Highpoint #9 - New Hampshire's Mt. Washington - 6,288 ft elevation

Heading East out of St. Johnsbury, VT on Route 2 on a bright sunny afternoon I was looking forward to seeing my family after being on the road solo for thirteen days. But first I had to get to Mt. Washington's summit. Being that my spare time was consumed in bars in Lake Placid and reminiscing at Camp Dudley, I blew the opportunity to hike Mt. Washington and instead had to settle for the auto road. I drove through Gorham, NH after nearly hitting a black bear that ran out into Route 2 in front of the beast. Then I went South to the auto road only to get there six minutes after the road closed for the day. I tried sweet talking my way in, but the auto road was being worked on after hours and they had already sent the backhoe up the road (which meant no cars would be able to get by).

So, I headed onward on Route 2 toward my folks house in Wilton, ME. No Mt. Washington summit for me on this particular trip... After getting to Wilton and being greeted by four very excited kids, I settled in and started sharing my tales with my wife Stacy and my parents. It had been a long day though and sleep came easily when it was time for bed.

In the morning we discussed the plan for how to spend the next week in Maine... Quite a logistical challenge of understanding who was coming and going and at what times. My parents have three different properties in Maine, and my younger brother Scott and his wife Lisa have a house in Camden. Throughout the week we would have 18 people arriving (I have two brothers and a sister, and each were bringing their families for our annual family reunion).

Since we arrived a few days earlier than the others, I had originally planned to take 2-3 days and drive up to Katahdin so I could get to Maine's highest point, but given my misfortune with Mt. Washington, we shifted the plans to go back to Mt. Washington so we could make it a complete family highpoint experience, and then we'd head down to Camden and Lincolnville on the coast for the weekend to do the reunion thing.

Stacy and I packed up the rental (Chevy Blazer) with kids and enough stuff to last through the day, and then headed back West on Route 2. A couple of hours later we arrived at the Cog Railway. The plan was for me to hike up the Ammonoosuc Trail while Stacy and the kids took the train to the summit. They were going to spot me three hours so that we could arrive on the summit at about the same time. Once on top, we would all take the train on the way down.

The trail up was gradual at first, following the contour of the stream. At a point along the trail about 1.5 miles in, there was a fantastic swimming hole that marked the beginning of the steep section of the trail. Up until this point there were very few hikers on the trail but as I proceeded up from here I came across 3-4 groups. The views along the steep section were pretty spectacular because the trail kept its course along the stream (which had now turned more into a gorge due to the steep grade). After a good workout and about an hour more of climbing I reached the Lake of the Clouds hut (see picture). This hut was not what I expected to see 3.5 miles up into the trail because it seemed too inaccessible of a location to have this size of a building equipped with such amenities. I went in to check it out and there were about 20 people milling about. Some of them were staffers working in the kitchen, and the others were guests who were lounging about in outdoor wear playing board games and having quiet conversations in the great room of the hut.

As I went back outside to prep for the remaining climb to the summit, I noticed the views to the West and up to the summit were clear and quite impressive. Looking to the South I saw the rest of the presidential range in the background, with Crawford Notch in the foreground. Along the walk to the top there were several "Lakes of the Clouds" near the trail (see picture). And a short time later I was standing on the top of Mt. Washington. I had about 20 minutes before the rest of my clan showed up, during which time I perused the list of mountain fatalities (about 150) documented since the mid-1800's.

After Stacy and the kids arrived, we got our first family highpoint picture taken on the top of Washington (6,288 ft), and then went inside the museum to learn a few more things about the mountain. The ride down the mountain in the Cog Railway took about 75 minutes, and was a nice way to relax after making the hike up.

Once back in the parking lot we decided to find a nearby restaurant for dinner. The bottom of the mountain near Bretton Woods consisted of a family style "RR station" architecture restaurant - I forget the name. Or, Bretton Woods itself. We first went to Bretton Woods but opted out of the $35 entrees w/ a family of six w/ four young kids.

After a nice dinner at the more casual restaurant Ethan and Sydney asked to go outside to play while I settled the dinner tab. "No problem. Stay out of the parking lot and where we can see you", I said.

As soon as I walked out the door of the restaurant Ethan said, "Hey dad, a black bear!"

I said, "yeah, right."

"No really dad.... a black bear, look!"

I walked ten yards toward Ethan to where I could see a bit more around the corner of the restaurant and then I saw a medium-sized black bear going into the dumpster about thirty yards away for scraps. After five minutes of restaurant patron gawking and a few stupid tourist actions involving cameras and far too close "I just want to get a close-up shot" declarations, a local animal control Jeep drove up and mock-charged the bear to scare him off. It worked, and then we headed back on the two hour drive to Nana & Pappy's house to start on our Maine family reunion portion of the trip.

It was

One of many scenic swimming holes on the way up the Ammonoosuc trail 

Another pretty spot along the trail 

The AMC hut is located 3/4 of the way up the Ammonoosuc trail between Crawford Notch and Mt. Washington's summit. A little slice of heaven in an unexpected locale. 

Hiker beware!  

Aptly named Lake of the Clouds. Elevation 5,500 ft 

View from the lodge up the ridge trail to the summit. 

View back down the ridge trail to the South, hiking up from the lodge to the summit. Lake of the Clouds is to the left of the lodge, and Crawford Notch is the peak immediately on the other side of the lodge. The Ammonoosuc trail heads down from the lodge to the West (down the slope to the right).  

The first Riley family highpoint: Samantha (3), Sydney (7), me, Stacy, Allison (4), and Ethan (9) 

Summit view from the observation deck, the views were dodgy because of sporadic clouds 

Cog Railway train at the summit of Mt. Washington 

Winners of the cute contest, Allison and Samantha are sitting in their Cog Railway seats waiting for the trip down the mountain. 

Mt. Washington Resort at Bretton Woods, hack photographer chopped out the left half of the building and over-shaded the family (see if you can find them in the picture). 

Highpoint #8 - Vermont's Mt. Mansfield - 4,393ft. Elevation

On Monday morning August 2nd, I awoke and had my last meal at Camp Dudley consisting of cereal and homemade donuts (another tradition kept by the camp over the years). I said my goodbyes and gave my most sincere thanks to the camp staff for a truly wonderful couple of days and then meandered North along the scenic backroads from Westport to Essex, NY, port of the Lake Champlain ferry. Not only did the ferry serve as a more direct route from point A to B in connecting me to Vermont's state highpoint, but it also served as a memorable trip segment on its own.

I had an ambitious day planned given that I had chewed through my buffer day at Camp Dudley. I was scheduled to arrive at my parent's home in Wilton, Maine later that evening but first I had to reach the highpoints of both Vermont and New Hampshire en route. Not sure I'd make it all happen, but there's nothing left to do but try so on I went.

I pulled the beast up to the front of the line waiting for the Essex ferry to arrive (they left on the half hour during Summer hours, so I didn't have long to wait). Once parked, a blue station wagon pulled up next to me and out came a grandfather, his wife, daughter, and 17 yr old grandson. The man instantly took sight of my rig and came over to introduce himself with a bit of shameless dropped jaw enthusiasm for what I was driving. He almost didn't know where to start with his questions so after a few seconds of stuttering, shrugging and looking front to back, I told him "It's a safari trailer. I'm taking the Summer off and driving across the country. This is what I'm living in for the Summer." I felt a little guilty saying that after sleeping with a roof over my head for the past couple of days at Camp Dudley.

After telling him my story and giving him a quick tour, the ferry had arrived and it was time to get back in our cars to board the ferry. The man looked at his station wagon and family who were now all sitting in the car and urgently motioning him to get in so they wouldn't hold up the boarding process and then he looked at my passenger seat (filled with my road atlas, extra clothing, and one or two bottles of water and snack items). And then he looked at me w/ the first puppy dog expression I've ever seen sincerely worn by a grown man and exclaimed, "we're just going to Vermont for the day to pick blueberries. What you are doing is much more interesting than that. Do you have any room for me to come along?" I honestly believe that if I had cleared the seat next to me and invited him to join along he would've opened the door, hopped in next to me and waved goodbye to his family without missing a beat. Instead I hesitated momentarily to think of an appropriate response and as I did, the window of the station wagon next to me opened and out came a plea from the man's daughter, "C'mon dad, we have to go now!" He turned sheepishly and climbed into the family truckster destined for a day of multi-generational blueberry harvesting.

After an enjoyable ferry ride to Vermont heading into a day of favorable weather, I charted my course via backroad form Charlotte to Stowe, VT where the auto toll road headed up the side of the mountain to the Mansfield ridge trail. Given the limited time available to me against which I had to summit Mansfield and Mt. Washington while en route to Maine I opted for the most time-efficient ascent routes on each of the two mountains. This approach wasn't my preference as I would've been much more inclined to hike both of these mountains from bottom to top to enjoy more of what they had to offer and to give my body more exercise than it had been receiving sitting behind the wheel of the beast while making my way across America. Oh well, the decision to spend more time in Lake Placid and at Camp Dudley would cost me this much at least.

I pulled up to the toll-taker at the auto road and he happily charged me $17 for the privilege of driving up the mountain. After disconnecting the behemoth from the beast (at his urging due to the limited turn around space at the top) I started my way up. Every time I unshackle the beast it seems to repay me with some extra kick (duh, Jeff, I know it's got 2500 lbs less to carry, but I swear it's more than the extra weight that the beast is happy to shed, it's something with the added freedom of having responsibility for only itself). In any event, after a few small photo ops on the way up, I parked and started my 3 mile roundtrip and 600 ft gain to the top of Vermont along one of the more scenic and accessible hikes I had encountered yet on the trip.

As I embarked along the ridge trail I was first stopped by a small group of local naturalists (apparently employed as park ranger types by the state of Vermont). They were very friendly and made a point to request that I stay on the trail and help preserve the fragile alpine ecosystem along the summit ridge of Mt. Mansfield. "Excellent, no problem" I assured them. In a way it's a shame that simple signs along the trail won't do the job to educate the ignorant and uninclined, but I suppose it was a good thing to see the state take care in protecting its natural assets.

Along the ridge trail I passed by more families than I'd have guessed. Despite the fact that it was a pretty summer day, it was still a Monday and people had to work for a living (unlike me) didn't they? Oh well, it was nice to see so many people enjoying this experience, and judging from the comment made by the toll-taker that the three parking lots would often fill up during busy days, I suppose it wasn't all that busy given I found a spot in the most desirable parking lot (the one closest to the trailhead at the very end of the road).

In about 30 minutes I had made it to the top and was greeted by another local naturalist and his sidekick girlfriend. Both were stationed on the summit for the day to reinforce the "no impact" message and to be generally available for information about the mountain, its subclimate, and the surrounding area. Ranger Rick asked if I was a thru-hiker on the Long Trail which I took partly as an observation that I was hiking alone with real equipment instead of tennis sneakers and a polo shirt, and partly as an observation that despite my shower that morning, the cumulating days on the road were starting to have an effect on my overall trail-worn (sun-exposed and unshaven) appearance. Overall a huge compliment :)

For those of you that don't know, the Long Trail is a 274 mile North to South (or South to North) trail that runs through the entire state of Vermont. It is a beautiful trail that state residents (and the broader thru-hiker community) hold in high esteem as a very desirable journey. It is also a quite modest effort in comparison to its big brother 2155 mile Appalachian Trail that spans from Georgia to Maine.

"No, its something I might like to do someday, but that is not the purpose of my journey on this particular trip." at which point I gave him a brief description of my trip.

"Ah, a Highpointer." he stated.

"Yep. I guess if you had to boil it down to a single word." I thought with a smile of resignation. We all have our little boxes to store concepts in to keep them nice and neat. "Have hiked the Long Trail?" I asked him.

"Yes, it was great." he said. I suppose we were even now that we'd had a chance to oversimplify each other's life-time memories. We got past it quickly.

"Wow, these are amazing beatles!" I said to him as I looked down at two completely different colored metallic beatles sitting on different parts of my left arm. One of them was circular in shape and gold colored with hints of orange on the side. The other, an iridescent green with blue shell, had a more rectangular shape to it.

He told me that there were millions of these types of beatles at the summit and that he didn't know anywhere else in Vermont that had anything like this. He said there were plenty of different colors, sizes, and shapes of these beatles and that it was one of the unique features of Mt. Mansfield that made it so interesting. I wholeheartedly agreed, it was really wild.

Well, I still had a long day ahead so I bid farewell and turned tail to head back down to the waiting beast in the parking lot. About halfway, a fellow hiker and his wife came back onto the main trail from a side trail labeled "The Subway". They looked at me and said they thought that side trail was much more appropriate for someone "like me" whatever that meant. I suppose my trail-worn look was not lost on them either... I was sufficiently baited and after asking them how much time they thought it would take and deciding I had 20 minutes to invest in another experience on the mountain I ventured off the main ridge trail and onto the Subway.

I wasn't disappointed. The trail quickly descended off the side of the mountain over some steep boulders and down into a rock crevasse that had been "laddered" by a boy scout seeking his Eagle badge back in 1989. I then proceeded through the crevasse to some keyhole views and then back up to the ridge (after dropping one of my water bottles twenty feet and retrieving it). I didn't explore the entire Subway (it seemed to do a figure eight instead of a simple loop), but it was a nice diversion if you are ever there and decide you have an extra 20-30 minutes to spend.

I soon arrived back at the beast, headed down the mountain and saddled back up with the behemoth. I then drove Eastward on Route 2 through the rest of Vermont and into the state of New Hampshire after a quick gas and bio break in St. Johnsbury where I called my dad and updated him on my ETA later that evening (I thought 11pm once up and down the auto road at Mt. Washington). "Be careful you don't miss the closing time at the auto road Jeff." he said.

"I should be ok, don't you think? I'll probably get there around 6pm." I replied.

"You may want to call." he said.

He knew me well enough to know I wouldn't. I knew him well enough to know that I probably should have.

"See you later tonight." I said.

"Ok, good luck." he said. We hung up...

On to New Hampshire...

Waiting for the ferry in Essex, NY 

Heading East across Lake Champlain on the Essex ferry. A long day ahead is planned. 

Champlain boaters moored in Charlotte, VT 

"WoooHOOO VERMONT!!!" - pulling into Charlotte, VT after crossing Lake Champlain

Hmmm... Tempting. 

A view to the West from the ridge trail on Mount Mansfield. Lake Champlain is out there, but much easier to see in person than in this picture. 

View from the ridge trail back to the parking lot at the top of the auto toll road. Hiking along this path is a great family hike that provides continuous views in all directions.  

Planks help prevent trail impact to a marshy section along the ridge trail to Mansfield's summit. Mount Mansfield' summit is home to the only alpine subclimate in the state of Vermont and the area's naturists guard the natural beauty of the area with zeal. 

Fellow hikers rest to enjoy the views at the summit of Vermont's highest point. 

#8 - Mount Mansfield in Vermont! Made it... 

At the recommendation of a fellow hiker, "The Subway looks like it would be good for you... we didn't make it all the way" I decided I couldn't pass up a comment like that. Looking down, now I knew why they called this the Subway.

Take the Subway side trail if you want a 20 minute excursion that brings a couple of scrambles over boulders just off the western ridge of the summit trail 

A keyhole view along the Subway side trail on the summit path to Mount Mansfield.