Friday, 7/11/2014
Day One: 6.8 Miles & +4812 Vert/-1791 Vert
Looking at my Full Moon app this past spring, I marked my calendar with all of the full moon weekends for the summer. I honestly wasn’t expecting to hit such a perfect weather window AND a full moon but it looked good so we upgraded a Northern Presi trip to a Presidential Traverse and Gus and I rolled up to Appalachia Parking Lot at 10:30 PM Friday.
With winter waning Gus and I decided to stay somewhere relatively not wet and freezing with a mixed Friday forecast so we opted for Round 2 at Lonesome Lake Hut since we enjoyed our first stay and since Gus needed South Kinsman we decided this would be a good “warm up” trip.
Man what a year. 2013 Highlights in no particular order:
– Easily the greatest powder year of my life. Hitting multiple 12″+ storms gave me a record number of incredible runs this year. Also in the 16 days ridden I rode 9 or 10 different mountains with very few days that weren’t outstanding. A NYE 2012 storm kicked it off at Sunday River, an epic Nemo 18″ day highlighted it and a Colorado trip in March sealed off the season strongly. I also explored hiking my snowboard to local “backcountry” glades runs during some big local snows for a quick fix.
The Osceolas
My most recent mountain therapy excursion included checking out the two Osceolas this past weekend. I usually don’t do 4000 Footer day hikes and I haven’t ever done one without camping. Mainly because driving 5 hours in a day to hiked for 6 is for yuppie trash and people that don’t own tents. However, it was December, an exception to my own rule and I found myself alone and with a free day and I figured I would do a quick cold weather gear check and test the legs out on something short and simple. By that I mean the mileage and vert is less than I am used to, however I loaded up a 30lb pack and the conditions were definitely a surprise…
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This weekend, the long awaited Carters + Moriah 4-bagger were on the menu after a 3 month summer backpacking hiatus which in hindsight is inexcusable. Gus and I hit up Dolly Copp campsite at about 10 pm and got a fire going. We drank a few brews, scoped the full moon from the field and split up group gear and passed out around 1 am. I slept with the rain fly off and woke a few times to see the moon staring brightly down at me. We were awakened by the camp caretaker for not paying the fee at 7am. Since we got there late and the campground is quite large, we figured we’d pay on the way out and apparently the way out part doesn’t fly with them. My alarm went off as he walked away so it worked out.
After my Los Angeles trip + Gus’ Vegas bachelor party last week I was chomping at the bit for some Nature re-tuning. Gus and I had talked about the Northern Presidentials while drinking in the pool at Mandalay Bay so that was on the menu for this weekend.
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Back to the mountains and this time it felt overdue. Since we bailed on the previous weekend due to rain, we decided to stomp out a four peak trip after throwing around some two peak trip ideas that would have been less than acceptably arduous. The weather is getting nice so time to crank the vert back up around 6,000 feet per trip which was our average for last year. We decided on this trip after reading tantalizing tales of the carnage that is the Kate Sleeper Trail and having never done a Sandwich Range hike, this was new terrain and views for us.
Following the successful Moosilauke overnight the weekend before and facing a window of opportunity for back-to-back bluebird Saturdays, we decided to take the Presidential views a little closer up this time and headed to Carter Notch Hut on Friday night. After an interesting drive of getting passed by both an 18 wheeler (in a no pass zone!) as well as a Smart Car (WTF?) we finally arrived at the Nineteen Mile Brook Trailhead around 10:30 pm with my pride brutally shattered.
Mt.Moosilauke from South Peak
After taking the winter off from peak bagging in exchange for a record season of riding powder, Gus Longtrail and I decided enough was enough and that Mt. Moosilauke needed a proper crushing. We headed north and got a start around 7 pm Friday as the sun was fading. The drizzle thankfully turned to snow when we reached the trail head in Kinsman Notch and suited up for a nighttime ascent of Beaver Brook Trail to the Beaver Brook Shelter. This ascent is the steepest route up, at 1.5 miles and almost 1900 feet of vert.
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Halfway through our brutal two night Semi Pemi Loop, D. Mak and I decided we needed a much deserved break from backpacking and do a day hike and car camp for a change. We headed up Friday 9/17/12 with no reservations and few options, grabbed a site at good old Campton Campground, a place we were familiar with from last years Franconia Ridge trip. After setting up camp, we headed back toward town and grabbed a bite and a few beers at Woodpecker’s Pub while we waited out a rain storm and for Pete Boy and Gus Longtrail to get in town. Shooting pool and listening to a blues band while crushing $2 Tuckerman Pale Ales definitely beats the rain!
The next day ended up being much nicer than forecasted and we headed up to the Kanc and Hancock trailhead and started the trudge. This was quite an enjoyable hike with nice stream crossings bursting with different kinds of birds; a Cedar Waxwing flew right over our heads.
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