The Adams Family

We had the chance to hike with Evan on July 3rd, and instead of dragging him along to slog Owl's head (or similar) we opted for an above treeline adventure on the path less traveled. 

The weather was projected to be amazing (yes) and it was a holiday weekend (a big one) so we knew it could be wild if we went with a standard choice. 

Appalachia was already jam packed when we drove by, but barely anyone had parked at Lowe's Store. In fact, we only saw one descending hiker until we made it to Thunderstorm Junction. 

So for those of you who don't know- The Adams 5 consists of the Big Kid- Mt Adams, and his family, Abigail, JQ, Sam and FIVE. Poor five kind of missed out on the naming. 

So first of all you climb for a good long time up Lowe's Path, pop above treeline, and scoot up and over Abigail Adams. 

From Abigail, you go off path for a bit and climb the obvious prominence to the right, which is Sam Adams. Sadly, we did not bring a Sam Adams to drink (also, it was like 9:15 AM which is early..) The whole trip up and down was just straightforward rock-hopping, very easy to completely avoid the vegetation.

After the summit of Sam, we headed to Thunderstorm Junction, and proceeded to take Gulfside around the looming mass of Adams. 

After the intersection to proceed up Adams, just a short way in, we took a detour to the left to conquer JQ Adams. A fun little rock hop, not at all unlike the rest of the trail! 

From there we kind of raced up Adams Adams because the trail was a little congested. A quick stop at the top to recover, and we were off to our last peak of the day. 

From Adams Adams, wer descended along Lowe's path back to Thunderstorm Junction, and then took a left onto Gulfside. Not long after the Junction of Israel Ridge Path, we found little forgotten about Adams 5, and took the short walk to its summit. We enjoyed a little lunch, and then made our descent. 

We (again) took the path less popular- and saw not a soul. Israel Ridge path took us to the Perch Path (and shelter- which is a nice site!) We then took Randolph Path, before, (eventually) getting back on Lowes. 

PHEW! This was an awesome day but definitely a big adventure, with all the rock hopping and multi peaking. We did have a wonderful time though, and it was an awesome above treeline day!

Stats:

Miles: 11.1

Elevation: 4940, no wonder we were tired

Time: 7:16:37

Fun:

Sara: I'm just saying it was a 10 of a day1

Eric:

Mt Washington #42 for round 2 of the NH48

On June 25th we headed off to tag Washington, since it (and Ellie's feet) had eluded us earlier in the season. 

As it turned out, it was Race the Cog day- where a few intrepid and crazy fools race the train up the hill. 

Basically, we did the same thing. We headed up the Jewell Trail with the hopes of catching the lead pack as they made their way up the crappy cog trail. 

It was a lovely day. Warmer than expected (actually hitting 70!) with very little wind. 

Surprisingly, we saw no other hikers while making the climb. 

Much to our delight- we were indeed able to catch a glimpse of the winning runner in the final stretch. Bunch of tough people- no way I could run up that hill in under an hour!

It was quite busy at the summit, so after watching a few finishers, and taking in the view from all sides, were made our way down. 

We chose to take the Cog "trail" to continue cheering on our friends- and I can't really recommend that as a route! Pretty much a drag- but great fun being the cheer squad. 

We finished feeling good, and happy to have enjoyed a really gorgeous day in the mountains. 

Stats:

Miles: 7.5

Elevation: 3747

Time: 4:03:05

Fun:

Sara: 8 (only because the cog "trail" sucks)

Eric: 9