April 2, 2008
I normally don't hike on Wednesday, but I decided to take a day off from work. Special thanks to my boss, Don, for giving me the day off with short notice. Four of us met at the Stony Brook Trailhead: Ed, Guy, Drew, and myself. This was my first time hiking with Guy and Drew. We left the trailhead about 9:00. Unfortunately, some of my pictures came out a bit "cloudy". On my hike four days ago, I got some moisture on the lens. I thought it would have dried by now, but I guess not.
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The trail immediately goes over a bridge. . .
. . . but we didn't take it. We started off with a short road walk and then an unmarked trail. This little shortcut would save us from an unbridged river crossing later on.
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Guy (left) and Drew (right).
Guy is one of the 7 people to have finished the 'Grid' (White Mountains 48 four thousand footers in every calendar month). He completed the task on November 10, 2007. Ed has completed this task twice, so I was in the company of men with some serious hiking experience.
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Junction with the Carter-Moriah Trail (Appalachian Trail)
I'm looking forward to a few weeks from now when the snow melts. Instead of being ankle high or knee high, the signs will once again be chest high.
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The day started off "ugly" with black clouds overhead and high winds. Ed said that there was no guarantee that we would reach the summit today. The weather really began to clear. The wind was there to stay, but the sky cleared.
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Looking over to North Carter
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Looking west
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There's the summit.
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The Presidential Range remained in the clouds.
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Ed nearing the summit
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This was Drew's first time on Moriah, so we gave him the honor of tagging the 4049' summit first. This was my 3rd time. It made about 15-16 times for Guy and 50+ times for Ed. I received my Ed Hawkins' handshake. I've know received at least one of his handshakes on 30 out of the 48 White Mountain 4's. Looking over to the Presidential Range
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Looking towards Shelburne Moriah Mountain, one of my unconquered New Hampshire 100 highest.
"W.T.E." said Ed.
"What?" I asked.
"You can figure it out," said Ed.
"Oh, Way To Easy," I said. "You got that from Dave Langley."
"Actually, he got it from me."
I'll let the two of them decide who came up with it first.
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360° video clip of the summit
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We returned over the same route. By now, even the Presidential Range was free of clouds.
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What a beautiful day! I need to play 'hooky' from work more often.
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