February 27, 2024 - Mt Pierce

 Marie, Michele, and Dick had a great weather day for a trip up the Crawford Path to the top of Mt Pierce, in the southern presidentials. The weather was quite mild, but the trail remained firmly packed and easy going with just microspikes. Higher up, there was a lot more snow still on the trees, and the bright blue sky above made great contrast. Out in the open a bit below the top, without trees around us, the strong breeze made things too chilly to stand around very long. Below are Michele and Marie, with a presidential background; farthest away and totally white are Jefferson, Reagan (formerly Clay), Washington, and Boott Spur. Coming closer from Mt Washington, just left of center, are first the white top of Monroe, then Franklin, and finally Eisenhower.

 

A couple hundred yards farther up and we were at the top of Pierce, and ready to head back down into the trees for a quick lunch.

February 23, 2024 - Mt Roberts

 Nine of us OTHH shared a common need/desire to get out of the house and walk up something. So a quick trip up Mt Roberts met that need/want very well. With the well-packed snow filling in everything, our ascent to the top went by in about 1:45, including a brief photo stop at the lower outlook. In one of those pics taken there, we have Tracy B, Patsy, Barbara, Cathy, Sally, Tracy R, Michele, and Wharton (pic by Dick). While that particular spot was largely bare, the trail itself was mostly on snow.

The skies kept clearing out as we ascended, ultimately becoming bright blue overhead on the way down. We really cruised on the descent, taking about 1:20 for that.

Mt Tecumseh - February 15, 2024

 Six of us OTHH took a walk up a "white sidewalk through the woods," from the ski area parking lot to the top of Mt Tecumseh. Although quite chilly at the start, in the teens and with a slight breeze, we warmed up quickly enough with the uphill effort. Without much recent fresh snowfall and the weekend's warmth, and with all the hiker traffic that trail has seen, the trail was quite solid underneath. Thus we went with just microspikes. The only problem with this is that the steeper parts of the trail, with an unrelenting even grade, really stretch those calf muscles, and uncomfortably so for some of us who aren't kids anymore. I wonder if anyone makes microspikes with heel lifters - hmmm.

Below are Dick, Pam, Jane, Michele, and Tom, huddled together at the top (pic by Barbara). That's snow-capped Mt Washington far off in the distance, to the left. We didn't hang around long at the top, as it was rather cold and breezy, so it was back down into the trees in the lee of the summit cone.

Halfway down, where the trail provides an outlook by the side of one of the ski trails ("The Boneyard," I think). We stopped there for a snack and pics. Below are (front) Pam, Barbara, Jane, Dick, (rear) Tom, Michele.

Moosilauke February 9, 2024

Four of us hiked to the summit of Moosilauke (4802 ft) on Friday. The weather cooperated and actually improved as we neared the summit. The temperature at the bottom was in the low 30s when we started, upper 30s at the summit and low 50s at the bottom when we finished. The trail was firmly packed down, so we only used microspikes. The views to the north, east and south were very nice. There was some haze to the west so we couldn't see the Vermont mountains.

Below are Dick, Marie, Pam and Doug.