Here at Hangman Hill

Back in November Zealand managed to get his favorite chew toy stuck on his lower jaw. We don’t know how he did this, but it was firmly wedged over his front incisors. 

To get it off Sheri had to hold him down while I cut through the plastic chew with an old kitchen knife heated up in flame so that it could melt the plastic.  Its a good job we had a camping stove handy to get that knife red hot to cut through the chew-toy.

Overall it was a scary ordeal. Needless to say he wont be getting another toy like this anytime soon!

 

Not far from our chalet in New Hampshire is a short local hike to the top of Peaked Mountain.  We enjoyed this on a cold but sunny afternoon around Thanksgiving.  The hike took us through woods and over some solid granite slabs to reach the summit.  Not too much ice, but a very cold wind meant that we didn’t take too many pictures.

Back in November we spent a leisurely weekend hiking in New Hampshire before the start of ski season.  The days are short at this time of year, but there are some great shorter hikes that can be done with marvelous views.  One such hike is Mt Pemigewasset which we tackled after the first real winter snowstorm had hit the region.  We put micro-spikes on in the parking lot and kept them on most of the way around the short loop.  This was Zealand’s first hike in the snow and he did very well!

We received about 8″ of snow in the storm last Thursday. It fell on cold ground (well below freezing for the previous 10 days) and it has been very cold since then. This meant we could cross-country ski from home in North Stonington this weekend. We took a 2-3 hour tour on each day (due to the extreme cold) and Zealand was able to accompany us in his new winter coat and boots. He really enjoyed playing in the snow and chasing after us on the downhill sections. Thanks to our friends Anne, Cindy, Grace, Denise and Mike for joining us!

In November we made the decision to replace our trusty 2013 Toyota Highlander with a newer vehicle, and to upgrade to something a little more plush for our long drives to/from New Hampshire.

We settled on a 2018 Ford Flex Limited, which  has plenty of room for all of our gear and has a large back seat so that the passenger can stretch out on those long drives.  It also has All-Wheel-Drive and roof bars to accomodate adventures all year around.

So far we love driving “Phoebe Flex”, and we’ve put on quite a few miles since her arrival in November.

In November, Bruno made a short trip to San Diego for some business meetings and he had a morning to walk around town and explore the local landmarks / views.  Here are a few of his favorite photos from his stroll:

On Friday evening we set off for Evan’s Notch which is the most eastern section of the White Mountain National Forest, and is located on the Maine-NH border.  This area offers mountains in the 2000’-3000’ range, many of which, have open summits that afford views of the Presidential Range of the White Mountains of NH.

We left from the parking area for the Caribou and Muddy Brook Trailheads.  The plan was to hike on the Caribou Trail which follows a river for the first two miles and look for a place to camp.  We were expecting a clear night, with a good forecast for Saturday which would allow us to make the most of the open ledges and clear summit of Caribou Mountain.  This would also break up the 7 mile loop for our puppy Zealand who is still developing the skills and strength for hiking in the White Mountains.

The Caribou trail is easy to follow and after about 20 minutes of walking we had an exciting river crossing due to some heavy rains that fell earlier in the week.  From that point the trail follows the river with a moderate increase in elevation that makes for a pleasant walk.  

We found an open area nestled between the trail and river that looked large enough for our “3 person” backpacking tent. We quickly set up the tent and make a cup of tea.  Night fell as we cooked dinner and we ate by the light of the stars, moonlight and a light-weight solar lantern.

We retired to the tent at 8pm and snuggled down for the evening. Zealand did great and seemed relaxed and happy in his sleeping bag.  The clear night meant for cold temperatures and in hind-sight the winter sleeping bags would have been a good idea!  Bruno and Sheri managed to stay warm by sleeping in all the clothes in their packs, including their down coats.

Saturday morning dawned clear and crisp, but soon warmed as the sun began to come up.  We broke camp, ate a hearty oatmeal breakfast and set off up Caribou Trail.   We continued to follow the river and eventually reached Kees Falls, which were impressive thanks the heavy rains only days before.  From this point the trail turned away from the river towards the col between Caribou and Gammon Mts. At the col we took the Muddy Brook Trail to the summit of Mt Caribou.

Just below the summit open granite ledges revealed views to the south and east. With clear, bright-blue skies the views into Maine were fantastic.  At the summit of Caribou the views were spectacular in all directions.  We could see Mt Moriah which we hiked about a month ago and further in the distance the Presidential Range, Kearsarge North to the south close to the chalet, the Carter Moriah range, and Waumbek and Cabot to the north of Gorham, NH.

We enjoyed lunch and the views and Zealand took a short nap.  We continued along the broad summit and with some effort, managed to find the Muddy Book Trail which descended steeply for about a mile. Gradually the grade became less steep and the remaining 2 miles was a very pleasant and gentle walk back to the car. 

Both trails were fantastic, the summit offered great vistas and the weather was superb.   While many of the leaves have come down, we we appreciated the partial views and ability to see the river which otherwise would be hidden behind the summer canopy.  This is a hike we will repeat!  And, we are looking forward to more overnight backcountry trips with young Zealand.

We were lucky enough to squeeze in an end-of-season backpacking trip last weekend. In summer-like weather we hiked 7.6 miles each way to the summits of Crawford, Resolution and Stairs mountains, along the ridge that connects them together. Our campsite was on the summit of Stairs Mountain and it afforded us spectacular views of the fall colors in the White Mountains.

Sunday was a spectacular day in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, so we couldn’t rest on our laurels and we just had to get out into the mountains.  We decided to tackle an easier peak with great views, so we chose to hike the Royces (East & West) which can be easily accessed from the Evans Notch Road.  This was just 20 minutes form our campsite near Gorham.

East Royce is in Maine and West Royce is in New Hampshire, but they are easy to hike together (and there is no border crossing to be concerned with!).  We saw quite a few people on the east summit, but we had the west summit to ourselves.  Apart from being attacked by a territorial grouse on the way up the hiking was uneventful, but steep.  Our knees were very happy once we’d made it back to the parking lot!

There are forty-eight peaks over 4000-ft in New Hampshire and over the past few years we have been  gradually tackling them whenever the the summits of the high peaks were clear.  Sometimes this was in the winter, sometimes in the summer, and sometimes at other times of year.

By the middle of September this year we had just one remaining peak to go.  We had in fact managed to catch up to our friend Denise who had been at 47 for almost a year (did she wait for us?).  So, we planned a camping trip last weekend to celebrate and to tackle our last remaining peak, Mt Moriah near Gorham, NH.  We were accompanied by our friends Denise, Mike, Bill and Kim.

We chose to ascend the peak via the Stony Brook trail which gives great views of many other peaks including Mount Washington, Pine Mountain, the Carters, the Wildcat range, the Wild River Wildernesss, the Royces (East & West), and the Baldfaces.  Once on the ridge to the summit we relaxed and enjoyed the hiking and each other’s company.

To celebrate our achievement we had a picnic lunch at the summit of Mt Moriah, washed down with “bubbly” and tequila.  We took lots of photos and lingered to enjoy the moment.

Our descent took us over the open peak of Shelburne-Moria and then onto the Shelburne Trail.  We hiked about 13-miles in total and finished the day by hiking down an old logging road in the dark.  It was great feeling to have completed this group of high peaks, and now we are trying to decide what list we will tackle next…