Willey Range: Tom, Field, Willey, Field, Avalon

Group:  Dogman, tMail, Spanky, Trudy & me.
Route:  A-Z to Ridge, out and back, Avalon trail via Mt. Avalon on return leg.
Trail Conditions:  several inches of snow with consistent coverage up top, patches of exposed ground down low.  In the warm temperatures of the day the entire mess below the ridge was slush/snow mixture.  The snow was sticky and heavy on the poles.
Gear Notes:  We all had microspikes but I was the only one who wore them.  Microspikes or bare-boot - either one was fine.  The weather was warm enough so we stripped down to t-shirts/base layers.

Pictures: here

Dogman's Trip Report:  Nice day.
Beautiful views.
Franky, eh.... Spanky the wonder dog.
Random trail attack on Trudy, but DogMan took it easy.
The gridder girls, way to go! I love that.
The ultimate burping trail bunny, that was pretty nice too.
3 more. I might actually have to start counting. F*!

Mutha's Trip report:  Our October marathons and the big Carter-Moriah traverse last weekend have brought me back from the land of the dead and I feel like I can hike again.  Good for us.  Today's route was picked to get the dogs out so it was a nice pace, nice day, 6-1/2-ish hrs on the trail with plenty of time and breath to chat about everything from belching to the Marathon de Sable to the Tour de France (yes, "sand" is "sable" in french).

tMail's Trip Report: Another grid attack in the books.
We had a moderately warm day in which you could have been in shorts and t shirt. Conversation ranged from RD development to Winnie the Poo.
The greatest trail slam pig was discovered on Mount Tom. How to describe one, she saw us and burped out loud in our faces eating an apple and said "o yeah". She had some southern twang to here she was attractive I give her that.

We also saw Frankie and the merry bunch of [... sorry tmail, edited out to keep G rating ...] I mean peak baggers. Good for them they are out and getting after it. Go Frankie!
DogMan wants to do Rim to Rim to Rim.

Carter-Moriah Traverse

November 18, 2011 Wildcats to Moriah - (Pictures Here)

Route:  up the Wildcat Ski slopes to Wildcat Ridge, Wildcat A, B, C, D, E, ... Z???, Carter Notch, Carter Dome, South Carter Middle Carter, North Carter, Imp, Moriah, Surprise, Gorham.

Trail Conditions:  Microspikes the entire day.  In general the mud was a mixture of frozen and liquid with up to an inch or two of light snow and ice everywhere.  Particularly noteworthy was the descent off North Carter, which was a pick-your-way-in-headlamps descent down icy and snowy bare rock for an hour or so.  Real tree-to-tree stuff, even having to moving into the woods to get around the toughest icy sections.

Curiously, sections of the trail between North Carter and Moriah in those tight notches with bog bridges showed extensive erosion and many bridges out of place - at least one even shoved sideways.

Wildlife:  we disturbed a moose who turned north and stayed ahead of us for about 1/2 hr.  We had fresh bear tracks, bobcat, hare and small rodent tracks.

Total distance:  a little over 18 miles
Total time:  a little over 13 hours
Elevation gain:  over 8000.

Hale and the Pemi Marathon

Tagged Hale w/ tMail and Dogman as part of the Pemi Marathon, organized by Pavel Cenkl form Cherry Mtn to Lincoln Woods Campground.  Tagged Hale via Hale Brook and Lend-A-Hand to Zealand Hut, Exited via Thoreau Falls.

Mt. Hale Conditions:  Light snow, microspikes needed only on some limited sections.  Lend-A-Hand mostly frozen, fastest time on that trail ever due to frozen mud/water.

2011 Peacham Bog Ultra Marathon

Location:  Groton State Forest, Vermont; Peacham Bog; Devil's Hill; Little Deer; Owl's Head; Big Deer;

Now THAT was the ballz!.  "The 2011 Ultra Bog" - or maybe "The 2011 Bog Marathon Ultra" or maybe "The 2011 Pain In The Bog".  Whatever.

27.1 miles and all the highlights of Groton State Forest! (Or at least of the northern half of the S.F.).

Mutha's Report:

*  The route started and ended at DogMan's house!
*  We blasted out in cold, wet, drizzle, which came and went in little episodes all day.  Roots, rocks, planks and leaves were wet and slippery.  It was clear the Ultra Bog was trying to kill us.  The day was a day filled with many little F**k You's from the trail.
*  We didn't get lost.  The trails we used were all obvious and marked well enough so that only once we missed a turn but DogMan caught the error within a minute or two.
*  Heard it on the Big Deer Mountain:  Dogman, in a near delirious state:  "I don't remember coming up here."
*  Heard it on Big Deer Mountain:  Dogman, recovering from a near-delirious state: "Look at that view. It's like a painting".  And he was RIGHT!
*  The view from the cliffs of Big Deer out across the bog and the big valley we'd just circled was spectacularly gorgeous.  Nobody brought a camera.
*  The last mile:  Dogman suddenly fires his jets and pulls away like a torpedo from a submarine.
*  Great trail conversation - but I can't remember any of it.
*  tMail held back the entire time and stuck w/ the slowpokes.  Goddamn animal!
*  Great apres run at the new-ish Italian restaurant in St. J. that I'd never even seen/heard of.  It took an hour or three to eat because the little round husband/wife team and their one servant weren't out to win the gold, but the food was great and the company was excellent.
*  Dinner conversation around adding 6 miles and making money off "The Bog Ultra 50k".

tMail's Report: We started off in a nice cold drizzle and started off down Hookerville. We had our normal fun conversation on Lovely and admired Lovely Farm as we always do. We had great views of Peacham Pond as well. We soon headed into the woods and started our assault up Devil's Hill.  The descent down was on slick rocks and leaves. After Devil's it was off to do some bogging. The bog section was awesome we grooved along.

We had a great view of the bog from the bench and just thought about being in there in the winter. Our next destination was Little Deer and we got there soon.  The Little Deer ascent was great and led to some nice open ledge views. The survival mode went into gear up Telephone on our way to Owl's Head. I loved the ascent up to Owl's Head good trail and a little technical. The stairs near the top were nice just stair steeping up. 

We tackled Telephone again and it was soon time for Big Deer hunting. Big Deer delivered.  Dogman took down Big Deer after an antler was stuck in his side. We regrouped on top and blasted out. We had some good conversation about a 50k, a winter slog bog, a Southern Comfort Pain in the NEK then a bog slog.

We discussed oil, biomass, the bog and dinosaurs. I gave DogMan orange pills that MadDog had given me they worked.  We soon got back on Lovely to see the Lovely Princess. It was the right onto Hookerville and then home to the DogMan compound. 

Great Day!

Three Bonds In A Day: Bondcliff, Bond, West Bond

Route:  From Lincoln Woods Campground in to West Bond via Wilderness/Bondcliff trails.  Return the same route.

Mutha's Trip Report (pics here):  Hitting three Bonds in a day is nowhere near as though as hitting them quickly.  It's rare for anyone day-hiking the bonds - usually anyone you meet is overnighting and taking day trips from, say, Guyot campsite.  This was no exception except the sheer volume of hikers was impressive.  I didn't count, but I'm sure I encountered over 30 people - most with overnight packs.  And there were lots of dogs.

My splits:
* 8:40 left the cars
* 10:55 tagged Bondcliff (2:15) - took pics, left note using Pink Smoke Signal™, departed at 11:00
* 11:35 tagged Bond (2:55)
* 11:55 tagged West Bond (11 miles and 3500-ish feet later) (3:15).

Highlights:
* Set noon as the cutoff for Bond.  If I made it by then I'd tag West Bond, otherwise I'd skip it.  This was a bit of a lie because West Bond is not even an hour round-trip from Bond but it was a way to cut the day a little shorter if I needed it.
* Ran the Wilderness Trail w/ tMail.  We hit the Bondcliff trail, turned uphill and I said something about not keeping up the pace but was talking to the trees - nobody was there.  That was the last I saw of him until I met him on his way back from West Bond.  He just freakin' disappeared up the hill.
* Heavy metal rockers on Bondcliff, grooving to beer and foliage views and dressed like Lisbeth Salander
* Huskies everywhere - 6 of them in two separate groups.
* High winds on Bondcliff - took off my cap and gripped it in my hand.
* On returning to Bondcliff, saw ALL THE GUYS out on the rocks!
* Hanging out in the afternoon sun on Bondcliff with tMail, MadDog & g-$$$ after spending an eternity chasing a ghost.
* Headed back at a respectable pace in a normal hike mode with lots of trail chat.  Great to have some social time.
* The Wilderness Trail can be thoroughly enjoyed in a mutant form of 'Stockholm Syndrome' (thanks to g-$$$ for reminding me of the term)
* Got a free, fresh-fried chicken tender from the guy in the deli
* The traffic in Lincoln could've induced a coronary in a yak at 30 yards
* tMail doesn't know this but we almost rear-ended him in traffic as MadDog was bent over rubbing his leg when traffic ground to a halt.  Woah, cowboy!
* MadDog ate 'Crunchy Fresh Salad', sweet potato chips and a Bolthouse Cappuccino-Mocha beverage on the on-ramp to 93 while moving at highway speeds.  Woah, cowboy!
* Great Chisel stories.  But it's not worth the pain to get those stories (I'd rather spend the day doing Wilderness Trail repeats).  Thanks for taking a bullet for the team, tMail - great entertainment.
* Somebody needs to put a leash on tMail.  Woah Cowboy!

MadDog's Trip Report:  

1. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be on the trail and catch up with g-$.
2. The trail had a soft carpet of freshly fallen and colorful leaves. So nice.
3. Yes, the wilderness rail bed is a ugly and painful as ever.
4. It become much more clearer to me, it is time to lessen the trail travel, and increase the bushwhack. In other words, bring on winter travel.
5. just as g-$ and I topped out, tmail was bounding his way across the BC summit...very nice to see him pick his way across the surface.
6. a short time later, mutha tops out - both of them breathing normal, and no perspiration...wtf!
7. for sure my preferred view is coming from west b, and bond - but i would not want to go back.
8. mutha just rocks, only 5 mins beforehand he tells me about scooping up misorders. next thing i know, i'm walking away from the PChopper deli section and hear mutha interrogating the deli team about stuff that won't be sold. i laughed. 5mins later, at the checkout.....mutha is run down by deli dave, and served up some chicken fritters. that's customer service, mutha style!
9. the only thing worse than the widerness trail is the 2mph march back to 93 when 4 million bostonians are packed into Lincoln.
10. my knee was a wreck all day. but once sitting in the car, the pain almost immediately subsided (perhaps the skittles helped).
11. whoah is right, is that tmail's jeep we almost smacked into. but we managed to stop. we are so f'n strong!
12. tmail is developing a great chisel routine, i heard today that a booking agent from vegas has called.
13. for all that it brings, we should get on the trail with the one and only strong man.

tMail's Trip Report:
·       2:02 to Summit of Bondcliff
·       2:32 to Summit of Bond
·       2:49 to Summit of West Bond
·       3:45 back to Bondcliff, MadDog created me with possible sub 6 back to the car.
·       Views breath taking
·       Mutha is a machine
·       G$$$ is a machine
·       MadDog is a machine
·       MadDog remains hero-less in our quest to find a him a hero
·       MadDog was quiet about Jobs, but you could tell he could care less, maybe he was showing respect
·       MadDog has $15,000 to allocate for a job
·       G$$$ - 0 Lincoln, NH – 1
·       Almost getting rear ended by MadDog
·       Mutha’s dilemma with TJ and the execution of Zeus, Chance and Einstein since resolved
·       The guy standing on the side of the Wilderness Trail that says “Look at all the trees”
·       DogMan you were missed
·       PM you were missed I will try to train harder and make Bondcliff in 90 minutes.

Peacham Bog Loop

This isn't so much a Peacham Bog loop, as it's a loop, and it goes around Peacham Bog, but also does so much more!  After much exploring with Team Barks-A-Lot, Dogman and flying solo, I finally tested a full circuit that linked together a series of current trails, logging roads, VAST trails and abandoned trails/roads.

Shown on the right, the route starts at the Devil's Hill Trail parking lot in Peacham (off Green Bay Loop), tags Devil's Hill and cranks around the Bog (stopping at the little vista at the southern end with the bog bridges and the bench).  Once into the main part of Groton State Forest (near the Nature Center and New Discovery State Park) I link up with the trail system there, tag Big Deer Mtn and then crank the logging roads back east.

It's a scenic run.  To a large degree you can set your own pace.  There are a few sections that are slow due to mud, steep trail or rocks/roots,  but to a large degree it's pretty fast trail running.

Running w/ the dogs meant stops for water and cooling off at all the brooks and bogs but even that only added at most 30 minutes to the total time.  I spent another 10-15 minutes taking pictures too so I think running solo or with one of my lightening fast buddies would make this a 2:30 adventure.

One other note:  the entire loop can be done easily on skis.

Time:  3:25
Dist:  12.1 mi
Elev: 2,089 ft

The First Great Peacham Bog Bushwack

What a great bushwack!

Bog Route

Thanks to the loan of a garmin GPS 12XL (ca. 1997) I tracked my route today w/ the dogs into the wilds of Peacham Bog.  The image on the right from Google Earth shows the route.  We (me, Spanky The Wonder Dog and Jake) did this counter-clockwise.

We ran the trail from the truck to the top of Devil's Hill.  The bushwack started from the summit of Devil's Hill (bushwhack marked in yellow) and dropped down into the wildest place around here.

The bushwack off the top of Devil's Hill, for anyone interested, is done by heading south from the main summit, staying on the marked trail.  As soon as the trail starts to dodge downhill, stay on a southerly bearing.  If you follow the ridge, you can cross the saddle and then drop into the notch (Jennison Mtn is the next hill).  I curved SE and then E, staying in a very steep wood just south of the open cliffs that you stand on at the summit.  It's a challenge to descend, but nothing complicated - it's just steep woods.

The original plan was to try to hit a little opening w/ some open water (see blue dot trail) but without the aid of the GPS - just using guesswork.  But man, that's no place to navigate.  No landmarks.  Just wandering around in the woods.  If the sun hadn't been out I would've died out there.  No Kidding.  When I hit what looks like open meadow on the image, it was wet bog - running water with little tufts of grass, roots and brush.  We crossed to a little hill, explored, then crossed back and continued south until I hit an abandoned VAST trail (dogman and I call it The Forgotten Notch Trail - it runs between Devil's Hill and Jennison Mtn).

Detail of Crossing

In the detail image (below, right) I've corrected for some GPS tracking glitches as the unit lost satellite communications.  We poked around to find a crossing back from the little hill.  The 'hill' was about 100 yards across and maybe 30ft above the bog - enough to stay high and dry.  Much of it was open woods, however the trees get about 6-12 inches apart in sections and I got home with dripping blood and cuts and bruises.

I only went knee deep in water twice - mostly, by carefully placed feet I was only a few inches deep.

The return leg (the orange section heading north) was on an abandoned VAST trail that lead to a much-traveled snowmobile trail that skirts Martin's Pond.

The entire loop took 2.5 hours.

What a crazy adventure.

Peacham Bog via Jennison Pass

Yesterday, Team Barks-A-Lot (spanky, jake and i) took a 2hr out-and-back out to some mysterious parts of the Peacham bog complex in Peacham, VT.  Word on the street is that people die in Peacham bog because it's easy to get lost.  no kidding.  Luckily, my forays into the bog are many and short, extending further each time so i have a pretty good idea of how to get in and out to get out.

Yesterday's trek is plotting on this rough map.  it starts at the top-right at the white dot (parking lot for Devil's Hill trail).  we went:
orange to yellow, yellow to purple.  the purple trail is an old farm road that goes up and over a pass between the two peaks of Jennison Mtn.  it's probably only a 100-150' climb from the yellow trail.

On the descent it completely evaporates and there is absolutely no sign of any human incursion in the entire bog section.  as i arced down along the section of bog with open water i found a number of spots that would make outstanding camping sites.  so far, this location is as far as i think i can get from human activity.  i can't imagine anyone being down there for any reason.  it's not hard to navigate, but some sections i wouldn't go in because the woods were too dark - not that i was afraid of boogey-men, but the tree trunks were a foot apart and it would be like entering a very dark maze.

The other cool thing is that lot of the surface is rocks, w/ roots, moss and organic matter forming bridges, and water trickling underneath.  it's a really remarkable place.  i'd like to go back there on skis.

In the meantime, the turquoise trail is a known bushwack (took TJ on it.  dogman's been on it too) and on a future loop will hook up with it along with the Jennison Pass bushwack.

My plan is to know my way around and through the bog.  even though the main 'open' sections are inaccessible in the warm months, i'm discovering that there are many routes in and around the bog.  it's a complex region.

Joe's Brook Boardwalk

There's an extraordinary bushwack from Greenbank Hollow to Morses Mill in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.  The setting is a high bank over Joe's Brook, which winds through a narrow valley and over small falls and cascades.  There is an old farm road of sorts that can be followed for most of the way, although exploring down by the water has it's own rewards.  The banks are steep and unclimbable in sections, so caution is in order.  Additionally there are a few tributaries that make lovely forest pools on the descent to the brook.

The title of this post comes from a sign on an old horse trail that joins with the road.

The bushwack runs between Greenbank Hollow at the site of the old Mill that has been uncovered and identified as an historic site in Danville.  Enter the woods by the site of the old Grist Mill, following the trail.  The trail ends by the water's edge and at this point you're on your own.  It took me 1:15 to get to a property at Morse's Mill.  Out of respect for the landowner I turned around before reaching Joe's Brook Road.

On the return, stay high to enjoy the giant boulder field and the mossy brook.

Full picture gallery here.

Franconia Ridge, Cannon, Kinsman Death Slog

Route Stats:  18-20 miles (not sure), 8700' vertical, approx 9 hrs.
Route:

• Ascend Falling Waters to the Ridge, North To Lafayette, Descend on Old Bridle Path.
• Cross 93, Ascend Hi Cannon to Summit, Cross Cannon Balls to Kinsman Pond
• Tag North Kinsman
• Return to cars via Kinsman Pond, Cascade Brook and Lonesome Lake Trails

Mutha's Trip Report:

'Go'!  That's the last I see of tMail and The Irish Rose as we all immediately spread out heading up the Falling Waters Trail.  As tMail reported, the lower section of the Falling Waters/Bridle Path (from the parking area up to the footbridge is destroyed.  It's all gullied out and the woods are torn up.  It's clear that rather than rebuild the trail a new one will have to be built along side this death zone.

Communications System

It was just before 8am so the traffic was light on the ascent, and everyone politely moved aside.  It wasn't very cold, but the air was humid and the ridge entirely enshrouded in fog so evaporation was close to nothing.  Visibility on the ridge was in the 20-40' range and there was almost no wind so you could hear the clicking of poles in the distance to warn of approaching hikers.  Again, on the ridge, it was nothing but polite hikers who easily and quickly moved to the side.

Up and over Lafayette, and down toward Greenleaf Hut.  This is where it started.  Hundreds of hikers were ascending this trail and they ranged from families with little kids, to tourists unsure of where they were, to day hikers, avid hikers, etc.  The first group I encountered having lunch *IN* the middle of the trail were french Canadian.

Since I have them, here are some benchmarks
=====================================
Bam, back to the parking lot:
Car to Little Haystack:        1:10
Little Haystack to Lincoln:    0:15
Lincoln to Lafayette:        0:20
Lafayette to the Hut:        0:25
Hut to Car:            0:50
=====================================
Total Time:            3:00

Also:
Ridge Time:            0:35
Lafayette Summit to the Car:    1:15
Above Treeline:            1:00

I'd like to say I throttled it back to save a bit for the next stage, but I don't really think I could've gone any faster - maybe shaved of 5 or 10 minutes if I really pushed.

Hi Cannon Ladder

Got back to car and saw tMail's time written in the dirt on the windshield.  Wrote my time for Pat.  It reminded me that we could use a trail notification/communication system for these types of events.  I spent 10 minutes swapping water/food/etc., noting that I'd eaten one bar and only 12 oz of water.  Not good.  That probably accounted for the massive charley horse that took me to the ground at Greenleaf Hut.

The 'run' up Hi Cannon was anything but.  It's 2.8 miles of staircase-steep - very similar in speed to going up the North Slide, although it's dirt trail, not exposed ledge (there's one set of ladders but only for about 20').  Actually, I imagine that it's nearly identical to the ascent up Willey from the Ethan Pond Trail, minus the initial flat part.  Take a look at the attached pic.  It's relentlessly up, and I've never done anything like that after pushing hard on the Franc Ridge Loop.  Painful. It took 1:30 exactly to get from the car to the top of the tower.

Cannon Tourist Tower

Near the top, I saw a shape coming toward me through the woods.  I heard "Mutha!".  WTF?!?!?  It was tMail, coming down Hi Cannon.  As he put it:  "I'm all turned around". On the plus side, we 'ran' the rest of the day together, which was a lot more fun than going solo. ; But next time you're out w/ tMail, remember the following anecdote:  at the Kinsman Ridge junction coming down from Cannon we had to decide to head down to Lonesome Lake or continue on via the Cannon Balls.  tMail sat on a rock w/ his head down, muttering "I'm shot - I'm toast - I got nuthin' left".  I felt like I was pushing to do the Cannon Balls, but when he stood up and started running it was clear that the bastard was just testing me.  He tried it again at the junction of Kinsman Pond where we had to decide to head down or tag North Kinsman but he didn't fool me.  The rest of the day was almost solo again.  Damn that fleet-footed bastard.

All trails in great shape, except for the lower part of the OBP.  Hint for anyone heading up there in the next few months:  stay in the rutted stone gullies but keep to climber's left of the carnage until you re-find the trail.  Remember this on the way down, too.

 tMail's Trip Report: 
MadDog you were the first person I thought of when I got to the trail head.  Why you may ask?  Here it is.  I pull in open the car door and I thought I was at a rock concert from back in the day.  She was a complete hippy dressed in National Forrest clothing.  I recognize the song, see below.  She has her arms out doing the classic Woodstock, side to side, fly away.  She turns and says to me Happy Labor Day weekend.  I thought of making out with her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkae0-TgrRU

We are nervously getting ready, it was like the start of the race.  I said, "Mutha, say Go" he says "No you say go", I say "Go".

We start running, hit trail and get lost, there is no trail, its sandpit and wind downs, carnage.  We find the trail and then its a hammer fest to the summit.

North Kinsman Group Shot

I was pushing hard saying, WTF and I doing I still need to do the other side of this Homicide hike.  Haystack summit in 1 hour 1 minute, I wanted to puke, I took some calories in and blasted to Lafayette 37 minutes lots of running, just ripping it, saw people can't remember where nor did I say anything to them.  It was a total blur, there were people on the summit of Lafayette, I just cranked down.  One person stopped me, a kid who was ready to murder someone on the summit that took his poles or walking stuff, he was pissed.

I hit the car at 2:36:19 trashed, quads blown.  I restock, I was lost with out my crew, I had to do everything on my own :-(  It made me think of VT 100 and how I want to get back there.  The last couple of weeks it has been like a rat noring away at me about not finishing.

The blast down OBP was eventful full carnage running around people and through people, I kept yelling runner, thanks, heads up, to your right, to your left.  Canadians, lots of them, some Asians, one hot.  Quebec girls love runners, I heard one guy yell, "That is fucking hardcore".  The girls at the junction for Kinsman Pond and Fishin Jimmy and Kinsman Ridge WOW, particularly yellow sports bra.  I saw here again at the parking lot she said Hi, I gave her MadDog's cell phone number.

As I pulled out of T1 - I wrote on Mutha's car the time 10:36am.  I blasted up the trail head to Hi Cannon Trail, missed the turn, hit Lonesome Lake took some other death wish assault to Cannon, wandered around up there, ending up descending the Hi Cannon Trail, ran into Mutha, mentally losing it, lost marbles, turn around hit Cannon again, we debate Cannon Balls, do them run sections, debate N. Kinsman, hijack some guys map to look at distances hit N. Kinsman.  The Kinsman Pond Shelter is a bomb shelter absolutely beautiful we need to overnight up there, the pond is awesome.  You can see on the Garmin tracking how I started down Hi Cannon Trail heard Mutha and turned around.

Food - I experimented, all liquid, only had two bananas and Peanut Butter and Jelly wrap.  I made two 5 hour bottles of Sustained Energy with Strawberry Lemonade Nuun tabs, tasted like a creamy.  I also had two gel flasks and lots of ecaps and 3 liters of water.  I am trying to eliminate sugar as much as possible, the stomach was really good all day.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111717205