Madison Gulf

On Sunday, May 29th, my friends Alex and Pete and I (and Gary B. Dog) set out for a loop hike of Mt. Madison, ascending via the Madison Gulf Trail and descending via the Osgood Trail. Aside from the usual above treeline goodness, the best part about this trek was the surprising feel of remoteness once you start up into Madison Gulf from the larger Great Gulf proper. The side ridges start to close in around you and it starts to feel tucked away up there. Remote. Wild. 

into the waterfalls on the way up Madison Gulf Trail. 

This is the main drainage coming down off the south side of Osgood Ridge. Immediately to the left is the actual Madison Gulf stream. The two meet here at a ledgy, double waterfall grotto. It might have been neat to try to capture the full spread with a really wide angle lens and a tripod, but on long hikes like this you just gotta snap when you can and try to not slow your buds down too much. 

there are a few steep bits on the headwall

 

a rugged traverse on the Parapet Trail

junction of the Parapet Trail and the Osgood Trail

on the Osgood

final descent

Note: Steve Smith put together a nice blog entry about a very similar loop hike last year. 

dirty friends

A few weeks ago I put on a bootleg 4K cross-country race up along the rough, hilly trail network behind the hospital in Concord. Fabulous prizes were awarded to the winners, but the MOST fabulous prizes were awarded to the muddiest contestants at the end. The only rule was that at the halfway point -- an undisclosed location along the trail out in the woods -- you had to stop and chug a beer (I'd set 'em out beforehand). The race was called the Hell of the Hill (HOTH), and I had held it once before. Totally different cast of enthusiastic hooligans this time around.

I'd marked the course the night before, but in the meantime someone had come along and taken 90% of the flagging down, so I'd been racing like a madman for the hour prior to this putting up new flagging. Needless to say, I didn't race it myself. 

The starting gun was my camera flash. But don't look too closely at the shot above. I was about 20 feet in front of them, with the focus unknowingly locked to infinity... oops. The cars look sharp. Not my finest photo hour. Just wanted to share the energy and enthusiasm of this spirited crew; I'm gonna miss 'em.

Rock 'N Race 2011

This race was an important one for me. I'll be moving from NH next week, and this was a last hurrah / vindication type thing. Good weather and good competition, though I admit the whole thing was slightly tinged with resentment at the way I'm leaving the state and at someone I didn't particularly want to see who I saw just before the start. It ended up being a pretty good 5K for me, with my second or third fastest time for the distance (19:31 -- a 6:16 pace), and I felt good overall.

Franconia Ridge rules

Did a classic traverse of Franconia Ridge with Pete Bowman and Gary B. Dog today. Up Mt. Lafayette by the Old Bridle Path, across the ridge, and down Falling Waters. An awesome early April "winter" trek.

at the first overlook on "Agony Ridge"

Cannon Cliff from Lafayette

hello from here (photo by Pete)

Owl's Head in winter

For Maura's birthday, she and her husband Brian and I (and their adventurous dog Miles) skied in to and hiked up Owl's Head, a remote peak in the Pemigewasset Wilderness of New Hampshire's White Mountains.

It's a long haul to this peak even in warmer seasons, but winter adds its own challenges (like crossing frigid, bridge-less rivers). One of the more significant ones is the climb to the summit itself. In summer most people ascend a landslide scar but with snow there's too much avalanche danger, so instead you go up a nearby route called the Brutus bushwhack, which I can now say is steep enough in places to make you wonder what the heck that guy Brutus was drinking. Also, there was at least an extra foot of snow once you neared the 4,000 foot level. Pretty tired after this all-day trip...

Taking a quick snack break after the Black Pond bushwhack. 

Leaving the wilderness near the end of a long day. 

This was at Franconia Falls and we still had four miles to 

ski out, but the bushwhacks were over and the rest was easy.

winterland

Two friends (Alex and Becky) and I skied up the Snapper Trail and Carriage Rd (them on tele & me on backcountry) on Mt. Moosilauke. It was about 6 miles one-way, and we used climbing skins most of the way up. The shot above is nearing the top of the ridge. It had snowed about 6-7 fresh inches the night before, on top of the several feet already there, and it kept snowing all day. Met Steve and Martha up top! They were just coming down off the summit after skinning up the Gorge Brook Trail. Fantastic skiing conditions. Going down was a total blast.

Winter Wild #3: Pat's Peak

Winter Wild #3 was held today at Pat's Peak in Henniker, NH. The race climbs one ski trail to the top and descends another to the finish. You can do it on any kind of ski, snowboard, snowshoes, or running shoes with spikes. The only rules are you have to come down using the same gear you went up with, and you gotta have fun. 

I did this one on backcountry skis, using climbing skins for the first time (love 'em) on the ascent. A few weeks ago I tried doing the Ragged Mountain one without skins. Big mistake, that. Anyway, because I'm basically an idiot and am always apparently looking for new ways to hobble myself, I brought my camera with me this time and took a couple of shots along the way (stashed it in my pack w/the skins on the descent). Despite the dumbness of that move, this really was quite a bit of fun.

pre-dawn

they're off!

looking back down on the way up

The pair of determined girls in the photo above made a pretty amazing ascent, laughing and encouraging each other the whole way and just flying right over the summit and down the other side. Side note: right about at this point a helpful spectator told me that I might race faster if I didn't have a five-hundred pound Nikon swinging from a strap around my neck. So noted. 

The skier in front of me crests the summit at dawn. 

Danny and Amber

(hey, it's Irongirl and Ultrarunning Boy!)

Ryan the Quick and some of my fellow Capital Multisporters