Speechless Wednesday...Mt. Adams

The Gully and MT. Adams

in the Presidential Range when hiking up Air Line

This was breathtaking!! Loved it!

Happy Hiking:)

This Sign is Important!

IT READS ...Stop...The area ahead has the worst weather in America. Many have died there from exposure even in the summer. Turn back now if the weather is bad.

If you see this sign, take it seriously. I have myself, had to turn back because it was bad weather ahead. The weather changes from the tree line to the ridge. There have been many people who have died up here, even in the summer do to weather. On a nice day, it can be so wonderful up in the White Mountains but it can also be very dangerous. You will see this sign a lot around the Presidential Range mostly. The winds, the heat exposure, the cold winter weather if you decide to hike earlier then June. I have tried once to go up here in May and it was bad. I had to turn around and went back down. So, please take this sign seriously, it could save your life!

First encounter with a Moose on the Trail!

So, I have hiked many times, but yesterday was my first EVER encounter with a moose! We were heading up Air Line Trail near Mt. Madison when my friend stopped in front of me. I looked around her and saw this medium size moose on the trail. I couldn't believe it!!! It was amazing! It looked at us and turned into the woods off the trail. I stayed my distance but wanted to get a picture of it. This is what I got first...

Yep! It's a moose, the back side..it wouldn't look at me, sadly! It was pretty close though! I have seen moose many times living up here but not a few yards away on foot like this. But then I noticed something moving near the moose. Then the moose moved up into the woods. We started walking up the trail and saw the moose again near the trail. I bet she thought we were following her. Then I noticed she had a baby moose near her. It was lighter brown. I got a pretty good picture of the baby staring right at me through the trees.

See the baby moose on the right. The dark figure near it is the mother again. She was just munching away on some leaves when I took this shot! I am telling you, you never know what you are going to run into when you are hiking! It's such an adventure!!!:)

Mt. Washington...part 2

I ended with my friend and I starting our hike up Crawford Path. The wind started to pick up, by now it started blowing almost through us. I would say it was about 30 miles per hour. The temp went down to almost 40 degrees and it was raining harder. About halfway up this path everything got worse, plus the fog was so thick that we couldn't see the trail or the top of Mt. Washington. All we could see were the steps ahead of us and the next rock hill to follow. I would have to say that we got to the point were we were about 0.6 miles from the top did I get very nervous. The wind was getting stronger, about 40 miles per hour, the rain was more like hail and the temp was 35 degrees. At one point, my friends poncho went over his head, which made me laugh, but he could get it back down for the wind was so strong. We were very nervous about getting to the top safely, but we were so close! The wind kept pushing us back, the hail started to hurt! My legs were so tired and I was soak through my clothes. The fog was so hard to see through, I just wanted to get to the top! I remember when we got to the top, we didn't know we were near the building until we were right upon it! We touched the wall and then noticed through the fog that it was the building! We were excited, but cold, wet and tired. We go inside and there were lots of people trying to get warm besides us. We eat and bought some warm pullovers. I got one that said I climbed Mt. Washington! But then over the speakers, they said that the weather was so bad that they were closing the auto road, so everyone had to leave and that hikers had to hike to AMC hut and stay there over night, or go down the Cog. We decided to go down the Cog. It was fun but scary because the Fog was so thick you couldn't see anything. What an adventure! One of the scariest but still amazingly fun! I would do it again...hopefully this summer! I can see how this mountain took many lives, it can be very dangerous to hike when the weather turns on you!

Mt. Washington...Part 1

Now, of all the mountains I have hiked in the White Mountains, nothing beats Mt. Washington. This mountain have many trails that lead to the top, some being more difficult to hike then others. I had a friend who had hiked this mountain many times so he kind of was like my guide when hiking this amazing mountain. We started at the Cog Railway Base Station. When we started the hike it was about 75 degrees. The sun was peaking through the clouds so we thought it would be a great hike. We started a small trail that connected to the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail. This trail is about 2.1 miles to the Lakes of the Clouds. I would love to say that on the way up we took tons of pictures to show you, but it started to rain about half way up. We went by Gem Pool and then the Cascades. The weather had turned on us when we reached the Lakes of the Clouds AMC Huts. The wind had picked up and it was about 55 degrees out now. I remember feeling cold and wet even though I was wearing rain gear by then. We had lunch at the Hut and talked with the watchers of the hut. They told us that the weather might continue to get worse, but we decided to carry on to the top. We left the AMC huts and walked passed the Lakes of the Clouds, which are really awesome, to the trail Crawford Path which leads to the top of Mt. Washington. We looked up in surprise to noticed that we couldn't see anything! Mt. Washington was covered by thick fog....onward we went though.

Inspiration...Magic...on top of a mountain

Of all my hikes, I have to say that Mt. Madison was my favorite mountain to hike...and it would have to be because of the views but how I felt when I was on top. It was as if I was floating, I was in another world...no longer on earth. I hope to hike this beautiful mountain again this year and have that feeling again. Here is a pic of me, just about floating on this great mountain! It was like Magic! This is a mountain like no other!

I just can look at this picture all day long and remember the feeling that came over me on top of this mountain! I think I could have touched the sky and drifted away....I miss you Mt. Madison! I'll be back soon.... PROMISE!:)

Mt. Jefferson hike up the caps!

The hike up Mt. Jefferson was amazing! The views were so beautiful! That is right...there were three peaks going up the trail we started on. We drove up Jefferson Notch Road to the elevation 3009' . The picture above is the sign you will see that starts the trail we went on. The trail was Caps Ridge Trail. It was about 1.1 miles up to the Glacial Poles. There we found some cool caves. In the caves we found, there was still snow inside them which was cool. Here is a picture of me coming out of one of the caves.

Did I mention how much I love to explore caves! I had a blast. Then we continued up Caps Ridge Trail which then is also called Ridge of the Caps. There are three Caps and the trail here is about 1.0 miles. I loved the views on the Ridge. At one of the caps I took this picture because I just loved the view!

It was a beautiful day for a hike also. The sky was clear, the temperature was cool and warm. The hike up was amazing! Then it was about o.4 miles before we reached the top of Jefferson. The elevation on the top was 5716' and it was lovely. We eat lunch, relaxed then started back down the same way we came up. I hope to do this hike again soon.

A hike up Mt. Madison

A great hike up Mt. Madison. Now I have hiked this mountain more then once, but the first time was my favorite! I went with a friend, we started the hike around noon and told her it was a two hour hike. I knew I was wrong but I didn't think it would turn into six and half hours! There are a few trails that can get your to the top. We decided to hike Air Line which was a gradual start but got steeper as we got closer to the half way point! About three quarters of the way up, you come out of the trees and on cliffs. You walk a long a path in the middle of cliffs where there are some beautiful views! I would climb this mountain on a clear day for sure! When you walk the path a ways, you come across a cabin where you can stay the night of you would like called AMC Madison Spring Hut. We stopped for a rest there and then started the tough part of the hike. The last few miles in lost rocks. Huge rocks to climb over to get to the top and following small rock piles. We were so tired! Our legs were all muscle after that hike! When we got to the top pf Mt. Madison the view was amazing! You would see in all directions, Mt Washington, Mt. Wildcat, Jefferson, Gorham and even Berlin! It was so awesome to see all that! We ate sandwiches and relaxed. It was a little windy. After we were done taking pictures and viewing, we started down a different trail, which was the Watson Path, but then we got lost. We landed up on Pine Line, heading back to the hut. We had huge rocks to climb over and we followed some rock piles. We were nervous about being stuck up there when it seemed to be getting later by the minute. Soon we made it to the hut and took a quicker trail down called Valley way. It was an easy trail and we could be quick on our feet! We were so happy when we reached the bottom and it wasn't dark yet! I think it was about six thirty, but it was a great hike! Lovely views! Nature at it's finest!

These were the rock piles we followed on the way up and around Mt. Madison. Climbing over these rocks is worth the view!! You will have such a great work out too!

The Presidentail Range

There are some amazing mountains to hike in the Presidential Range.  There are four beautiful mountains named after presidents, them being, Mount Madison, Mount Adams, Mount Jefferson, and Mount Washington. I have hiked three of the four. I have never had the opportunity to hike Mount Adams yet. I hope to do that mountain in the near future. Mt. Madison is 5366 ft, Mt. Adams is 5410ft, Mt. Jefferson is 5716 ft and Mt. Washington is 6288ft. Mt Washington had the highest wind velocity ever recorded at any surface weather station (231 mph).
The Average for wind velocity is about 44 mph! I had hiked Mt. Washington once when it was about 45 mph when I got to the top! I'll have to share that story sometime! That was an awesome hike! The Presidential Range is beautiful to hike in the summer and early fall for the nice weather and then for the changing colors of fall! I will be hiking Mt. Washington again this summer! Can't wait!