A Warm Day on Garfield. December 15, 2018

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Gale River Road, Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail.  About 12.4 miles (including the road walk) and 3300 feet of elevation gain.

Mom and I did this one without Sage; she is bogged down with schoolwork and we are close to our midterms, so she had to stay home to get things done (she is still on track to finish the Grid before going to college, though).  I have tons to do before midterms as well, but I had time to quickly hike this morning.  However, I will have to just put pictures here of our hike as a record of me getting Garfield in December.  Exams loom, so there isn't much time for blogging.

To sum up our hike -- it was a warm day (though windy and cold on the summit) and we wore snowshoes the whole time since the snow was soft.  We left at 6:10am and got back to the car by 12:30pm.  Here are the photos!

Photo by Trish Herr

Photo by Trish Herr

Photo by Trish Herr

A Cold Day on Cabot, 12/8/2018

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Cabot

12/8/2018

Bunnell Notch Trail, York Pond Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail

9.6 miles round-trip

2,400 feet of elevation gain

We hiked Cabot on a really cold day (yesterday). It was -8 degrees at the trailhead.  We had a great time hiking with Nick and Elle (and their parental units, Carl and Amy). These kids are impressive; they only have two more hikes to complete before they finish their round of New Hampshire’s Four Thousand Footers.

As soon as I stepped out of the car, I felt the rush that frigid air brings to one's head.  My nose immediately felt stiff.  My spirits heightened when I met the lively group of Ella, Nick, Amy, and Carl.   

The sun rose and the day brightened, slowly but surely.

Sage and I soon transitioned from wearing Microspikes to wearing snowshoes.  Snowshoes make my feet cramp, but they are quite helpful for packing out deep-ish snow.

We all focused on ascending the peak.  Time seemed to fly on this hike...here is a picture of the scenery from the viewpoint.  It was gorgeous!

The ends of my hair have faded to a subtle green color.  Snow coated the very top layer of my hair that day, also.

Looking up...

Inside the Cabot Cabin:

After grabbing a swig of liquid, we headed up to the official summit of Mount Cabot.

Summit selfie with Sage!

Group photo:

Amy having a snack:

My fingers and toes were freezing off on the way down from the summit!  

All in all, we had a great time hiking Cabot with Ella, Nick, Amy, and Carl.

Pre-Thanksgiving Celebration on Cabot, 11/21/2018

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Sage and I take turns writing trip reports each week; check out her blog here.

York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail. 

9.6 miles roundtrip with 2400 feet of elevation gain

We hiked Cabot today with our friend, John (Myers).  Luckily for us, we were able to enjoy a lovely sunrise through the trees as we ascended the mountain.  We wore snowshoes, but the trail was more firm than we had expected.  We had some nearly-Thanksgiving celebratory pecan pie in Cabot Cabin after tagging the summit.  Since the holidays are here, I am not writing as much as usual for this blog post, but the pictures are below and illustrate the day.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!