.March 4, 2007It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm going to try to squeeze in another hike. Madison and I headed off on Kearsarge Trail near North Conway, New Hampshire.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It looks like while I was packing down the trail going up to Mount Moriah yesterday, there were many hikers packing down this trail. Great!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The trail was so well packed that I took off my snowshoes. I met a couple coming down.
"Did you go to the top?" I asked.
"No, the snow was way too deep and the trail wasn't packed. There was another couple with snowshoes who were continuing."
Great maybe the trail will be broken all the way to the top. I got my fill of trail breaking yesterday.
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About 45 minutes later, I met the couple with the snowshoes.
"Did you go to the top?" I asked.
"No, the trail just kept going and going. No one has been up there since the last storm."
Looks like I might end up breaking trail after all.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I reached the spot where only the couple with snowshoes had continued. The trail wasn't as packed so I put my snowshoes on before continuing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Another 30 minutes and the tracks ended all together. It was up to me now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Madison, who was ahead of me the whole way, decided to let me break trail and walked behind me. She's a smart one. This made my job more difficult. She kept getting too close and stepping on the back of my snowshoes. As if breaking trail wasn't tough enough, this made it twice as tough. After about 15 minutes of telling her to stay back, she caught on. Another 15 minutes and I neared the summit. What's that structure?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Just like when I reached the summit of Moriah yesterday, the weather fell a part. The winds picked up, and it started snowing. The clouds moved in and I had limited visibility, but I was the first one on the top of the 3268' foot summit since the last storm.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I hope to come in via Weeks Brook Trail another time. The road to that trailhead is closed in the winter, so it will have to be in the summer.
It turns out, the structure I saw was an old firetower. I hoped it wasn't locked. I also hoped it had stairs and not a ladder, that way Madison could go inside with me. This firetower was great. With glass windows all the way around, I was able to get out of the fierce wind. Boy, did that feel good. Madison wasn't impressed. She was having more fun on the windy open summit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Visibility was low. Bummer.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I spent about 20 minutes in the firetower. I spent my time warming up, feeding Madison, having a snack, and reading the trail register. I also learned a little about the firetower.
- Kearsarge North Fire Lookout began in 1909.
- The current lookout was built in 1951.
- It continued operating until 1968.
- The increased use of airplanes for detecting fires replaced the need for lookouts.
- It is now listed on the National Historic Fire Lookout Register (1991).
- It is the last remaining lookout within the White Mountains National Forest.
Then I caught a break. The weather started to clear,
not a lot, but enough to enjoy some of the view.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Looking south to Black Cap
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Looking north to Doublehead
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I will definitely plan to come back. I'll wait for a day with great weather, so I can really enjoy the 360 degree view. Madison was excited when we came down from the lookout. She ran in circles on the summit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Leaving the firetower
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Madison and I ran most of the way down the mountain reaching the bottom in just under an hour.
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