Breadloaf, Wilson and Roosevelt

December 1, 2017 sjm1000 breadloaf, final 100, roosevelt, wilson

Hiked Breadloaf, Wilson and Roosevelt on 11/28/2017 with Bill and Diane Schor. Weather was predicted to be bright and sunny but started off sort of cloudy before eventually clearing up. Temp was about 20 when we started and low 30s when we finished. These peaks are located in Vermont near Middlebury Gap. We took FR 59 off VT Route 125 and then FR 54 and finally FR 201 to the trailhead. FR 59 and 54 aren’t plowed in winter but were packed down and a little slippery in places. FR 201 hadn’t seen any traffic but we made it to the trailhead without any problems. There was about an inch of snow on the ground when we started and maybe 3 or 4 inches in the higher areas with a few deeper drifts. Snowshoes were definitely not needed and we didn’t carry them. We started up the Emily Proctor trail and it was almost flat for the first 3 miles with one major stream crossing.

After reaching the Emily Proctor shelter we decided to change our plans for the day. Bill and Diane didn’t need to do Breadloaf which was a half mile to the south on the Long trail. Our plan had been to hike 5.5 miles along the Long trail and go over the summits of Wilson, Roosevelt and Cleveland but it was obvious we were going to run out of daylight and be descending on a trail that was snow covered using headlamps. We decided to only go over Wilson and Roosevelt and then come back to the shelter and Bill and I would do Breadloaf while Diane started to descend. Seemed like a good plan.

Emily Proctor shelter constructed in 1960

We headed over to Wilson and Roosevelt and had a few obstructed views on the way. We found a sunny spot out of the wind between Wilson and Roosevelt and ate our PBJs.

It wasn’t obvious where the summits were as they were sort of flat and there weren’t any signs or canisters. We went a little past the summit of Roosevelt and found an open spot with good views off to the east.

We headed back south along the Long trail and got to the shelter where Diane headed down and Bill and I headed over to Breadloaf. It was an easy half mile to the summit and then back to the shelter and down the Emily Proctor trail to the car. We got back to the car just before we would have had to put our headlamps on, good timing. On the way down we spotted some relics that we hadn’t seen on the way up.

Only 11 peaks left to finish the New England 100 Highest list.

North and South Crystal

November 17, 2017November 17, 2017 sjm1000 final 100, north crystal, south crystal

Hiked North and South Crystal on 11/15/2017 with Bill Schor. This was our second hike of the day as we hiked West Tucker in the morning. We ate our PBJs in the car after driving over from West Tucker. We started the hike by staying to the edge of a recent clearcut area. Lots of evidence of hunters in the area but nobody was around midday. We both had some blaze orange on. We soon headed in to the nice open woods and made our way to the summit.

Looking over the clearcut area to West Tucker

It was a nice hike to the summit with lots of evidence of moose and deer and we thing bear foot prints. We easily found the summit of North Crystal and signed in and then headed over to south Crystal. This was the last 3000 foot summit on the list and meant that Bill and I have climbed all the 3000 foot peaks in New Hampshire.

The trip over to South Crystal started out very nicely with nice open woods and lots of animal prints. Then we climbed over a little bump and it became very steep with a couple of small cliffs to work around. It got a little exciting in a couple of spots, I wouldn’t recommend doing this route in reverse as it would be quite difficult going up. Eventually it flattened out and then a very gentle up to the summit of South Crystal.

Bill and I at the summit of South Crystal

We have now completed the New Hampshire 200 Highest list and all we had to do was get back to the car, which we did.

Below is a map showing all the New Hampshire 200 Highest peaks that are in the Great North Woods area of New Hampshire. There is quite a bit of driving on dirt roads to get to all these peaks and they aren’t necessarily well maintained. It was fun but I’m glad it;s done.

The northern part of the New Hampshire 200 Highest peaks

Black Northwest

November 16, 2017 sjm1000 black northwest, final 100

Climbed Black Northwest on 11/12/2017 with Bill Schor. We drove down from Pittsburg after climbing Mt Pisgah and arrived at the starting point at lunch time so we ate in the warm car. We were able to follow old skidder paths for quite a while but we finally had to enter some pretty thick and steep woods which really slowed us down.

Looking to the summit on the skidder path

We did see a moose in the distance but he was too far away for a picture and didn’t hang around long.

We finally reached the summit and then spent quite a while looking for the canister. Bill was ready to give up but I finally found it in a pretty thick stand of spruce.

We headed down the same way we came up as there didn’t seem to be any better alternatives. We got back to the car and had another long drive home. Only 3 peaks left to finish the New Hampshire 200 Highest list.

Mt Pisgah

November 16, 2017 sjm1000 final 100, pisgah

Climbed Mt Pisgah on 11/12/2017 with Bill Schor. Temperature was 15F and stayed there most of the day. It was predicted to be cloudy but was sunny all day. We drove back in the same logging roads that we had driven yesterday but didn’t take any wrong turns so it was a little quicker. We got to the start of the hike and could see the summit so we just headed into the woods and went uphill. We walked almost a half mile through open almost flat woods and then we went uphill fairly steeply but still through nice woods. We reached the viewless summit and signed in and headed back down.

We did manage to find one view on the way down, but they were in short supply on this hike.

We got back to the car and headed south to Errol for our next hike. Only 4 peaks left to finish the New Hampshire 200 Highest list.

Blue Ridge North and Crystal Northwest

November 16, 2017 sjm1000 blue ridge north, crystal northwest, final 100

Climbed Blue Ridge North and Crystal Northwest on 11/11/2017 with Bill Schor and Bill Cronin. Temperature was 5F and snowing even though it was predicted to be a bright sunny day. We had to drive about 15 miles on somewhat icy logging roads to get to the start of the hike plus we took a couple of wrong turns on the unsigned roads. We finally got to the end of the road and started up Blue Ridge North. We followed a skidder trail for a short distance but then just headed for the summit. There weren’t any views and it was too cold to take many pictures.

We headed down and then did a short drive over to the start of the hike to Crystal Northwest. We ate our PBJs in the car before we started the hike. It was still snowing some but the sun was trying to come out and it did finally succeed.

Crystal Northwest with a few snowflakes coming down

We had to go down some at first and then through a boggy area before we started up. We skirted around a few bumps before we got to the approach to the summit.

We reached the summit and found the canister, quickly signed in and headed back down. It had warmed up to 15 and the sun was out so it felt warm after the chilly start to the day.

We had hoped to do another hike but it was obvious we were going to run out of daylight so we opted to call it a day and head back to Pittsburg. Only 5 peaks left to finish the New Hampshire 200 Highest list.

Getting back to the car before the sun went down

Mt Teapot

November 16, 2017 sjm1000 final 100, teapot

Climbed Teapot on 11/10/2017 with Bill Schor. We got a late start as I had a doctor’s appointment so we didn’t hit the trail until about 12:30. It was cold, 15F, and snowing lightly. By the time we got to the summit it was only 9F. We had to keep moving to stay warm. The route starts on a gated logging road off Meriden Hill Road in North Stratford just south of Colebrook. We ate our PBJs in the warm car before we started up.

We followed the logging road for about .4 miles and then turned onto an older logging road that we followed for about .5 miles. We then just headed into the woods and went uphill until we got to the summit. The route was through mostly open woods and not very steep.

We took a different route down that was through more open woods and made for quick trip down. The temperature was still dropping.

We got back to the car and then headed north to Pittsburg to spend the night and get ready for the next days adventure. Only 7 peaks left to finish the New Hampshire 200 Highest list.

Jay Peak and Big Jay

November 5, 2017 sjm1000 big jay, final 100, jay peak

Hiked Jay Peak and Big Jay on 11/4/2017, the weather was forecast to be clear but I was in the fog until noon time when it finally cleared. These two peaks are in far northern Vermont near the Canadian border. Jay Peak is also a ski area. There is a trail that is part of the Long Trail that goes to the summit of Jay Peak and there is a herd path that goes over to Big Jay. Temps were in the low 30s to start and low 40s by the time I got back to the car. The trail was quite wet in places probably runoff from the big storm back on sunday and monday. I also removed a few large branches from the trail but there didn’t seem to be any new blowdowns blocking the trail. It was an uneventful hike up to Jay Peak and no views due to being in the clouds all the way up.

Stairs over the pipes for snow making equipment

It was nice to have the stairs except they were covered with a thin layer of ice and the other side was a slippery ramp. It was only .2 miles to the summit up the ski trail from here. You could also stay on the trail over some slippery rocky ledges which I chose not to do. I continued over to the herd path to Big Jay. This is a trail that was illegally cut a few years ago and not maintained since then. There were quite a few new blowdowns from the recent storm which made for a few instances of searching for the trail on the other side. There were also some nice sections of walking and a few really muddy sections.

I reached the summit where there was a rescue toboggan oddly enough as there are no trails from here and I’m quite sure no ski patrol. I tried to sign into the register but neither of the pens worked and there wasn’t a pencil.

While I was eating my PBJ the sun came out and warmed me up and the clouds lifted and on the way back there were some views.

I had to navigate the fresh blowdowns again but managed not to lose the trail this time.

Since it was now clear I returned to the summit of Jay Peak where there were some nice views.

Walked back to the car and started the very long drive home. Only 13 peaks left to finish the New England 100 Highest list.

Seems the trail location on the map is in the wrong place as I was definitely on the trail all the way to Jay Peak.

Blue North and Blue West

October 28, 2017 sjm1000 blue north, blue west, final 100

Hiked Blue North and Blue West on 10/27/2017 with Bill Schor, Bill Cronin and Larry Babcock. Weather was forecast to have a chance of showers before 8AM and then becoming bright and sunny. That was pretty much what happened. These 2 peaks are located off Rt 3 in North Stratford, NH. We could have driven to within a half mile of Blue North but there was a locked gate and we had to walk 3.5 miles on the road instead. We reached the height of land and found an ATV trail that headed toward the summit so we followed that for a while until it ended and then followed a herd path that took us to the summit. A pretty easy hike.

It was cold and windy on the summit so we didn’t hang around long. The temperature was 35 but the sun was trying to make an appearance.

We headed down and then over to Blue West. There were some brief views that we found on the way down.

We followed the road down for about a half mile and then turned onto a road that headed in the right direction and then to another road that took us to within a mile of the summit. Hunger took over and we ate our PBJs before we left the road and headed to the summit.

We headed up a fairly steep slope and then circled around a bump to get to the summit.

There was lots of water in the woods after the recent rains that made for some squishy walking. The moss was all greened up and it was slippery in many places. We made it to the summit and found the register and signed in.

We set a bearing back to the road and headed down. We still had to walk over a mile back to the car. Only 8 peaks left to finish the New Hampshire 200 Highest list.

West Magalloway and Diamond Ridge

October 25, 2017 sjm1000 diamond ridge, final 100, west magalloway

Hiked West Magalloway and Diamond Ridge on 10/23/2017 with Bill Cronin and Bill Schor. Weather was again cool in the morning and 70s in the afternoon. This was the third and final day of our New Hampshire 200 Highest hiking extravaganza. Driving to the trailhead we finally saw a moose, it was a young bull with very small and barely visible antlers. He was lucky we weren’t hunters as this was part of the one week moose hunting season in New Hampshire.

We drove to the trailhead for Magalloway as the two Bills needed that so I stayed in the car read the 7 day library book that was due back the next day. I had hiked Magalloway back when I was redlining trails in the area. They returned to the car and we drove a short distance down the road to start the bushwhack to West Magalloway.

West Magalloway

The bushwhack was only three tenths of a mile and was through mostly open woods. What a relief after yesterdays fiasco on South Deer. We reached the summit and had some views which was also very nice.

View to the west and Diamond Ridge our next destination

It was to early for lunch so we made our way down and headed over to Diamond Ridge.

Diamond Ridge

This was a nice hike up an old skidder road and then nice open woods to another viewless summit. Nothing steep or thick just a nice hike through the woods. We ate our PBJs on the summit and headed down the same route.

Bill making his way through the tall grass

We got back to the car and started the long drive home. Only 10 peaks left to finish the New Hampshire 200 Highest list.

The next map shows where all the peaks that I climbed are located in relation to each other. The two tracks on the bottom are Rice and Cave. The three on the top are Salmon, Scott Bog Peak and South Deer and the two in the middle are West Magalloway and Diamond Ridge.

Salmon, Scott Bog Peak and South Deer

October 25, 2017 sjm1000 final 100, salmon, scott bog peak, south deer

Hiked Salmon, Scott Bog Peak and South Deer on 10/22/2017 with Bill Schor, Bill Cronin and Larry Babcock. This was day 2 of our New Hampshire 200 Highest hiking extravaganza. Weather again was clear and cool in the morning but warmed up to the 70s in the afternoon.

Salmon

Salmon is within 200 feet of the Canadian border and is easily reached from Scott Bog Road after driving about 4 miles on the dirt road. The hike was again pretty uneventful with nice open woods with nothing steep and another viewless summit.

It was way to early for lunch so we signed in and headed down for the next hike.

Scott Bog Peak

Scott Bog Peak is located off Rt 3 again almost on the Canadian border. We started the hike about a half mile south of the boat ramp on 3rd Connecticut Lake.

The hike was again pretty short but we did have to navigate a pretty steep section that had some thick spruce to make things interesting. We persevered and made it to the viewless summit where we signed in to the register. It was still to early for lunch so we made our way down and drove to the boat ramp on 3rd Connecticut Lake to eat our PBJs on the rocky beach.

South Deer

After lunch Bill Schor and I drove a short distance to hike South Deer while Bill C and Larry went off to do a different hike. Our luck changed on the hike as we had trouble finding the start of the hike and couldn’t find the trail that was supposed to be at the start. So we started out bushwhacking through some Hobble Bush and then an area of blowdowns which slowed us down to a crawl and then we found the trail but only for a tenth of a mile as we reached the place where we intended to start the bushwhack. Things weren’t going well and then they got worse. We started out in nice open woods that got steep for a while and then got really steep up to the ridgeline. Then it flattened out but was thick nasty spruce. We thought we were near the summit but it turned out to be a false summit and we had to make our way through more nasty spruce. We finally reached the summit and the canister was hidden in another thick patch of spruce and there weren’t any views.

We signed in with a sigh of relief. I was determined not to go down the same way we came up so we made a loop around the steep stuff and made our way back to the trail which we followed down until we were near where we had started and then bushwhacked a short distance back to the car. We did see a nice waterfall on the way down but that was about it for excitement.

Only 12 peaks left to finish the New Hampshire 200 Highest list. We made our way back to Pittsburg to our half star accommodations and prepared for the next day of hiking.

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final100

Details of the last 100 peaks to complete "The Grid" over the age of 60.

final 100