SherpaKroto
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I had originally figured that I would be doing this loop alone, but was happy when Guy (giggy) eMailed me to say he really wanted to come along. We made plans to meet along Rt 16 in Ossipee so we could get a few miles behind us on Friday night.
We parked at the southern end of the Rocky Branch Trail on Jericho Road off Rt 302 in Glen, NH (BTW, the road is not marked, but is immediately west of "A Fresh Start" restaurant - more on that later!). We were all geared up and started on the trail at 8:00 PM - gotta love those longer days! The Rocky Branch trail starts off as a road walk, which wa nice as Guy and I had never hiked together before, and it gave us time to get to know each other. It took me about 4 seconds to know we'd have a great weekend. We chatted about nothing in particular and one of us casually mentioned that we must be more than halfway there. Five minutes later we had reached the shelter, in 28 minutes! I was psyched as we rounded the corner and saw only 2 sleeping bags in the shelter. So instead of setting up my tent, I went to gather wood for a good campfire. I expected the wood to be wet, so taking a trick I learned from "Guinness", I had carried in a Duraflame log. I lit the log, piled on the wood, and we had us a campfire while we unpacked! Greg and Nate soon came in and they immediately said "we were just saying how great it would be if we showed up to a nice campfire". They had climbed Stairs Mtn for sunset, and were just returning. We sat down, and continued snacking when these 2 young guys proceeded to whip up a really nice feast of chicken sausage and all the fixings. So great to see young people really enjoying the outdoors! Pretty soon, it was light out, and we settled into a great night of rainless sleep.
Dawn came, sunny warm, and still. We geared up with no real rush. We had a long day planned, not so much in mileage (9.1 miles), but certainly in elevation gain (4,350 vertical climb). Best to be relaxed! We were fed, packed and ready to head out, hitting the trail at 7:45AM. I immediately felt like a slug. My legs were just dead. Guy was moving ahead and I started thinking this was going to be rough. Not so though, 30 minutes into it, I felt fine - just a little early jitters, I guess. We cruised up teh Stairs col trail, Guy adjusting his pace to mine (ok, he slowed down for me
). We hit Davis Path in 85 minutes, 15 minutes under book. For me, with a pack, that just doesn't happen. We took a nice break, adn soon headed up the Davis Path to Stairs Mtn.
The Davis Path was a former bridle path. I could not imagine sitting on a horse as we climbed Stairs. I had heard that the views were excellent from everyone who had responded to my inquiries. We soon reached the spur path, headed over to the summit (passing a very nice legal campsite), and was not disappointed. A great start to a great day! We took a few pictures, ate some candy bars, took in the views, and then headed off. One down!
The hike on the Davis Path was fairly long, and somewhat streneous. It's not really hard in any one spot. It's just the cumulative ups and downs, blowdowns, duckunders that start to get you. The trail is generally in excellent shape, but there are some rough sections that need some maintenance, but nothing like what I had heard about. It is in very good shape, and a beautiful trail.I felt that we were not making progress although we were moving at good pace. Might be the heat I guessed. Guy seemed to be having no trouble and told me that he wouldn't be going much faster even if he weer alone. Soon enough, we got to the Mt Davis spur path, and I could not wait to see the view I had heard so much about. I took off up the path, got about 150 feet, and realized my enthusiasm out paced my endurance. I let Guy blow by me, and heard "Oh man!" as he crested . That got me going! And I was not disappointed. This little rarely visited peak has more to offer IMHO than any other within this whole area of the Whites. I spent about 20 minutes trying to identify distant peaks, and was amazed at all that we could see. 360 degrees of uninterrupted views of beautiful mountains. We could see the headwall of the Oakes Gulf, down into the Dry River Wilderness, over to the Pemi with Carrigain and Signal Ridge right in front of you, the Bonds, the Twins. And let's not forget Isolation and Big George right up the ridge! I waved to SherpaJohn on Isolation, and AlpineSummit on Washington, and the "Cherry Mtn Rd" gang. I was just overwhelmed at how cool it is to know that so many friends were out there with us enjoying their own views! All too soon, we had to head down. I mentioned to Guy that we could hike until 6:00 (we reached Davis at 1:30) to make Sunday a nice short day. Since his wife, and new Mom of 5 weeks had so gratiously sent him on this training trip (Guy is on the VFTT Rainier trip), he appreciate that he could gain some brownie points by getting home early. We took a nice break at the spur path as we had not eaten much all day. A solo woman hiker soon appeared and told us she had come from Pinkham over Boott Spur and was hoping to get to Davis before her turnaround time. She mentioned that she had heard the views were spectacular! When we told her that she was here, she smiled broadly, said her goodbyes, and hot footed it up the path. Probably good that she had no poles. I suspect that when she saw the view she needed her hands to hold her mouth shut. Did I say this is one great summit?
Ok, off we went to Isolation at about 2:20, reaching Isolation just before 3:00. Another fantastic view with close up views of Oakes Gulf and the Ridge beyond. We had plenty of time, took it, and just marveled at the day we had had. We still had 3 hours to get to Rocky Branch #2, and it was only 3.5 miles. So we sat for about 35 minutes Time to go!
Heading down to Rocky Branch shelter #2 meant a bit more climbing up to the Isolation trail, but nothing difficult. I was surprised how good I felt (maybe this training stuff works!) I would get tired, but after a few minutes was recharged and ready to go. We passed a trail crew doing some more brushing, and thanked them for their hard work. That's dedication as it was over 7 miles in to where they STARTED their work - and this was a day trip for them! Shortly after that we passed 2 guys who told us that they were the only ones at the shelter, so no tent again! After 7 blowdowns on the Isolation trail in the first 3/4 mile, I kept thinking (and saying), I don't remember this section! I had told Guy we'd be at the shelter by 6:00, and he kept kidding me about that. Finally, after 4 crossings (one somewhat difficult, but not bad), he turned and said "10 minutes left!" I said "no problem - we'll make it!". I was off by 2 minutes 12.1 miles and 4,450 feet done!
Sure enough, no one there other than the 2 guys we met. We dropped pack, threw out our sleeping gear, sat for a bit, then a bit more. It hit me - I was beat! Soon our sheltermates returned and I said "wow, we've only been here for about 10 minutes!" Guy cracked up and said "uh, it's 6:45, we've been here for 45!". Hey, I said I was tired!
So we cooked, pumped water, and the usual question comes up "you guys ever hear of VFTT?". "I'm Bigjim". Small world. So I ask the other guy who he is, and he says "Tom, but I don't post". Jim tells us about the Moriah trip where he met sapblatt, hikerbob, Bob and Geri, Peakbagger. Then he say "Tom is the infamous postholer!" We had some good chuckles, and Tom was very good natured about it. (Guys: he really feels bad about leaving his snowshoes in the car). So, we gave him his new VFTT name "PostHoleTom" which he likes a lot better than the one HikerBob wanted to give him We had a great evening, but all of us were pretty tired, and one by one the sleeping bag called louder than we could ignore.
6:05AM, time to get up. Another fantastic day ahead, with a nice 6.1 downhill trek ahead of us. On went the 2 braces, and the knee brace just wouldn't fit right. Off we went at 7:00AM. I was hoping that it would get better - and it did. We cruised down the trail which had numerous brook crossings, and 4 crossings of the Rocky Branch. The miles just melted away, and we felt great talking about how the day before had gone, and looking forward to our Presi Traverse in a few weeks and Mt Rainier in August. I really enjoyed this hike and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice strenuous (for me anyway) backpack. Sharing it with a new friend made it even better. We reached the trailhead at 9:26, and I had thoughts of breakfast. Guy had to get back home (brownie points, remember?), so I thought I'd ride into town and pick something up quick. I pulled off Jericho Road and headed toward North Conway. I noticed "A Fresh Start: Breakfast and Lunch served" which I had never noticed before. Knowing I had the entire day, I stopped in. This place was excellent, and I knew I would never have to think about where to eat in the North Conway area again!
Pics Here
We parked at the southern end of the Rocky Branch Trail on Jericho Road off Rt 302 in Glen, NH (BTW, the road is not marked, but is immediately west of "A Fresh Start" restaurant - more on that later!). We were all geared up and started on the trail at 8:00 PM - gotta love those longer days! The Rocky Branch trail starts off as a road walk, which wa nice as Guy and I had never hiked together before, and it gave us time to get to know each other. It took me about 4 seconds to know we'd have a great weekend. We chatted about nothing in particular and one of us casually mentioned that we must be more than halfway there. Five minutes later we had reached the shelter, in 28 minutes! I was psyched as we rounded the corner and saw only 2 sleeping bags in the shelter. So instead of setting up my tent, I went to gather wood for a good campfire. I expected the wood to be wet, so taking a trick I learned from "Guinness", I had carried in a Duraflame log. I lit the log, piled on the wood, and we had us a campfire while we unpacked! Greg and Nate soon came in and they immediately said "we were just saying how great it would be if we showed up to a nice campfire". They had climbed Stairs Mtn for sunset, and were just returning. We sat down, and continued snacking when these 2 young guys proceeded to whip up a really nice feast of chicken sausage and all the fixings. So great to see young people really enjoying the outdoors! Pretty soon, it was light out, and we settled into a great night of rainless sleep.
Dawn came, sunny warm, and still. We geared up with no real rush. We had a long day planned, not so much in mileage (9.1 miles), but certainly in elevation gain (4,350 vertical climb). Best to be relaxed! We were fed, packed and ready to head out, hitting the trail at 7:45AM. I immediately felt like a slug. My legs were just dead. Guy was moving ahead and I started thinking this was going to be rough. Not so though, 30 minutes into it, I felt fine - just a little early jitters, I guess. We cruised up teh Stairs col trail, Guy adjusting his pace to mine (ok, he slowed down for me
). We hit Davis Path in 85 minutes, 15 minutes under book. For me, with a pack, that just doesn't happen. We took a nice break, adn soon headed up the Davis Path to Stairs Mtn.The Davis Path was a former bridle path. I could not imagine sitting on a horse as we climbed Stairs. I had heard that the views were excellent from everyone who had responded to my inquiries. We soon reached the spur path, headed over to the summit (passing a very nice legal campsite), and was not disappointed. A great start to a great day! We took a few pictures, ate some candy bars, took in the views, and then headed off. One down!
The hike on the Davis Path was fairly long, and somewhat streneous. It's not really hard in any one spot. It's just the cumulative ups and downs, blowdowns, duckunders that start to get you. The trail is generally in excellent shape, but there are some rough sections that need some maintenance, but nothing like what I had heard about. It is in very good shape, and a beautiful trail.I felt that we were not making progress although we were moving at good pace. Might be the heat I guessed. Guy seemed to be having no trouble and told me that he wouldn't be going much faster even if he weer alone. Soon enough, we got to the Mt Davis spur path, and I could not wait to see the view I had heard so much about. I took off up the path, got about 150 feet, and realized my enthusiasm out paced my endurance. I let Guy blow by me, and heard "Oh man!" as he crested . That got me going! And I was not disappointed. This little rarely visited peak has more to offer IMHO than any other within this whole area of the Whites. I spent about 20 minutes trying to identify distant peaks, and was amazed at all that we could see. 360 degrees of uninterrupted views of beautiful mountains. We could see the headwall of the Oakes Gulf, down into the Dry River Wilderness, over to the Pemi with Carrigain and Signal Ridge right in front of you, the Bonds, the Twins. And let's not forget Isolation and Big George right up the ridge! I waved to SherpaJohn on Isolation, and AlpineSummit on Washington, and the "Cherry Mtn Rd" gang. I was just overwhelmed at how cool it is to know that so many friends were out there with us enjoying their own views! All too soon, we had to head down. I mentioned to Guy that we could hike until 6:00 (we reached Davis at 1:30) to make Sunday a nice short day. Since his wife, and new Mom of 5 weeks had so gratiously sent him on this training trip (Guy is on the VFTT Rainier trip), he appreciate that he could gain some brownie points by getting home early. We took a nice break at the spur path as we had not eaten much all day. A solo woman hiker soon appeared and told us she had come from Pinkham over Boott Spur and was hoping to get to Davis before her turnaround time. She mentioned that she had heard the views were spectacular! When we told her that she was here, she smiled broadly, said her goodbyes, and hot footed it up the path. Probably good that she had no poles. I suspect that when she saw the view she needed her hands to hold her mouth shut. Did I say this is one great summit?
Ok, off we went to Isolation at about 2:20, reaching Isolation just before 3:00. Another fantastic view with close up views of Oakes Gulf and the Ridge beyond. We had plenty of time, took it, and just marveled at the day we had had. We still had 3 hours to get to Rocky Branch #2, and it was only 3.5 miles. So we sat for about 35 minutes
Time to go!Heading down to Rocky Branch shelter #2 meant a bit more climbing up to the Isolation trail, but nothing difficult. I was surprised how good I felt (maybe this training stuff works!) I would get tired, but after a few minutes was recharged and ready to go. We passed a trail crew doing some more brushing, and thanked them for their hard work. That's dedication as it was over 7 miles in to where they STARTED their work - and this was a day trip for them! Shortly after that we passed 2 guys who told us that they were the only ones at the shelter, so no tent again! After 7 blowdowns on the Isolation trail in the first 3/4 mile, I kept thinking (and saying), I don't remember this section! I had told Guy we'd be at the shelter by 6:00, and he kept kidding me about that. Finally, after 4 crossings (one somewhat difficult, but not bad), he turned and said "10 minutes left!" I said "no problem - we'll make it!". I was off by 2 minutes
12.1 miles and 4,450 feet done!Sure enough, no one there other than the 2 guys we met. We dropped pack, threw out our sleeping gear, sat for a bit, then a bit more. It hit me - I was beat! Soon our sheltermates returned and I said "wow, we've only been here for about 10 minutes!" Guy cracked up and said "uh, it's 6:45, we've been here for 45!". Hey, I said I was tired!
So we cooked, pumped water, and the usual question comes up "you guys ever hear of VFTT?". "I'm Bigjim". Small world. So I ask the other guy who he is, and he says "Tom, but I don't post". Jim tells us about the Moriah trip where he met sapblatt, hikerbob, Bob and Geri, Peakbagger. Then he say "Tom is the infamous postholer!" We had some good chuckles, and Tom was very good natured about it. (Guys: he really feels bad about leaving his snowshoes in the car). So, we gave him his new VFTT name "PostHoleTom" which he likes a lot better than the one HikerBob wanted to give him
We had a great evening, but all of us were pretty tired, and one by one the sleeping bag called louder than we could ignore.6:05AM, time to get up. Another fantastic day ahead, with a nice 6.1 downhill trek ahead of us. On went the 2 braces, and the knee brace just wouldn't fit right. Off we went at 7:00AM. I was hoping that it would get better - and it did. We cruised down the trail which had numerous brook crossings, and 4 crossings of the Rocky Branch. The miles just melted away, and we felt great talking about how the day before had gone, and looking forward to our Presi Traverse in a few weeks and Mt Rainier in August. I really enjoyed this hike and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice strenuous (for me anyway) backpack. Sharing it with a new friend made it even better. We reached the trailhead at 9:26, and I had thoughts of breakfast. Guy had to get back home (brownie points, remember?), so I thought I'd ride into town and pick something up quick. I pulled off Jericho Road and headed toward North Conway. I noticed "A Fresh Start: Breakfast and Lunch served" which I had never noticed before. Knowing I had the entire day, I stopped in. This place was excellent, and I knew I would never have to think about where to eat in the North Conway area again!
Pics Here
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