with a man who seemed lost and some 'smelly boys!' for about a month now pam has been talking about hiking the AT from goose pond road going south, up moose mtn. this past saturday we finally made it happen. the topo below shows the trail in red within the pink border of the white mountain national forest. we started from the top of the map and followed the dotted line toward south peak at the bottom.
parking at the same pull off we use for MOC's annual turkey trot to holt's ledge and dartmouth skiway, we went across the road and headed south and uphill. not too far in the trail turns hard west and angles up even more. the land falls away to the north and the valley goose pond road follows. every once in a while a little flat spot offers a perch with a view. it was at one of these, about the size of a small kitchen, a man stood against a tree, his tent still set, and various gear spread about.
i stopped to talk as pam came up and we discovered he was from toronto and hiking the AT in new hampshire. if i were to say anything about him at this point i would comment on how soft spoken and unhurried he was. he spoke of stopping early the night before because he was tired, waking for breakfast, and then falling back asleep. it was around 10 and although he was gazing out over the valley, he was thinking about packing and getting moving.
we moved on as well, still climbing steeply and in a short bit, headed back south, more along a ridge. looking into the woods, you could see ledge paralleling us. in a few places the trail ran across exposed granite in the 'spine'. pam took a shot of one root system that spidered over a particularly large section of ledge.
looking up as we climbed, i got a picture of the area covered in a couple of feet of snow--it was a perfect glade. the trees were well spaced and the under growth small enough to be covered by a good couple of dumps. skip would be excited to see this and i wondered why he had not suggested ski up here before--maybe he and linda had not been up here since his freeheel turns got more solid. i remember we had skied the south peak and wolfboro road areas a number of years ago--we would have to come back to this side.
the ledge stuck up more and more as we got higher. the trail went by several long sections well above our heads. i went off trail over to one open spot about the size of a big house, covered in berry brush and fern. old fruit trees, crab apples and cherry, hung around the edges. it was a cool place only exploring it at its high point left me with a sketchy scramble down over a lichen and moss edge, with an overhanging drop of about six final feet. i managed, but pam was on the trail wondering what all the noise was.
below the north peak slab, three through hikers hung out on a broad overlook back to the north toward smart's mountain. there is a cabin up just off the peak with its fire tower. i imagined they would be staying up there that night--about 10 miles away, with a good bit of vertical to gain in two sections.
we topped out soon after that but i had not been there in so long that i suggested that we just keep going. pam was thinking i was just scheming to hike all the way to south peak, but i really was not all that sure. i think i figured it out about a mile of ridge later. walking through the woods without any distant spots for reference is a east coast thing. one has to go up to the whites to hike for miles above treeline. at some point pam's hunger started to perk up and she wondered about turning around. i thought of the potatoes and onions i had to harvest and agreed it would be a good spot to spin.
as we were coming back up to the north peak four through hikers--the 'smelly boys'--went roaring past us at speed. pam guessed that they would be headed to that north looking overlook and would stop and stink up our lunch spot. sure enough they were, so we kept on finally stopping on one of the outcroppings in a nice shady spot. we each had an apple and pam had 1/2 of her third cliff bar...granted the first two were the small sized ones. we took off again thinking that any minute the train of 'smelly boys' would blow by again. if you don't know pam, she gets hooked on certain phrases and repeats them in her child's voice--i heard 'smelly boys' a bunch of times before two of them actually did pass us--this time with a girl.
they caught us right at a log foot bridge covered with the toronto hiker's gear and him sitting on it. i went around on some larger rocks and stepped off trail on the other side of the creek. i didn't talk to the guy this time but the 'smelly boys' did. the guy had advanced much less than a mile--down hill--and had three of four water bottles out along with a filter. he was said he was filling up for day, but it was already after 1:00 and he had barely moved. it was probably at this point, pam started to worry about the 'lost man.'
we got back to the car shortly after and she told me she was worried about the guy. given that he had all the gear, food, and now water, i thought he would be ok. the AT is well traveled too, so i was not too concerned. i probably was also thinking about the potatoes and onions as i drove right by goose pond with out stopping and making good use of the swim suits pam had thoughtfully packed. it was hot and we were sweaty, but it was going to get worse for me, bending over and digging. i suspected that i would be even more in need of a swim in a few hours.
sure enough i was, and i thought maybe that was why pam was headed to the garden with her camera. but no she wanted pictures of her annual garden. to be sure the flowers this year have been spectacular, but what's not to love about a dirt-streaked, sweaty old man bending over a hill of potatoes?
i'll leave it at that...
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parking at the same pull off we use for MOC's annual turkey trot to holt's ledge and dartmouth skiway, we went across the road and headed south and uphill. not too far in the trail turns hard west and angles up even more. the land falls away to the north and the valley goose pond road follows. every once in a while a little flat spot offers a perch with a view. it was at one of these, about the size of a small kitchen, a man stood against a tree, his tent still set, and various gear spread about.
i stopped to talk as pam came up and we discovered he was from toronto and hiking the AT in new hampshire. if i were to say anything about him at this point i would comment on how soft spoken and unhurried he was. he spoke of stopping early the night before because he was tired, waking for breakfast, and then falling back asleep. it was around 10 and although he was gazing out over the valley, he was thinking about packing and getting moving.
we moved on as well, still climbing steeply and in a short bit, headed back south, more along a ridge. looking into the woods, you could see ledge paralleling us. in a few places the trail ran across exposed granite in the 'spine'. pam took a shot of one root system that spidered over a particularly large section of ledge.
looking up as we climbed, i got a picture of the area covered in a couple of feet of snow--it was a perfect glade. the trees were well spaced and the under growth small enough to be covered by a good couple of dumps. skip would be excited to see this and i wondered why he had not suggested ski up here before--maybe he and linda had not been up here since his freeheel turns got more solid. i remember we had skied the south peak and wolfboro road areas a number of years ago--we would have to come back to this side.
the ledge stuck up more and more as we got higher. the trail went by several long sections well above our heads. i went off trail over to one open spot about the size of a big house, covered in berry brush and fern. old fruit trees, crab apples and cherry, hung around the edges. it was a cool place only exploring it at its high point left me with a sketchy scramble down over a lichen and moss edge, with an overhanging drop of about six final feet. i managed, but pam was on the trail wondering what all the noise was.
below the north peak slab, three through hikers hung out on a broad overlook back to the north toward smart's mountain. there is a cabin up just off the peak with its fire tower. i imagined they would be staying up there that night--about 10 miles away, with a good bit of vertical to gain in two sections.
we topped out soon after that but i had not been there in so long that i suggested that we just keep going. pam was thinking i was just scheming to hike all the way to south peak, but i really was not all that sure. i think i figured it out about a mile of ridge later. walking through the woods without any distant spots for reference is a east coast thing. one has to go up to the whites to hike for miles above treeline. at some point pam's hunger started to perk up and she wondered about turning around. i thought of the potatoes and onions i had to harvest and agreed it would be a good spot to spin.
as we were coming back up to the north peak four through hikers--the 'smelly boys'--went roaring past us at speed. pam guessed that they would be headed to that north looking overlook and would stop and stink up our lunch spot. sure enough they were, so we kept on finally stopping on one of the outcroppings in a nice shady spot. we each had an apple and pam had 1/2 of her third cliff bar...granted the first two were the small sized ones. we took off again thinking that any minute the train of 'smelly boys' would blow by again. if you don't know pam, she gets hooked on certain phrases and repeats them in her child's voice--i heard 'smelly boys' a bunch of times before two of them actually did pass us--this time with a girl.
they caught us right at a log foot bridge covered with the toronto hiker's gear and him sitting on it. i went around on some larger rocks and stepped off trail on the other side of the creek. i didn't talk to the guy this time but the 'smelly boys' did. the guy had advanced much less than a mile--down hill--and had three of four water bottles out along with a filter. he was said he was filling up for day, but it was already after 1:00 and he had barely moved. it was probably at this point, pam started to worry about the 'lost man.'
we got back to the car shortly after and she told me she was worried about the guy. given that he had all the gear, food, and now water, i thought he would be ok. the AT is well traveled too, so i was not too concerned. i probably was also thinking about the potatoes and onions as i drove right by goose pond with out stopping and making good use of the swim suits pam had thoughtfully packed. it was hot and we were sweaty, but it was going to get worse for me, bending over and digging. i suspected that i would be even more in need of a swim in a few hours.
sure enough i was, and i thought maybe that was why pam was headed to the garden with her camera. but no she wanted pictures of her annual garden. to be sure the flowers this year have been spectacular, but what's not to love about a dirt-streaked, sweaty old man bending over a hill of potatoes?
i'll leave it at that...
