Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Yes, it's finally happened, they have wifi at Pinkham! You have to be a registered guest, but once you get the credentials it seems to work pretty well!
Prologue:
Last night we met a TON of people at The Waltham Brew night! I think there were 27 people, most of whom I had not met before. We had a great time, with good food and good brews!
Ok, on to the main event! We left Waltham at 6:15 and drove up to Gorham. The entire trip up, it was raining, and we were not real sure we would even hike. But when we got close, it just about stopped. We parked at the Park (I forget the name) and then crossed the stream on the large but wobbly suspension bridge. Then we proceeded to get lost! After wandering around on some ATV/snowmo trails, we called BikeHikeSkiFish and he gave us directions to the trailhead. Thanks Tim!
After a while it more or less stopped raining, and we both removed our rain gear. Of course, the trees were still wet, and the trail was muddy, and there was some mist/fog, but we were pretty much ok. The first part of the trail is soft and moderately steep. After you get to Mt. Surprise!, the fun really starts! Surprise! The trail consists of many long, smooth slabs of rock. They were met, muddy, slimy, steep, and SLIPPERY! I almost lost it a few times. (Maybe I need new boots!? ).
As we got higher, we actually saw a few views, and a few peaks of sunshine. The Pressies were obscured, but we could see a few miles towards Gorham. It took us about 3 hours to get to the top. The trailhead is only at about 800', so this was about 3250' of climbing, and few more hundred feet for the PUDs. The summit is open, and we could see a few miles towards the Carters, etc.
Nature corner: We saw a dead squirrel, live toads, some moose and other droppings, a few warblers, a few more common birds, and a few spring flowers still hanging on, including Trillium, Bunchberry, foam flower, and a huge False Solomon's Seal. We noticed that the water was a little murky, so we did not drink any of it. There was also some odd looking light red foam on it as well. (Insert BLECK! icon here)
The walk back down was rather slow due to the SLIPPERY rocks. At one point, I just sat down and butt slid! We got back in about 2:30, and headed off to Pinkham (here!), and had a delicious dinner! Tomorrow, the Carters!
Prologue:
Last night we met a TON of people at The Waltham Brew night! I think there were 27 people, most of whom I had not met before. We had a great time, with good food and good brews!
Ok, on to the main event! We left Waltham at 6:15 and drove up to Gorham. The entire trip up, it was raining, and we were not real sure we would even hike. But when we got close, it just about stopped. We parked at the Park (I forget the name) and then crossed the stream on the large but wobbly suspension bridge. Then we proceeded to get lost!
After wandering around on some ATV/snowmo trails, we called BikeHikeSkiFish and he gave us directions to the trailhead. Thanks Tim! After a while it more or less stopped raining, and we both removed our rain gear. Of course, the trees were still wet, and the trail was muddy, and there was some mist/fog, but we were pretty much ok. The first part of the trail is soft and moderately steep. After you get to Mt. Surprise!, the fun really starts! Surprise! The trail consists of many long, smooth slabs of rock. They were met, muddy, slimy, steep, and SLIPPERY! I almost lost it a few times. (Maybe I need new boots!?
).As we got higher, we actually saw a few views, and a few peaks of sunshine. The Pressies were obscured, but we could see a few miles towards Gorham. It took us about 3 hours to get to the top. The trailhead is only at about 800', so this was about 3250' of climbing, and few more hundred feet for the PUDs.
The summit is open, and we could see a few miles towards the Carters, etc.Nature corner: We saw a dead squirrel, live toads, some moose and other droppings, a few warblers, a few more common birds, and a few spring flowers still hanging on, including Trillium, Bunchberry, foam flower, and a huge False Solomon's Seal. We noticed that the water was a little murky, so we did not drink any of it. There was also some odd looking light red foam on it as well. (Insert BLECK! icon here)
The walk back down was rather slow due to the SLIPPERY rocks. At one point, I just sat down and butt slid!
We got back in about 2:30, and headed off to Pinkham (here!), and had a delicious dinner! Tomorrow, the Carters!
