Mt. Tecumseh

This past weekend I headed up to New Hampshire with my buddy Mike to knock a 4000 footer off my list. For those of you who don't know, New Hampshire has 48 mountains who's elevation is above 4000 feet, and it's a sought after accomplishment to hike all of them. I by no means am racing to complete this list, but it's nice to bag a few of these peaks once and a wile and who knows maybe someday I will complete the list.
I got to talking with my friend Mike about doing one of them in the winter to see how it was, weather wise, and we decided on Mt. Tecumseh which ranks in at number 48 on the list, just making it with a elevation of 4003 feet. Mt. Tecumseh is part of the Waterville Valley Ski Area and has multiple well maintained trails leading up the mountain. Due to it's location there is plenty of parking in the ski area parking lots providing easy access to the main trail head of Mt. Tecumseh trail. We headed out onto the trail at about noon and had a pretty steady pace most of the way up, until about the last mile which was moderately steep, and since the trail was complete snow, a pretty good challenge. The landscape was staggering due to the amount of snow and ice covering everything, even more so due to the moderate winter this year which I'm used to. After walking on a narrow trail through frozen wilderness we reached the summit which had slightly obstructed views due to it's location below tree line, which was probably for the best since I'm sure we would have froze to death had it been above treeline. After a short break, the cold set in and we headed back down the mountain. The Sosman trail hadn't been traveled on since the last snowfall so we decided to go down the same way we came up; on the Mt. Tecumseh trail. Since the trail was completely snowy and steep, it was a perfect opportunity to slide down most of it, and believe me I did. It took roughly 3 hours to climb the mountain and only 45 minutes to race down it, and we were back at our car by a little after 4 pm. This was a great hike and exactly what I needed after a long and pretty terrible week. I will no longer hesitate hiking in the winter now as this was a great and very different experience than what I'm used to.

Mileage: 5 miles

The hike down.

A view on the way up.

Frozen forest.

Frost.

Snow terrorist.

Icicles.

Plum Island

I went on a short hike this weekend on Plum Island with a couple of my friends before we headed over to a super bowl party in Gloucester. Plum island in a long narrow island located in Newburyport and is part of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. It's known mostly for the multiple species of birds who call the island home throughout different times of the year. During the winter months Snowy Owls migrate here from the North in search of a "warmer" climate. This is why we originally decided to go hiking on the island, but as we would find out we had no luck spotting any.
They charge a $5 entrance fee per car or $2 per bike that's used to fund the repairs and work to the refuge. There are multiple parking areas, plenty of boardwalks through the marshes and to the beaches to allow for easy and protected access for all. From what I could gather there isn't much of a connected hiking system within the park, unless you hike the road that winds the 7 miles through it, but there are plenty of short hikes to sections of the park. It was quite busy for winter and for Superbowl Sunday so I can only imagine it gets pretty crowded in the summer.
We did a few of the side hikes through a marsh, on the beach which was freezing, and across dunes that looked pretty great, almost like something you would see in Arizona or New Mexico. There were a few towers you could climb to get a view of the park and bird watch, but unfortunately we didn't see much only swans and geese, no snowy owls anywhere. It was a cool place and I'd love to come back in the summertime to hike again and see the difference between seasons.


Mileage: 2 Miles

Leaves frozen in a stream.

Walkway to one of the beaches.

70's Mike

Beaver Dam.

Mike snapping a photo

Trail though the marsh.

The trail through backwards stationary binoculars.

Kancamagus highway and Sabbaday Falls

So this past weekend I suckered two of my buddies into taking a road trip to the White Mountains for a much needed hangout session. I will say it wasn't the easiest time I've had convincing people to come with me since they are both seasoned veterans of being suckered into one of my crazy plans. I've gotten pretty good over the years at convincing people to come along with me on hikes, road trips, etc. by using one simple tactic; play on their weakness. For Mark it's the prospect of good food and the chance to see me get hurt, for Chris it's the promise of bars and nightlife.....and the prospect of seeing me get hurt. I will say that all ball busting aside they were good sports about the whole thing. And I hope to the best of my ability, that I delivered on my end of the bargain, and since I slammed my hand in my car door, Mark's eyes lit up at the sight of not one but two giantly awesome meals, and Chris took 100s of pictures on his iPhone, I can safely say I think I did.
The first day of the trip we went tubing at Loon Mountain and had dinner at The Woodstock Inn and Brewery, which if you haven't been I suggest you check it out if your in the area of Woodstock, NH especially the Brewery section of its namesake. They have a good selection of beers brewed in house, with an awesome food menu to back it up. After dinner the plan was to stay out till the bar closed and take a taxi back to the hotel but we ate too much and are old so we got drunk by 11 and went back and passed out. There may or may not have been spiders in the hotel.
So on to the point of the story, the real reason I'm writing this entry, which must be because some sort of hiking was involved. Now as with every one of my trips there is a "See the thing is....." moment, which is the time after ive buttered everyone up that I inform them there will be some sort of unmentioned side trip. And this time was no exception. We drove down the Kancamagus highway and hiked through the snow to a frozen version of Sabbaday Falls, which literally is the easiest hike in the world and I can't believe there was any complaining. The Kancamagus highway itself is a highway that cuts through the remote center section of the White Mountains National Forest and connects Lincoln with Conway, NH. It's a pretty awesome scenic drive with a lot of view points, waterfalls and trail-heads. I've been to the falls in the summer and it's pretty nice, but I had never done it in the winter. Since it was winter there wasn't really anyone else hiking it, and since the waterfall was partially frozen it was a whole new experience. All and all it was a great trip with some close friends and even though I added only a mile to the boots, it was a great hike and a good change from normally only hiking in the White Mountains during the summer. Thanks to those that came with, always a good time.

Mileage: 1 Mile

The Trail.

Sabbaday Falls - Winter.

First person Tubing.

Hiking back to the car.

Wide-eyed wonder. The barnyard burger.

The Gang.

Sabbaday Falls - Summer.