It was a beautiful day for hiking! And this one was… an adventure. 
We planned the route well enough, but did not quite think everything through that we should have. Definitely we started a bit later than would have been ideal. That became a fairly strong factor later on. We also didn't expect the conditions we encountered, having heard they were mostly good. Obviously no one giving that feedback did the sections of the ridge that we were on! 
Lots of it was nice, but lots of it was also very muddy/wet/downright flooded, so we got slowed down WAY more than anticipated. This was the other major issue… but not the last (or first).
Lots of it was nice, but lots of it was also very muddy/wet/downright flooded, so we got slowed down WAY more than anticipated. This was the other major issue… but not the last (or first).So first of all, this was supposed to be a car spot; parking one vehicle at the end of the trail, then driving another to the beginning, and when finished hiking, driving back to retrieve the car left at the starting point. Typically when mapping out such a hike, among other things, I check the driving time between each trailhead to make sure it's reasonable. But no, why would I do that this time? 
(Honestly, part of it was that I just saw NO other good option for getting this section, so we'd have to do what we'd have to do regardless.)
(Honestly, part of it was that I just saw NO other good option for getting this section, so we'd have to do what we'd have to do regardless.)Instead, I thought for a moment we'd have to quit (change plans) before we even started, when I arrived at the end point and punched our planned starting point into the gps. It said 45 minutes! 
(This was after already driving an hour to get there, again later in the morning than we should have.) Ack! Thankfully my gps was just being stupid and the ACTUAL route was a little under half an hour. Not great, but more realistic. Pretty standard. So, okay, things were still a go, and we continued on to the starting point…
(This was after already driving an hour to get there, again later in the morning than we should have.) Ack! Thankfully my gps was just being stupid and the ACTUAL route was a little under half an hour. Not great, but more realistic. Pretty standard. So, okay, things were still a go, and we continued on to the starting point…On this hike, that point was the Doublehead Trail on seasonally-open Thompson Rd, which I read should not be driven on without 4WD. We took my uncle's massive pickup truck just to be safe, and were very grateful to have it! Boy that road was not pleasant. There's no way either of our sedans would have made it.
Oh, what's that? Something about a car spot? The one where I was supposed to drive my Camry back to retrieve the truck on said road? Uh, yeah… well, biggest stupid blonde moment of the week! 
We were approximately 1/3 of the way into our hike when April suddenly stopped and literally exclaimed, "SHIT, Tara, how are we supposed to get my truck?!" Remaining as stupid as ever, I half laughed that obviously we'd drive back there in my car. When she replied, "on that road??" I was just like OH—MY—GOD!! (Technically I think there were several F bombs too.) I am the biggest idiot. I can not believe we overlooked that HUGE problem! I did well to not throw myself off the many cliffs we traversed, and focused on one problem at a time as we hiked on. We'd deal with that issue when we finished. But obviously I kicked myself every now and then when it'd pop in my head. The good news is, we also laughed about it, because, I mean, at that point, what else can you do?
We were approximately 1/3 of the way into our hike when April suddenly stopped and literally exclaimed, "SHIT, Tara, how are we supposed to get my truck?!" Remaining as stupid as ever, I half laughed that obviously we'd drive back there in my car. When she replied, "on that road??" I was just like OH—MY—GOD!! (Technically I think there were several F bombs too.) I am the biggest idiot. I can not believe we overlooked that HUGE problem! I did well to not throw myself off the many cliffs we traversed, and focused on one problem at a time as we hiked on. We'd deal with that issue when we finished. But obviously I kicked myself every now and then when it'd pop in my head. The good news is, we also laughed about it, because, I mean, at that point, what else can you do?As I mentioned, the whole trail was MUCH slower going than we expected, and we were only halfway through at a little after 3pm. Oh how I miss summer - this would not have been a concern if it wasn't dark at freaking 4:30! But we do carry headlamps, and the trail from there on should have been mostly moderate downhill. Of course who knows what the conditions were?
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| This was one of the yuckiest sections of trail. Yes, I mean that stream in front of us. That's the trail. |
Once we hit Morgan… (you know, the one of Morgan & Percival from the Terrifying 25 list?)… we got stuck. Signage up there is rather confusing (that part I remembered). Obviously we went to the beautiful viewpoint on the summit, then it seemed the only way down was via the caves and ladders. 
I did not remember that section being on the CRT, but of course my memory sucks, and those features aren't clearly pinpointed on the map (although in hindsight, the workaround trails should have been obvious). In any case, we struggled to find the "trail" at all around that bouldery section, then had many false starts through the twisty, squeezy cave on the steep ledge, and finally just could not handle going down those crazy split ladders.
I did not remember that section being on the CRT, but of course my memory sucks, and those features aren't clearly pinpointed on the map (although in hindsight, the workaround trails should have been obvious). In any case, we struggled to find the "trail" at all around that bouldery section, then had many false starts through the twisty, squeezy cave on the steep ledge, and finally just could not handle going down those crazy split ladders. I remember clearly when I did it last year, I said there's no way I'd want to go down that route. It was challenging enough going up it, but not so much that it wasn't fun. Change direction though and it's a totally different story! We made a good attempt, but this was where we came to a hard stop.
We went back up through the cave, to the boulder scrambles, determined to find an alternative way around. There just wasn't one! After some discussion, we decided to call for a bailout.
Thankfully, JZ was on his way back from hiking Washington (again) and would not be terribly far from us. Also thankfully, and somewhat miraculously, we both managed to have enough signal at that moment for the phone call to connect. He agreed to meet us at the base of Morgan, and we worked our way back to the signs before the summit to figure out a safe way down.
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An hour before sunset, and already looking sunsety. Complete with sundog!  This is when we started focusing on just getting off the mountains. |
Finally we figured out the workaround trail that avoids the "terrifying" sections, which had we understood that route in the first place, we wouldn't have lost half an hour on the ledges, and might have been able to finish our full intended traverse. But again, we did not know what conditions were like on that length of ridge; better or worse than what we'd been on? And either way we'd be hiking out in the dark at that point. Probably not a big deal on the last bit of trail, but returning to the car spot issue, that whole ordeal in the dark was even more worrisome, not just for driving, but it meant a long road walk. Because obviously I would have had to park my car somewhere on that road before it turned impassable. Ugh!
I am SOOOO very grateful for JZ being able to bail us out, and just as thankful that his SUV could fix our car spot issue as well. Having a warm vehicle to get in was pretty nice too! haha (Of course, the parked vehicles were freezing, so that comfort was short lived. 
)
) It was indeed dark by the time we made it to base. JZ arrived a few minutes before we were down, and kindly hiked out to find us. Which timed well at the very moment we were trying to find which way the trail went… in yet more muck.
All considered, for our first "failed" hike, this was a best case scenario in pretty much every way. So much could have gone far more wrong, even dangerously so. I don't regret our attempt. Hell, I'd possibly even try it again. Just… less mud please. LOL And more daylight!
And it wasn't a total failure - we still checked off several "legs" on the Squam list. Even better, now we won't HAVE to re-attempt that traverse, as we can just go up Morgan or Percival (with or without ladders & caves 
) and finish our route to Webster and down. Come to think of it, that might even be manageable in winter. Hmm…
) and finish our route to Webster and down. Come to think of it, that might even be manageable in winter. Hmm…(To be clear, NOT the ladders or bouldering in winter - no freaking way! But the regular trail, maybe.)
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| Pano from Doublehead. |
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| PeakFinder labels on Doublehead's beautiful views. Starting on the left is the Ossipee range. |
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| Red Hill area, with the Belknap range on the horizon, behind our awesome lakes. One of the Rattlesnakes (not labeled) popping up to the right. |
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| To the right you can see all the way to some of the Upper Valley peaks, and Morgan & Percival wrapping around in front of us. Yep, that's where we were hiking to! It's always amazing how far away they look. |
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| Pretty little wet spot up on Squam. The prettiest part about this was that it actually was not the trail (for once)! LOL |
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| PeakFinder labels from the view on Squam. Technically just before the summit. I could see the very white Franconia Ridge standing out among the other northern mountains. (Unfortunately the snow doesn't show well in this pic.) |
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| View from Percival. |
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| Pretty similar panoramic view from Morgan as on Doublehead. Still beautiful! |
#55: 11/20 Doublehead-Squam-Percival-Morgan, 8.2 mi, 5:30/6:07 hrs, 1969 ft.
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