Wonalancet, Passaconaway And Whiteface

Route:  Wonalancet Ridge to Wonalancet, Hibbard, Passaconaway.  Return via Blueberry Ridge.
Date:  December 11, 2011
Conditions:  No snow down low, mix of snow and ice at higher elevations.  Microspikes were the gear of the day.
Start/End Time:  9:40am/6:10pm
Team:  Dogman, tMail, Mutha, Spanky, Trudy
Dogs:  There are numerous places on this route that are not dog-friendly, however both Spanky and Trudy are practiced in steep terrain and working with us for assisted ascents/descents.  We had a number of bushwacks, especially on the descent off Whiteface but in general the descent involved careful climbing down cracks, ice and steep surfaces off-trail.  I don't recommend the Whiteface descent for dogs at any time of the year unless the dog is trained in:  ascending/descending steep terrain, voice commands in strenuous situations, being handled by a team.

Mutha's Trip Report (pics here):
The picture album has no pictures of the work we did with the dogs for ascending icy spots or more exciting, the descent off Whiteface.  These dogs really showed their true colors in their ability to work with the team.  Just incredible.  Other highlights:

• The ice did not require crampons, and we didn't even traction-up until the descent of Passaconaway.
• The air was unbelievably clear (see photos)
• tMail's 'awakening' is flooding across the landscape at full steam.  Hopefully I can get some of his cast-off gear so I can have more crap than the collection of crap I have now.
• Jerry Sandusky's name came up.
• Peggy O'Brien's did not.
• The commune is still in the planning stages, but we agreed that we'd rotate 'vacation' as members fill in for the absentees.  Questions about currency and food supply remain.
• Trudy & Spanky are great dogs on the trail.  But man, when Trudy grabs a big stick and runs, it's like being truncheoned at an Occupy The Whites gathering.
• Note to future self:  the drive from Rte 93 to Wonalancet, NH takes a long time.  Don't underestimate how boring it is.
• Menu for Spanky:  On The Trail: Three salmon sandwiches, 1/4lb of cheese (failed Gouda), a peanut butter and jelly burrito, trail mix, part of a pecan-pie bar.   In the car:  crusts from three slices of pizza, 4 chicken fingers, three mozzarella sticks, two Dunkin Munchkins.
• Menu for Mutha:  On the Trail:  Two PB&J burritos, trail mix, a bottle of Boost, part of a pecan-pie bar.  In the car:  three small slices of pizza (mushroom, pepper and anchovy), nibbles off food given to dogs, four dunkin munchkins, a bottle of chocolate milk, a decaf coffee, water.
• Question for future self:  can you still taste the grease from the Ashland House of Pizza?  How about those Dunkin Munchkins?  Were you ever able to get the lard out of your mouth?

tMail's Trip Report (pics here):  What a great trip! Some highlights of the trip / drive.

• On the drive in the debate of Mormons, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney’s underwear, Newt, The Church of Latter Day Saints.
• The ascent up to Passaconaway, healthcare reform, healthcare robbery, Deb’s new boyfriend, Jerry Sandusky
• The Herman Cocaine Train
• Cleansing of one self of all excess
• China, Chinese Currency, Chinese Inflation, Chinese Children
• Inflation
• Housing bubbles
• Capitalism
• Children
• DogMan is in for VT 100 2012 edition
• Meeting the jeans people
• Tom Wiggins Trail
• The rays of sunshine on Passaconaway
• Earth’s sustainability
• Trudy putting on the front breaks
• Trudy cleaning the inside of my bag
• Accidentally urinating on Trudy
• Spanky licking my face while being air lifted in rock crack
• On the drive out, Christianity, Rosary beads, eating communion, drinking blood, the Bible
• At the Ashland House of Pizza the Best / Worst pizza on earth, all sports talk.
• In the span of 10 minutes from the Ashland House of Pizza to DD in Ashland it was the worst I have ate in 2011

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.