Holts Ledge Thunderstorm 6/18/11

I'm not a fan of hiking in adverse weather (well that's not totally true...snow, and rain is fine....but thunderstorms, hell no). But that is exactly what we were presented with upon reaching the summit cliffs of Holts Ledge on Saturday. I knew there was a chance of convection on this day, but decided to roll the dice and head out anyways. The shot above was not of the storm that hit while hiking, just another photogenic cloud that I took a pic of after the hike, along Goose Pond in Hanover/Lyme area.

The trip route was fairly easy...take the AT north along the Holts Ledge trail from Goose Pond Rd, 2 miles to the summit, soak up the views, and head back in time for dinner. And for the first 1/2 of the hike, the weather was spectacular....sunny, a bit breezy, and just simply beautiful.

Trail is not hard to follow, like I have heard in the past. It is a bit overgrown though, right when it is crossing a wetland, which def prompted a tick check. Still, nice views up to the destination here...


The trail is only somewhat steep in one section, as it heads up along a ridge for a bit, then it angles to the right along the side of a ridge, which makes it a moderate climb at worst. Still, I was sucking wind like usual, and had to take occasional short breaks to catch my breath. After some time, we came across a short side path which led out to a great view. Still, beautiful skies and not much hint of any storms. In fact, the clouds appeared to me drying up.

Fair weather cumulus


A nice, zoomed view out to Mt Cardigan.




The error in that thinking was, if any storms were forming, they were coming from the NW, and this was more of an easterly view. Still, I could see only sunshine and blue towards the north and west, that is, until about 2 minutes before the summit of Holts. It's amazing how quickly things can change when you are up in elevation...even on a mtn that is only a hair over 2000 feet. Thunder got going immediately and never really stopped rumbling. So I assumed this one had some healthy lightning with it. This is when we decided to drop down in elevation and wait it out. I took one obscured shot of the storm coming in.

I have a thunderstorm phobia, so to say I was crapping my pants at this point, was an understatement.


I think we dropped down nearly a half mile in about 3 min...adrenalin is an amazing friend when you need it. Over the next hour, we were toyed with some pretty close lightning strikes, though not much rain. I was wondering if we would escape the majority of the wet stuff. That is, until the last cell pushed through and it rained as hard as I've seen it all year. Luckily, it was short lived, and skies pretty much completely cleared out after it moved thru. Granted, I wasn't on Franconia Ridge, or the Presidentials, but being in the woods during a thunderstorm wasn't easy for me. I'm glad to have gotten thru it though...a piece of me wanted to at least experience something like that to try to get over the fear, or just get used to it. Too bad there is considerable danger involved.

So now what? Back to the summit to get the views I wanted to see!! Come on Hunter, let's go!!


Top of the Dartmouth Skiway


Massive view over to Smarts Mtn...this would be a great place to sit during peak foliage season.


View north along the bumpy AT up towards Mt Cube


owner, and dog...full of mud...after attempting to dig to China


evening light beginning to take over

cont in a min

Part 2

It was time to make our way back down to the car....food was becoming the dominant thought. But man, I love being on a mountain during the evening, because the lighting is just awesome. Also, Holts Ledge is along an area where peregrine falcons nest during the summer. In a couple of areas, we could hear the babies calling. Must have been supper time!! Again...thinking about food.

Last time I took this pic, there were bobcat tracks in the snow along that rock.


This is where we could hear the falcons.


Glorious evening!


Ahh, one more painting.


I am convinced that I like hiking during the evenings. I think I may have to buy some new batteries for the headlamp.

It only took about an hour to get back down, after the adventure toying with mother nature. Back along Goose Pond Rd, some of the final rays of the day....


Then, a drive to Goose Pond, to let the dog jump in and clean the 50 lbs of mud off his snout. Here, once again, we were presented with a great view of distant thunderstorms. Note the beast swimming to the left.






And then, it was PIZZA time! Hope you enjoyed the pics. It was a memorable hike for me, that's for sure. I want to do more evening hikes in the future, as long as threatening weather doesn't approach.

grouseking

Those are some fantastic shots! nice report

Petch

Love your reports, Phil! Keep 'em coming!