VT: Mount Pisgah & Burke Mountain

A weekend in Vermont with 3 dogs sounds ideal. How could I pass up my neighbor’s offer to dog sit and stay at their vacation home in the rolling hills of the Northeast Kingdom? I don’t spend much time in Vermont, so I took this as an opportunity to get out and discover some nearby mountains.

Saturday was cool and overcast when I got in my car and drove up to Lake Willoughby. I had chosen to hike Mount Pisgah, which sat on the eastern shore of the lake. After passing by a small pond, the trail was a consistent uphill climb to the wooded summit. Along the way, there were several small outlooks from which you could catch a glimpse of the lake below. I had gone up the South trail, and made a decision to descend via the North trail and then return the way I had come to do a double traverse of the mountain. At a little over 2,000 feet, this small mountain offers sweeping views from the steep cliffs that face the lake.

Sunday morning brought more grey skies, heavy fog and a chance of rain later in the day. I headed over to Burke Mountain, home of Burke Mountain Academy, one of the top ski racing programs in the entire country. The mountain is relatively small in terms of New England ski areas, but its terrain is steep and challenging. I had skied here with my family before, but never hiked it.

The trail wound through the hardwood forest, and crisscrossed several mountain bike trails before gaining elevation. I hiked up into the low cloud cover, and a heavy mist swirled around the trees. Drops of water fell from the leaves overhead and my boots quickly became mud-covered with all the puddles that filled the trail. 

Nearing the summit, I could hear the hum of the chairlift that was running. The wind had picked up and once at the top, I ate a quick snack and looked up at the fire tower which disappeared into the dense clouds. I hiked along the Summit Loop trail over the western summit before following the West Side trail down.

Galehead & Garfield Backpacking Trip

There is one main factor in outdoor recreation that we have little ability to control, and that is the weather. Oftentimes, especially in New England, you make plans and then hope for the best that Mother Nature has to offer. Being the beginning of October, it’s possible to expect any type of weather in the mountains from a typical cool crisp autumn day with bluebird skies to blizzard-like conditions with gale force winds.

I had been watching the weather all weeklong in hopes that the weekend forecast wouldn’t be a complete washout. I had made plans to take one of my best friends from college and her boyfriend backpacking in the White Mountains. This would be my friend Katie’s second backpacking trip (her first being one we went on this past August in Vermont), and her boyfriend’s first. Needless to say, it’s always slightly stressful trying to pick and plan a trip that you think will be enjoyable for all levels of experience.

We left Massachusetts early on Saturday and were on the trail before 9:00am. We headed up the Gale River Trail, which starts out quite flat before gradually becoming steeper and steeper. The final section of trail makes your thighs burn with a seemingly never-ending staircase of boulders. At the intersection of the Garfield Ridge Trail we kept going straight to the AMC Galehead Hut.

The Appalachian Mountain Club maintains eight huts (more accurately described as lodges) in the White Mountains, which offer a full range of services to hikers in the backcountry. At the Galehead Hut, we dropped our packs and took a quick trip up to the tree-covered summit of Galehead. Upon returning to the hut, we took a quick break to refill water bottles, take advantage of the composting toilets, and scarf down several of the free pancakes that were left over from breakfast.

Onwards! Next up was the Garfield Ridge Trail, not to be underestimated. Despite only having a little under 3 miles to go ‘til we reached our campsite, the steep up and downs of the ridge were a challenge for weary legs under heavy packs. The mountains were socked in by the clouds and everything had been covered in a damp mist, making rocks and roots particularly slippery. We took our time, carefully picking our paths across sharply slanted slabs of rocks.

The plan was to spend the night at the Garfield Ridge Shelter due to the rain that was called for. We booked it for the last half mile to the shelter, and made it just as it started to drizzle. By lean-to standards, this place was a 5-star luxury accommodation; it had a loft, ample pegs to hang wet clothing on, and was finely crafted out of huge cedar logs. Oh, and it costs $8 pp/night.

No more than 5 minutes after we arrived, people started rolling in, including: a group of boy scouts, and a few guys who opted to spend the night in hammocks. The rest of the evening was spent curled up in sleeping bags, chatting with the troop leaders, and hanging out with their dog, a Weimaraner named Loki. We were so cozy and warm that we almost debated not getting up to make dinner. We fell asleep at dusk to the sound of the howling wind, and sheets of rain falling on the roof above us.

The next morning after a hot bowl of oatmeal, we shouldered our packs, and hiked to the summit of Garfield. Garfield is known to have some of the best views in the Whites, but this morning the summit was shrouded in clouds. We spent a while at the top watching the clouds rush by, as the sun tried valiantly to burn through. Every now and again, the clouds would part for just an instant and you were able to catch a glimpse of the sun-kissed Pemigewasset Wilderness below.

The remainder of the hike was a pleasant descent down the Mt. Garfield trail amongst the bright display of the leaves that clung stubbornly to the trees and carpeted the forest floor.  

October: The Wall

The following are photographs from Sunday's surf session up in Hampton, NH:

Mt. Ascutney Backpack

This past August, myself and two of my friends spent the night at one of the most gorgeous spots I have ever pitched a tent. That’s saying a lot.

DISCLAIMER: This was not at a legal campsite. In fact, what we did was against the rules of the park in which we camped. I’m usually pretty stringent when it comes to following the rules, but I had a brilliant idea, and I ran with it.

Perched on the edge of the world.

This was to be my friend Katie’s first backpacking trip, and my friend Jess’s second backpacking trip. Katie and Jess didn’t meet until the afternoon we met up to pack our bags and head off to the mountain.

Gus' Outlook.

I picked Mt. Ascutney because: it wasn’t too far of a drive from Massachusetts; it would be a moderately challenging trip with ~4 miles each day; it’s a relatively small mountain with a big reward; it has a fire tower and sprawling views; and, using two cars we could do a traverse to experience the best it had to offer.

I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking…

FOT48: Owls Head

On September 15^th 2001, a group of six hikers climbed Mt. Liberty and flew an American flag from the summit in a patriotic remembrance of the events that had transpired four days earlier. The following year, the event Flags on the 48 was organized.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this event, here is a brief explanation: Every year on the Saturday that falls closest to September 11^th, hikers summit each of the 48 4,000 footers in New Hampshire, and raise the American flag in memory of the events that occurred in 2001. The flag will fly from 12 to 2 in the afternoon from every summit.

This was my second year participating in this event. Last year, I signed up for a crew that hiked South Twin. This is one of those events that fills up quickly, especially the more popular summits with good views and easy accessibility.

I signed up for Owls Head this year, which is one of the more remote, viewless summits, with a round trip of 16+ miles. To put it mildly, it’s a pain in the butt to get to, has no major reward at the top, and makes for a very long day.

A group of 6 of us met in the parking lot a little after 5am. We turned on our headlamps and started down the trail. Occasionally, the silence would be broken by a few early morning mutterings and introductions, but for the most part no one was fully awake for the first couple miles of the Wilderness Trail.

Soon we found ourselves stumbling through the brush as we followed the Fisherman’s Bushwhack alongside Franconia Brook. At first the lightly worn path was evident, but it soon became trickier, and we stopped to look around for what we thought might be the trail several times before continuing on in the right direction.

The approach to Owls Head is relatively flat for several miles, before reaching a mile long scramble up an open rock slide. It is a steep, gravel and boulder covered trail that heads into the woods after about a quarter mile. In that one mile, the trail gains over 1,500ft of elevation. Once the trail flattened out near the top, we continued to follow a small herd path to the summit of Owls Head. 

At the summit, we all bundled up in our warmest layers and set to putting up the flagpole and raising the flag. We also had a small memorial to James Foley, the reporter who was killed by ISIS. The weather was cooler than expected and there was a damp chill in the air. We broke out some whiskey, bacon, and hot dogs fresh off the grill (complete with buns and condiments). The summit was surprisingly busy that afternoon, and we got to meet some fellow hikers.

After two hours on the summit, we headed back down the slide. We got to the bottom just as the rain began to fall. Talk about good timing! The hike back to the trailhead was relaxed, with miles of gradual terrain and many river crossings, which resulted in some wet feet.

Thirteen hours after we had started, we arrived back at the trailhead, everybody overflowing with exhaustion and an elated sense of blissful accomplishment. After exchanging contact information, and snacking on some delicious homemade baked goods, we departed. All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a greater group of people to spend a day with in the mountains. Hopefully, I’ll see some of you at the 2015 event!

Caribou Mountain

Labor Day Weekend in the White Mountains is notorious for crowded trailheads; not exactly my cup of tea. So, I pulled out my maps of the White Mountains and scoured them in search of a mountain that was both off the beaten path and somewhat understated. Evans Notch is the far eastern section of the White Mountains and it straddles the New Hampshire-Maine state line. I've hiked this region many times before, and I've found it to be much quieter than the rest of the Whites. I choose Caribou Mountain, which can be hiked as a 7-mile loop via the Caribou Trail and Mud Brook Trail.

Birthday Hike on the Baldfaces

Getting above tree line, looking out at South Baldface.

Autumn in New England is one of the finest displays of nature. As the leaves change, the mountainsides become covered in a bold patchwork of color. 

The beginning of the ledges coming down from South Baldface. 

The last weekend of September, I had the pleasure of sharing one of my favorite hikes with my parents. My mom’s birthday is this week, and I surprised her by heading up to the family’s cabin in Maine late on Friday night.

Saturday couldn’t have been a more perfect day. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. We had unseasonably warm temperatures in the 70s, and upon gaining elevation, there was a steady breeze to cool you off. 

The plan was to hike both North and South Baldface out of Evan’s notch, via the Baldface Circle Trail. We did the loop counterclockwise, which allowed us to avoid the crowds until later in the day. 

The Baldfaces straddle the Maine-New Hampshire state line and sit in the far east of the White Mountain National Forest. They get their name from the fact that they are sparsely vegetated as a result of a fire in the early 1900s. This means that despite the fact that they sit under 4,000ft, they are mainly above tree line, quite exposed to the elements, and have sweeping views along the several mile long ridgeline that connects both summits. Though the elevation may not be great, the hike itself is not a walk in the woods. It’s a little under 10 miles long and has over 3,500ft elevation gain. To add to the adventure, the southern peak in flanked by massive rocky ledges that proved to be very challenging and somewhat daunting, but we made it down safely (on our butts for most of the way). 

Look at Mt. Washington and the Wildcat-Carter Range from the summit of South Baldface.