Here at Hangman Hill

Last weekend we were up at the chalet in New Hampshire with our friends Mike, Denise and Mesa. On Saturday the snow coverage was a little too thin for cross-country skiing, hence we agreed that a winter hike would be fun.

The wind was forecast to be strong on the summits, so we chose a sheltered route up Mount Chocorua that none of us had done before – the Piper Trail on the way up, and the Hammond and Weetamoo Trails on the way back down.

We stopped at a lean-to during the ascent (Camp Penacook) and had lunch at the Jim Liberty Cabin during our return journey. The dogs had a lot of fun in the snow and we only had to break trail for the last few miles on the Weetamoo Trail. On this stretch we saw fresh bear prints in the snow in several places. After an exciting river crossing at sundown, we hiked the last mile back to the car by moonlight. All-in-all it was a great day of winter hiking!

We eased from work into last weekend with a trip to Woonsocket, RI to the Stadium Theater for a concert by Postmodern Jukebox. Known to their fans as PMJ, this unique group puts their own spin on modern music, mostly well-known popular hits. According to Wikipedia, “PMJ is known for reworking popular modern music into different vintage genres, especially early 20th century forms such as swing and jazz.” We had only recently discovered PMJ and were eager to hear them perform live. But first, the Stadium theater!

Originally conceived in the early 1920’s as a venue for variety shows and Vaudeville, the Stadium was open daily with 2-3 shows running per day. It was called the Stadium because of elevation and arrangement of the seats with affords each patron “the best” view of the stage. Charlie Chaplin and Al Jolson were two of the many artists and entertainers who performed at the theater. It is one of the last remaining Vaudeville theaters in the country that continues to operate as a theater. If you have a chance, visit The Stadium Theater website to learn more about its history.

Originally we booked tickets with the understanding this would be a typical PMJ show. As it turns out, it was one of the first holidays shows on their current tour. Having just navigated Halloween, were weren’t quite ready to embrace the holiday spirit. Yet, only a few minutes into the show, we were tapping along to the music, and enjoying the singing, dancing and antics of PMJ.

The evening started with a duet by two of the women in the group, who were the “MC’s” for the evening. In all there were 10 members of TMJ the night we saw them. “The band” consisted of 5 muscians who accompanied four vocalists. One of the highlights of the evening was the 10th member, a tap-dancer named Demi Remick who weaved in and out of show. Her energy, showmanship and humor were fantastic. Check out Sleigh Ride, which was one of our favorites of the night.

For a more typical PMJ experience, you can see their cover “All About the Bass” here. Another favorite is their version of ”Dancing Queen” by ABBA. They also have covered the music of Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and many other popular music artists. They are fun, talented and sure to make your tap your toes.

The final hike of our trip to Colorado was a visit to Lawn Lake with Brandon and Kerry. We hiked up to the lake beside a mountain stream, and imagined the day many years before that the dam broke and unleashed a devastating flood on the visitors in the valley below. The views from the lake were perfect (despite the lower water levels) and we enjoyed a snack in the sunshine before heading back down to the car.

Towards the end of our Colorado vacation we hiked to the summit of the Twin Sisters. It was a beautiful day and the views of Longs Peak we’re quite incredible. We had the summit to ourselves for a while and enjoyed a mid-morning snack along with the view. Although this is a popular hike we didn’t see too many people until we started the hike back to the car.

A few weekends ago we took a hike to Mount Roberts in the southern section of the White Mountains. The leaves were at their peak and the views were extraordinary. Enjoy the pictures below!

Saturday morning in NH and the cloud-base was very low. We opted for a low level hike, but still ended up hiking in the clouds. It was a good jaunt to the top of Mount Success, but we will have to come back when the views are clear.

Another fall trip to the Jackson NH area….and some great pumpkin people to enjoy…..

One of the objectives of our recent trip to Colorado was to attempt to climb Longs Peak near Estes Park. Longs Peak is one of the peaks over 14,000-feet in Colorado, and it can be seen from many places in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

A climb of Longs Peak is a serious outing and it requires good fitness, steady feet, and favorable weather conditions. We decided to wait until we had been at altitude for at least a week and we also wanted to avoid the Labor Day holiday weekend when more people could be expected on the trail. It tuned out that the forecast for the day after Labor Day was good, so we aimed for that day.

The hike is about 15.5 miles round trip via the “Keyhole Route” and it is advisable to be off the summit before the afternoon clouds roll in (with their potential for thunder and lightning). The guidebook suggests leaving the trailhead at 3am, so we went to bed early and were at the trailhed with our headlamps on at 2.50am!

The first few miles of hiking are along a well worn trail and can be easily navigated by headlamp. We emerged above tree-line at about 5am and we could see a short line of lights ahead of us on the trail.

By day-break we had reached the boulder-field below the ‘key hole’ and we enjoyed a fabulous sun-rise as we scrambled over the boulders. The ‘key hole’ is an unusual looking gap in the ridge and it leads to the easiest scrambling route on the backside of the mountain. It was a great location to enjoy our breakfast burritos and make sure we were fully hydrated before tackling the more technical hiking that leads to to the summit.

By this time there were not too many people ahead of us and we made quick work of the traverse to the ‘trough’ which leads up to the summit. We followed a clearly marked trail without too much difficulty. Our previous experiences of rock climbing, scrambling in the White Mountains, and ascending via ferrata in the Dolomites had prepared us well. We were able to enjoy the more exposed sections of the narrows and the homestretch and we were on the summit plateau by 9.45am. Once on the top we enjoyed the view, had a 2nd breakfast and took a few photos.

We left the summit at about 10am and retraced our route all of the way back to the car. We saw quite a lot of people who had not gotten up as early as us, and quite a few of them turned around when they saw where the route went. The people in flip-flops, wearing lots of make-up, and sporting lots of jewelry were definitely at a disadvantage on this hike! We also picked up quite a bit of trash on the way back down to the car including an empty urn that had contained someone’s ashes!

We arrived back at the trailhead at about 3pm after a fabulous day. We were indebted to Brandon and Kerry who help to prepare us for the hike and came along on the day to keep us company and share their wisdom on the trail. We’d do it again in an instant, and that is always the sign of a great hike!

We took a break from hiking with a delightful afternoon at Old Man Mountain. Old Man is a craggy mountain within a few minutes walk from Brandon and Kerry’s house.

Brandon took first lead to set up a top rope and we played around for a few hours, taking turns leading, cleaning and belaying. The last time we climbed was in Sardinia with our friend Michele, so it was nice to be out on an easy and solid route.

Kudos to Brandon and Kerry for getting us on the rock as preparation for our trip to Long’s Peak!

We explored the Glacier Gorge area of Rocky Mountain National Park with Brandon and Kerry with a hike through the valley to Black Lake and Green Lake. This hike leaves from the Bear Lake area which is very popular, so we had an early start and were on the trail by 6:30 am. There are other benefits, aside from finding a parking space, to early morning starts including the chance of seeing wildlife. On this morning we weren’t disappointed and soon came upon several families of elk, including a couple of cows and some younger elks. We tiptoed past them and they continued to eat their breakfast as we snapped photos and continued on towards Black Lake.

The Glacier Gorge trail winds through a valley following Glacier Creek and leads to Mills and Jewel Lakes. We continued to hike past the lakes arrived at Ribbon Falls just as the sun broke over the mountains.

After short scramble up Ribbon Falls were arrived at Black Lake where we were treated with impressive views of Mt McHenry and the back-side of Long’s Peak, a destination we had our eye for later in the week.

We continued through the valley and eventually arrived at Green Lake. As with many of our hikes so far, the alpine setting with glacial lakes was breathtaking. From Green Lake we had magnificent views of Long’s Peak, Storm Peak, Pagoda and Chief’s Head. Brandon was able to point out the keyhole route we intended to take to the summit of Long’s Peak. We watched climbers step through the keyhole and continue to the ledges, the narrows, trough and homestretch sections of the route.

The return trip back to the trailhead gave us a second chance to visit the various lakes and alpine flowers. We didn’t see much more for wildlife, that is, until we arrived at the parking lot full of enthusiastic park visitors.