Treasure Valley Backpack

It seems like it's been raking, raking, raking every weekend this fall.  I feel as if I have been a prisoner of my leaves this year.  That is to say, I am long overdue for an outdoor adventure.  However, after this weekend, I need to consider being a bit more judicious in my selection of activities.

I decided to join Boy Scout Troop 11 on a ½ of their weekend activity.  On Saturday, they participated in the annual Turkey Shoot at Treasure Valley Scout Reservation.  On Sunday, the plan was to hike out with full packs approximately 4 miles.  This "backpack" campout will help some of the scouts satisfy a requirement for Camping merit badge.  I've done nearly identical hikes before, so this should be fun.  See Hike 10 from last year.

I arrive at the campsite Saturday afternoon.  The weather is nice (for November), but the forecast is calling for bone-chilling cold tonight, with a 20% chance of snow.  We'll see.  I have packed my -15° sleeping bag, so I will hopefully stay warm overnight.

Things look good Saturday afternoon.  We're on the edge of a large "jamboree" field.  I brought my four-season tent (foreground) to keep the wind out.

We ate before the sun went down.  Now we just have to stay warm until bed time (9pm or so).  Meanwhile, it starts snowing.

The next morning, it is 18°.  YES, I said 18°.  I was warm except for my feet.  It snowed a bit more overnight.

After we shuttle cars, we're all packed up and ready to go.

Now for the crazy part.  How hard can it be to get from one side of the camp to the other (see the map at right)?  We have to get from the red circle at the bottom of the map to the red circle on the Mid-State Trail.  It's a mile.  How long can this take?  As it turns out, quite a long time (it took us an hour and a half).  Besides all the adjustments everybody needs when starting out with a heavy load on your back, the trails were hard to find and follow (despite the map) .

The snow on top of the leaves, didn't make it any easier to find the trails.

We finally made it to  the glacial erratic known as "Sampson's Pebble".

We're all together at the edge of Browning Pond.  The water is beautiful as always.

With my tight schedule today, we have to part company.  I'm continuing on the Mid-State.  See the yellow triangle?

 

By the end of the hike, the soft earth had actually frozen to my trekking poles.  My water bottle had also frozen shut a couple times making getting a drink a bit of a challenge.

The actual hiking mileage was about 4.5 miles.  When I got back to my car, it had warmed up to 21°.  A heat wave!  I made it with a few minutes to spare for 12:00 Mass.  But as I type this, my fingers are still thawing out.

Swift River Reservation

Sunday October 20

It's another beautiful fall day.  However today, we only have a small slot of time this afternoon between finishing one gig in the morning and having another gig at 6pm.  So we turn to Betsy's Nature Walks book, not to be confused with Steve's Hiking books.  To get us going, Betsy saves the normal time spent at the scanner copying the hike description and map, choosing the more expedient method of separating the required pages from the their binding (i.e. "It's my book.", she reasons).

Our hiking destination is the Swift River Reservation, one of 3 tracks of land in Petersham, MA owned by The Trustees of Reservations.  Listed at 1.75 miles long to take only 1:15, we will have ample time for our walk even with the 45 minute ride out there.  Actually, I remember that Nathaniel & I have already done this hike in the winter with snowshoes.  It will look different today without snow.

Start of hike. Sorry for the tree in the way.  You can see how deep blue the sky is through the woods behind us.

The trail winds along the Swift River.  It looks like the beavers have been busy here.

You can see this gate on the map, above.  The tall hemlocks look like the walls of a grand cathedral.

This is the "scenic view" on the hike.  When we get to this kind of "scenic view", it means we need to buy a new book:  the "scenic view" is now gone because the edition of the book we are using is too old.

Sneaking a little further up the trail, we did actually find a nice view (thankfully the leaves have fallen).

The moss on this rock was very thick.  Our feet sank about an inch stepping on it.

"Where's the trail?"  This really was a problem.  The trail blazes were few and far between.  With the fresh coat of fallen leaves, staying on the trail was a challenge.

Does "X" really mark the spot?  Maybe so.  These trees crossed right in our path, as we're nearing the end of the hike.

Across the road (Highway 32), is Connor Pond.  Below the dam to the left is the Swift River.

Above the dam, the water is placid and reflects the lovely fall colors.

Even taking our time, our hike took barely an hour.  It proves you can always sneak in a little Sunday afternoon hike if you try.

Mt Major

Saturday, October 12

It's Columbus Day and Matt's birthday.  He has a plan to go hiking.  Typing a few key words into a browser search engine determined our destination:  "foliage... hike... new hampshire."  Voilà!  We're off to Mt Major, at the southern end of Alton Bay of Lake Winnipesaukee (web site).

The weather forecast is calling for showers to the south and sunshine to the north.  The day is starting out foggy, but we have hope.  We leave the house by 9:15am so we have plenty of time for hiking after a 2 hour drive.  The mini-van is full, but we will be missing Cassandra and Dominic today so they can catch up on much needed sleep.

We make our usual EMS stop in Concord for a couple quick items, but unfortunately, the weather hasn't cleared much;  i.e.  it's still foggy!  We still have another 40 minutes to drive.  It'll get better.

Holy hiking sticks!  Look at all the cars.  The lot is full, so the parking is along the state highway.

Our "begin the hike" picture.  A large crew:  Matt, Becky, Alex, Steve, Betsy, and Nathaniel.

Nathaniel picks up a dead tree for a hiking stick.

We're in New Hampshire, so there's a lot of granite to be found.  This glacial erratic is a fine specimen.

If your pack makes your back hot, turn your coat around.  Really?

Nathaniel is lounging at a view near the top

Matt and Becky are taking their lunch break here.  We figured that if we ate now, maybe the fog would lift by the time we got to the top.  I'm told the view behind them is fabulous.

At least we still had plenty of color in the foliage.

Yay!  We made it to the top.  Unfortunately the views are no better.

"OK.  How long do we wait for the fog to lift?"

That's me next to the foundation at the top.  If you check the web site link, there's a photo of this same foundation with a beautiful view in the background.

Our first choice going down was mobbed with people.  Instead we opted for a shorter, albeit, much steeper descent.  Alton Bay is ahead, but we still can't see it.

Near the bottom, a lot of trees are still in green.  The crowds behind were an Asian professionals gathering that came up from Boston for the day. Nǐ hǎo.

It turns out that you can't see the top from the parking lot either.

 Despite the fog, we had a very enjoyable day.  I have no idea how far we hiked, and it really didn't matter since we were really out for the great color and views.  Yah.  I would go back, but maybe avoid the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend.

The Wapack - Hike #4 - Section 1A

Sunday, May 25

It is  unseasonably cold for Memorial Day weekend.  Gray clouds are overhead threatening rain and it is very windy.  Nonetheless, it is a good day to finish up the last segment of my current hiking adventure.  Matt is visiting from Philly for holiday and Nathaniel is home, too.

However, it has been raining hard for a few days, so it is going to be damp.  Muddy, actually.  Muddy with puddles to be more precise.  Fortunately, Mt. Watatic is close by so we can hike and still be home in time for home-cooked baby back ribs.  Barely.

The Wapack into New Hampshire and the Massachusetts Mid-State are co-incidental on most of this hike.  Check back to the Section 1A of last year's Mid-State hike to see how similar picture from both these hikes are.

A family of 6 hikers.  Only Betsy couldn't make it today, but it was just as well, because the hike took a little longer than anticipated.

For now, there is sunshine filtering through the trees shining on this babbling brook.

The excellent trail maintenance (i.e. the rocks) made it much easier to get through some  big puddles.

It doesn't take too long to get to the summit of Mt. Watatic.  However, it's still a mountain  at 1831' and there's a really big cairn at the top.

Part 1 of a 360 degree view from just below the summit.  The far left is due north.

The next 120 degrees sweeps past Mt. Wachusett in the distance, just to the left of center.

Finally a westerly view, with the summit of Mt. Watatic just a 5 minute walk above us (a bit to the right of center).  Notice all the gray clouds whichever way you look.

Here's a  better view of the that same big cairn on the summit of Mt. Watatic.

And zoomed in, the quintessential silhouette of Mt Wachusett, just like the logo from the ski area.  Happily, ski season's only 6 1/2 months away.  

Dominic got a new hat and enjoys many more trail snacks as he walks around the summit.

We're all chilly, but Nathaniel in t-shirt and shorts doesn't notice.  The "branches" graphic on the t-shirt print is a nice touch.

We made it to the state line.  The Mid-State sign is somwhat dilapidated compared to the Wapack sign.

Nathaniel's big hiking stick (actually more like a small tree), allowed him to explore some of the water features (aka hazards)  today.

At Binney Hill Road, I left everybody and hiked the last 1/4 mile to the point where Brian & I started  this trek several weeks earlier.  The sign behind me proves I was there.  Standing here, I have officially finished the Wapack Trail.  Now, we have to walk back to the car.

Matt, Nathaniel and I try an alternate route back:  the State Line Trail.   The large marker in the background is the former end of the Mid-State trail before it was rerouted.

At times it seemed longer, but today's hike covered 6.1 miles for me and 5.6 miles for everybody else.  The total elevation was also respectable:  1000'.  In all, it took us 2:45, and we were a little later than planned for those baby back ribs (sorry).  I'm going blame all the puddles on the trail for slowing us down.

The total mileage for the trail was 24.4 miles over 4 hikes, including the out-and-back on today's hike.

The ultimate prize:  the Wapack Trail Patch.

Stay tuned for another upcoming hiking adventure.  I hope to see you out on the trail soon.