Small Mountains: Big Trip

You don't have to hike a big mountain to have a great trip. You just have to get out there.

That's what I did this weekend, hiking a couple sections of the AT west of Mt. Moosilauke.  I decided to head south from Route 25A, up and over Mt Cube. What a wonderful trail. Relaxed pace. Plenty of interesting sights and people.

The adventure started less than 100 yards in, when some folks had set up a "Trail Magic" stop for AT thru-hikers. Burgers, beers, Cokes... they made a lot of tired, smelly folks thru-hikers veeerrrrryyyy happy!

Taking my time was a nice change of pace for me. I'm usually on a mission, tackling a 12-15 mile days. Today was less than 6 miles, so I had the luxury of slowing down, taking a nice 1 hour lunch on top of the North Peak of Mt Cube and seeing some interesting things on the trail as well.

Like a pair of blue panties hanging from a tree branch....

They say, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...." .......... that must be true on the Mt Cube trail as well....

I blew by a huge tree growing around a rock on the way up, but stopped to take a picture of it on the way down the next day. The tree was at least 6 of me around, and you can barely see the rock, but it's under/inside the tree. I don't know how the tree stays up!?

Toward the top, you can take a side trail to the North Peak, where you can see way into Vermont as well as into the Pemi Wilderness. Totally worth the 15 minutes it took to get to the outlooks and ledges

Added Bonus: Blueberries at the top!

Up and over the South Peak

I arrived about an hour later at the Hexacuba Shelter, a six-sided shelter. It's joined by a pentagonal- shaped privy. I'm sure someone from the Dartmouth Outing Club had waaaayyyyyyyy too much time on their hands... must have been an engineering type :)

Hexacuba Shelter

This time of year there are a number of thru-hikers making their way along the AT and stopping at shelters. This night was no exception, and I had the privilege of sharing the shelter with "PacMan" and "Slider"-- two distinguished characters.

PacMan

PacMan was determined to have a fire. At times he was successful... at least enough to cook his dinner on.

Other times:...... not so much.... interestingly, though, no mosquitoes were to be found.....

Slider just kind of hung out in the shelter... he was really taking it easy both on the trail and off.

Sunday came a bit earlier than I desired.... 4:30am and I was wide awake. So after coffee, oatmeal and packing up, I hit the trail around 6am. Didn't quite make sunrise at the top of a peak, but I DID see some interesting early morning valley fog.... or was that smoke from our campfire.....?

Met up with a group around 9am that was hiking another section of the AT. Made it to the top of VIEWLESS Mt Mist... almost "missed" the top, it was so uneventful.

Over to Webster Slide Mtn, with some great views of Wachipauka Pond

Moose dropping on top of Webster Slide Mtn

And then, something crazy.... like X-Files crazy....

Out in the middle of nowhere is this pond, and what do we find? It was like a little resort beach area, complete with tiki torches, Coleman chairs, 2x4s (?)... even some type of table! Someone had to hike all this stuff in...

Tiki torches up against tree

Anyone know what this would be used for?

The group just "moving right in"!

The best part (#1): the swimming.

But #2 was finding a slightly inflated floaty... I just HAD to test it out!

It works!

Not sure who brought all the stuff 2 1/2 miles out into the wilderness.... but am sure glad they brought and left the floaty!

Get out there and explore-- you never know what you'll find or who you'll meet!

Garfield- Minus the Humidity

Sunday was glorious.
No heat....  No humidity........  No bugs

-- A perfect time to get out into the Pemi Wilderness and re-acquaint myself with the Garfield Trail.What a wonderful, consistent grade all the way to some spectacular views!

On the way up, I ran into a group from CT (campers) coming down, who asked me what my favorite camp song was. I stuttered and stammered because my favorite camp song is a Mont Lawn Camp version of Old McDonald's Farm-- it's got a beat and LOTS of attitude. It's a Bronxed-up version that gets you going...... Trying to describe it just didn't work-- it has to be experienced.

So as we parted, one of them asked, "What are you listening to on your IPod?" I responded, "Doobie Brothers right now..."

They hooted, "I LOOOOOOVE the Doobie Brothers!"

And off they went, spontaneously breaking out into "Black Water"--

"....old black water, keep on rollin'.... Mississippi moon won't you keep on shin'n' on me...!"

And I'm thinking how do THEY know the Doobie Brothers-- that is WAYYYYYYYY before their time!!!

I went to Garfield's summit twice-- once in the morning and again at lunch time. In between I dropped down to Garfield Ridge Campsite to see what was going on there... quiet as a church.

The morning views were affected by clouds rolling through, perhaps from all the moisture in the valleys being heated up by the sun?

View around 10:30 am

Morning fog/clouds...

Popping down to Garfield Ridge Campsite was a quick trip. Everyone had cleared out-- no tents up, nobody in the shelter, Caretaker's tent buttoned up. Bobby-- where'd 'ya go?!?!?

The spring was flowing just fine, so I topped off and headed back up to the summit for lunch. Much clearer and the views were awesome.

Great views at lunch!

Views were 180 degrees,  and it was a perfect spot to linger and soak up some sun.Other than someone who felt it necessary to share their cell phone conversation with everyone on top, it was perfect :)

The hike down was uneventful, and I resolved to try and get a YouTube video of Mont Lawns' Farm song...

Pepsi Can Stove Review

I've been on this quest to lighten up my backpack load when I go into the backcountry. 

I've been using an MSR Whisperlite along with the MSR Teflon coated aluminum cookware. The setup has served me well for over 15 years. However, I've been wondering whether the weight of this package (1# 15 1/2 oz) could be lightened. Also I wondered whether I could also decrease its volume....

Enter the Pepsi can stove. This is a stove literally made out of a Pepsi can that runs off denatured alcohol. There are dozens of plans for stoves floating around on the internet that you can make from cat food cans, 3 oz spam spread cans, Heineken cans-- you name it.  

I chose to construct a Pepsi (technically a DIET Pepsi) sideburner design rather than a "top burner" design. The sideburner you see above does not require a potholder-- you just set the pan on top of the hole once it's primed. This creates a seal that self-pressurizes the evaporating alcohol, creating a "gas stove" flame pattern out of the jet holes. It is magic to behold!

1 oz of fuel has a burn time of around 8-10 minutes and brings my water to a boil in a little over 6 minutes.

The BTU value of denatured alcohol is roughly half that of white gas, so in theory, you'd have to bring twice the amount of fuel. But here's the thing-- on a weekend outing, you're only talking about 1 oz of fuel per meal, so a Friday-Sunday backpack (2 dinners, 2 breakfasts) is only 4 oz of fuel plus a couple extra ounces for a safety margin.

PLUS, since this doesn't burn like the flamethrower MSR, it doesn't burn the meal as quickly or easily. Make no mistake-- this stove burns very hot-- it's just not a full-on flame monster like the Whisperlite.

FINALLY the weight of my cooking setup with this stove, inclusive of the stove, medicine cup to measure fuel, potholder, smaller cheap aluminum pot and top, lighter and 4 oz fuel bottle (WITH fuel): 10 1/2 ozs.... a difference of over a pound! And it's a smaller package.... probably 25% smaller.

I took this setup out on field trial this past weekend in the Pemi Wilderness with great success. My meals at Black Pond and 13 Falls were perfect, and I came home with fuel to spare. (Meal review to follow in the future!) Meals were hot, moist and no hint of scorched food on the pan. In fact, cleanup was a breeze!

Is this an ideal setup for a group? No way. The greater volume of food you need to cook for a group, as well as the water to boil for hot drinks, makes the Whisperlite or similar stove a much better choice. But for a solo weekend trip or longer, I think I might have just found a new way to cook!

13 Falls

13 Falls is one of my favorite places in the White Mountains. Can you guess why? I've been up there a number of times-- even took the kids in when they were little and we spent the night. Rained on us the whole time... wasn't supposed to... sorry kids... :)

It's a well-graded scenic hike that takes you next to flowing water almost the entire time. Probably the flattest trail in the Whites.

I started Friday evening at Lincoln Woods and took my time along the trail before make the decision to camp for the night at Black Pond, a place I hadn't been before. Figured I'd take a chance that I could find a flat spot to camp...

The .8 mile scenic path (Black Pond Trail) in was a nice walk from the main trail at Lincoln Woods. Black Pond was quiet but not an overly spectacular setting. But hey-- it beats working, right? Plus, from its' western shore, you get a pretty nice view of the Bonds in the distance...

The area around the pond is a Forest Protection Area, so camping has to be at least 200 feet from the pond itself, which wasn't a problem-- there's a spot up on a bluff at the western shore of the pond.

Got to try out my new pressurized Pepsi can alcohol stove... was a sweet thing to behold (review to come in the future). With this setup, I've gone from 1#15oz (MSR Whisperlite stove and aluminum pot set) to 10 5/8 oz. This weight includes the stove, 4 oz fuel bottle (filled), scavenged 1 qt aluminum pot, spork, tin foil windscreen, mesh cloth, lighter, lid, and pot holder.

My dehydrated Cuban Black Beans and Rice were ALSO a THING TO BEHOLD! Protein, carbs, flavor, heat-- delicious! And best of all, home cooked and dehydrated at home-- no extra sodium, msg, etc... just 100% tasty.

Notice the pot cozy I fashioned out of some Reflectix material-- keeps things warmer/lets the food continue to cook (so you use less fuel), and insulates your hands from the hot pot. Yeah, I've used a bandana before or a pot holder to hold a hot pot-- this is pretty nice... hardly any weight.

 Got on the trail early Saturday AM and crossed the East Branch on my way to the falls....

Oh-- personal rant, first.... So I'm down at the Pond EARLY getting water.... 6:30 am-ish .... when I hear loud voices and a bell ringing.... here comes this group of 4 in with their black lab. (Disclaimer: I like dogs).... They seem friendly and we say "Hi" to each other... and make some small talk while I get my filter out to top off my water. What does the guy in the group do? He decides this would be the perfect time and place to encourage the lab to go fetch a stick out in the pond.. except that the lab's path to said stick takes it right by me and my filter, which stirs up all the sediment as it jumps in to "go fetch"... because labs never enter the water daintily.... I shoot him a look... but he apparently doesn't "get it" because he does it 3 more times...

Did I say I "like dogs"...? I just don't like their moron owners who are so stupid that they're inconsiderate. (....must stop..... blood pressure increasing.... breathe... there, that's better...)

If you hadn't noticed, it's been a bit rainy lately. That means that a couple of the stream crossings made it necessary to drop the pack, change to sandals, cross the river/stream, replace boots, strap sandals back on pack, etc...  the part that took the longest was scouting up and down the banks of the river for a place to cross so I didn't have to go through the above process. I finally just decided after a quick look up and down to put the sandals on-cross- and be done with it.

So 13 Falls was awesome.

Very quiet. Caretaker not around. Just plenty of sun and water. If you haven't been, you absolutely must make this a destination and spend the night.

The hike out was.... the hike out... nothing special... just thinking about all the gear I've got to air out, clean, etc...

Great trip-- no peaks, no death marches straight up mountains... just nice river walking on flat terrain. Oh-- and mosquitoes.... 

...............and a dog owner...... and waterfalls...... :)

Duct Tape- Use #39

You can never have enough duct tape.

I re-rolled some "fresh" tape around my hiking poles last week-- the other tape had been on there for 2 years and I'd never used it. When I went to unrole/remove it, it came off in little pieces-- effectively "vulcanized" to my poles... ended up having to score it and unwrap it in layers, before putting on the "fresh stuff." The old tape would have been absolutely useless... Glad I went through all that, because yesterday, it came in very handy. Leave it to Lynnda to give me an occasion to use it (ha ha).

We decided to do a little day hike up to Franconia Ridge to tag Little Haystack via Falling Waters trail. Nice scenic waterfalls, sluices, streams and swimming holes for half the hike up and back. Rain had really got the water flowing nicely.

Plus, lots of scrambling or rock hopping in places. Halfway up, Lynnda made the decision to chill by a waterfall while Austin and I conquered the mountain and returned to scoop her up.

We made it up there an hour later and had lunch-- nice views considering how hazy it was...

Eating is important-- we've noticed that when certain people don't eat, they get cranky and/or tired...

Once he ate, he was MUCH more upbeat...

We made it down and HAD to stop at the waterfall for a quick cool off... emphasis on "QUICK"-- my ankles and lower legs were numb after a couple minutes in that water!

By the way-- what's with the "thumbs up thing?"

So back to the "duct tape" thing.... while waiting around for us, Lynnda had discovered  that her soles had begun delaminating.... now these are EMS boots-- 8 years old-- but with only 10 hikes on the odometer, so to speak. I guess the shelf life of the glue is more critical than the durability of the Vibram soles...

Anyway-- these babies were flapping around like a fish out of water and were quickly becoming worse. 

Whip out the duct tape for a quick improvisation... 

 and then continued the hike out. It was probably 1 1/2 to 2  miles out before we hit the parking lot.

Here's the "after" shot. These babies could have done another 5 miles EASY!!!

I told Lynnda she didn't need new boots for at least another year or so based upon this repair (ha ha). That's when I had to duck...

The tape is amazing ...