Mount Pierce - NH

Ah the winter holidays.  Time for family, food, and showcasing my adorable kitty to my family!  And for those of us undeterred by frigid temperatures, it’s a perfect opportunity to hike.  So with a little cooperation from Mother Nature and some good timing between school vacations and work holiday, my faithful hiking companion Tim and I made for the White Mountains to knock another 4000’er off of the list.

The key to hiking in the winter is to be prepared.  It is always better to have some gear but not need it than need something and not having it.  As an example, on this hike, I brought a few extra pairs of socks.  While I did not need to use any, I was prepared if I had accidentally gotten snow in my boot, stepped in a giant puddle, or if my feet got too warm and started to sweat.  You should also bring a little extra food and water.  Because your body is trying to maintain its proper temperature, you burn more calories.  Finally, when hiking in the winter, you need to be smart.  This kind of coincides with being prepared.  When hiking in the winter, you probably should be wearing more than shorts and flip-flops.  Furthermore, the weather at the start of the trail could differ greatly from the weather at the summit.  Finally, if you have any doubts about your gear, your physical fitness, or the weather, it is probably in your best interest to turn around.  The mountain will still be there next time.

With my words of wisdom out of the way, time let you live vicariously through me!  Tim and I had mentioned hoping to hike around Christmas the last time we went hiking.  He was off of school for the holidays and I had a few days off.  It was just a matter of the weather… which turned out to be nearly perfect!  Mid-30’s with little to no wind at the base; about 20 with a few gusts and some clouds at the summit.  You can’t get much better than that!  We decided on Mt. Pierce, named after the greatest president of the United States of America from New Hampshire Franklin Pierce.  The trail we took, Crawford Path, is the oldest continuously used trail in the United States.  Because it was once a horse path used to bring supplies to the summit of Washington, the trail is a very moderate ascent covering roughly 3.1 miles with 2350’ elevation gain.  Unfortunately, cloud cover set in at about 4100’ leaving us with limited visibility from the summit.

Hiking in a Winter Wonderland!

Summit Selfie

Tim posing in front of Mt. Eisenhower (hidden by the clouds)

Izzy kitty!

At the summit, albeit still 10:45am, I enjoyed a delicious Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout.  Wolaver’s is an organic brewery related to Otter Creek.  On a cold winter’s mountain top, I couldn’t have asked for a better beer.  This stout is smooth and about as close to black as a beer can be with hints of chocolate (and Wolaver’s description says coffee as well).  Nothing like a good, hearty stout to replenish some of the calories lost en route!

Mount Pierce
            Views – 3.5 (Some views during the climb; summit cloudy)
            Time –  4.5 (Less than 3 hours round trip!)
            Difficulty – 2 (Despite winter conditions, one of the easier hikes I have done)
            Beer – 5 (Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout)
            Overall – 4.5 (Great winter hike)

Mount Marcy - NY

Better late than never, right?  In this case, this post is only two weeks late...

It’s official: clouds always loom over the Adirondacks.  Even on a day forecasted for sun and 70^oF, the mountain tops are doomed with high winds and cloudy conditions.  At least that’s all I know of the mountains of New York.   While the minimal visibility on some hikes makes you appreciate the view of others, it would be nice to have views from the tallest peak in the state. 

A good friend from college, Colin, suggested we hike in New York after he read about my hike up Cascade and Porter.  The next possible opportunity, I made my way back to New York for a hike up Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in New York.

The hike starts with a casual 2.5-mile walk through the forest until you reach Marcy Dam.  This is a beautiful lake nestled between some mountains.  From there, the trail gets steeper as you hike alongside a river.  A few times throughout the hike, there were trails forking off to smaller peaks neighboring Marcy.  While these trails were only a mile or two, the trip up and down Marcy was a 15-mile trek.  To play it safe and conserve our energy, Colin and I decided to stick to our plan to just hike Mt. Marcy.

It was surreal at the summit.  Winds were gusting at 80 mph, and the clouds were so thick, visibility was barely twenty-five feet.  While there were no views from the summit, Colin showed me some of Lake Placid’s Olympic parks, specifically the ski jumping facilities. 

Lake Placid

Stunning view from the summit... 

Colin barely visible through the fog

Trying not to get blown over by the gusts

The Mount Marcy sandwich

Since I visited Lake Placid, I found it only fitting to enjoy Lake Placid brewery’s Ubu Ale.  It was a delicious English strong ale (7.0% abv…  oops!) that was one of the tastier red ales I have had.  Sweet, fruity, slightly hoppy, but the flavors play very well together.  I just hope I can have another sometime soon!

Mount Marcy
            Views – ? (Clouds...)
            Time –  4 (For a 15-mile hike, we made great time, being back for a late lunch)
            Difficulty – 4 (Long and pretty steep at some points.  Grueling)
            Beer – 4.5 (Lake Placid Ubu Ale)
            Overall – 4.5 (Nothing like the accomplishment of hiking the highest NY mountain!)

Now that summer has long since passed and winter is right around the corner, I do not know when I will next be able to hike.  Hopefully this winter, I’ll be able to do a few more hikes, but they will probably be few and far between.  Hopefully I will get some new gear I can write a post about or hike in a warmer climate.  Until then, thanks everybody for following along, and don’t be shy to ask questions or comment!

Porter Mountain and Cascade Mountain - NY

For the longest time, I had been telling myself that I need to make time to hike in the Adirondacks.  Well, of course I have to because 46 of the Northeast 115 are in NY.  I just meant for more personal reasons.  Pictures of them look gorgeous, and I have heard they have hiking very similar to the White Mountains.  Thankfully, I was able to finally make the time and plans to hike in New York!

My friend Mary suggested we hike Cascade and Porter: two of the easier yet more scenic hikes in New York.  Of course in order to appreciate the scenery, you have to be able to see it.  I’ll get into that a bit later, but the ride to the mountain, starting with a ferry ride across Lake Champlain, a 30 minute detour by means of getting lost, and the start of autumnal foliage was absolutely stunning.

When we got to the start of the trail, Mother Nature decided that we had seen too much and the skies began to cloud.  The hike up the mountain was still enjoyable.  The trails were very well maintained and not very difficult to maneuver through.  To the summit of Porter was 2.8 miles with only 1900’ elevation gain, and Cascade was 2.4 miles with about 2000’ gained.  With about 0.3 miles to the summit of Cascade, a trail forks off leading to the top of Porter, another 0.7 miles away.  There was nothing difficult about this trail, however there was a great scramble (made much more difficult by the whipping winds and disorienting clouds) to finish off Cascade.  Unfortunately, due to the high winds and misty conditions, we weren’t able to see any great views and spent very little time on the summits.

 

Camels Hump from the ferry

At the summit of Porter Mountain

Stunning views from Cascade Mountain

Summit of Cascade Mountain

Fitting for this hike was a Saranac Adirondack Lager.  This would have hit the spot at the summit on a halfway decent hike, but given the circumstances, I decided it would be best to enjoy in the comfort of my own home.  It is a crisp beer that goes down smooth.  There are some gentle notes of hops, but nothing over the top.  All things considered, a very solid beer in memory of a very solid hike!

Porter Mountain and Cascade Mountain
            Views – ? (The clouds we were in looked cool, I suppose…)
            Time –  4 (Was able to travel to NY, hike, and travel back before 2 in the afternoon.)
            Difficulty – 3 (A quick hike capturing two summits.)
            Beer – 4 (Saranac Adirondack Lager)
            Overall – 4 (Enjoyable hike with less than favorable weather)

In summary, I enjoyed the hike of Porter and Cascade.  With Mary saying how great the views were, these two peaks are some of the many I will have to hike again! 

Thanks to everyone that keeps reading about my hiking adventures.  If you have any questions, concerns, and/or comments, please feel free to leave one!

Mount Mansfield - VT

What better to do on a gorgeous Monday morning than hike the tallest 4000’ mountain in the state of Vermont?  So that is exactly what I decided to do!  After driving about an hour to get to the Underhill State Park side of the mountain, I found out I would not be able to get to the hiking trails due to culvert maintenance.  Undeterred (and a little frustrated), I decided to drive around to the Stowe Resort area of Mansfield and hike up a little trail known as Hell Brook.

When you hear Hell Brook Trail, I’m sure you think ‘Wow, Patrick.  You really must take the easy way up mountains.”  Let me assure you this trail is grueling.  From the parking lot to the chin of Mansfield is about 2 miles with 2600’ elevation gain.  In other words, you put your head down and trek for 30 seconds, and when you look back, you are noticeably higher.  The rocks have the tendency to be slick, but this is most definitely the most enjoyable way up Mount Mansfield.  Since I like my body the way it is (not mangled and broken), I decided to play it safe and hike down the Long Trail.  Although this spitted me out 15 minutes down the road from my car, I felt a lot safer so it was worth it.  The Underhill side of Mansfield is much more popular, but offers better maintained trails and hikes better suited for the casual hiker.  Now, I have been to the summit of Mansfield so many times that I’m almost used to the views.  Regardless, it has some good views of the Green Mountains, Lake Champlain, the Adirondacks, and, with good visibility, the White Mountains.

The best part of my hike came when I was pushing through the final ascent up a very steep scramble and pulled over to let a school group come down.  A little girl stops at a mini-plateau, looks at me, and says, "Do you like hiking?".  First off, I'm hiking alone on a beautiful day, of course I like hiking.  So, I said to her, "Oh!  I LOVE hiking!" to which she responds, "... I guess I can't say anything bad about it then."  That's the spirit, little girl.  Hopefully someday the mountains will call for you again.

Lake of the Clouds

Smuggler's Notch

Worst f***ing trail ever.

At the summit is where I endured the most difficulty during my hike.  While I was able to rehydrate and intake some much needed calories via CRAP (Craisins and Peanuts, my spin off of GORP), I broke out my Smutty Nose Pale Ale to enjoy, but shortly after taking it out of my backpack, a gust blew it over and smashed it over a rock!  (Smutty Nose, I promise I will give your brew a great review on another hike).  Since I technically bent my rules of enjoying a beer at the summit, I’ll break the rules with my “beer” review.  Instead, I’ll tap into my beverage endeavors of long ago and promote my favorite mead makers: Groennfell Meadery.  In hindsight, a delicious Mannaz, Fenberry Draught, Valkyrie’s Choice, or (and), from what I understand, their new Autumn Spice seasonal would have hit the spot atop Mansfield.  I’m just glad their precious nectars didn’t fall victim to the same fate as my unfortunate Smutty Nose.

Groennfell Fenberry Draught from Mansfield's Forehead

Mount Mansfield
            Views – 3.5 (Much different views from the other hikes of this trip.)
            Time – 4 (Spent more time getting to the trail)
            Difficulty – 4 (Grueling and steep.  Hell Brook for a reason)
            Beer – 4.5* (Groenfell Meadery)

            Overall – 4 (Nothing like hiking the highest peak in VT)

At the summit of my 10th 4000' mountain!

I can't believe this is already my 10th different 4000' mountain since announcing my goal in July!  Thanks for everyone who reads my posts and enjoys following my hiking adventures.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep pumping them out!

Mount Jackson - NH

It was the third and final day of our hiking trip.  My legs were tired, but I knew that this one last day would be worth it.  Our plan of attack was to hike Mount Jackson and scoot over to Mount Webster, even though it was a little out of the way and less than 4000’.  I was excited to hike one last time and knock off another 4000’ mountain, especially one that was named after the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Mount Jackson is actually named after Charles Jackson, a NH geologist.  Rather deceptive since it is on the southern side of the Presidential Traverse).

The Webster Jackson Trail was a very enjoyable hike.  The first mile is rather moderate with a few decent overlook points.  These points are well marked and have really great views of Tom, Field, and Willey along with the rest of Crawford Notch.  After about a mile of hiking, the trail forked for a direct path up to Jackson or Webster.  Tim and I took the route leading us to Webster (the path on the right).  It started with a solid 100’ descent.  At the bottom was a gorgeous waterfall.  The only problem with the steep descent is it adds another 100’ we have to ascend again…  The rest of the hike was, again, moderate with a few moments of steep sections.  After a brief pit stop at the top of Webster, we crossed the ridge to Jackson.  This trail only had a few more feet of elevation gain.  However, the final push before the summit was a steep scramble.  Nothing Tim and I couldn’t handle though.  And it was worth it!

Tom, Field, and Willey

The southern Presidential Range

Photogenic alpine dog

Tim is probably only 10' in front of me...  but 50' higher! 

At the summit of Mt. Jackson

NO CLOUDS OVER WASHINGTON!  IT EXISTS!

At the summit, I enjoyed a Moat Mountain Czech Style Pilsner Lager.  Considering the only other type of pilsner I’ve had before was your typical “cheap beer”, this tasted amazing.  It was very smooth, and light tasting beer; perfect for the summit of a 4000’ mountain.

Mount Jackson (including Mount Webster)

            Views – 4 (Much different views from the other hikes of this trip.)

            Time – 4 (Able to hike and head back to VT before dinner time)

            Difficulty – 3.5 (Some steep and slippery sections)

            Beer – 4.5 (Moat Mountain Czech Style Pilsner Lager)

            Overall – 4 (Great views of Presidentials, enjoyable beer, another great 1/2 day hike)

This post concludes my hiking trip with Tim from August 18-20, 2014.  I apologize for taking so long to make all of these posts, but I have been busy in recent weeks (fantasy football, Arcade Fire concert, work, etc.).  Again, in times between hikes, what could I do/post to bridge the gaps?  Is there anything more or less that you want from this blog?  Thanks for your input!