Dave Bear
New member
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2007
- Messages
- 681
- Reaction score
- 168
Thor and I had spent Saturday enjoying a hike up Osceola and the comradery of the group celebrating Eric Rathburn's Grid Finish. I knew that Sunday was to be the pick of the weekend and the last day of winter so I was contemplating doing an open summit that did not require much effort like Moosilauke. As I hiked down Saturday the snow had softened a bit and I felt that I should head north. An oppurtunity came when Mats had left his poles at Livermore and was in Conway. Thor and I delivered the gear and stayed in Milan at my in-laws. During the drive through Crawford Notch the moon over Jackson and Webster Cliffs beckoned for an evening hike. I had a hard time resisting the temptation but kept both hands on the wheel. It is so impressive to drive the length of the Presis and see them glow at you in the moonlight.
Thor had surgery coming up the following week and had not hiked two hikes in a weekend so I decided to take a very leisurely pace today including the starting time. We didn't leave Appalchia until about 10:00am and would not get back for over eight and a half hours. Thor wished I was hiking faster but he did enjoy alot more of the woods today. I was surprised to see so few people out on this terrific day but those we met coming down were beaming with excitement from their experience above treeline. It definitely was, in Ed's words "A Presi Kinda Day!"
We arrived at the hut and Thor ran everywhere, part way up Gulfside, over to the lake, then most of the way up Osgood to Madison. Once I began to climb he came down to meet me. He decided to go back down to the hut and then reclimb Madison. I think someone told him he could count it twice!
We reached the summit and shared it with some nice folks that had met us earlier. They were students from MIT that had listened to a presentation by Lei Wang. We had fun on the summit with them and then kicked back a bit. On the way down we stopped by Star Lake and on the way out took Falls Way. As I said a "leisurely" Presi Day! About twenty minutes after we got in my Jeep spring had sprung and my partner was sound asleep!
Some pics of the day: http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/579953328QAwfVH
Thor had surgery coming up the following week and had not hiked two hikes in a weekend so I decided to take a very leisurely pace today including the starting time. We didn't leave Appalchia until about 10:00am and would not get back for over eight and a half hours. Thor wished I was hiking faster but he did enjoy alot more of the woods today. I was surprised to see so few people out on this terrific day but those we met coming down were beaming with excitement from their experience above treeline. It definitely was, in Ed's words "A Presi Kinda Day!"
We arrived at the hut and Thor ran everywhere, part way up Gulfside, over to the lake, then most of the way up Osgood to Madison. Once I began to climb he came down to meet me. He decided to go back down to the hut and then reclimb Madison. I think someone told him he could count it twice!
We reached the summit and shared it with some nice folks that had met us earlier. They were students from MIT that had listened to a presentation by Lei Wang. We had fun on the summit with them and then kicked back a bit. On the way down we stopped by Star Lake and on the way out took Falls Way. As I said a "leisurely" Presi Day! About twenty minutes after we got in my Jeep spring had sprung and my partner was sound asleep!
Some pics of the day: http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/579953328QAwfVH
