Mt. Monadnock (3,165 ft) 11-8-15

Distance: 6.18 mi.
Elevation: 1,719 ft (overall) 2,497 ft (total)
Time: 1:25 (Monte Rosa) 2:06 (Summit) 2:55 (Bald Rock) 4:04 (total)
Trails: Halfway House Trail, Cart Path, Old Toll Road, White Arrow, Fairy Spring Trail, Smith Bypass Trail, Smith Summit Trail, Amphitheatre Trail, Smith Connecting Link, Hedgehog Trail, Sidefoot Trail, Point Surprise Trail, Cliff Walk Trail, Parker Trail, Old Toll Road

I headed up the Halfway House Trail today as I would much rather walk in the woods than up a boring dirt road. I've done this trail many times, but I still enjoy it. It goes through a few different stages as you climb with the terrain and trees changing multiple times. When I came up to one of my favorite spots on the trail I was surprised and bummed out. My favorite tree on the mountain had blown over earlier this year. The tree had 4 holes in the trunk that allowed you to look straight through from multiple directions. Despite this, the tree was large and still standing for many years. Unfortunately though, it's time had finally come earlier this year. You can tell it was starting to get pretty rotten on the inside now that it was down and broken apart.

The broken tree

After some pictures of the damage, I continued up the trail to the intersection with the Cart Path. The Halfway House Trail is currently closed above this spot due to some bad erosion that has occurred over the years. It's planned to be fixed, but the amount of work currently going on coupled with the amount needed to fix this trail mean it will still be some time before it is opened again. I took a right and walked the short distance to the Old Toll Road and then up to the Halfway House Site.

At the start of the Fairy Spring Trail, I was glad to see the park rerouted it back to it's normal layout. In 2013 the start of the trail was changed to coincide with the start of the Monte Rosa Trail so that a new foot bridge there could be used. The trails are very close together and it didn't make sense to build two bridges over the same brook so close to each other. This change wasn't as well liked as some and many still used the old start of the trail. Now, there are stepping stone in the brook which make it easy to cross with dry feet.

Fairy Spring Trail

At the top of the Fairy Spring Trail I took the Smith Bypass Trail for something different and then came back to Monte Rosa that way. I then headed to the summit on the Smith Summit Trail, one of my favorite trails on the mountain. At the summit, things were a bit crowded, but that is expected on this mountain most of the year. Many of the other hikers were trying to find spots out of the wind. It was 37 degrees, but the 16 mph average wind speed (21 mph gusts) made for a wind chill of 25 degrees. Most of the other hikers didn't seem prepared for this and were under dressed. I spent some time taking photos, but pretty quickly was on the move again to get away from the crowds.

View from Monte Rosa

Billings Fold

Boston was easy to spot today

At the summit

I descended the Smith Summit Trail again until I reached the Amphitheatre Trail. I head out this way and over the top of the Black Precipice as I headed back up the mountain some. The trail then goes back downhill before crossing the White Arrow Trail. I like the Amphitheatre Trail in large part because of home many sections go over open rock, but still have trees nearby. It also goes past a couple of spots I really enjoy. Once to the Smith Connecting Link, I turned right and headed down to Bald Rock.

Near the Black Precipice

Summit view from Bald Rock

I had planned to hike down the Hedgehog Trail from here. Knowing where it was, I didn't really notice that the paint on the rocks here was missing. I headed down the trail like normal. Nearing the lower half of the trail, I was surprised to see a couple large blow downs across the trail. As I got to the bottom, there was some debris piled at the start of the trail. This is what you normally see when the park wants to keep hikers from going somewhere. I turned around and didn't see the old trail sign in the tree any more. I knew the park was thinking about closing this trail due to how severely it was eroded at the bottom of it. It turns out, they did that just this summer. At the moment, it doesn't look like they will re-open it in the future.

I made my way down to the Halfway House Site quickly and then turned off the main path to take the Point Surprise Trail back up the mountain some. This trail is short and comes out to the Cliffwalk Trail at the viewpoint known as Point Surprise (imagine that). I then started making my way down the Cliff Walk Trail. This trail is always a nice trail and I wanted to check out the rebuilt ladder down near the bottom of it. Some great work was put into rebuilding the ladder as the old one was falling apart. The new one looks like it will last for quite some time. At the bottom of the trail, I headed right onto the Parker Trail for the short distance back to the Old Toll Road. About the only time I use the road is when I use the Parker Trail as well.

The new ladder

My route today wouldn't make much sense to most hikers, but it got me to a few places I wanted to visit today. In the past, I have hiked every trail on the Monadnock map in the upward direction, always starting at the lower end of the trail even for ones that cut across the mountain. I've decided to do this again so I can remap them with my new GPS. This is a great way to get to other parts of the mountain and to come up with some creative routes. With just today's hike, I accomplished going up 6 individual trails. A good start to another round of doing this.

Google Earth representation of the hike

Bread Loaf Mtn. (3,835 ft) & Mt. Wilson (3,745 ft) 10-24-15

Distance: 10.4 mi.
Elevation: 1,915 ft (overall) 3,053 ft (total)
Time: 1:27 (Skyline Lodge) 2:26 (Bread Loaf Mtn.) 3:10 (Mt. Wilson) 5:29 (Total)
Trails: Skylight Pond Trail, Long Trail, Bread Loaf summit spur

Signs at the end of Forest Road 59 make it pretty easy to tell you are going in the right direction to get to this trail head. The road is unpaved, but was in good shape this day. the lot at the trail head has room for around 10 cars, but there is plenty of room on the road for over flow. There was however a warning sign in the lot saying they have been experiencing vehicle break ins and that you shouldn't leave anything of value visible in your car/truck.

The trail starts off very easy with just a gentle incline. It didn't take too long and I was at the first small brook crossing. There was no bridge, but I was able to use rocks to keep my feet dry. There was also a small log I could have used, but the below freezing temps overnight left a layer of ice on that which wasn't on the rocks. A little later is the biggest brook crossing of the day. This one has a nice bridge going over it though.

The only bridge on the route

As the trail starts to climb more steadily up the side of the mountain, it begins a long series of switchbacks. The hillside didn't seem steep enough to require this many low angle inclines, but they did make for easy hiking. The trail never really seemed to get steep except maybe for the occasional small obstacle. There was also only one other brook crossing on the route up, and this was easily stepped over and doesn't look like it ever gets that big.

As I climbed up towards the Long Trail, I kept thinking I was about to be in the sun. This wasn't the case though as it seemed that the location of the sun and contour of the mountain constantly kept the sun just barely blocked. For quite a while the sun was shinning on the trees just above me, but I wasn't quite in it. At the intersection with the Long Trail I headed directly across and made my way down to Skyline Lodge. Here I saw my first signs of ice on the trail, but it was all easily avoided. The lodge is nice and in a great spot. I expected it to be a bit more open between it and the pond, but that wasn't a big detractor. The pond had a thin layer of ice on it, and the thermometer on the lodge said it was still only 32 degrees. It had just gotten that warm when I started my hike, and it seems I was climbing at the same speed as the warm air was this morning.

Skyline Lodge

Skylight Pond

Back at the Long Trail, I headed north. The trail has a few ups and downs in this section, but it was pretty easy going. Eventually you come to the one steep section between the lodge and Bread Loaf Mountain. The trail maintainers have done a real nice job here with stone work and I can only guess how many hours it took them. After the climb up to the ridge, the trail gradually go down just a bit before coming back up. You'll come to a sharp right hand turn in the Long Trail where there is an old sign while headed north letting you know it turns right. Straight ahead though is a spur trail over the summit with blue blazes. There is no sign on this trail, but with the blazes it does seem like an official trail. The trail goes the short distance to the summit, then turns left around it and brings you to a small lookout at the top of a short ledge. There are nice but limited views to the west here. After taking some pictures, I headed back to the summit which is marked with a small cairn next to the high spot.

View west from Bread Loaf Mtn

Heading north on the Long Trail again, it's a steady decent down Bread Loaf Mountain until the Emily Proctor Shelter and Trail. The shelter is simple, but nice and the Long Trail continues past it on the right hand side. If not for the sign and arrow, you wouldn't really know. You'll pass the path for the bathroom on your left and the tent area on your right. From here it was a pretty steady climb up to the summit of Mt. Wilson. This summit also has a small stone cairn on the (right) side of the trail. There wasn't much here to look at though, other than trees. After a break, snack, and pictures, I got out my portable weather meter and checked the conditions. The wind was only blowing 5 mph down here in the trees and the temperature was still only hovering around 32 degrees. For warmer temperatures than that predicted, it sure wasn't warming up fast.

Emily Proctor Shelter

Mt. Wilson summit

I had read some trip reports that said there were some views from Mt. Wilson at some ledges near the ridge. I looked as I hiked back, but only found a couple limited views, even with venturing off trail some. Maybe they were further up the trail or just exaggerated a bit. I made good time down to the shelter where a group of hikers were taking a break. I quickly said "hi" and continued on my way. The damp rocks on the climb back up Bread Loaf Mountain weren't as slick as when coming down it seemed, and before I knew it I was back at the sharp turn in the trail.

From here it was smooth sailing. The hike back to the Skylight Pond Trail passed quick and it was finally starting to warm up some even as it was getting a bit more cloudy. I had already forgotten how many PUDs there were before the intersection and the last bit seemed to take a bit longer than I expected.

The switchbacks on the Skylight Pond Trail made for an easy descent as well. I saw a few others hiking up as I worked my way down. The sun was finally out a bit on this trail, and that made it that much nicer. Dropping down into the hardwoods, a layer of leaves also started to develop on the trail. I was cruising along nicely near the end of the trail when I came around a corner onto a straight section only to see a black bear standing in the trail up ahead of me about 75 feet. I stopped to watch and see what it did. Pretty quickly it made a bit of a bound off of the trail and crashed through some vegetation off into the woods. Initially I thought the bear was easily over 300 lbs, but the more I thought about it later, the more adjusted my estimate to around 300-350 lbs, probably on the lower end of that range.

I suspected based on size this bear was male, but I still waited to see if any young ones were trailing behind. After a short wait and not seeing anything else, I started walking slowly down the trail again looking for it in the trees in case it didn't go very far. I didn't see it again, but you'd be surprised how many dark objects off in the trees get your attention after seeing a bear on the trail. Soon I was at the bridge and then back to my car. All in all this was a pretty nice hike with a good bear sighting thrown in. I was surprised at the pace I was able to keep during this hike, but the terrain was good for it.

Descending the Skylight Pond Trail

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Mt. Chocorua (3,500 ft) & Middle Sister (3,340 ft) 10-10-15

Distance: 10.1 mi.
Elevation: 2,749 ft (overall) 3,679 ft (total)
Time: 2:55 (Jim Liberty Cabin) 3:40 (Mt. Chocorua) 4:29 (Middle Sister) 6:34 (Total)
Trails: Piper Trail, Weetamoo Trail, Hammond Trail, Liberty Trail, Piper Trail, Middle Sister Trail, Carter Ledge Trail, Nickerson Ledge Trail, Piper Trail

Things started off a bit chilly this morning, but since it's already almost mid October, that isn't surprising. The trail is wide and very wasy to start, so I caught up to some other hikers pretty quickly. I hung back just a bit since I knew I would be taking another trail early on, and didn't suspect they would be doing the same.

If it weren't for the sign at the start of the Weetamoo Trail, I probably would have walked right past it. There isn't anything distinguishing about the start of this trail with the open woods at this part of the Piper Trail. The less defined treadway shows it isn't as heavily traveled. The trail stays pretty easy, still not gaining much elevation. Before long, it works it's way to the biggest brook crossing of today's hike. Even with some recent rain, the water level was pretty low and the crossing was easy with so many rocks above water.

Brook crossing

Pretty soon the trail starts into a long gradual swithcback. It turns to the left and works along the side hill where the trail has been dug in a bit. It then turns back to the right and follows the spine of a small ridge. After this interesting section, the trail veers a bit more to the right and starts to get a bit more rocky. The trail again turns left, and stays this way pretty much until the Hammond Trail. The trail passes by a large glacial erratic on the right side of the trail. I thought this might be Weetamoo Rock that was on my map, but there was no sign to say so. Soon after though, I found the real Weetamoo Rock... a much bigger erratic on the left side of the trail. Unfortunately, there are enough branches in the way that there wasn't a clear spot to photograph the entire rock from.

Weetamoo Trail

On the Hammond Trail, the terrain got a bit more interesting. There were a few narrower gaps to climb through and the trail started to go over flat exposed rock while staying in the trees. I've always liked sections like this. The summit cone was also starting to come in and out of sight now. It was still cloudy in all directions, but I was starting to see some clear sky off in the distance, giving me hope for sun and nice views before I was done. After a few ups and downs in the trail and one intersection, the trail goes right past the Jim Liberty cabin. The cabin is very close to the summit cone sticking up ahead of you. I expected it to be a bit further away. I stopped here for a short break out of the wind for a snack and to make sure I had dry layers on. With the cool temps and blowing winds, it was smarter to do that here than somewhere more exposed.

Jim Liberty Cabin

I continued past the cabin up the trail. The trail starts to get steeper here and more difficult. There was at least one spot where I needed my hands to help pull myself up. The trail also goes over a few open rock slabs that could be tricky or dangerous when wet or in winter. One of these open areas though seemed to have small sections broken or blasted out in order to make a more flat surface to walk across. After the intersection with the Bee Line Trail, the Liberty trail turns right and heads up towards the summit. It got steep here, but footing was good. At the intersection of the short spur that actually leads up to the summit, I didn't notice any blazes indicating which way it went. So I ended up basically just going straight and climbed up over the rocks to get there.

Section of rock made flatter for the trail

The summit was a nice open area with views all around, but unfortunately the clouds were still above us. To the west and north things had cleared up, but we were still in the shade. There were a number of others scattered around the summit, mostly trying to stay out of the wind, which was averaging 22 mph. While I had forgotten a pair of gloves and a hat for today, it seemed many other hikers forget anything with long legs or long sleeves. Quite a few hikers coming up were very under dressed and looked quite cold. It was only 31 degrees on the summit and the windchill made it feel like 21.

View from Mt. Chocorua

With all the people around, I didn't stay at the summit long. On the way down I was able to find the blazes for the spur trail. I even found one back at the bottom of it that I missed earlier. If you are at the start of it, it's a bit to the right as you look up the rocks. Continuing over towards Middle Sister was mostly straight forward, although there were a number of faded blazes on the rocks. These faded blazes along with people not seeming to realize where the Liberty Trail goes and where the summit spur is meant lots of hikers were just heading up over the rocks looking for the top. This meant many looking confused or trying more dangerous routes. It also meant more traffic walking over the vegetation around the summit which already has a hard enough time growing.

Once past the Piper Trail, I started seeing fewer hikers. This was fine with me. It was a quick climb up to the first sister where I saw a small mole. I tried to get a picture of him, but he ducked under some rocks before I could. I quickly headed to Middle Sister. The distance between the peaks is short and the trail is easy. I spent quick a bit of time at the summit of Middle Sister. There wasn't anyone else there until I was ready to leave, and the structures gave me something to explore. I was also patiently waiting for the clouds to clear above me. Eventually, the clouds did clear up enough that I was in the sun. It was nice to get the warmth, plus the better lighting for pictures.

Middle Sister summit view west

Middle Sister summit view north

Middle Sister summit stone foundation

I headed down the Middle Sister Trail until I reached the Carter Ledge Trail. From here, it got steep for a while. The trail goes down over many open areas of rocks. Some of which were still a bit wet and potentially slippery. I carefully made my way down these and was soon on a flat section of trail leading over Carter Ledge. The trail stays a safe distance from the actual ledge, but things are open enough that there are some nice views and it an interesting walk through the area.

Some nice patches of foliage

View from Carter Ledge Trail

After the ledges, the is steep for a short distance then gets easier. At a large rock in the trail, I followed a path to the left and soon couldn't tell where the trail went. After looking around for a while, I headed back up to a spot where I knew I was on the trail. Apparently the trail turns right at that rock instead of left. A small blaze or arrow would have been nice here. Once I was on the Nickerson Ledge Trail, it was fast and smooth hiking most of the way back to the car. The Nickerson Ledge Trail is mostly flat with a nice soft treadway. The Piper Trail is wide and pretty easy with only some rocks and multiple wood water bars. Once back to the car I saw how much the parking lot was overflowing. I was glad I got here early and stayed off the most popular trail.

All in all, I liked most of the mountain. The route I took today was very nice. I didn't like the crowds of seemingly inexperienced hikers out trying to look at foliage on the holiday weekend. They couldn't completely be blamed for their actions though as the trail above treeline needs some serious reblazing (or cairns for when there is snow). I was honestly disappointed about how poorly the trails were blazed considering how popular this mountain is.

Looking back during a quick stop at Chocorua Lake

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Noble Falls & Plimpton Falls 10-4-15

Distance: 1.85 mi.
Elevation: 200 ft (overall) 407 ft (total)
Time: 0:29 (Noble Falls) 0:35 (Plimpton Falls) 0:56 (Total)
Trails: Herd path

After another waterfall hike earlier, I made the short drive to this hike in the same area. From another person's trip report I had the info about where the unofficial trail started to go out to these falls.

The path is pretty easy to follow and has had some work done on it to make it even to walk on. In one spot it crosses an area with some ski paths, but if you stay straight and a bit to the left, you'll stay on the right path. At the end, it drops down to the right with a small switchback that leads you right to the base of the falls.

A light path leads to the falls

Noble Falls are also known as Bridesmaid Falls. There is one sign with this name along the path and another on a tree at the falls. This is probably due to the proximity of Bridal Veil Falls. The falls are located where two small brooks drop over the same rock cliff face into a large bowl shaped area. The location is pretty interesting and had an awesome feel to it. I definitely plan to come back here again, hopefully with a bit more water flowing.

Noble Falls

The right cascade

The left cascade

Noble Falls

After spending a while taking photos of Noble Falls, I headed down stream just a bit to get some pictures of Plimpton Falls. The distance is short and the elevation loss isn't bad, but there is no path and the footing wasn't the best. While the falls are an interesting cascade over multiple layers of rock, there really isn't many vantage points for good photos. Some downed trees and low limbs don't help either.

Plimpton Falls

Just as in my earlier hike, the shape of the terrain allowed for good photos on a sunny day. I was able to avoid any hot spots for the most part. As I said, I'll definitely be back to this one again.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Bridal Veil Falls & Holden Falls 10-4-15

Distance: 5.085 mi.
Elevation: 1,129 ft (overall) 1,220 ft (total)
Time: 1:26 (Bridal Veil Falls) 1:38 (Holden Falls) 2:29 (Total)
Trails: Coppermine Road, Coppermine Trail, Bushwhack, Coppermine Trail, Coppermine Road

The parking lot for this hike is just off Rte 116 at the start of Coppermine Road (on the left). You walk the road for a bit before bearing right on a road that says it's only open to foot traffic. This will eventually turn into the trail and head behind some of the houses on the road that goes left.

On the way to this hike, I was lucky enough to see a black bear with 3 cubs on the side of the road not long after getting off Interstate 93. Unfortunately, they all ran off before I could even get my car stopped to try and take some pictures. It wasn't long after, I was at the trail head and noticed that the temperature had dipped a few more degrees in the last 15 minutes and it was now down near freezing. Good thing I had a pair of work gloves in the car that I could use on the start of this hike.

After walking up the road some, the trail starts off wide with a gradual incline. It's easy to follow and doesn't have too many rocks. It eventually starts to get closer to Coppermine Brook. As it does this, there is one "intersection" that you will come to. There is a woods road that heads uphill to the left. You'll want to continue straight/right and you should see a blue sign off to the right to help you remember this.

Early section of trail

Short climb on the trail

The trail starts to have some short climbs in it, but never any real hard ones. By the time I was here, I had already removed my gloves and fleece as it was warming up nicely. As I continued up the trail and got closer to the tributary that Holden Falls is on, I started to scope out how hard it would be to get down to the brook and across it. The brook that these falls are on, isn't really distinctive and there is nothing letting you know they are further up stream.

Eventually I came to the bridge that crosses the brook. From here, it is just a short distance to the Coppermine Shelter and then Bridal Veil Falls. I was lucky enough to be the first one up here today, so I was able to take all my photos without worry of anyone else being in them or me being in their photos. I went up the right side of the lower cascade to get to the upper portion of the falls and it was quite slippery with a thin wet layer of moss and slime on the rocks. The couple that showed up when I was getting done tried the left side, but I didn't stay long enough to see how that worked out for them.

Bridal Veil Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

The entire cascade

On the way back down, I headed off trail at the spot I picked out for going to Holden Falls. I found a small herd path that I started to follow, but it continued further past the area where the falls are. I had the location in my GPS, so I knew I was close and didn't need to follow the path any further. I could also hear the waterfall too. I worked down to the falls and pushed through some branches to get to the base. This waterfall was smaller than Bridal Veil Falls, but at least as good. It's got a more remote feel to it plus the water cascades down over the rocks into multiple nice streams.

Holden Falls

Holden Falls

After finishing up my pictures, I headed back to the herd path and then the trail. I got back on trail just before a couple of hikers came into sight, so no one would even know where I ventured off and back on. From here, the hike out was pretty easy and went quickly. I had already been up the trail and it was easy anyways. As I got further, there started to be more and more hikers coming up the trail. Since I had another hike planned still, I was glad to get out early ahead of them.

Leaf confetti

The weather for today was quite sunny. The forecasts had been predicting mostly cloudy. With a daddy/daughter day yesterday, I figured today would be a good day to visit waterfalls instead of mountain tops. There had been some recent rain, so the water would be flowing well. Even though it was sunny today, I got lucky with the contours of the terrain and the locations of the waterfalls. I was able to spend enough time at the falls to get all the pictures I wanted without needing to deal with big differences in light between sunny spots and spots in the shard. All in all, it turned out well.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Mt. Lafayette (5,260 ft) 9-12-15

Distance: 8.12 mi.
Elevation: 3,440 ft (overall) 3,663 ft (total)
Time: 2:25 (Hut) 3:39 (Summit) 4:20 (Hut) 5:52 (Total)
Trails: Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf Trail

For Flags on the 48 2015, I signed up to hike with the same group of people that I have the last couple of years. It's a good group of people that all enjoy the day and making fun of each other. We would actually be one of two groups hiking today to fly a flag on Mt. Lafayette. Our group leader had been in contact with the other group leader, so we choose to hike up the Old Bridle Path based on their plans and some of their hikers spending the night at the Greenleaf Hut.

We all met at the trail head parking lot at 7:30 am. We would be minus a couple hikers due to unexpected events and not feeling well. Before long, we were headed up the trail with Jim carrying his potato cannon flag pole. This trail is a very popular route, but it was early enough there weren't many hikers out yet. We were making good time over the worn down and sometimes rocky trail.

Brian holding the flag pole on the way over the Agonies

We took our first break before a ways before the Agonies. Jim was getting more winded than normal, so Brian took the flagpole from here to the hut. After a nice break and some snacks/drinks, we headed out again keeping a good pace until the view points on the Agonies. We took a couple short breaks here, but mostly continued on at a good pace. We made good time to the hut and met up with most of the other group there.

We took a nice break here and chatted with our fellow hikers. The weather was nice so far, so now heading up above tree line wouldn't be an issue. From the hut, the trail stays in the trees for a short distance before going and out of some shorter trees. It's then all above tree line for a good distance all the way to the summit. Shortly before the summit though, I needed to take a break while the rest of the group headed on. I don't think I had been drinking enough fluids and my left leg was starting to cramp up. I found a great spot to sit on a flat rock in a small shady area. I made sure to drink more while resting before heading up the last push to the summit.

A short steep section of trail

Nearing the summit

I was bummed I had to drop back from the group, but I was at the summit with them again before we started setting up the flag. We got the flag up quickly and easily. Once we had it secured, we helped the other group with their flag. We had both flags up well before noon. We then started looking around at the other summits to see which flags we could make out in the distance. It was nice to finally have a year with good weather after the last 3 years have had limited to no views.

Attaching the flag

Our flag is flying

The other groups flags are up too

Eventually we could spot around a dozen other flags on nearby summits, including a couple without open areas at the high point. The weather stayed nice for the entire time at the summit with just higher level clouds coming in later on. While we didn't get any flybys from the military this year (they were busy with other tasks), we did have a couple of gliders that came very close to our summit and others around Franconia Notch.

One of the gliders flying today

The flag on Mt. Lincoln

West Bond flag

Great weather for the event

After packing up, we headed down the trail and into the parade of hikers that were on this route today. A number of others were still heading up, and plenty were also heading down. It was hard to get into the pace we normally would have with so much traffic. Everything went fine for us on the decent though and soon enough we were sitting down at a local restaurant for supper.

the parade of hikers as we head down the mountain

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE