drive to get to the trailhead. On the way over I passed Mount Madison.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I pointed out the mountain to Madison. I told her that was the mountain I named her after, but she didn't seem too impressed.
I had a little trouble finding the trailhead. Haystack Road didn't have a sign on it and I went by it. After a few minutes I realized that it must have been the road and turned around. I only lost about 10 minutes. I drove 2.5 miles up the gravel road to the trailhead where we (Madison and I) headed off.
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Within a few minutes, we crossed the only bridge off the day. There would be several river crossings later where I wished there were bridges.
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The trail crosses Little River 3 times. I tried my best to rock hop a cross but managed to have each foot slip off a rock so both feet got wet. I returned the same way so I had to cross the river 6 times in all. Madison, who loves the water, loved this part.
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The first two miles I had a smooth trail. I even did some running with Madison. Then it got steep. After a couple of miles on this steep trail I got my first of many views for the day.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ As I enjoyed the view, I met a hiker who was going down. He has been hiking in the Whites for years. He has done about every peakbagging list for this area: the White Mountains 48 4,000 footers, New England 67 4,000 footers, White Mountain 100 Highest, and the New England 100 highest. He has done each list in the summer as well as in the winter. I noticed I had left my hiking pole behind, so I asked him to keep an eye out for it on the way down. With all the work keeping Madison on the leash, I left it behind.
From here it was only a few minutes to the 4,761 foot summit. This is my 32nd White Mountains 4,000 footer and 43rd for New England. There is no view from the actual summit, but there is a very short side trail that took me to a great view of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I cut and pasted two photos together for this one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here is the same picture with a lot of the mountains labeled. The dotted white line is the Appalachian Trail. I've already completed this section.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Madison loves the mountains. She had no trouble climbing this mountain. It's her first 4,000 footer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The weather was a lot colder at this altitude. I turned around to find out that all the trees were covered with ice. It was only on the west side of the trees so I hadn't noticed it coming from the other way. Winter is quickly coming to the Whites.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I followed the short trail back to the summit. It took a minute at the most. I had gone 4.3 miles so far.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Off to South Twin.
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I was looking forward to this. It was fogged in when I hiked it on May 27th, but I could tell it offered a 360 degree view. Nearing the summit of South Twin.
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We reached the 4,902 foot summit. Now I got to see the view I missed out on four months earlier. The view was everything I was hoping for and more. In my opinion, this view is one of the finest in the Whites. I got great views of Franconia Ridge ...
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...Mount Bond and West Bond ...
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... the valley to the northwest ...
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... North Twin ...
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... and the Presidential Range.
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It sure was cold though, and I had to put on extra clothes. I noticed the top of Mount Washington was white. They must of got a little snow or a heavy frost. Notice the ice formed on this sign.
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Having hiked to the top of South Twin before I don't get credit for another 4,000 footer. But this was Madison's first time so she got credit for her 2nd 4,000 footer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I returned the same route. I got brave and let her free a couple times. The result was a five minute sprint to catch up with her. I left the long blue leash attached to her. I figured if she got to far ahead it would get caught on something. We're still working on this. I think I'll get a doggie back pack. Letting her carry her own food and water may slow her down a touch. Heck, I think I'll put some rocks in it too. On the way down, I found my pole that I had left behind. This was a great hike. It's only 3:30 so we have time for a small second hike and headed over to North and Middle Sugarloaf.
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