May 25, 2010
With a gorgeous day ahead, I took the day off from work. I've got big plans. I'll be hitting a few peaks for my New Hampshire 52-with-a-view list and be hitting quite a few new trails at the same time.
I saw two moose as I drove to the trailhead. Here's the second one.
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Viewing the Baldfaces from Route 113
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Madison and I hit the trail at 6:45.
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As I reached the first trail junction I took a side trip to the Emerald Pool
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Madison took a quick dip. It would be very hot today. I knew I would be wishing we had a spot like this in about 4-5 hours.
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We headed up the Slippery Brook Trail. There wasn't much to see. It was a fairly gentle approach up to the ridge. I dropped my pack and headed off to Eastman Mountain. There's a slight spelling error in the sign below.
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Trilliums
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Madison on the 2939' summit of Eastman Mountain
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View to the southwest
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I saw a small subpeak to this mountain.
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My GPS was showing a trail over to it but my map wasn't. I looked around for a trail but couldn't find one. I decided to go on a little bushwhacking adventure. I was glad I did. I had a great view from a ledge once I got there.
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I returned to the summit of Eastman. The bushwhack took me about 20 minutes roundtrip.
Now I'm off to Bald Knob (right) and then South Baldface (left).
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I returned to my pack and got on the Baldface Knob Trail.
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Looking back to Eastman Mountain
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I'm not exactly sure which bump is Baldface Knob. The one I am standing on in the picture below or the one just ahead.
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Cool cairn!
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Cool seat!
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Next up, South Baldface
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Here I go.
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It looks flat in the picture, but here's a view looking back down.
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On the 3570' summit of South Baldface with a partially snow covered Mount Washington in the distant.
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On to North Baldface
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North Baldface
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Looking back to South Baldface
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View from the 3610' summit of North Baldface
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Nearing Eagle Crag
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Looking back to South Baldface (left) and North Baldface (right)
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Looking ahead to Mount Meader and the Royces.
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I was beginning to get concerned about Madison because it was so hot. I was about to use one of my bailout options when we came across this small puddle of water. I poured water over her for a few minutes to cool her off. She was ready to go after that.
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Partial view as I headed across the Meader Ridge Trail.
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I came to a sign that read "View" so I took a short side trip.
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When I take short spur trails like this, it is always nice when they mark the end so you don't have to guess if you've reached the end or not.
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Looking south to the Baldfaces
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View to the east just before the summit of Mount Meader.
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West and East Royce were getting closer. I'm actually looking at two states. West Royce is in New Hampshire while East Royce is in Maine.
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Now I was on the Basin Rim Trail. This trail brought me near the summit of Ragged Jacket. The mountain isn't on any list that I know of but figured I would tag the summit anyway. It required a short (1/10th of a mile or less) bushwhack but was very steep. I tagged the 2462' summit and returned to the trail. Next the trail dropped quite a bit in elevation meaning that climbing up to West Royce would be a lot of work.
Looking up to West Royce
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Looking back to Mount Meader (left) and Ragged Jacket (right)
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Looking down to Basin Pond.
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Bog Bridging before the junction with the Basin Trail.
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Another view of Basin Pond from further up the trail.
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Madison found a soft spot in the shade for a break.
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It was quite a climb for being late in the day and the heat was starting to get to me. I reached the 3210' summit of West Royce. There's a nice but limited view from the summit.
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I took the steep Royce Trail down.
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Sign at the junction with the Burnt Mill Brook Trail.
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Somewhere between the sign above and the sign below I entered Maine.
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I then came to the junction for the connector to East Royce.
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It had been a long hot day and the bugs had been eating me alive. I've climbed East Royce before so I didn't feel compelled to climb it today. I plan to climb it again though view the Laughing Lion Trail. The next quarter mile was brutal, horrible footing, filled with rocks and roots, and very steep. The trail finally levelled off. I found a swimming hole and couldn't resist a quick dip on this hot day.
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Next I stopped at Mad River Falls.
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We haven't had much rain lately so the falls were pretty dry. If they were flowing better I would have climbed down for a closer look.
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From here the trail follows Mad River, crossing it several times. It provided many nice water holes. I think Madison tried them all.
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Sign at the trailhead near Brickett Place.
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Well, now I had 2.5 mile road walk. I entered back into New Hampshire.
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Madison and I finished at 6:45, making this a 12 hour hike. We'll both sleep well tonight. Of course Madison couldn't wait and slept well on the drive home.
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