Tag Archives: 4000 Footer

Hike: Passaconaway & Square Ledge

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Lindsay and I hiked our first New Hampshire 4000 Footer together on a beautiful October weekend. After hitting Mount Passaconaway and its viewpoint, we headed out to Square Ledge to check out the retired 52 with a View.

ROUTE

  • Parked at Ferncroft Trailhead parking on Ferncroft Road in Albany, NH
  • Hiked up Old Mast Road to 4-Way Intersection
  • Left on Walden Trail to summit of Mount Passaconaway
  • Left on Passaconaway View Spur to viewpoint and back
  • Left back down Walden Trail to intersection with Square Ledge Trail
  • Left on Square Ledge Trail to Square Ledge and back to 4-Way Intersection
  • Left on Old Mast Road back to parking

PHOTOS

STATS

Date: 04 October 2020
Distance: 10.9 miles
Moving Time: 06:06:08
Pace: 33:32/mile
Elevation Gain: 4058′

Tracing White Mountains Trails:
Old Mast Road
Walden Trail
Square Ledge Trail

Contact Me

maine.wanderlust@gmail.com

Hike: Carrigain Loop

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Hike: Carrigain Loop

My friend John completed his New Hampshire 4000 Footer list with Mount Carrigain. Our friend Michael and I joined him, his two daughters and his dog for the hike. John, Michael and I started hiking together seven years ago with their first 4000 Footer, Wildcat D. John and Michael joined me for the completion of my 4000 Footer list in 2017, and John and I joined Michael for his in 2018, so it was only fitting that we were there for John as well.

Map of hike

ROUTE

  • Parked at Signal Ridge Trail parking on Sawyer River Road
  • Hiked Signal Ridge Trail to the summit of Mount Carrigain
  • Continued down Desolation Trail to Carrigain Notch Trail
  • Turned right on Carrigain Notch Trail looping back to Signal Ridge Trail
  • Stayed straight on Carrigain Notch Trail at intersection with Nancy Pond Trail
  • Turned left on Signal Ridge Trail and followed back to parking

PHOTOS

STATS

Date: 28 August 2020
Distance: 13.5 miles
Moving Time: 05:06
Pace: 22:44/mile
Elevation Gain: 3737′

Tracing White Mountains Trails:
Desolation Trail

Contact Me

maine.wanderlust@gmail.com

Hike: 2016 Pemi Loop

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SUMMARY

My first big, multi-day hike was a three day Pemigewasset Loop in July 2013 with a great group of friends. I decided that I wanted to push myself a little and attempt the Pemi Loop in a single day. Or, since I started in the evening, in a 24-hour period. I would be doing the hike solo, and with just a hammock and emergency bivy if I was forced to stop.

Since I had hiked Franconia Ridge plenty, I decided to set out clockwise from Lincoln Woods. That way I would do Franconia Ridge at night and the Bonds during daylight. I also decided to stick just to the Loop, no side hikes to Galehead or West Bond (or the further but attainable North Twin and Zealand).

Trail map

Map of hike (interactive map)

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Hike: Mount Moosilauke

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TRIP REPORT

In 2011, when I rediscovered my love of hiking, I knew nothing of this New England 4000 Footer list. My older brother and I hiked Franconia Ridge in clouds, gale-force winds and horizontal rain. Since Mount Lincoln wasn’t marked aside from a large cairn (which were plentiful on the ridge), I wasn’t even sure when we’d hit it. It wasn’t until the following year that I discovered the list and decided it would be the fuel to burn my hiking desire.

I was thrilled when my brother said he’d be there to hike Mount Moosilauke, the final 4000, with me as well. He had had a couple of kids in the last few years, so it had been hard for him to keep up with his crazy younger brother who’d seemingly hit the mountains every weekend. My kids were older and either went with me or were able to fend for themselves for eight hours while I trekked to New Hampshire and the more distant reaches of Maine. We made plans to hike and camp out the night before the big hike.

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Hike: Pico/Killington

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SUMMARY

For this hike I parked at the lot across the street from the Inn at Long Trail on Route 4 in Killington, Vermont. I hiked up the Sherburne Pass Trail to Pico Camp where I took the spur trail to the summit of Pico Peak. I returned to Sherburne Pass Trail and continued south on it until the junction with the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail. I followed this trail south until Cooper Lodge shelter where I took the spur trail to the summit of Killington Peak. I returned using the same trails but bypassed the Pico Peak spur trail.

This hike was twelve and a half miles long, included 3500 feet of elevation gain and took me six and a quarter hours to complete.

Trail map

Map of hike (interactive map)

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Sunrise Hike: Crocker Cirque

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TRIP REPORT

With all that was separating me from the mountains was a few hours of state highways, I had no excuse not to leave for a hike when I would normally be getting ready for bed. Knowing that Crocker Cirque Campsite was just a short hike in the woods, it was a non-decision to pack up and head out for a hike in the middle of the night. Normal people would call this behavior crazy, but that’s okay, I’ve never pretended to be normal.

I arrived at the hiker’s parking lot on the Caribou Pond Road just after 12:00 am. With it being a clear and cool Friday night I was not surprised to see three other cars in the lot. I threw my gear on and headed up the road on foot to where it crossed the Appalachian Trail. I headed north on the AT and after about an hour of hiking by headlamp I started to keep an eye out for the side trail to the Crocker Cirque Campsite.

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Hike: Mount Abraham

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TRIP REPORT

Since seeing Mount Abraham from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain last October and after hearing it hosts the second largest alpine zone in Maine (after Mount Katahdin), I’d been hankering to hike it. I was a little put off by the difficult access to the mountain though, so I waited until Spring was mostly over to avoid high water. I had read online that the road to the Fire Warden’s Trail was awful at best and that a bridge had been washed out a few years ago forcing you to make a deep water crossing.

In late May I left home fairly early in the morning and got to River Road around 9:15 am. Reusing a trick from my previous hike, I marked the turns I needed to make in Google Maps and even though I lost signal, the GPS was still working. Much to my surprise I came around a turn in the road (which had a handmade sign for the AT) and found two new, concrete bridges crossing the river. I later learned that they had been replaced the previous summer, so spread the word. I took a right after the bridges and drove up the narrow ATV road to the trailhead. There were two other cars parked at the intersection of two ATV roads. I pulled in behind them and hopped out.

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Bushwhack: Mount Redington

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redington-feature
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TRIP REPORT

On a rainy day in May I decided to take the long trek up to Carrabassett Valley to do the Mount Redington bushwhack. I figured there weren’t going to be many views from Redington, so it would be a good day to hike it. I awoke fairly early and planned on getting to the parking area on Caribou Pond Road by 8:00am. Those plans were thoroughly smashed when I got to Kingfield, Maine, the finish line of the Sugarloaf Marathon.

It took me an hour to go the final 10 miles of my drive, but I couldn’t complain. Four years previously I had made the Sugarloaf Marathon my first marathon. Seeing the utterly exhausted runners brought back fond and painful memories. I wish it had been cool, overcast and drizzly on my marathon day. Instead it had been sunny and in the 90s.

The Caribou Pond Road was a hot mess. The gravel was soft as if from a recent thaw and water was puddling up all over. That was on top of normal conditions of the logging road, sketchy wood bridges and all. Along the way I passed a mountain biker going the opposite direction and arrived at the trailhead at 9:00 am.

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Hike: Franconia Loop 2016

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TRIP REPORT

In late April I took my older son on one of the classic hikes in New Hampshire, a traverse of the Franconia Ridge Trail. The weekend prior I went camping with both my boys and we hiked Bald Mountain and Artists Bluff. From that vantage point we had a great view of Lafayette. It looked like most of the snow and ice had melted from the ridge, so I had asked my son if he’d like to hike it the next weekend. He said he did.

We got up early (for a teenager) and drove to Franconia Notch State Park, getting there at about 8:30 am. Getting out of the car was a practice of tempering ourselves against the frigid temperature and gusts of wind from the northwest. With it being a clear day, the parking lot at the Falling Waters Trail head was fairly packed with like-minded hikers. We set off up the trail to get our blood pumping and fend off the cold penetrating our layers.

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