Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Lovely lady slippers


Lovely lady slippers
Originally uploaded by Mark Tuckerman
Lady slippers

Hale Brook


Hale Brook
Originally uploaded by Mark Tuckerman
The nice little gorge on Hale Brook

A peak through the trees

Washington a nice peak through the trees

Caregivers and the victem on Hale

Ellen, Ginette, Pat, Mary, Karen, Mark..the patient, Sandy and Claude..the caregivers..on Hale..thanks to all for helping out with recovery

Ginette seaks the peak

Ginette seaks the peak..and the best view..from Hale

lower brook crossing


lower brook crossing
Originally uploaded by Mark Tuckerman
One Hale, Karen and Ginette cross the lower brook crossing

claude catches a breath

claude stops fro a breather after jogging up the first section of Hale

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Rattlesnakes, B and C groups 5/12

I just got a report from Jim Twaddle about Tuesday's "B" and "C" hikes.

The B group, with Jim, Claire and Bill Smith, Sue and Fred Bowden, Nellica and Dick Allen, Ginny Kupper and Dave Eastman ascended via the Butterworth trail which I know they enjoyed as Claude, Rocket, and I have spent several hours in the past few weeks clearing out blowdowns and the waterbars.. They traversed over to West Peak to meet up with the C group with Jocelyn and her niece, Jim Burns, and Walter Johnson for lunch.. abit of a coolish day kept some of the flies away though I can report that i did Cotton and part of Livermore that evening and the blackflies were quite pesty over there... a Nice kickoff to the spring season on a great back yard peak..

Happy Trails

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Claude and Ellen salute on Waumbek..5/11/09

A salute to the day's leader, Sharon , for the successful ascent

Sharon and Claude on Waumbek

Sharon and Claude on the summit

Spruce Grouse


Spruce Grouse
Originally uploaded by Mark Tuckerman
This S[pruce Grouse flew in pretty close by

Reds and yellows on the forest floor

Reds and yellows on the forest floor

Claude and Ellen on Starr King Trail

Sharon , Claude , and Ellen did the Starr King Trail to Waumbek on tuesday 5/11.. I was a nice warm day..some snow to be dealt with but all in all a successful early season hike

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Trail clearing on Rattlesnakes

I have been using the Rattlesnakes and their various loops as "workout" hikes as I get back out on the trails....Over the past couple of weeks myself and others, including Betsy, patty, Jeremy, Sandy and I have removed most of the blowdowns on the Col and Butterworth Trails.. Today, master trailworker claude and i set out with a rake and saw for an afternoon hike... The Col Trail from 113 starts off easily on a wide logging road crosses a brook on a bridge then follows a tributary that drains an old beaver dam/ marsh area. The trail crosses the brook then curves around for a beautiful section of trail along the side of the marsh..Nice view of the Squam range in the background.. After a brief wet section on an old logging road the trail continues its gradual ascent on a nice hard foot bed through a mixed oak and hemlock forest..The ridge Trail junction is soon reached and we turn left towards the peak less travelled..this section of trail is excellent with a hard gravel or ledge base..we cleared waterbars and a couple of fresh blowdowns then reached the excellent viewpoint on the edge of Squam Lake..The trail curves around and eventually reaches the now viewless summit..2 weeks ago there were veiws but the leaves are out now....The Butterworth Trail drops off steeply to the north..reroutes have made the trail more pleasant than in the past but still a good pitch..We cleared several waterbars..one large birch will require a larger saw than what we had..After following Metcalf Road for a bit we took an old logging road through a landing area and headed back south..after a bit an older road angles down next to a prominet stone wall and we followed that section, crossed the roaring brook..some ral nice spots in here..and whacked through the open beech woods back to the road...Nice day on and off the trail and we did not get rained on.. Allwaterbars cleared..allbut one blowdown removed..