Hiking up Mt. Washington (forth time around) New: Taking Jewel Trail down

This is a view from up above on Mt Washington, you can see the cars coming up the Auto Road. It was a beautiful day for a hike.

Started up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail to the the AMC Lake of the Clouds Hut. The trail was great to hike (as the last three times) It was my friends first time up to the top of Mt Washington so we started early (8:30am). I wanted to show her some of the locations my characters travel and live at, in my new book Minders of the Mountain such as the Gem Pool (where they get their crystals for power) and small trail to the cascades (where they live in caves). She loved it. The views were amazing since there was very little clouds at the time, and the weather was 80 degrees at the bottom and about 65 at the hut.

Us on the Ammonoosuc Trail

We made it to the Hut a little before 11:30am since we really enjoyed stopping to see views on the way up and then hiked the Crawford Path to the top. There was NO clouds at the time. Sun was strong and we grew tired. Since it was such a hot, nice Saturday, many were traveling the trails.
It was about 1:00pm when we reached the top, at that point I was tired and wishing I had put on more sun block. The soups at the top are amazing, I (of course) had the clam chowder with crackers. We walked around, visited the gift shop, took a few pics of the view, by now we were wearing light jackets. It was about 50 degrees at the top.

After visiting the top, we decided to take Jewel Trail back down, which I had never taken before. I loved hiking by the cog as it came down the tracks. I enjoyed seeing the Great Gulf on the Gulfside trail heading toward Jewel trail. Here are a few pictures on the way down...

Great Gulf

The cog in its way down

hiking over the tracks

 We made it down by 6:30pm to our cars. We were ready to go home and relax. I was glad I brought my flip flops for the drive home. The hike was 9.5 miles round trip. My legs were feeling sore for at least three days but it was worth it. The views were amazing!

Please check out my book and Kindle version at Amazon
My authors page:  amazon.com/author/srmartin
Thank you and Happy Hiking!! 

Hiking up Mt. Moosilauke 4802 footer!

In the White Mountains, and town of Benton. Tenth Highest Mountain in NH. Called the The Gentle Giant, Mt Moosilauke is  4802 feet. I have never hiked this mountain before so I was excited about this new adventure! Parked on the dirt road that was near the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge which is owned by Dartmouth College. The bathrooms were clean and the people were very friendly. The most popular trail is Gorge Brook, which is the one we hiked up. As some point we had to follow Snapper Trail because a part of the Gorge was washed out by rain. Hiking up was 3.7 miles to the top and beautiful. Here are a few pictures from the day: 

The Lodge

It was sunny skies with a few clouds near the top, light winds

Signs to watch out for Vegetation

All Smiles from this HIKE!

Taken near the top

Places to hang low when windy

The top!!! We made it!

 Over all the hike was a huge loop, started on the Gorge Trail up to top then headed down Carriage to Snapper, which is all together 7.4 miles. Great hike. The views are amazing. We spent a hour up at the top, but I could have stayed there all day!

Dogs loved it too!

 Happy Hiking!

 

The 4000 Footer Club...With PICTURES:)

The 4000 Footer Club

So, on my way through the Franconia Ridge Trail, we meet a guy who is in the

4000 Footer Club. I have heard of this club before and have already started

writing the dates down in my book of the mountains I hike. He had already

done all the 4000 footers! I was so impressed! 

To be part of the 4000 footer club, one needs to hike all 48 peaks in the White

Mountains, 14 peaks in Maine and 5 in Vermont.

This year I hiked many places but I only got to hike 5 of the 4000 footers,

next year I hope to double that number and hike ten. 

Though its hard because I always enjoy my hikes and 

want to do some of my favorite mountains every year. 

I really enjoy hiking hiking Mt. Washington, Mt. Madison, and Mt. Liberty.

I know I have to adventure out and start doing some new mountains

next year, I am very excited about this thought! 

I hiked four of the larger mountains this year, all being over 5000!

Lets check them out!

 Mt. Washington 6288ft

Mt Lafayette 5260ft

Mt. Lincoln 5089ft

Mt. Madison 5367ft

and also..

Mt. Liberty 4459ft

I am hoping next year to hike Mt. Adams and Mt. Monroe 

and add them to my list.

...Plus a few others which I will be looking over during this winter.

Already excited about next late spring.

Happy Hiking:)

This winter I will be snowshoeing, XCountry skiing, and skiing in the
White Mountains so be looking out for some posts on those!
Plus more on hiking here, I sometimes go up Tuckerman Ravine
when there is snow to see the skiers!