cooperhill
New member
I don't get to hike up in the Whites very much anymore in part due to the economy and mostly with the fact that we are so busy with our house and gardens. Saw that high pressure was going to be in control so I took the day off and headed up with the idea hiking some of the Southern Presidentials. Parked at the Highland Center around 7:30am (I know its just for paying customers but I figure since I'm a member it's ok) and decided to take the road walk to the Edmands path to start out. I had Maggie dog with me and we headed off for a brisk walk down the Clinton Road. Luckily we were offered a lift to the trailhead so it made the start a lot earlier.
It was a beautiful cool morning mixed with the sound of thrushes (veery?). Bunchberry flowers looked past peak. Some star flowers as well. Maggie was thoroughly enjoying herself as there was plenty of water on the trail. Reached the junction with the Eisenhower loop at about 9am'ish. There were a group of kids and a few "leaders". I tried to politely let them know about the fragile alpine grass /keeping to the rocks. They said ok but saw further up that they were back on the grass. Oh well. What can you do?
I had Maggie on lead which she hates but we made it up to the summit in short time. Views from the top were good but a bit hazy. Washington was in and out of the clouds. Headed down off of the dome.
USFS or AMC had done some great trail work on the back side of the loop trail making it way more dog friendly (especially for a 9 year old dog). Some small ladders and logs steps.
Hike from Eisenhower to Pierce is fairly easy so we took our time and enjoyed the wonderful day. Some nice alpine flowers though probably past peak as well. I thought this was a neat shot of dew and a spider web.
We then had the unfortunately luck of running into a Belgian shepherd off lead. Maggie was in front of me and the shepherd rounded the corner and charged at Maggie, eventually pouncing on her and biting the back of her neck. I yelled really loud and the dog went back to its irresponsible owners. I looked and Maggie seemed ok. I asked the owner to control their dog and put her on leash. They walked by and I continued to swear under my breath for a while. I guess people don't want to admit when their dogs are out of control and should be on lead. Oh well.
It was getting hot and Maggie was looking tired so I decided to bail out at Crawford Path instead of going on to Pierce/Jackson. Lots of folks coming up the trail. Trail looked pretty bad in parts as the muddy sections were suffering from trail creep/widening.
Got back to my car around 12:30pm. It wasn't the full I hike I intended but I've learned to be flexible when hiking with my dog as she is getting older and slower. I want to be hiking with her when she's 12.
Any help on flower ID is appreciated. Not sure what this one is:
Here are some pictures:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/573443806ENblBn
It was a beautiful cool morning mixed with the sound of thrushes (veery?). Bunchberry flowers looked past peak. Some star flowers as well. Maggie was thoroughly enjoying herself as there was plenty of water on the trail. Reached the junction with the Eisenhower loop at about 9am'ish. There were a group of kids and a few "leaders". I tried to politely let them know about the fragile alpine grass /keeping to the rocks. They said ok but saw further up that they were back on the grass. Oh well. What can you do?
I had Maggie on lead which she hates but we made it up to the summit in short time. Views from the top were good but a bit hazy. Washington was in and out of the clouds. Headed down off of the dome.
USFS or AMC had done some great trail work on the back side of the loop trail making it way more dog friendly (especially for a 9 year old dog). Some small ladders and logs steps.
Hike from Eisenhower to Pierce is fairly easy so we took our time and enjoyed the wonderful day. Some nice alpine flowers though probably past peak as well. I thought this was a neat shot of dew and a spider web.
We then had the unfortunately luck of running into a Belgian shepherd off lead. Maggie was in front of me and the shepherd rounded the corner and charged at Maggie, eventually pouncing on her and biting the back of her neck. I yelled really loud and the dog went back to its irresponsible owners. I looked and Maggie seemed ok. I asked the owner to control their dog and put her on leash. They walked by and I continued to swear under my breath for a while. I guess people don't want to admit when their dogs are out of control and should be on lead. Oh well.
It was getting hot and Maggie was looking tired so I decided to bail out at Crawford Path instead of going on to Pierce/Jackson. Lots of folks coming up the trail. Trail looked pretty bad in parts as the muddy sections were suffering from trail creep/widening.
Got back to my car around 12:30pm. It wasn't the full I hike I intended but I've learned to be flexible when hiking with my dog as she is getting older and slower. I want to be hiking with her when she's 12.
Any help on flower ID is appreciated. Not sure what this one is:
Here are some pictures:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/573443806ENblBn
