Adams+GLT (7-22-13 thru 7-25-13)

[natron]

My only chance of 2 free days in a row this summer, turned out to be 4 free days. With monday's (7-22-13) forecast of mostly clear and full moon, I thought it would make for a great sunrise hike in the n.prezzis. With the rest of the weeks forecast looking primarily good, rolling this into a glt backpack was a no brainer.

Airline is one of the few main trails in the n.prezzis I haven't hiked yet (KRT my typical way up adams) I enjoyed it, a nice moderate pitch got me to treeline rather easily, where I was rewarded with views of the sun rising over gordon ridge, madison.

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airline tr. below me

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airline tr. above me

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madison

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top of KRT, one of my favorites.


sunny tease for adams

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foggy reality, rising from madison gulf.

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A fog twister almost got me!

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[natron]

fogged in on top of adams

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Jeff sporting his wig

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was going to hit madison and loop down howker ridge, but that way was foggy and down spur tr. was sunny, I chose sunny.

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Had a sunny picnic @11am in the north lot of the glt. on trail going ccw @11:35am

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fogged in @old speck, no reason to climb the fire tower today.

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got to slide camp @4pm, retired early (8pm), heard chance of showers for the next day (tues. 7-23-13) wanted to get up early and break down camp pre-rain.

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@2am, I was awakened by rain, I thought it came early so it would leave early... wrong it rained and poured at times till 3pm. not wanting to get boots and tent soaked early in this backpack trip I hunkered down in my tent. Took a nap, planned future hikes looking at maps and praying the rain would stop so i could pack up and go! On the trail @ 4pm. 24 hrs @ slide campsite, not really what I was planning..
inside the hunker dome

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Great to be outside!

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Got to srwc @5:50p and the fog was lifting!

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[natron]

fog lifting on srwc

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A sun hole appeared above me and felt awesome, while the rest of the glt was in fog and clouds.

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moose bones update

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glt so much greener than when I did it last year on the same dates.

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spent over 1 hr picking blueberries on the south side of srwc and on stowe, ended up getting to bald mt. campsite @9:15pm but the berries were worth it! I was proud and happy that I salvaged the rain day.

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the next morning @ bald mt. site I was awakened by thunder and rain @ 6:45am. Really? this again? nope, it ended @ 8a, breakfast and packed up. However my boots were soaked from the hike the previous day.
bald mt. campsite

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the brook was prettier than the 2 previous times I've been there, a benefit of rain and more rain this summer.

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1st view point on puzzle, revealed once again I was on the sunny peak while the rest of the glt was in fog and clouds. Took a break here to take boots and socks off they were wet from yesterdays hiking I repeated this a few times on wed. to help dry my feet out every couple of hrs.

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bluebird on puzzle!

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puzzle had the most ripe berries of the whole glt and with the sun shining and temps around 60 with a light breeze I was in heaven! Picked berries for 1.5 hrs on puzzle prolly ate a quart!

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[natron]

yummy puzzle berries!

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it was perfection on puzzle and it is now officially my favorite peak on the glt.

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how lucky am I?

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this is my grandpa's trail, really!

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I soaked in puzzle until 3pm, than did some speedy hiking thru the woods and got to town corner campsite @ 6:30pm. Where I proceeded to cook the same dinner 3 days in a row, chicken flavored ramen, stuffing, instant potatoes.
town corner campsite

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Awesome breakfast spot, prolly 1 mile south of lane campsite. oatmeal with dried fruit and cran grape juice, to start my last day (thurs., 7-25-13)

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yummy!

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Told myself I wouldn't stop for berries after the last 2 days but couldn't resist lightning ledges offerings!

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e.baldpate

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e.baldpate from w.baldpate

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back to the car @4pm, grabbed some bbq from the orange trailer, in bethel on the way home, the old briskett/pulled chicken combo, yum! Great hiking trip and 3 out of 4 days primarily dry is a win for this summer! Trails had some wet and muddy spots, mostly on the e.side but overall in good shape. Bugs were minimal to manageable, love n.prezzis and love glt, awesome combo! Anyone backpacking glt next 2 weeks, if you like berries give yourself some extra time for this trip. last year at this time there were practically no berries, might be hard to ever beat this year.

*knoll campsite is no more, not sure why but plan accordingly.

 

[Driver8]

Sounds like a great outing. The blueberries look amazing!

 

[natron]

Sounds like a great outing. The blueberries look amazing!

awesome outing for sure! lots of time spent eating awesome blueberries, no regrets!

 

[jake L.]

Those are some beautiful photos and delicious looking blueberries, guess you had your fill! Too bad the WX didn't turn out better on Tuesday , even still you were gifted with some nice shots of Sun. I'll have to check out Grandpas section of trail next time I'm out there. Wierd about Knoll Campsite...

 

[Driver8]

awesome outing for sure! lots of time spent eating awesome blueberries, no regrets!

I hoped to take in some blueberry bounty yesterday on Bear Mountain in Connecticut, a familiar friend which has a ton of bushes on it. No luck though - only a very few berries to be found. I'd heard nearby Everett and Race had a bunch, but I guess not this year on Bear - last year was a really hard, dry summer, so I guess they're recovering this year by yielding little fruit. Did snag a few berries here and there, and it was otherwise a pretty hike. Maybe next weekend!

 

[natron]

Wierd about Knoll Campsite...

yes, very strange, tree branches were blocking the entrance to the campsite and the sign was down.. this looks to be permanent and too bad, this was the 1st site i stayed at last year when I did my 1st backpack of the loop, it was a great site and one of my favorites... hoping somebody can chime in with details of why?

 

[Maineman]

yes, very strange, tree branches were blocking the entrance to the campsite and the sign was down.. this looks to be permanent and too bad, this was the 1st site i stayed at last year when I did my 1st backpack of the loop, it was a great site and one of my favorites... hoping somebody can chime in with details of why?

I'm a maintainer on the GLT and here is the official word from Tom Gorrill, MATC Baldpate District Supervisor:

"The campsite was closed for the simple reason that it is very close to town corner and Lane which makes it redundant. It requires maintenance particularly of the privy and (as you know) additional hours for the maintainers. It's removal was recommended by the MATC campsite committee and approved by the full board of directors."

The MATC could use your help friends - http://www.matc.org/how-can-i-help/volunteer-opportunities/

 

[iagreewithjamie]

Those blueberries look ridiculous. No bush I've seen this year has had berries that huge. I grabbed a quart on Monadnock over the weekend to make some pretty killer confectioneries.

Thanks for the report on the Grafton Loop Trail. Looks like a trip worth imitating.

 

[natron]

I'm a maintainer on the GLT and here is the official word from Tom Gorrill, MATC Baldpate District Supervisor:

"The campsite was closed for the simple reason that it is very close to town corner and Lane which makes it redundant. It requires maintenance particularly of the privy and (as you know) additional hours for the maintainers. It's removal was recommended by the MATC campsite committee and approved by the full board of directors."

The MATC could use your help friends - http://www.matc.org/how-can-i-help/volunteer-opportunities/

Thanx, kind of figured it was a decision based on need vs maintaining and with knoll being in between and in close proximity of lane and t.c., it drew the short straw.. Happy I got to camp there once, was a cool spot... I liked it better than most of the others on the glt. any work days on the glt mon. or thurs. upcoming months? did some volunteer trail work at range ponds mt.bike trails last week, good time!

 

[hikerfast]

one of the best series of pictures ive seen..thanks for sharing

 

[natron]

one of the best series of pictures ive seen..thanks for sharing

wow, super kind words! much appreciated, thank you!