GRID FINISH! May - June 2021 Hikes (5/1/2020-6/2/2020)

 Here are the hikes from May to June 2021.  On June 2nd we finished the Grid!  It was so amazing to finally complete this huge goal. We did the Carters and the Wildcats, Owl's Head, the Tripyramids, Whiteface, and Passaconaway, Monroe, Washington, and Jefferson, North Twin, Zealand and the Bonds, Isolation, Carrigain, Lincoln and Lafayette, Isolation, Owl's Head in May and June. Thank you to everyone who helped us on this long journey!

Bonds Traverse (10-26-2019)

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Yesterday we did an amazing Bonds Traverse! It was tiring, but we got some beautiful views and great memories! It was also my Trailwrights 72 finish! Here is the link to the YouTube video!

Mount Cabot and Liberty and Flume (5/28-29/2019)

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Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Mom, Alex, and I did Mount Cabot and Liberty and Flume.  They were beautiful hikes! We created YouTube videos showing pictures and videos from the hikes.  Here is the one about Cabot, and here is the one about Liberty and Flume.

Galehead, South Twin, North Twin (5-7-2019)

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Last Sunday, Mom, Alex, and I did a wonderful hike of Galehead, South Twin, and North Twin. We had to wear snowshoes most of the way, and I postholed often even while wearing them.  Here is the link to the YouTube Video!

Garfield. February 19, 2019

Road walk, Garfield Trail,  11 miles round trip with around 3150 feet of elevation gain.

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This week I am a stretched for time with my schoolwork, so I am just going to write a summary paragraph of the hike and then include the pictures.

Mom, Alex, and I started after sunrise at the start of the road leading to the Garfield Trail trailhead.  After walking a mile, we started up the trail.  We were wearing snowshoes, as the snow was still soft.   All of us wore snowshoes for the entire hike.  We got to the halfway point, then to the switchbacks, and then to the intersection.  There, we layered up, then continued to the exposed summit.  On our way, we accidentally took a wrong turn and went up the wrong side of the summit cone.  We had to wade through deep snow and get through some tricky bits, but we eventually made it to the summit and the old hotel structure.  Alex, Mom, and I got a snack and then headed down. 

Photo by Trish Herr

Jackson. February 6, 2019

Jackson-Webster Trail, 5.2 miles, 2,150 feet of elevation gain

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We started in the daylight, and went up with the intention of finishing relatively soon, as Jackson is a short peak.  Alex was not with us, as she and Mom had hiked Pierce and Eisenhower earlier in the week. Also, Mom and I ended up not using our snowshoes for the first time all winter!  We didn't put them on for the entire hike.

We moved more slowly than usual, but we still made it to the first intersection before long.

Mom and I started up the steepest part of the hike...

When we were almost to the top, we started to see Grey Jays!  There were two flying around us.

A closer look...

Looking back at the view...

Eventually we made it to the summit! It was a beautiful day, and Mom and I could see the summit buildings on Mount Washington.

Photo by Trish Herr

The summit cairn...

Me on the summit...

Photo by Trish Herr

Mom on the summit...

The Gray Jays followed us to the top!  They hovered around us.

We had a snack while watching the birds.

Here are some more pictures of the surrounding views:

We headed down after a bit.  A little while later, we stopped to look at this extremely deep posthole somebody left on the trail.  It was one of the deepest I have ever seen!  

Mom and I got to the intersection, drank some water, and then continued down.  Before we knew it, we were at our car.  It was a fast, but beautiful, hike.

Monroe, Washington, and Jefferson. January 5, 2019

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, our own way up Monroe, Crawford Path, Gulfside, Jefferson Loop, and Jewell Trail.  Between 12 and 13 miles with around 5000 feet of elevation gain.

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We started out before dark at the hiker's parking lot, as we didn't want to pay the new day use fee that the Cog charges.

We started out in microspikes, but then switched to snowshoes later in the hike.

It got lighter as we continued up the path...

Our first glimpse of the Presidentials. 

Gem Pool...

As the trail got steeper, we started seeing more views.  It was a beautiful day!

We got closer to the hut and treeline.

Finally, we got to the hut.  Our plan was to go up Mount Monroe, then Mount Washington, then Mount Jefferson.

We made our own path up Monroe, as the real trail was covered by snow.  At the summit, some nice fellow hikers took pictures of the three of us.

We went back to the hut and then up the Mount Washington summit cone.  There were many other people going down and coming up the peak.

Mom, Alex, and I were already tired, but we headed down toward Clay and Jefferson, following the Cog Railway tracks.  Then, we took the trail around Clay, through Sphinx Col, and up to the summit of Mount Jefferson.

We went back down the summit cone, through the Col, and up to the intersection with Jewell Trail.  Then, we headed down it towards our car.  However, we stopped for a little while to take pictures of the beautiful sunset.

There was this mysterious green light coming from the sky; it was gorgeous!

Alex taking a picture of the sky...

We made it to treeline but had to stop a short way down to take even more photos of the vibrant, breathtaking sunset.  The colors were so beautiful!

We got to our car a little bit after dark.  The day had been long and exhausting, but beautiful and fun as well.