double climb up Pine

Hummingbird has been wanting to get in a sunrise hike, so shortly after the clocks changed seemed like the best time to go, since it'd be the latest rise now until autumn.  Bonus that this was also a St Patrick's Day hike.  Because why not?  (We are Irish, after all.)  And yes, of course we wore green! 

Hummingbird also had always wanted to hike up Pine Mt., go down the other side, then hike back up and over again.  And so we chose to do that for this hike.  This does, however, mean we are now officially "out of trails" on Pine, as we've hiked them all this year, so any more visits to the Morse Preserve cannot be counted as unique hikes for the Explorer Challenge.  But that's okay!

I won't label this hike as "overambitious" but it sorta was for the circumstances… With less than 24 hours recovery time after hiking Avery last night, and having to get up early, then summiting a mountain twice (before yoga & breakfast), it was a bit much.  I went through a lot of Deep Blue today!  Of course that probably says more about my body than the difficulty of these trails, but the combination of everything would certainly have most people ready for a nap.

Speaking of naps, there was discussion about "trail hammocks" - how there should be such comfy resting places along every trail.  Hummingbird thought it could be dangerous, particularly for timing, but as we were on our second ascent of the morning during this conversation, I thought it sounded like a darn good idea.  LOL

Back to this being a sunrise hike… Before leaving home, we both were peeking out our windows to see how promising the skies appeared.  Eventually it lightened enough to see perfectly patchy clouds over clear sky, and a hint of color.  This could be pretty, we thought!  Unfortunately, the hint of color turned out to be a tease, and the sunrise was not especially spectacular.  But it was still quite lovely, if not very colorful!  The soft morning light was beautiful, and the clouds painting the sky were very cool.  You don't always need reds & orange & purples for a nice sunrise/sunset.  (Of course, they DO make it more amazing. ;-)

view from the field

view from the summit

it's always pretty all around

Either way, we did confirm that the field at the base of Pine is indeed a decent place to see the sunrise.  From there we continued on up for our hike.  Conditions definitely warranted spikes, as there is plenty of ice remaining.  On the back side of the mountain there were also a few spots of deeper snow, but the trudging was manageable.  Many areas of trail were partially bare.  The few muddy spots weren't terrible either.

main trail

back side near the top, a few minor postholes

The trailhead on the Alton Mt. Rd. side is only accessible seasonally, as parking is basically roadside.  The access road is plowed in, and ditches are deep in many places, so safe parking is really limited to summer & fall, and there is not a lot of space.  Of course, there is always the option to road walk.  Or do a double climb like we did today.

view from the back side

little cloud puffs over Lake Winnipesaukee

One complaint, which is the same one I've had since the first time I hiked these trails - dog shit!  I'm so aggravated when I see this.  It's not just one random missed pile, either.  It's freaking everywhere!  You miss a lot of scenery when you're constantly looking down to watch your step.  So much for being aware of your surroundings.  But you better be aware of where you're stepping!  Ugh.  There is NO excuse for this.  I am perfectly fine with anyone hiking with dogs off leash, as long as they are under control - which means you always know where they are and what they're doing, and you clean up after them!!  If you don't, then you're a disrespectful, inconsiderate jerk.  One other possibility here, on the AMR side, where it's more populated, and the poop is mostly concentrated near the base, is perhaps locals are letting their dogs run loose, and at least some of the piles are from those dogs, not exclusively hikers' dogs.  BUT there's no excuse for that either!  Because it means people aren't watching their dogs.  Letting dogs run wild is not only irresponsible and disrespectful to your neighbors, it is not safe for pets, AND it's illegal.  I honestly don't know which aggravates me more.  I know I'm ranting to thin air, because it's not like any of these people read blogs like this and will suddenly have an epiphany that they did something wrong, and say "oh I'm so sorry, I'll properly train/contain/supervise & clean up after my dog from now on!"  Right.  No, they'll continue being ignorant jerks as always.  Sigh.  I guess they fit right in with the obnoxious people who throw their trash/beer bottles around the mountain.  

Assholes like these ruin otherwise fabulous hikes.  And of course they also ruin Nature.

PLEASE - "LEAVE NO TRACE!"

Hike 12. 3/17 Pine Mt. double climb, 3 mi, 1:23 hrs, 604 ft.