Mt. Wolf (3,478 ft) 10-4-25

Distance: 13.1 mi.
Elevation: 2,660 ft (overall) 4,011 ft (total)
Time: 3:01 (Gordon Pond) 3:17 (Kinsman Ridge Trail) 4:24 (Mt. Wolf) 7:01 (Dilly Trail View) 7:36 (Total)
Trails: Gordon Pond Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail, Dilly Trail (abandoned)

NOTE: The lower section of the Gordon Pond Trail has now been decomissioned, so this write up isn't as relevant as it was at the time. Please be careful if you are going to try and hike this section of trail as it is now not maintained or an official trail.

With some discussion about whether the Gordon Pond Trail is going to be closed on the lower end due in part to no place to park for it, I wanted to try and get a hike of it done while it was still open. I would rather check of a trail for redlining by actually hiking it rather than by having it close and no longer needing too. The original parking area for this trail was blocked off by the owner after people using it to swim in the river left too much trash around it. The trail also starts by basically walking up someone's driveway and right past their garage, so it is just a bit of an odd start to a trail. For my hike, I parked further down the road (east) at a pull off with ample room. I then walked up the side of the road to the driveway where the trail starts. With some intel from another redliner, I knew where I needed to go through the yard so that I could go through quickly without needing to wander around looking for the trail.

Once into the woods and on the trail, you find that it follows a dirt road through the woods that appears to still be used by someone who has maple trees tapped in this area for making maple syrup. This makes for easy walking until you get to the powerlines. The trail use to go straight after going under the powerlines, but now that there are more houses built on the road, it has been relocated and it now goes up the powerlines for a distance following an access road/path. There is a sign that makes it clear where you need to turn right to go back into the woods. This leads you back down so that you lose all of the elevation that you just gained. You will then turn left at another sign and continue on the original path of the trail.

The trail starts on a woods road that is still used

Turn back into the woods after going up the powerlines around some houses

At this point the trail follows and old railroad grade, so it makes for pretty easy walking and an easy start of the day. There were a couple wet spots of downed trees/branches to get around, but this was all good easy walking until reaching the powerlines again. Once I popped out onto the powerlines I turned right and followed the access road (snowmobile trail) until the bridge just a bit up the trail. I checked the map on my phone here (because it was acting up) and saw that I had gone past the trail. So I turned around and went back to where the trail comes out onto the powerlines again. Well, it turns out that the trail actually crosses here, but the vegetation was so grown up I didn't see that. There is a blue painted blaze on a tree on the other side of the powerlines, but the very narrow path leading to it didn't get my attention enough to see it. I pushed through the bushes, and was back on track into the trees again.

Following an old railroad bed

Less than obvious the trail actually crosses under the powerlines here

After getting back into the woods, the trail goes straight for a little bit until a sharp right turn that is marked by a plastic arrow sign commonly used for snowmobile trails. At this turn, the trail crosses a stream that was easy on this day with low water and plenty of rocks to step on. The trail then turns back to the left and follows what is an old woods road. This section of trail was wider than trails normally are and had a steady incline that kept you gaining elevation without being to difficult. This section was quite enjoyable and was a pleasant mix of green and yellow leaves as the foliage change hadn't fully taken affect yet in this area.

Stream crossing

Steady climbing on an old woods road

After plenty of easy hiking and climbing, the trail comes to the upper crossing of Gordon Pond Brook. While easy today with very little water, this crossing looks like it would be the trickiest part of the trail with spring melt or after hard rain. It isn't very wide, and the rocks slope down to the narrow path the water takes before sloping back up on the other side. This could be tricky (or slippery) with limited other ways around it. This brook crossing was interesting though because all of the exposed rock up stream from it makes it look like lots of water has come down through here at some time and it looks like it would have really been ripping through when it was.

Looking upstream at the upper crossing of Gordon Pond Brook

After the crossing, the trail still follows an old woods road as it gets closer uphill to Gordon Falls. The trail works past a small cascade in the brook on your left that I initially thought to be Gordon Falls, but after hiking further up, I believe Gordon Falls to actually be up where the trail crosses the brook as the trail levels out. At this upper section of falls where the trail crosses, there were some interesting old artifacts slowly being buried by leaves and dirt. The water crossing today was very easy, but if it were spring time or after a heavy rain, this could be trickier. The rocks where you cross are wide and flat so water probably wouldn't be super deep when running high, but the surface of the rock has lots of moss on it and it angles down stream, so it could be slippery with that water running over it.

Brook crossing at Gordon Falls

From the falls to the pond was nice easy walking as the terrain mostly levels out through here and there isn't really any climbing. It's just a plesant walk through the woods and along a small brook. You just need to pay attention for where the path to the pond breaks off to the right from the trail so that you don't walk right past it. The pond was a very pleasnt area and you can tell many people have spent the night in the area along the shore. It also provided a nice view up to Mt. Wolf, which makes it appear closer than the hike along the trail actually felt.

Mostly level from Gordon Falls to Gordon Pond

Gordon Pond with Mt. Wolf behind it

From the pond, it's a pretty easy and short walk to the junction with the Kinsman Ridge Trail. Just turning left here would have still made for a nice loop for the day, but I wanted to add in the out and back to Mt. Wolf from this side. This peak is a delisted peak from the NH 52 With a View list, but it can still be counted to the list since it was on it at one point. By hiking it from this side, I could get the trails on the other side by coming up from Reel Brook while hiking the Kinsmans or something similar. The Kinsman Ridge Trail is also the Appalachian Trail, so it was easy to follow and well marked.

Since the Kinsman Ridge Trail sees so much more traffic, the trail was now much rockier than the earlier sections I hiked today. The trail here does a mix of climbing and short level sections. It steadily works its way up to the ridge that connects a shorter subpeak and the summit of Mt. Wolf. It was starting to become pretty warm by this point of the day, so this section of trail was a bit slower going for me than I would have hoped. Before too long though, I was up on the ridge and it was an easy walk over to the spur trail that leads up to the small summit of Mt. Wolf.

Rocky section of Kinsman Ridge Trail with leaning trees

At the spur to the summit of Mt. Wolf

The summit of Mt. Wolf is a small opening in the trees. There was a group of 3 other hikers when I got there, and I was glad that they were almost done since there was so little space. Once they left, I had the summit to myself, but it was still hard no to be up against tree branches. With how limited the view has become from the summit, I can see why the peak has been taken off the NH 52 With a View list. The only really view is in the direction of Franconia Ridge, and you can't even see all of that above the trees without moving around. By looking through breaks in the branches, you could make out a few other summits like Cannon Mountain.

The small summit area of Mt. Wolf

The limited view from Mt. Wolf

If you are tall enough, you can see Franconia Ridge

After a while at the summit, I turned around and headed back towards the junction with the Gordon Pond Trail. This was very straight forward since I had just come through here. Unfortunately, after the junction, the trail had to climb uphill some more before finally descending down into Kinsman Notch. It starts with some steady climbing, before having a couple small ups and downs along the ridge the trail follows. With how warm the day was getting, this was taking a bit of a toll on me and I was slowing down through here.

Exposed rock section of trail coming back down to the junction

Some climbing up after the junction

On a downhill section before reaching the abandoned Dilly Trail, I finally took a nice 15 minute break in a shaded area with some soft ground to lay down on. I wish I had a spray bottle of water or something to cool myself off quicker, but laying on the cooler ground helped enough. After my break, I made my way to the now abandoned Dilly Trail Spur. This trail use to go all the way down to Route 112, but a forest fire did enough damage that the lower section was closed. Later on, the upper section was closed as well and the sign was removed. I knew what to look for to find the trail, but I didn't realize that it had been fully closed, so I didn't actually need to hike it at all today. Since I didn't know that until after, I made my way down the trail to the limited view point that is quickly growing back in. The trail was mostly easy to follow, but it is also clear it hasn't been maintained for a while. So I made my way slowly back uphill to the Kinsman Ridge Trail.

The abandoned Dilly Trail

Very limited view from the Dilly Spur

From the Dilly Spur Trail, it is all downhill until you hit Route 112 in Kinsman Notch. The trail gets pretty steep through here and it a little bit rocky. After as much climbing as I had done today, I took my time on my tired legs to make sure I didn't have any issues. I feel bad for the northbound AT hikers that have to climb this section, but then again the Whites aren't that easy on them at any point. I kept making my way downhill until I was finally at the crossing of Route 112. There is a nice parking lot here, and I had stashed my bicycle here earlier in the day on my way to my starting point. I took a bit of a break on a rock next to the parking area before finally hopping onto my bike. It was a long steady downhill ride all the way back to my truck. You can get some pretty good speed coming down the steeper sections of the road, but the road is in pretty good shape so I didn't worry much about that. It took me just 12 minutes to ride the nearly 5 miles back to my truck.

Steap rocky descent into Kinsman Notch

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Random Redlining 8-24-25

SECTION 1

Distance: 3.98 mi.
Elevation: 393 ft (overall) 551 ft (total)
Time: 0:47 (Peaked Hill Pond) 1:24 (Total)
Trails: Peaked Hill Pond Trail

Today I had to meet my parents in the white mountains area to get one of our daughters back from an extended visit with them. So since I had to head to the mountains anyways, I got an early start and did some redlining hikes that were short out and back, or loop hikes, that didn't really link with anything else. I had a number of them planned out, so that I could keep hiking until the time of day I was meeting my family. That way I could fit in as many short sections as possible.

The first hike that I did was the Peaked Hill Pond Trail that leads up to Peaked Hill Pond. This out and back is on the southern end of the whites in Thorton, so it made for a good start of the day being the closest to home. The parking for this hike is on the side of a dirt road, shortly before the actual end of it, and can be accessed from route 3. While this is a hiking trail, it is mostly following an old woods access road that is also used as a snowmobile trail in winter. For the most part, it is very wide, smooth, and easy to follow. It only gets narrow when you take the trail off to the side of the road that actually leads down to the pond.

The trail starts at the end of the road, shortly after the wider parking area, where there is a gate across the road. The trail heads left and uphill after the gate, where it follows the right side of a washed out section of the road. Just before halfway up the trail, there is a split where a sign shows the trail going right on a path that is narrower than the road has been. This is the actual trail, but if you were to go left, you would still end up in the same place as it is just the road going out into an opening in the trees before linking back with the trail shortly after. I used the trail on the way up, and the road on the way down, and it doesn't make any real difference in distance or time. The tall grass on the road section would be more likely to have ticks in the summer though, so it might be smarter to stick with the trail.

The trail conitnues to follow the road as it goes slightly uphill as it gets closer to the pond. The guide book mentions that the trail goes through two openings before it splits off to the side and goes down to the shoreline. The first of those openings is only about the size of a normal house footprint, while the second one is about the size of the yard that would be around the house. I was expecting the first one to be bigger, and pretty much went through it without realizing that was what the description was talking about. After these openings, the trail takes a right hand turn where there is a sign indicating so. It gets narrower like a normal trail would in the whites, and quickly leads down to the shoreline of the pond after it bears to the right some. This pond was a very pleasant spot, and would warrent another visit in the future. It could be very relaxing here and would make for a nice destination when you don't have a full day available to hike. For the hike back out, I just followed the same route in reverse back to my truck.

The trail starting left up the hill

The trail goes right here, but the left will work too

Coming into the second opening

The trail heading right, down to the pond

Peaked Hill Pond

Easy walking back down to my truck

Google Earth representation of section 1

SECTION 2

Distance: 1.85 mi.
Elevation: 0 ft (overall) 266 ft (total)
Time: 0:18 (Ammonoosuc Lake View) 0:35 (Red Bench) 0:56 (Total)
Trails: Stewardship Trail, Around-the-Lake Trail, Red Bench Trail

My second section of trails today would be starting from the Highland Center at the top of Crawford Notch. After parking on the side of 302 with all the other hikers of the day, I worked my way over the Higland Center parking lot and started working around the right to get to the start of the Stweardship Trail. This short little trail starts just down to the side of the entry road near the entrance for the front desk of the building, where there is a large sign. It drops down into the trees quickly, but then turns left and stays mostly flat until it connects back up with the Around-the-Lake Trail. It really is just a short quick section of trail that would be good for young kids staying at the Highland Center.

I took a right at the intersection down the wide and smooth Around-the-Lake Trail. At the split in the trail where it goes both ways around the pond, I took a right. The dam at the outlet of the pond has seen better days and has collapsed some, which includes the footbridge over it. When I was here, the trail over the dam was closed and marked as such with a sign that let you know a loop could not be completed. Other hikers can make their own choices, but I decided to hike over the dam carefully myself, rather than loop around to the other side of the dam. It required some careful footing, so keep that in mind if you are there while it is still damaged and you are deciding to go over or not.

After the dam, the trail goes through a pleasant section of woods just up the embankment from the shore of the pond. Before reaching the other end of the pond, there is a short path that leads down to the shoreline where you can get up close to the water. There is a bit of a view here over towards Mt. Jackson and Mt. Webster. After getting back up to the main trail, I continued along until the start of the Red Bench Trail. This trail was the roughest of the 3 in this section, but still not hard. It does have a short climb up to the railroad tracks though. Make sure to be careful when crossing the tracks and always looking for anything coming. And if it is, make sure the stay back a safe distance. After crossing the tracks, it is a pretty short distance to the end of the trail where there is a red bench (who would have guessed from the trail name) that overlooks a small opening in the trees where you can see a short section of the railroad tracks. I'll be honest in that the bench isn't super comfortable, is a bit high (partially due to dirt being worn away under it), and doesn't really have a view. This trail gives the feeling of someone who likes trains wanted a place a bit out of the way to try and watch them go by. I wouldn't come back out here unless I was with someone who really wanted to.

After a couple quick pictures, I turned around and headed back to the pond and the rest of the Around-the-Lake Trail. The trail continues along the steep embankment that leads from the train tracks down to the shore of the pond. There is a small reforestation area near that pond that is signed to keep people out and from using the paths to the edge of the water (the trail will get you to the shore just fine without using these paths) so that the plants can have a chance to grow back. After getting back to the split in the trail, it was again easy walking on the wide path that leads back to an area of the Highland Center's driveway that appears to only see use from maintenance vehicles. While there are signs, this end of the trail might take a bit of looking to find if you aren't familiar with it.

Start of the Stewardship Trail

Hiking the Stewardship Trail

The wide flat Around-the-Lake Trail

Ammonoosuc Lake from the dam at the outlet

The broken dam at the outlet of Ammonoosuc Lake

A nice section of trail above the lake

View from the shore of Ammonoosuc Lake

The Red Bench

The view from the red bench

Angled bridge along the Red Bench Trail

Where the Around-the-Lake Trail comes out of the woods (or goes into depending on direction)

Google Earth representation of section 2

SECTION 3

Distance: 0.57 mi.
Elevation: 0 ft (overall) 14 ft (total)
Time: 0:07 (Pond) 0:18 (Total)
Trails: Wildlife Pond Path

The last section that I would have time for today was the Wildlife Pond Path that can be found off of Zealand Road, almost exactly across from the trail parking for the Sugarloafs. The hardest part of this hike, was actually figuring out where this path goes into the woods. It starts at a gate across from the parking area that has a small wooden sign next to it that says "Wildlife Pond".

To start this hike, you follow the road past the gate until you see a wooden sign that says "Wildlife Pond" where a path heads off to the right of the road. There were some tall ferns to walk through here with a noticeable, but thin path leading past them. The trail follows an obvious path after that, but the brush on the sides is a bit close at times, making it narrower. Closer to the pond where the ground gets more muddy and wet, there are bog bridges to follow. A couple of these were a bit loose, and the plants are encroaching on them from the sides. Near the end of the bog bridges, the tree branches were really closing in on the trail and you had to push your way through them. If this trail is to stay open, it needs some brushing done so that people can actually follow it and use it.

Once you push through the bushes, you are at the end of the path with the water on your right. The water isn't actually a pond, but a setback side path of the river that works out into the trees. There is a decent view of Middle Sugarloaf from the area along the side of the water. While I didn't actually see any wildlife on this path, there were signs of it. I saw both deer and moose tracks, and also some scat from other smaller animals. To get back to the truck, it was just following the same route back after pushing through the branches to get onto the bog bridges.

Gated road on Zealand Road where the trail starts

Trail sign at the gate

Where the trail turns right off of the gated road

Easy to follow, but narrow in spots

Plants encroaching on the boardwalk

View from the edge of the water

I needed to push through some branches today on this path

Moose and deer tracks in the mud next to the path

Google Earth representation of section 2

OVERALL

Distance: 6.4 mi.
Elevation: 393 ft (overall) 831 ft (total)
Time: 2:38

It was nice to get some of these shorter sections of trail done so that I wouldn't have to make a trip later just to do them. And since I was driving to the mountains anyways, it was good to save a trip as well since it can take me 2 hours to start to get into the heart of the white mountains from my house.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Speckled Mountain Loop 7-19-25

Distance: 17.0 mi.
Elevation: 1,444 ft (overall) 3,926 ft (total)
Time: 2:10 (Speckled Mtn) 6:34 (Clearing at low end of Miles Notch) 9:19 (Rte 113)
Trails: Spruce Hill Trail, Bickford Brook Trail, Red Rock Trail, Miles Notch Trail, Haystack Notch Trail

With the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness being a 3+ hour drive from my house, I haven't actually knocked off any miles on the tab of the redlining spreadsheet. In order to make a nice dent in this region that is farther away from my house, I worked up today's route in order to make a nice big loop and really get some miles done. Being by myself like normal, today's loop would require a bit of road walking at the end, but hopefully that wouldn't be too bad at the end of the day.

I parked at the small lot on route 113 that is the access for the East Royce Trail (heading west) and Spruce Hill Trail (heading east). The Spruce Hill Trail is easy to follow, and starts off pretty mellow with some sidehilling as you start to climb. This made for a nice little warmup to get the day going. It didn't seem to take too long before the trail enters into the wilderness, trail markers and signs get smaller or just plaing go away, but things were still easy to follow and there were no real obstacles most of the day. As I steadily gained elevation without climbing anything steep, the sun started to come through the trees (I hade gotten an early start after all). The trail goes past the unmarked summit of Spruce Hill, which is just to the left of the trail if you follow the small herd path. While I didn't need to go over to the high spot, I figured I would do it while in the area in case for some reason later on I wish I had. And being as I was redlining, I felt like tagging as much stuff as I easily could while going by today.

Steady climbing through a beautiful forest

After Spruce Hill, the trail drops just a bit in elevation before coming to the Bickford Brook Trail where I took a left to keep climbing towards Speckled Mountain. As the trail goes around the northern side of Ames Mountain, it crosses an interesting section that is a steep sidehill section of trail, but with a nice area for the trail to go across. This makes for an interesting looking section, but without any drop offs that would make you nervous while hiking past them. After this section, you pass the upper end of the Blueberry Ridge Trail where you keep left and have a short half mile to the summit of Speckled Mountain following a gradual incline up the ridgeline. There will a small open area on the trail shortly before the actual summit.

An interesting steep sidehill with a nice trail cutout

The summit of Speckled Mountain

View from Speckled Mountain

While the summit of Speckled Mountain was great and very much worth the trip, I couldn't spend all day up there with how many more miles I still had to hike. The summit here was the only place I saw other hikers all day during my entire loop. I was glad these other two hikers were there though, because they didn't help show me which direction the trail left the summit from. It was completely obvious which way I needed to go with the mix of open rocks and scattered trees around. Once on the start of it though, it was again easy to follow. The climb down from the summit, was probably the steepest section of the day. It did have solid footing though, so it wasn't difficult to go down.

Once down this climb into the saddle between Speckled Mountain and Durgin Mountain, the remainder of the ridge is mostly gentley ups and downs over/around all of the smaller peaks. Durgin Mountain was a mix of some open rock heading through the trees which meant some warm sunny spots, and lots of blueberries along the trail today. They made for some nice snacks while I was hiking along.

The trail followed near the top of the ridge all morning

At least there was blueberries to eat today

The scattered open areas of trail made for some nice periodic views along the hike, but with how sunny it was today and with very little wind, it made for some warm hiking. At least in the trees, there was shade to help keep cool. If there had just been a nice breeze today, this section would have been more enjoyable. Near the summit of Butters Mountain, I found a nice spot along the trail that was a bit like a bench to sit on for a short break. I was getting warm, so I took my shirt off for a bit to help dry it and myself while fueling up with a little bit of food.

Bewteen Butters Mountain and Red Rock Mountain, there was a small interesting notch that they trail passes through. It almost had the feel of an old woods road passing over the ridge, but there wasn't good enough terrain on the northern side for this to be the case. There was an interesting old US Forest Service marker attached to a tree here. Along the climb up out of this small notch were some small views back to the west and the direction I had come from. It was interesting looking back and seeing Speckled Mountain and realizing just how far I had come along the ridge. While the ridge was the harder terrain of the day, it still meant I wasn't even quite half way through now.

A view back towards Speckled Mountain from along the trail

Open trail going over some bare rock near Red Rock Mountain

The drop down off of Red Rock Mountain into Miles Notch was a nice break with mostly downhill. There was unfortunately, a small climb up at the very end of the Red Rock Trail just before hitting the Miles Notch Trail. I was getting warm and a bit tired, so this short uphill was slower going for me than it should have been. Coming down the Miles Notch Trail, conditions progressively got better and easier which meant I was able to pick the pace back up again. By the end of the trail, you are basically following a woods road which was nice and wide and smooth. The only tracks I was seeing through here that were fresh, were a set of moose tracks.

Red Rock Trail dropping down to Miles Notch

Wide easy trail nearing the low end of the hike

The worst part of this section of the hike was the lower end of the Miles Notch Trail. The old woods road that you are following comes out into an area that was logged, so I was back to being in the hot sun with no breeze. Being so open as well, the vegetation has grown a lot through here, and at times it was between waist and chest high. This makes the trail/road harder to follow since there isn't much traffic through here. If you pay attention though, you can stay on the road, which eventually bears a little to the right and through more of the middle of the opening. I was feeling a bit cautious through here knowing the berries were rippening and a bear could easily be just out of site in all of the tall bushes.

The sun through here was really getting to me and I just wanted to be back in the shade. When I got to the junction with the Haystack Notch Trail, I really debated if I wanted to continue down to the parking area near here. I wasn't quite sure what the real distance was since my two maps were contradicting each other a bit. With one map showing still 0.3 miles (0.6 total), I decided to save the effort and come back later to get that section. In the end I should have just done it because it was actually closer to 0.1 miles. I just wanted to be back in the shade, so I started up the Haystack Notch Trail which follows along the side of the logged off area. The trail was pretty straight forward through here though, and it was easy to follow and get back into the woods and out of the sun.

Through the open, the "trail" was chest deep bushes following the logging path

A couple signs indicating Miles Notch and Haystack Notch Trails

The trail follows the edge of the logged area

Once back into the woods, I felt a little better being in the shade. Knowing this trail follows near the river and also crosses it, I started looking for a good spot to rest next to the water and filter some water as well for the rest of the hike. So at an easy crossing, I setup for lunch on the other side and took a nice long break here. I cooled off with splashing water on myself and just had a nice rest. The trail would be pretty gentle from here on out back to route 113, but it is still about 5 more miles to go.

This brook made for a great rest area in the shade near cool water

After leaving my rest spot on the rivebank, I kept heading west on the Haystack Notch Trail. Luckily the trail isn't steep, but even the small incline of it was more than I wanted to deal with right now. The trail stays pretty gentle until after it enters into the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness, where it gradually gets a little steeper as it heads up to the height of land in Haystack Notch. Being in a wildnerness area, the trail also becomes less used and less well marked. I was still able to follow it at all times, but it was a bit tricky at times to make sure I was staying on it and not missing and turns or curves in the trail.

Entering back into the wilderness zone heading into Haystack Notch

The wilderness section of Haystack Notch is lightly traveled in sections

As I was climbing up to the height of land in the notch, the heat of the day and the lack of wind were really getting to me. I was slowing right down, and finally decided I needed a nice break. I found a rock that was comfortable to sit and lean against, hoping it might somehow have a little bit cooler temperature than the air around it. I also made use of a small squirt bottle that I brought with me today and had filled with water. I kept spraying my head, face, arms, and legs so that they could slowly cool down and make me feel better. I did this for probably a good 20 minutes before I was finally feeling better.

My rest spot wasn't far from the height of land, so pretty soon after starting back up, I was headed downhill all the way back to the road. I was able to pick up the pace again through here. The trail was easier to follow on this side of the notch, and after coming back out of the wilderness area, it got even easier. I took advantage of every time the trail was near or crossed any sort of brook and splashed water all over my face and head each time. It was still warm, but this was helping me feel better.

The trail going next to a brook as I get closer to the road

As I neared the road, I really wasn't looking forward to the gradual uphill walk back to my truck. I had thought about stashing a bike here, but I knew that I wouldn't really want to pedal uphill either, and might end up just walking with a bike as well. As I got within sight of the road, I saw there was a pickup pulled over on the side of the road and I started thinking maybe I could get a ride. So I walked fast enough that I could get there before they drove off, only to find that there was no one in the truck. So I just started walking up the road hoping maybe I could hitch a ride. The first vehicle I head was a motorcycle, so that wasn't even worth trying. Next a car went by, but didn't stop, and I thought to myself "darn it" and kept walking. A couple minutes later though, as my legs were cramping up, the car came back from the other direction. They had been in their own little world when driving by, then thought to themselves that "only someone redlining would be walking through here", so as a fellow redliner, they turned around to see if they could help. I couldn't be happier to have a ride back to my truck as this point, and thanked them very much for helping me at the end of my hike. I had probably only walked about .25 of the roughly 1.6 miles back to my truck when I was able to get into their car.

I wasn't liking the idea of the long uphill road walk at this point

All things considered, this hike ended up going ok. I could have used some cooler temperatures or a little bit of wind, but I made it all work with some discomfort and tired legs. Had I known it was going to end up being as warm as it was though, I probably would have changed things up a little bit. I was camping up in the area for the whole weekend trying to get other trails done as well (which I didn't due to rain and being tired), so I would have turned this into a two day hike. I would have driven to the parking area near the junction of the Miles Notch Trail and Haystack Notch Trail, and stashed my tent, sleeping pad, and quilt there. I would have started in the same spot, then hiked to my stashed gear and setup camp for the evening in the opening of the logged off area (water was nearby). I could have hiked slower in the warm temps and taken more breaks. Then the next morning, I would have hiked out through Haystack Notch with all of my gear and done the walk back up the road to my truck. Carrying the extra gear through the second day wouldn't have been too bad with rested legs and would have saved me the time of needing to drive back to the parking area near where I would have spent the night.

Google Earth represetation of the hike (clockwise loop)

Google Earth represetation of the hike (clockwise loop... with elevation profile)

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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