June 6, 2009
It looks like an ideal day to be in the mountains. Madison and I started off on the Skookumchuck Trail at 8:30. This was a new trail for me.
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There's nothing to interesting about this trail. In fact the most interesting thing about the trail is probably the name. I kept at a steady pace for about 2 hours when I reached treeline. I then got on the Garfield Ridge Trail which is also the Appalachian Trail.
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There were many false summits on the way up to Mount Lafayette; however, I wasn't fooled by any of them. I knew that on a gorgeous day like this, the true summit would have lots of people on it.
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As soon as I reached the 5260' summit, I heard my name. I turned around, and it was Becca Munroe.
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She took a picture of me with Madison. This was Madison's 30th 4000 footer.
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Becca and I had different agendas for the day. But our plans overlapped for the next mile, so I got to enjoy her company as we headed over to Mount Lincoln.
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We took a long break on the 5089' summit of Lincoln to enjoy the view. (#31 for Madison)
Looking over to Cannon Mountain.
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It was time to get going so Becca headed across to Little Haystack . . .
. . . and I returned to Mount Lafayette. I had to backtrack, but I didn't mind a bit. If you have to repeat a mile on a hike, this would be the mile to repeat.
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I took a short break after returning to Lafayette. For a video clip click here.
Next I began my descent way down to Greenleaf Hut.
The trail drops a little below the hut so I then had to head back up.
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I have been by Greenleaf Hut a couple times but it was in the winter so it was closed.
This was the only White Mountains Hut that I had never been in.
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And who did I find volunteering behind the desk? Bruce Pfendler
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It was time for another new trail as I headed down the Greenleaf Trail.
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The nicest feature of this trail was cutting through Eagle Pass.
I climbed one of the rocks for a nice view into Franconia Notch
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Once down the mountain I briefly got on the bike path.
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I walked passed Echo Lake.
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It was time for a side trip.
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The trail up to Artist's Bluff was short but steep.
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Eagle Cliff from Artist's Bluff
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Overlooking Echo Lake
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Madison was having a great day.
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I continued up to the 2340' summit of Bald Mountain where I had a great view of Cannon Mountain.
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I met a couple hikers from Ontario, Canada named Kathy and Don.
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They pointed out several bears on the ski slopes. In the four years that I've been hiking in the Whites, I've only seen one bear. Today with the use of Kathy and Don's binoculars I saw three adult bears and four cubs. Pretty cool! I zoomed in for a picture. I know, I know, there are probably clearer pictures of Big Foot than of my bears, but the three black dots in this picture are a mamma bear with her two cubs.
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I took a shorter route down the mountain. I then got back on the bike path. This time I noticed a "no pets" sign. Oops. I always try to abide by the rules, but I had no other way to get back to my truck.
Heading through a tunnel.
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A monument to former New Hampshire Governor Hugh Gallen
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Heading across a bridge
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View from the bridge
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Madison and I got back to my truck at 5:20.
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