Change of Plans… a.k.a. We Couldn't Resist

It's been an extra busy week, and an equally slammed weekend.  I had plans to ski with Hawk, but ended up stuck at home with an unexpected load of homework.  (Yes, I'm now trying to balance work, life AND college. Yikes.)  Meanwhile, Hummingbird was drowning in tax preparations (because she is an accountant who does more accounting on weekends just for fun. Right.)  Understandably, we knew we'd both be in need of a computer break at some point in the day.  So we planned a local quickie hike, and hoped to time it before all the snow melted off the trees.  But even if it did, it'd still be exercise.  That's our current motto.  Good or bad conditions, it all counts.  We both need to get back in shape.  (I suppose those brownies I made tonight negate any benefit I got.  But, well, rule #1* is in play.  And I earned them, dammit!)

Butts & Spikes [Blue Job loop]

Ok, so first let me explain the title.  We hit a very small, slightly tricky section on our descent, and I chose to just butt slide down a rock face, relying on my spikes for grip.  I called out something to the effect of “butts and spikes; that’s what we have them for!”  And then quipped that there we have the blog title.  Well, Hummingbird loved it, and insisted that I better use it now.  So this is her doing. 😉  (She will argue that I’m the one that came up with it, but I'm only using it to avoid immensely disappointing her.  Though if you've been reading my blogs long, and definitely if you know me, well, you're familiar with my sense of humor, so probably used to such silliness.)

A new discovery

This afternoon, Hummingbird and I finally explored the trail that continues past where we usually hike Avery Hill.  Gene from the conservation commission recommended it earlier in the year, and we've held it as a "unique" hike option for when we want something quick, easy, and local.  We didn't have super high expectations, but we were told it was pretty.  We kind of wish we'd gone sooner now.  We definitely will go again!

Almost Shannon…

So yeah, we just hiked over 8 miles and a thousand feet of elevation, and never even summited anything.  #UnintentionallyOverambitious

AKA, we walked all this way, and all we got was this one lousy picture.

Ok, it's not lousy at all.  But it's not a summit view. ;-)

Long drive for a short hike!

This morning I dropped Hawk off in Pinkham Notch for a short backpacking trip.  It's a long drive, so I planned to take advantage of being in the area and do some of my own hiking.  Square Ledge topped my list of possibilities.  It's one of those "big bang for your buck" hikes; short, fun, and sweeping views.  Unfortunately, conditions weren't terrific.  They were fine, but just very gray.  Every now and then, the sun would break through and shine on the mountaintops, and it'd be gorgeous, but then the next minute everything would be in the clouds again.  I wavered a lot, but between that and the idea of doing rock scrambles alone, I eventually decided that the effort wasn't worth the potential of not getting those views, so I just continued south.  I figured I'd regret it in short order, which I did a tiny bit, but it's ok.  I'll do it another time, hopefully in clearer weather.  Meanwhile I had other plans awaiting.

The benefit of hiking further south is that I got to keep my trail runners on.  No boots, no spikes, just comfy shoes.  So that had added appeal as well.  After a stop at REI, another "since I'm in the area" thing to take advantage of, I made my way to Madison Boulder.  I'm sort of working on the NH Rocks That Rock list - I say "sort of" because it's not a serious pursuit (compared to my other hiking goals), but I'll try to get a checkmark if I'm in the area of one.  That's precisely what I did today.  The access road that you hike in on was not as ridiculously short as I expected, but that was actually a positive.  At the end, you'll find the largest known glacial erratic in North America.  Yup, it's a big rock.  And that's about it!

From there, I headed homeward, meeting Hummingbird at Cotton-Hurd, one of our local trails.  We had talked about doing some Squam redlining, but for various reasons, switched to something closer to home at the last minute.  While Cotton-Hurd blue trail (which we did a couple weeks ago) is an easy, flat to gently rolling woodland walk, yellow trail is surprisingly more "hikey."  It's no mountain, of course, but it's a decent workout!  We always seem to forget this fact.  It's also extra sketchy right now with so many slippery leaves on the steeper sections of trail.  I must remember to only do this hike in winter with spikes, or mid-summer when the trail is clearer.  What doesn't differ between each trail is that neither side is particularly photogenic.  There are some fairly pretty spots along the brook, and the trails themselves are nice enough, and certainly some times of the year are prettier than others, but it's not comparable to a peak with grand views, obviously.  Today, however, was perfect timing for a forest trail like this, with the increasingly dreary weather, when viewpoints would be relatively drab anyway.  And we got Hummingbird another unique hike, as she closes in on the finish line for her 52.

So it wasn't the ambitious day of hiking I had originally envisioned, but it turned out alright.  It was productive.  And I certainly have plenty of energy left to do more hiking over the holiday!  (If I can find the time, between cooking and other prep.)  We shall see what transpires…

 

11/23 Madison Boulder, .8 mi, 20 min, 20 ft.
& Cotton-Hurd yellow trail, 2.2 mi, 54 min, 305 ft.

Sunrise to Sunset; the Final 52

First, let me start by pointing out that this is not me putting my foot in my mouth after last week.  I may have had another pre-dawn start, but I actually woke up a bit later than when we were headed to Chocorua.  Of course, that’s the benefit of having the Belknaps basically in your backyard. 

Hummingbird and I typically plan a sunrise hike around this time each year, strategically just before the clocks turn back, thereby allowing the latest start possible.  I was at the end of my 52 Hike Challenge, and wanted something at least relatively "epic" for my finish hikes.  We decided on a pair of outings, starting with sunrise and ending with sunset, to round out what was to be my final 52. 

Mt. Chocorua family hike

I wasn't sure what to expect from Mt. Chocorua.  I'd only hiked it once two years ago, in a very ambitious hiking year with lots of challenging peaks & trails.  We combined it with Middle Sister when Hawk & I did it then, so I only had stats from that bigger hike.  Obviously I survived it, and doing Choc alone would be at least slightly easier.  And I remember enjoying it all and wanting to return, but also recall my hip went out on the summit, which was not as fun.  (I don't know if it was related to the difficulty of the hike, or if it was coincidental.  Probably some combination, as that does happen to me at times.)  What I didn't remember was how I felt physically (other than my hip issues) after that hike.  And this year has most definitely not been as ambitious.  I've been mostly focused on smaller trails, and do not feel in as quite good shape as I did in 2020.  On top of that, I happened to be having somewhat higher pain levels in general this past week.  So I really didn't know how I would handle Choc this time around.

Fall hiking! Precipice, Quarry, Straightback

There was an incident somewhat recently where a hiker fell off a cliff along Precipice Path and was airlifted out with serious head trauma.  My best guess is that it was around this spot.  It's a good example of how not take these "little" mountains for granted; they can be just as dangerous as some of the Whites.

Me being silly, imagine that.

Full Moon Troll Hunting

Date night!  Or… date day/weekend?
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten out for more than a few hours of activities.  Hawk & I did have theatre tickets for an evening show on Saturday, but nothing else solidly planned for our time together.  However, on this go around, we managed to fill the weekend just about to the brim!

My first suggested addition to the schedule was troll hunting…

Franconia Falls: Biking & Hiking & Yoga, oh my!

First of all, Hawk is crazy.  He has this “romantic” habit of spending far too much money on me, frequently in the practical form of hiking gear and such.  His latest gift (which shall count for early xmas) was a new bicycle!  True, I did “need” one if I wanted to get back into biking, which would also allow us more opportunities for new shared activities, but I couldn’t justify the expense.  This obviously didn’t phase Hawk.  He picked out a nice, mid-range, all purpose trail bike that was relatively affordable (but still way more than I feel deserving of.)  Thankfully, REI carried it, so we do at least get a guarantee if for any reason the bike doesn’t work out for me.  So far though, it is proving to work out well!

Last weekend we did an official test ride on a local rail trail in Maine.  It was a nice mix of pavement and smooth gravel, perfect for my first big ride.  This weekend we took our bikes out to try them on low elevation hiking trail conditions, which is what I’m likely going to be spending more time on, compared to in-town riding.  And it definitely made me grateful to have the versatile trail model rather than a pure street bike.