Mt Pierce, Eisenhower (Pierce again) Jackson, Webster. August 25, 2018

On Saturday, Eric and I hiked Mt Pierce, Eisenhower, (back to Pierce), Jackson and Webster.
(warning. lots of pics. but everyone likes this better than lots of words!)

Our intention behind this particular hike was to do a little recon work for a potential extended traverse at some point in time.
We tapped out (according to plan, and most hikers do) at Pierce, during our traverse earlier in the season. Some people choose to extend the hike to Jackson, and occasionally (but rarely, from what we understand) to Webster. Since we plan/hope to take another crack at the traverse later this year, we decided to see what we would be getting into by adding a peak. Or two.

The weather was stunning, although warm. Clear skies, tinged with smoke from the Pacific Northwest fires made for some interesting clouds, and a stunning sunrise.

Smokey

We began our hike from the lot on Clinton Rd. It was early enough so that there was ample space both there and at the AMC Highland center.

After a quick gear/trail check we headed up Crawford Path, the same trail that we made our traverse decent upon (so nostalgic!!)

"where the hell are we going" -trail navigation *expert*

Since I am a waterfall fan, we made the very short detour (literally steps off the trail, in the first mile) to Gibbs Falls. Worth it, because it's never a mistake to walk three steps to see a little falls.

So pretty!

We met very little hiker traffic, and enjoyed the peaceful ascent. The trail was quite damp from recent rainfall and we soon found ourselves to be a bit mucky. The footing was totally fine for climbing though, and we were making good progress (especially since we only met a handful of other hikers.)

Climbing

The mid week precipitation had definitely added some green to the surroundings, and I certainly enjoyed the walk through Narnia.

Crawford path is so lush

After 95 minutes of hiking, we reached the Pierce Summit. We found several other hikers there (some of whom we passed messages to, from hikers we had met earlier in the hike. So fun!) However, it was still early enough to avoid the lunch rush. (about 9:10AM- so, LATE for us, but early for sane people)

Pierce round 1, looking at Eisenhower, Monroe, with Washington in the obvious distance

We more or less made a game time decision to scoot over and visit Eisenhower. We both felt good and had the whole day off, and the conclusion was to make the most of it.

You really can't beat the walk between the two peaks. Good footing, good views, low traffic.

Coming to get you, Ike

It was WARM, without a breath of wind. I was glad to have applied a hefty dose of sunscreen, but had a minor concern that I would run out of water before arriving at Mizpah and die a horrible, dehydrated death. #dramatic

Warm. Clear. And some *extreme* rock hopping

We summited Eisenhower at 10AM sharp and were, once again, pleasantly surprised to only see a handful of other hikers.

You can't NOT take a pic of what's between you and Washington (haze.... magic..... no humans.....!!)

The calm weather seemed to keep my favorite birds home, and I was disappointed not to see my crow friends playing in the thermals.

We took a few minutes to snack, dry our sweaty selves off, and then it was back to Pierce!

Take note of the EXTREME sweat. And Eric's heart rate monitor. #fitness

The miles back to Pierce (or, mile.... ish) were pleasant and warm. (ummm, hot) We had packed light for this excursion and my pack weighed in at 9 pounds (so basically nothing.) Since I am still TERRIBLE at carrying anything over 15 pounds (or 10, lets be honest here) I was LOVING the light weight situation.

Light packs make for happy hikers

We made it back to Pierce at 11:00 and saw the first big pack of hikers looking for the summit. Which on Pierce is basically anticlimactic... We pointed them in the direction of the pin, and we hustled off towards the Mizpah Hut.

Pierce, 2.0

The stretch of trail between Pierce and Mizpah is, in places, a bit of a shit show. We were more attentive than usual to this, since we are considering adding Jackson and possibly Webster to the next traverse event. We were trying to imagine the more challenging steps on legs that had already seen significant mileage.

We saw some cool dead tree forests. (and some steep stupid slimy rock sections.)

"Dead Tree Forest" 

We also came across a crazy stretch of little bridges suspended over certain death.

Certain death awaits

We cruised into the Mizpah Hut at 11:35 and refilled our DRY water reservoirs.

Blue sky over Mizpah

We had completely and spaztically forgotten to bring money which was a bummer. Despite having a decent number of snacks still in my pack, I would have really enjoyed a bowl of soup. I nosed around a bit in the hut, and feel that I would be able to survive a night in one of the cute bunk beds. I'm not much for camping, but I don't think that the Huts really count, as they give you beds/food/toilets (and I even had a bit of internet at that point!! Survival would be possible for me!!)

The Webster Cliff trail between the hut and Jackson was BASICALLY SPECTACULAR AND WE LOVED IT.

OH MY LORD, MAGICAL TRAIL PERFECTION

Lots of mud, and TONS of the little hot dog highways (long story about those cut in half-log bridges... it's a thing, don't question it.) Easy hiking, and nothing technical for quite a long stretch. I could hike on a trail like that for 100 miles and never, ever complain (as long as I had plenty of snacks.)

Eric scampering across a hot dog highway

There was also an amazing mountain top swamp type thing. Very unexpected.

Gorgeous mountain swamp. Random? I don't know. 

In the last push to the Jackson peak there was a bit of a rock scramble. Nothing major for this particular day, but something to take into consideration when traversing.

Majestic scrambling. 

We encountered a ridiculous number of people (this is clearly a popular lunch spot, as we arrived promptly at 12:27.)

Earlier, we were wayyyyyy over theeeeeereeeee

The initial decent (Webster Cliff trail) was pretty technical (read: deathly) for a short stretch. Apparently, what goes up must come down, and the trail indeed did. Aggressively. So much so, that I neglected to take a picture. I sort of butt scooted down, clinging to trees and roots and saying the F work quite a bit.

Post death descent, the remainder of the path to Webster was quite enjoyable. All below treeline, so nice and shady. (muddy) A few little scrambles, that we both enjoyed.

Very typical, and enjoyable stretch of trail as we moved towards Webster

Getting to the Webster Summit required a short out and back, and then we got some pretty impressive cliff views as payback.

Wowza

It was getting a bit overcast, but the clouds helped with the heat at that point. We appreciated the slight breath of air that we felt at the summit. Definitely different from the traverse with the 35MPH winds!

Gotta get the summit shot

After enjoying a little time on the peak (we arrived at 1:10) we took the Webster Jackson trail (Webster Branch) back down towards Rt 302.
We did not enjoy this trail. Like, at all.


It was a tricky and fiddly trail with steep descent.

Like, really steep

Lots of the usual slimy rocks and roots. A couple river crossings (which I enjoy when the water is low, as it was on this day.) It was good to have a nice waterfall moment, because this trail is just a pain.

Cute waterfall and pool

I'm not at all sure if this is a trail that I would be extremely excited about traveling down at the end of a traverse. We were both a little bit *over it* by the time the footing became more reasonable (exactly one half mile from when we began our trip down. It was a sucky half mile.)

The footing does improve. Eventually....

While the remainder of the trip was more or less uneventful, it was not the worlds easiest path.
The moral of the story is go ahead, do it at the end of a short (or 12+ miler) but seriously consider taking Crawford from Pierce at the end of a longer day. Or don't, and kind of hate your life.

We stopped at one of the scenic vistas (Bugle Cliff) to enjoy the scenery. Or. The traffic and endless parked cars at the AMC Highland center (glad we got there fairly early!)

Bugle Cliff, looking toward the Highland Center, with the Crawford Depot in view

And then we were done! Yay! It was a million degrees out. Oh, and it was almost 3PM.

We hike a half mile back to our car, and saw a hiking dog run into Rt 302 and LEGIT ALMOST GET HIT. We totally ran out, stopped traffic, and had heart attacks until the dogs Dad came and saved him. Scary.

We both took a water bottle/parking lot bath because it had been a muddy day! So classy.

Some dirt

We forgot to bring beer. We were sad.....

So. Another super good hike. A big one too! We loved the low traffic start (and with so little summer left, the lunch time crowds are to be expected.) It was definitely the warmest hiking day of our season (we have never run out of water before.) We really enjoyed exploring new trails, even if they were a touch deadly on occasion.

We made it! 

We are very much hoping to return in the next few weeks for another traverse WITH EVAN this time, so this was a great recon mission. Who knows what we will end up doing in the end- but my vote is to skip Webster for sure.

Stats:
-12.8 miles

-4,424 ft

-7 hours 21 minutes total time (safe to say we had about 45 minutes stopped time)

-Challenge level: Difficult, but mostly due to the total mileage, and the technical moments, especially in the later half of the hike. Any one of the peaks could easily be managed as a much more reasonable outing (but we are always looking for a challenge, apparently.)

Bradbury Mountain Breaker, 2018 edition

So. The very day after Eric and I completed the Franconia Ridge Loop at a brisk pace, we had the Bradbury Breaker to deal with.

I fondly remembered this event as being my favorite of 2017. Despite the almost constant trip up the little mountain, it was so much fun that I had been looking forward to it for ages.

Since I have run basically not at all this summer, I had low expectations. Hiking 8.8 miles the previous day might not have been a great choice, but I had concluded that it simply would not make any difference. I had zero expectations (I think I ran about 20 miles in July. Total.)

We got up early, and discovered that it was the coolest day in a while! (this summer has been a boiling, humid, m***t, clusterfuck.) So it was like, 69 and 200% humidity (basically almost raining.) Regardless, it was certainly a lot cooler than most days have been.

My only mission for these races is to have fun, and FINISH, as I am determined to collect my Bad Ass sweatshirt in September, when we complete the 12 mile race. I figured that even if I had to walk to the finish, I would be stubborn enough to make it to the end, tired legs be damned. (Really, maybe I should set a more impressive goal. Like winning! But, nope.)

There is a good reason to go on a big hike the day before a *race*.
You have a built in excuse to suck! I woke up that morning feeling pretty decent, although a little creaky. I was certain that by mile 0.5 my legs would be laughing at me.

Eric and I arrived barely on time (yay! returning to my roots! we literally had 10 minutes!)

Pre race. So dry. So lovely. 

We immediately bumped into the woman who we ran the entire Bradbury 12 miles with last year (random) It was kind of dreary (perfect) And we all started and set off to conquer the hill. (winning)

Casual stroll to the start

We were off! And go figure. I felt just fine. I should avoid training more often!!
(also, the course begins on a really nice stretch of wide, flat, super safe dirt. So nice!)

Not a technical stretch of trail

SHOCKINGLY, I felt good enough in the beginning to break away from the big pack of runners. I remember from last year, that once you turn onto the Boundary Trail it is better not to be in a ton of traffic.

I spent the first couple miles of the race with a pack of dudes. For a while it seemed that they were going to make a move, and leave me to eat their dust (although it was too humid to be dusty.) While I'm not much of a trail runner, I do seem to have skills/bravery/stupidity on the downhills and I was able to rein some of them in.

BYE. See you in a mile or two though. 

I did feel fairly unimpressive up the actual mountain part of the course (which you hit twice.) It is more of a walk/slog for me (but I was happy not to have a 14 pound backpack!)

This does kind of suck, tbh

I felt exceedingly good for many miles of this race. I ran alone for a LONG time, which did not bother me at all. I enjoyed the peace and quiet, I was really confident in the course because I ran a ton at Bradbury last year, AND there are helpful signs if you go astray.

You will not get lost, thanks to Mr. T

With a mile to go (most of it straight DOWN) I got my hustle on. I was having a good time, and even though my feet were starting to hurt I kicked up the pace. The quicker you get done, the faster the feet can quit complaining.
I finished in 1:41 which is 6 or so minutes better than last year. Who knows why or how. (mostly because I just went for it. fuck training!)

THEN, I won my age group which was delightful and a nice surprise. I was awarded my favorite socks (darn tough!) and one of my favorite summer beers (Baxter Bootleg Fireworks)

I drank one right off. #health

Eric and I were both so sweaty that it looked like we had been swimming. Gross.

EWWWWW. We were much grosser than this pic would lead you to believe

We had a super fun time catching up with friends, talking about our real jobs and good adulting and how I won a chair at the last race and was not there to get it. Shit. (and we took no group pics. so dumb.)

So anyway. It was really a great day of running, and I loved it, and can not wait for the September race (which I have both no time and no intention of training for, hah!)

Franconia Ridge Loop, August 11th, 2018

It's a little disturbing how quickly summer is going by (although I WILL NOT AT ALL miss the 95+ degree temps that we have been experiencing this year.
Last week was one of those weeks. Temps over 90, and humidity like we have never seen. My house may have mildewed.

So, when the forecast began to call for cooler, drier (and perhaps cloudyish weather) for Saturday, Eric and I said "screw housework and lawn mowing and going to the dump and being adults, let's go hiking!!"

After chugging through the Traverse  a couple weeks ago, tackling something in the Franconia region began to look appealing. Despite the longer drive, the Franconia ridgeline (and what appeared to be legitimate dirt trails!!) sounded pretty damn good. (prepare to see 4 million pics of said trails, haha.)

We departed our house at 4:30. Yes, this seems absolutely and completely ridiculous for a hike with a book time of 7:30-8 hours.
However.... We had been hearing mumblings of significant traffic and parking issues in the Franconia area, and we just didn't feel like dealing.

So, for change we got to sleep in (until 3:30) and see the *sunset* while on the drive.

We didn't want to get too excited about the perfect weather

We arrived to a busy, but certainly not full parking lot.

Plenty of space to prepare

Shockingly, the weather was looking good. I had monitored the forecast for a couple days, and it looked worse that the weather that had been forecasted for our Traverse day. I did NOT have high expectations for views, and I certainly packed for damp and cloudy conditions.

We kicked off the adventure at 6:20, and briskly headed up Falling Waters Trail.
This trail was quite busy, even at the early hour and we caught up to many people shortly after the first stream crossing, which is over a nice little bridge (there are at least 4 more crossings and zero more bridges. Might make for wet feet in the spring, unless you can leap really far.)  I believe it was called Dry Brook, and while it was not exactly dry, it was not an extreme stream.

The lone bridge

We came across many lovely falls.

Just a preview of what's to come!

The trail was exceedingly pleasant for the first half mile or so- like, take the children for a little hike kind of easy (and you should, the kids will go bananas for the available water to play in!)

I was tempted to take off my shoes and play

Also, with 3 lovely falls in less than a mile out, this would make for a really pleasant short excursion.
I'm pretty sure this final photo is Cloudland Falls.

Cloudland Falls, bonus points for being extra pretty

For the first mile or so, Eric and I passed, or played leap frog with quite a number of other hikers. Even though we are all just out to enjoy the day, Eric and I tend to be overly zealous. Once we have passed someone, we really do not care to have them pass us back! So, on occasion we might hustle in a competitive way, which is really unnecessary! (but it's fun)
We should probably knock it off. Hiking is probably not a competitive sport. Or is it?

There definitely came a time when the trail became less of a stroll, and more of a climb over the usual rocks. Regardless, it was still significantly less brutal than the final stretch of Madison, or any part of fricking Adams.

A few stones early on

After a few areas of incline/flat/incline/flat, a long climb began. Even though we were keeping a steady pace, and passing the occasional hiker, it was really enjoyable! We kept up a constant stream of weird conversation, and enjoyed the trail- which was just lovely, even below tree line.

Watch out, here I come!

It wasn't too long before we popped up above the trees, and got our first view of the day.
After the foggy pea soup of most of the traverse, the views were a sight for sore eyes. Even before we really got to the top, I couldn't shut up about how excited I was to SEE EVERYTHING!!!!

HI

Shortly after, we arrived at the top of Haystack. Be prepared to have no real idea that you have summited anything. Other than feeling like you are on top of an actual mountain, there's not much to tell you that you have arrived.
But it doesn't matter BECAUSE IT IS F***ING AWESOME AND GORGEOUS!!!
Summit #1 reached at 8:20. Exactly 2 hours of hiking.

OMG SUNSHINE AND HAPPINESS

AND ACTUAL DIRT TRAILS!!! I WEPT WITH JOY!!

Anyway. After taking a moment to freak about the beauty of nature, on we walked.
Or PRANCED, because I swear, you have never in your life seen a trail as perfect as Franconia Ridge. (and apparently, trail runners agree because we saw a metric fuck ton of them.)

I'm not running, but I sure am happy!! Also, #dadshorts made a comeback

It is a very glorious 0.7 mile walk to Lincoln. The ridge must suck in the bad weather, but it was SO perfect. I needed none of my rain gear, and felt somewhat over prepared...

Those clouds are really messing up my party

As we climbed up Lincoln, we had a good view of what was behind us, and we reassured ourselves that we had officially passed, and held off our nearest competition. #veryimportant
But let's be honest! We had a perfect view in every direction.

Heading up Lincoln

When we climbed Jefferson back in June, I was super scared of anything up high. Evan kept climbing the rocks, and being a weird little goat.
Apparently, that runs in our blood. (who would have thought??!) Now that I have become more confident with my balancing abilities, I seem to be very interested in climbing to the highest point! So fun. So unexpected.

Majestic

From Lincoln to Lafayette, there is 0.9 of gorgeous dirt trail (with a few little rocks here and there, but nothing I wouldn't send my little Nephew and Niece over) and these super cute little trees, that make you feel like you are a giant walking in a tiny world. My imagination was on overdrive.

The land of tiny trees!!

We knew that we had arrived upon Lafayette because there were a ton of people there, a legit ultra trail runner pit crew stop (complete with go-pro and the kind of intensity that comes from attempting a Pemi loop record, or so we guess) Plus, we google mapped our location to confirm AND we finally found a marker.
Lafayette Summit at 9:14. Time for a sandwich.

There you are, little buddy

It was the warmest, and least windy summit of the year. And very pretty.

Hawks enjoying the thermals 

It was pretty crowded, and growing more so by the minute.
Much to our *dismay* a woman that we had passed about a mile in crept up, looked around and officially took the lead of our pretend race. She was never to be seen again! (that's what we get for taking a 15 minute lunch break!!)

Summit photo. Still breezy, even on a perfect day!

We were easily able to find the Greenleaf trail, which takes you to the Greenleaf hut a mile or so later. There were a number of rock staircases, and small boulders in this area (but it's a walk in the park compared to most of the terrain that we have hiked on this year.)

Just normal rocks. And a gondola off in the distance.

There was some heavy traffic on the uphill climb of this stretch of trail. Pleasantly, everyone seemed to need a break and yielded to us while they caught their breath. While this isn't traditional trail etiquette, neither of us were complaining.

Looking up at the Greenleaf trail

Before too long, we were back in tiny tree land!!! The footing in this section of trail was perfect, and although it was narrow, we were able to meet oncoming hikers safely.

I just can't get enough of the teeny trees

We passed by the Greenleaf hut at 10:03 with no need to stop. Quite a few of the hikers just behind us stopped here, so the downhill traffic became almost non existent at this point (other than the hut workers, who basically run down at top speed!)

Eric, and the Greenleaf hut

We then took the Old Bridle Path about 3 more miles to the parking lot.
Right away, the scenery took a very Narnia like turn (typical)

Mossy green everywhere

Similar to the uphill route, the trail was broken up into sections of rocks, and sections of trail that was just perfect lovely dirt.

I would call this a "typical" rocky stretch. Not too awful.

There were also a number of scenic points that were entirely too easy to dawdle in!

Queen of the Mountain

Oh, and Eric too :-) 

We managed to meet an entire Boy Scout troop on the most difficult stretch of rock that we encountered. We pulled over so that they could scramble up, and then (without too much drama) made our way down.

The sketchiest stretch of stone

From there, it was smooth sailing. We zipped on down feeling great, and meeting a ton of people on their way to the summit (all of whom were impressed by our early start, and SKILLS, obviously. And they all informed us that parking was a complete and total disaster. We felt proud of our decision to get a move on in the morning!)

Heading down, on a GREAT looking trail!!

We kept a pretty brisk pace once we hit the perfect footing, which was fun because we were feeling good. The weather continued to be amazing (low of 50, high of 70, not too humid, nice and sunny.)
We met a couple more trail runners in the final half mile, several hiking dogs (including a Vizla!) And I found myself a comfortable new gnome home.

So comfy. 

We made it back to our car very close to 11:30, which brought us to 5:12 minutes of time on the trail. Pretty much smashing book time.

This is a very helpful sign!

So another VERY enjoyable hike. Definitely more user friendly that a whole silly (awesome) traverse. Very enjoyable trails, views, company and weather! Highly recommend!

And yes, the parking lot was full to capacity at 11:30. They will not allow parking on the shoulder of I93 (which makes perfect sense for safety) but there is a shuttle that will bring you from to, and back from Cannon, where there is satellite parking. If you plan to arrive at a civilized hour in peak months, I would add extra time for this and just plan on it. (we could have sold our spot, no lie...)

Done!!

Stats:
5 hours 12 minutes
8.8 miles
3850' elevation
Challenge level: Moderate. Not scary. Lots of nice terrain, but some step sections for sure.