Tag Archives: hiking

Mt. Osceola Ascent

Two weeks ago I got some more fall hiking in with Annelise and Sweeney. This time our goal was Mt. Osceola from the Waterville Valley side. Sweeney drove up and we got underway pretty quickly.

Heading out.

The visibility was poor, and it was spitting rain, but we had a fun ascent up slabby rock, chatting as we went. There isn’t a good way to make a loop out of it less than 10 miles, especially after Irene tore up some trails to the east. Because of this, we planned to double back the way we’d come.

At first we thought this pylon was the peak…with no views to be had.

Supposedly on top of the mountain are good views–on any other day that would be true. There is a great outlook ledge where old fire tower pylons remain.

Not much to see here today.

Posing in front of the spectacular view

We were on a peak after all.

Sweeney had been hoping to scout out some slides in the area, but we forgot to mark a waypoint before the hike, and with the poor visibility, rummaging through brush didn’t turn up anything interesting.

Obligatory foliage shot

It’s definitely fall in NH.

Sweeney has a couple more photos from the trip, so hopefully you’ll see an update on his site soon. All the photos you see here are credit to Annelise.

Trip data including a bit of driving to the trail head:

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Tripyramid Takedown

This is the final post in a catch up effort I finally made. Read about Sweeney and I constructing our own gym, and my trip to Acadia which I also just posted. Unfortunately I missed key photo opportunities at most of our July/August climbing trips.

Here we go:

Last weekend Sweeney made some spontaneous hiking plans and made a quick drive up to Lincoln for some day hiking. I’d been wanting to hike the Tripyramids, or Trippy-amids as I sometimes call them for some reason. They were pointed out on this blog, and the ~11 mile loop we planned seemed like a solid route.

The hike was mostly enclosed by trees, but had a few good views. Since it was just the two of us, we did our best to race up the steep ascent and then hike along the ridge to past the north peak to Middle Tripyramid, both of which are just over 4k elevation.

Some foliage as we crested the ridge.

We took a break at Middle Tripyramid, once we’d found a good outlook. We did the 5 mile ascent in 2 hours, so it seemed like a well deserved break. Time to soak in the view.

One of a few good views from the middle peak, with Waterville in the background.

To the right…

And the left.

There is a distinct lack of snow behind Sweeney.

We backtracked a bit to turn the hike into a loop, with about a mile walk on the Kanc to get back to the car. After a steep, but brief portion, it was mostly easy going. Unfortunately, there were many streams and rivers between us and the road. They were very nice to look at–the river was strewn with smooth rocks and had very clear water, but after crossing it for the 5th time, it got a bit tiresome.

One of the roughly 25+ river and stream crossings on the way down.

A stream bed that got pretty destroyed by Irene.

After one or two last crossings, we knew we were in the clear. I actually took my shoes off at one point and just waded across. Just when we thought we were approaching the road, the hiking trail turned into a gravel road. We suddenly came upon a tourist landmark, a unique water fall.

Unexpected landmark. A basalt dyke created Sabbaday Falls.

Unexpected landmark. Sabbaday Falls was created by a plate fault across a basalt dyke.

Checking it out…

Pretty cool.

Photo op. I tried using my new (and first) smart phone exclusively for photos. It did alright.

This made the final hike out a little easier than expected, but it was a cool find, and a great way to end the hike. We made in back to the car about 5 hours after we’d left, and took the scenic Kancamagus back to Lincoln for some food and ski sale perusing.

Here’s Sweeney’s trip data which he kindly provided to me:

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Whirlwind Acadia Weekend

I wasn’t sure it would happen, but this past August I managed to continue the tradition of making it up to Acadia at least once. I had to drive by myself both ways, but it was totally worth it for an amazing weekend on the island.

I drove up Friday and made it onto the island in time to settle in before it got too late. Saturday morning we put in my sister’s Kayak and rented another to head out into Somes Sound. The weather was perfect, blue skies, and glassy ocean without much wind.

Out in Somes Sound. Calm morning, and still water.

The sea life must’ve agreed with us, since we saw a few seals and several porpoises. Not pictured, unfortunately.

My sister in her personal boat. That I have no chance of getting into.

After being on the water for a few hours, we went to pick up a park pass and then drove in search of the glorious Jordan Pond house popovers, something I’ve missed out on the past few years.

Glorious.

The day wasn’t over yet though. A quick jaunt along Jordan Pond brought us to the southern ascent of the South Bubble, a great steep, short hike. I went for a brief jog to scope out the climbing in the area, and after a bit of scrambling determined where it was, but further investigation was for another day. We made it up to Bubble rock just as the sun began to sink low.

Hangin' out on top.

The view from South Bubble.

Afterwards we executed a mission to quickly pick up some beer and burritos, then went on a night hike to our preferred hang out to enjoy our plunder.

Sunday morning we got up early for some delicious breakfast, after which I headed to Otter Cliffs to meet up with Sukes for some climbing. The cliffs were bustling with guides, their groups, and a few other pairs of climbers. It was definitely busier than I’d ever seen. Luckily now that I have some pro, Sukes and I were able to quickly pick out a route we figured we’d have no problem getting up, and start setting up.

Sukes and his Dad, enjoying the great view.

Cordelette in action for a 3 piece anchor. The puddle is all part of it.

Close-up of our top-belay system. Use a second rope for rappelling down if you have it. We were shown this setup by some climbers on our first Otter Cliff outing. Black 'biner is for lowering, silver is for belaying.

We set on a fun 5.7 with big blocks, ledges and a fun crux. It was slightly overhanging with a few hidden pockets. Unfortunately we were both short on time, so after we lowered each other and ascended twice, we called it a day.

Sukes getting fully extended on the block-y ledges.

Me, right at the crux.

Second time around. Resting briefly before the crux.

After climbing I laid low at camp and enjoyed some quality family time. The drive home had the usual traffic, but it was totally worth it, as always.

Daytrippin’: Flume Slide and College Rock

Two weeks ago a group of us headed up to my friend Alex’s place in Lincoln for a NH brewfest followed by a trek up the Flume Slide trail which summits Mt. Liberty. It was every bit as steep as I remember, with the slide itself being about as steep as you would want to hike without some grippy climbing shoes.

It was a beautiful day and we managed to avoid a band of storms that swept across the more northern part of the Fraconia ridge.

The view from liberty to Cannon.

Group photo

Last weekend Sweeney and I revisited College Rock, about a year after Sukes and I first checked it out.

The left side of the college rock wall.

There was only one other pair of climbers there, probably because of 90 degree weather with 100% humidity. Still, it was tolerable under the canopy and we set on a 5.7-5.8 with a few variants. I think it was Send Money/More Money.

The More Money face, with rope set up. More TRs require 30-40ft of webbing.

Sweeney prepping for the climb, with the right side of the wall behind.

The climb was a little crimpy, but fun, and we both tried it a few times. However, as we were resetting the top-rope, a band of storms rolled through, so we decided to boulder for a bit instead. The right side of the wall is lower and flatter, which allows for some fairly safe bouldering despite the fact that I don’t have a pad.

Bouldering action

More bouldering.

I’m hoping to focus more on climbing over the next couple of weeks. I’d really like to do some more sport or trad in the near future.