Gamehiker, Onestep and I carpooled from Maine through spectacular Grafton Notch, "Earll" NH and Dixville Notch. After piloting his faithful 200,000 mile Taurus into a ditch near Pliny a couple weeks ago, Onestep continued his maniac driving by taking out a White-winged crossbill pecking at gravel along the center line and narrowly missing a moose and two ruffed grouse. Good thing he's out of the rotation for the next couple of weekends - hopefully the Barnjum School of Remedial Driving for Aged Whackers will be of some help.
Having to dodge bullets fired by crow hunters near the gravel pit at the start of the Monadnock Trail, we finally got into a peaceful rhythm. Surprisingly a lot of snow had melted and we didn't need snowshoes until we hit the old access road. The summit was encircled by lovely mature balsam fir and crowned with a very tall, but luckily also very stable firetower. The perspective here was initially disorienting, but eventually we were able to identify the Bigelows, Presis, Cannon, Rump, Mansfield and Jay among others. With at least 4 feet of snow at the summit it seemed incongruous to have a Tiger swallowtail flit around and land on the chimney of the old warden's cabin.
We approached Dixville from The Balsams' ski area - a steady, steep pitch to the snowmobile Trail heading south to the summit. This path was so wide it was reminiscent of the Border Swath. We found no jar on the summit, but enjoyed the views and fed a couple of unusually shy Gray jays.
After some fairly strenuous trailbreaking over the last few weeks, we picked these peaks hoping for a less taxing day. Without any navigational issues and with well-compacted snow, the only hazards of the day were a few bramble scratches on our bare legs and concern about sunburn.
Another excellent adventure in the mountains with Onestep and Gamehiker!
Having to dodge bullets fired by crow hunters near the gravel pit at the start of the Monadnock Trail, we finally got into a peaceful rhythm. Surprisingly a lot of snow had melted and we didn't need snowshoes until we hit the old access road. The summit was encircled by lovely mature balsam fir and crowned with a very tall, but luckily also very stable firetower. The perspective here was initially disorienting, but eventually we were able to identify the Bigelows, Presis, Cannon, Rump, Mansfield and Jay among others. With at least 4 feet of snow at the summit it seemed incongruous to have a Tiger swallowtail flit around and land on the chimney of the old warden's cabin.
We approached Dixville from The Balsams' ski area - a steady, steep pitch to the snowmobile Trail heading south to the summit. This path was so wide it was reminiscent of the Border Swath. We found no jar on the summit, but enjoyed the views and fed a couple of unusually shy Gray jays.
After some fairly strenuous trailbreaking over the last few weeks, we picked these peaks hoping for a less taxing day. Without any navigational issues and with well-compacted snow, the only hazards of the day were a few bramble scratches on our bare legs and concern about sunburn.
Another excellent adventure in the mountains with Onestep and Gamehiker!
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