Trail Report: Mt. Willey 4285' and the nine ladders!

Since I was young, I have heard stories of the Willey family and the landslide that had killed all nine of them. I have stopped at the Willey House historic Site, hiked the trails around the pond, but never hiked the Willey Mountain. Guess I was afraid of what I might find. I have been told that there was a den up on the mountain that people believed was the devil's den. The den was found by Mr. Crawford back in the day, with bones of which he believed to be of humans. Hearing all these stories have keep me from hiking, but not this year! This year I decided to hike up and O, what I hike it turned out to be!

Parked in the lower parking lot on route 302, walked up the small road to the trail. The trail we hiked was Ethan Pond Trail, which we followed for 1.6 miles to a section where we connected to Willey Range Trail. This trail had some surprises! A small section  of the trail was washed away, stairs were after, followed by NINE ladders! The ladders were fine going up, but I was nervous when coming back down them. This trail was was 1.1 miles to the top of Mt. Willey! Here are a few pics of what you will find as you head up to a beautiful view!

The sign near the tracks when you start the trail Ethan Pond

The stairs after a mini wash away trail

The ladders and there were nine!

This is when you are on top of the ladders looking down!

The view when you reach the top ladder!

The ladders are safe, but if you afraid  of heights, this could be a tough climb for you. Going down is tricky, the ladders are side by side, so you have to reach over to get to the next ladder. When you are on top, looking down, it's steep! Made me nervous since I was hiking with a 12 year old, who thought he was part ninja and part Batman. I had to keep on reminding him of safety as we stepped down the ladders.

The view from the top at a Look Out point

Webster Cliffs and beyond! Would see more but clouds were low that day.

Me and my wonderful hiking buddy!

Over all the hike was 6 miles (when you park at the end of route 302) and took us about 6 hours.
Great views! Beautiful Day!

One Last Pic...

If you go to the back side of Mt. Willey, there is another view of Ethan Pond! It was just as gorgeous!

 

Happy Hiking EVERYONE!

BTW, never found any Den, though it still could be up there someplace! Be careful!

Trail Report: Over to Carter Dome and Beyond! (Part two)

So in my last post I ended on Mt. Hight 4675'. After resting on top, I left Mt. Hight and  traveled on Carter Dome trail over to Carter Dome 4832'. Carter Dome was a little depressing for me. There was a view point I found to take  picture from, but the trail on top was surrounded by trees.

On Top of Carter Dome

The Marker

The view from Carter Dome over the trees

After Carter Dome, headed down the Carter Dome trail 1.4 to the Carter Notch Hut. As we neared the steep climb down the side over to the Hut, there was a sign for a view! I love a good view so I hiked up the trail which was short to see this...

You can see the Hut below from the view

You are very close to a cliff at the view, be safe!

After the view, we traveled down to the Hut. The Hut is smaller then some of the others I have been to, like Lake of the Clouds. There were four tables to sit at, they said not as many people have been staying this summer, though that night they were going to have 40 people which as great! When you stay at the Hut, the care takers will wake you up at 6:30am! So you better be an early bird if you stay at the Hut!

There are other buildings that are for sleeping (as shown) with a nice view of the mountains near by. The bathrooms are located in a separate building off the side of the other buildings.

After leaving Carter Notch Hut, we traveled down the 19 miles Brook Tr, which is 3.9 miles from the Hut, back to the parking. The Hike itself was 10.4 miles, and we started at 10am to just about 6pm. It was worth the hike. Perfect Day as well.

Happy Hiking!

Trail Report: Views from Mt. Hight 4675' (part one)

This past Monday I took a hike up Mt. Hight 4675' and over to Carter Dome 4832' before stopping in at AMC Carter Notch Hut. The hiking trip was 10.4 miles in all. This was a full day hike. We started a little before 10am and finished by 6pm. The views were amazing!!! Mt. Hight gave us 360 degree views.

The sign that leads you to Mt. Hight from 19 Mile Brook Tr

You travel on Route 16 to the start of the trail, which is close to Great Glen Trails. The trail you start on is 19 Mile Brook Trail for 1.9 before turning on Carter Dome Trail which you follow the rest of the way up to Mt. Hight.

View when nearing the top of Mt. Hight

One of the views from Mt. Hight

Another view, being Mt. Washington in clouds

It was a perfect day for  hike. I really enjoyed spending time on top of Mt. Hight. There are no trees, so wind was zipping through me. I recommend to take jackets and hats when you hike for the top. it was nice, but chilly.

Next post... Carter Dome and Hut

Happy Hiking!