Gridding out November

It’s been a while since we did an overambitious hike, so I suppose it was overdue.  Me and my big ideas!

At the beginning of this month, all Hummingbird and I had for Belknap Range hikes was Mt. Major.  A nearly empty month, so we only expected to add a few checkmarks this year.  Especially with the uncooperative weather of 2023. 

On the other hand, ever since Hummingbird got on board with my grid plan, she jokes that I created a monster.  She’s all about efficiency and accomplishing goals.  After finishing the October grid, she laid out options for us to actually sweep November as well. 

Meanwhile, I've still been tracking & counting my hikes.  Old habit!  I like knowing my yearly stats, but I also had in the back of my head that maybe I'd hit a "double" 52 Hike Challenge.  (i.e. 104 hikes in a year instead of 52.)  I log every walk I take, but I've only been numbering the "real" trail hikes.  If I add in "urban hikes" and bushwacks on my land that are over a mile long, I probably could hit 104 this year.   But we'll see where I am next month...

The Belknap Range from Pine Mt.  Welcome November!

Hike # 77

Our first priority for November was to get in a Gunstock-Belknap loop before Carriage Road closed for the season.  The road condition continues to degrade, and even with 4WD it’s a bit nerve wracking.  But it’s a way more convenient access point than the lower trailheads.  Much as we’re glad to be done with the washed out road for a while (and hope they fix it next spring before reopening!), we were happy to get in one more “easy” peakbag loop while we had the chance.  

The trails were a little wetter than previously experienced, but overall it was a good hike.  Blue trail up to Gunstock had deep leaf cover, making it slightly more difficult.  Our descent from Belknap on Red started out better, as the trail is pine-heavy near the top, so it had more bare ground and “sponge cake” (soft pine needle trail that has some bounce).  As you descend, however, the forest becomes more deciduous, so the trail eventually became just as covered with leaves as Blue.  We encountered a couple wonderful people doing trail work, clearing the leaves from around runoff areas.  Thank you for keeping our trails in good “working” order! 

The craziest experience of the hike was on the summit of Gunstock.  We heard noisy machinery as we crested the peak, and discovered they were already testing their snow makers.  November had barely begun!  But it was getting cold enough, and every ski resort always aims to open ASAP.  Although, on that particular day, the weather was warmish, so snow machines running was unexpected.  For even more excitement, after we took a short break and turned to head back towards our next peak, the snowmakers were now blowing sleet with more force… directly towards the hiking trail!  Um, why?!  Thankfully we only had to walk through it for a moment, but we did get a bit wet.  Good thing we weren’t wearing cotton!  (Seriously, that actually would have been miserable.  And dangerous if temps were lower.) 

All in all though, it was a positive and productive start to the month.  And grid checkmarks or not, any hike is good exercise.  And always nature therapy.  

11/4 Mts. Gunstock & Belknap blue-red loop, 3.39 mi, 955 ft, 1:57 hrs

Hike #78

Next up was Mts. Piper & Whiteface.  There was a cold breeze, and more leafy trails with sections of sketchy footing.  Whiteface had a bit more mud than last time, but it remained avoidable overall.  It's still a pretty area around these neighboring peaks, and a nice hike.  I look forward to seeing it in winter.  (Other than the cold wind that always seems extra present on Whiteface.)   

Whiteface Mtn.

I half-joked to Hummingbird that had I known a decade ago that I'd be into hiking the Belknaps this much (and known of so many other life changes too), I might have looked at buying property further into Gilford.  It certainly would have made hiking this side of the range more convenient!  But of course I still prefer Alton, and that would have just made this side of the range less convenient.  I shouldn't complain anyway - anywhere in the Belks is still closer than any other mountain range.  (Gridding sure has been a great way to procrastinate on driving to the Squams to work on that patch! LOL)

11/19 Mts. Piper & Whiteface, 5.34 mi, 1365 ft, 2:48 hrs

Hike #79

We were making good progress on our grid!  On Thanksgiving morning, we intended to hike something, regardless of productivity.  But if we were going to hike, we might as well make it count for something, right?  And while we're at it, why not make it epic?  

We set our alarms for an earlier time than I care to remember, met at Hummingbird's house, and drove to the Gunstock overflow lot for a sunrise hike up Mt. Rowe.  Neither of us was running on full power, with empty stomachs and no warmup.  The tower road trail may be moderate, but it's unrelenting.  There was a lot of complaining and more suffering than would seem reasonable on the way up.  Early morning just isn't our best hiking time.

But wow, did all that effort prove worthwhile!  We had seen sunrise from Rowe's old alpine site lookout, but never from the wide viewpoint past the summit.  Oh, this was so much better!  Nature put on a gorgeous display too, perfect for Thanksgiving morning. 

After the fiery skies subsided, we made up time on our descent.  The light snow cover helped smooth out the usually rough/loose gravel road, and we flew down the trail.  It was nice to have so many hours of morning still remaining to get other things done.  Or, you know, to just sit and drool over the abundance of photos I took of that amazing sunrise.

Check out my social media pages for a video from the summit too!

11/23 Mt. Rowe, 2.45 mi, 774, 1:23 hrs

Hike #80

The end of the month was closing in.  We planned to wrap up our November grid with a big loop of the "inner 6" peaks.  That is Mt. Anna, Mt. Mack, Mt. Klem, Rand Mtn., West Quarry Mtn., then down Marsh Crossing and over to South Straightback Mtn. on the BRT.  I had proposed an inner 5 "lollipop loop" (skipping Straightback to do by itself) from Anna-Goat trail, returning the same way, but Hummingbird pointed out that going up Goat and hitting all 6 mountains in a bigger, true loop, descending on Blueberry from Straightback, only added a mile and around 100 feet.  It would definitely be pushing my limits totaling 8 miles (according to AllTrails) and well over 2000 feet of elevation gain,  but for that "little" extra effort, it seemed worth it.  (Besides, I'd done it before.  Though not recently.)  Straightback by itself is a 4 mile out & back hike, so not having to squeeze it in on another day would be helpful.  Plus by taking Hummingbird's inner 6 route, we avoided ascending that annoying hill on the snomo trail coming back from Goat, just before the parking lot.  It's not steep, but it goes on for sooo long, and can be brutal at the end of a long hike.  The east side, coming from Blueberry, has a bit of hill too (yes, it's literally uphill both ways to get back to your car!) but it's not nearly as obnoxious.  It's also drier on the east side, so we could avoid repeating the stream crossings and muck on the west side.  For one extra mile, that certainly all sounded worth it!

Originally this was scheduled for the weekend before Thanksgiving, but as has frequently been the issue this year, the weather was not conducive to hiking.  But we still had time.  The calendar was already marked for hiking somewhere (maybe the Squams!) on "Opt Outside" day, aka Black Friday.  Or at some point that weekend.  Whenever the weather allowed.  So it was easy enough to switch our final Belk hike to then.  And it saved us a lot of driving, so who's to complain? 

Friday was supposed to be cool, but have clear blue skies.  So of course we encountered rogue snowflakes and mixed clouds with only some sun.  I jokingly blamed Hawk for this, because he's had the worst luck of all of us this year when it comes to hiking weather.  He remarked that he can predict the weather with certainty just by planning a hike, because it will absolutely be poor weather on whatever day he picks.  Thankfully, our weather wasn't really bad, it was mostly just a bit more shaded than forecast.

It was definitely cold though, and we all had a little trouble finding just the right layers to wear as we navigated the literal ups and downs of the hike.  I switched out my jackets and vest a record number of times.  My fleece headband was on and off just as much, and I switched between thick and thin gloves only slightly less frequently.  Well, at least we didn't have snow machines blowing sleet on us, I guess.

Hawk snapped this one on his fancy new phone. We're all jealous of his camera.

Somewhere between Mack & Klem.

I was mostly grateful to have my boots on.  The trails on this half of the range are currently a mix of bare ground, mud & muck, runoff streams, and a couple inches of snow in some places.  I was so happy to be able to just walk right through all of it, with no concern of getting wet feet.  In non-waterproof trail runners, navigating these conditions would have been significantly more difficult and miserable.  

But I only say "mostly grateful" because the boots also created an issue.  Not too far into the hike, I felt one of them rubbing my heel and causing foot pain.  Despite re-lacing several times, the boot continued to be a problem for the entire hike, esp. when going uphill.  There was also the added weight from the boots, compared to trail runners, along with a loaded pack, which inevitably zaps my energy somewhat quicker than lighter-weight summer hiking.  My feet were both trashed by the time we approached Quarry.

And then of course there are the Alltrails lies.  I knew very well the hike would be more than the 8 miles I mapped out on the app.  It always is.  But I hoped it wouldn't be too much.  However, in the end we totaled over 9 1/2 miles!  Unfortunately, this very much was *too much* for me.  

It wasn't even the halfway point and I was already toast.  I actually considered whether there were any reasonable bailout points, but there really weren't.  None worth taking at least.  The inner peaks are never convenient.  I had to keep going.  The achievement of gridding out another month offered slight motivation to finish what we started.  And more so, not ruining the hike for everyone else.  Or at least no more than I already was, holding them back as usual.

This area around So. Straightback remains one of my favorites. (And not because the hike was finally almost over.)

We hit mile 7 before summiting Straightback.  Even Hummingbird was feeling fried by that point.  Hawk seemed to be handling it fine, but he was mentally prepared for 8 miles, so the extra distance threw him off.  (Yes, the guy who hikes 20 miles in one day on the AT.)  I did tell him "never underestimate the Belknaps!"  And I'd warned him that AllTrails LIES.  But of course the two of them bounced back with little trouble.  It took me a full 24 hours to recover to anywhere near functionality.  After that hike, I felt much like I do after an extra hard work day.  I'm a dog groomer, so in other words, like I'd literally been hit by a truck.

This particularly sucks, because breaking those 6 peaks into separate hikes is not at all efficient.  But I can't do that big loop again.  At least not in boots.  I won't discount the possibility of MAYBE attempting it in my Brooks and a lighter pack next summer, but there's no way I can handle that whole thing in winter.  I do remember just hiking the Round Pond trail with snowshoes, and it killed me.  And it's not like I'm getting better with age.  These statistics are not encouraging!

On the plus side, we did at least get a little comic relief on our descent from Blueberry.  We were looking forward to the improvements recently done on the snomo trail.  Reviews had been good, and we were excited to see the new bridges.  Previously, the trail was in such poor shape, I'm not even sure how it was ridable on a snowmobile.  It was bad enough just hiking on.  (But it's moderate enough to deal with the loose rocks and deep washout.)  Finally, something delivered on a promise!  The trail is SO much better than it was.  

Except for one thing… due to the recent work with heavy equipment, there is some mud.  And it's deep.  Unfortunately, it was mostly hidden by fallen leaves, so the ground appeared fairly solid.  Hummingbird discovered that it was not.  Not at all.  While skirting the edge at one point, she abruptly came to a halt.  I looked back to see her ENTIRE foot to her ankle swallowed up in the ground.  Hummingbird had postholed in mud!  Let's all say it together now - "ew."  With nothing to do but laugh, she fought to pull her boot free and eventually we continued down the trail.  But just to even things out, a short distance later, she postholed AGAIN with the other foot.  This one didn't get quite as thoroughly covered, but it was pretty well mudded up.  Thankfully we were in the home stretch, so wet shoes were less of a concern.  It definitely made it easier to laugh at.

11/24 Anna-Mack-Klem-Rand-W. Quarry-S. Straightback, 9.62 mi, 2382 ft, 6 hrs

So that's a wrap!  November is done.  I learned and relearned a few things.  Overall, I'm satisfied with our accomplishments.  I now have 62/144 summits for the Belknap Grid.  43% done!  Amazing when just this spring I started at about 25%, and had no intention of becoming a "gridiot."  So much for that!

*The photos in this blog post are just a highlight reel, since I'm covering multiple hikes.  Click over to my Instagram or Facebook pages to see lots more pics from each of these adventures!

Hike safely!