The Friday Walkers had a two-part hike on Sept. 19.  The first part was a hike to Rainbow Falls; thanks to the recent rain, there was water in the waterfall!

Lea, Chris, John, Gen, Ricky, Ann, Irena, Jane, Alan  photographer:  Laura

The second part of the day was at Quincy Bog, where Reed and Jennifer Harrigan gave us a guided tour around the bog, including stops to examine mushrooms and eat Indian Cucumber.  

Monty, Reed, Jennifer, John, Gen, Jane, Irena, Ricky, Lea, Alan, Chris, Ann    Photographer:  Laura

Monroe, Washington - September 15, 2026

We couldn't have had a better hiking day, a real gem for mid-September, without the summit fog and dampness a day on either side, for this grueling 10-hour, 10+ mile hike to bag Monroe and Washington. The route took us up the new relocated section of the lower part of the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, to the "Gem Pool", then steeply up and out of the woods into the alpine zone and finally to the Lakes of the Clouds hut. Most of us dropped our packs at the hut for the quick 20-minute hike up to Monroe. Below, after the return to the hut, are Steve, Marie, Deb, Andy, Dick, Chris, and Pam. Not in the photo are Pat, Michele, and Charlie.

After the 1.5 mile, 1300 ft hike from the hut to the Washington summit, we had more lunch at the summit building. Then it was time for the long five-mile descent. A short distance north on the Crawford path took us to a crossing of the Cog Railway track. Here, at the track, are Dick, Charlie, Marie, Michele, Pat, and Deb (pic by Andy). Pam, Chris, and Steve had moved on ahead, to go over Mt Clay, over to Mt Jefferson, and down by a different route. That peak above Dick in the photo is Mt Jefferson, and to the right is Mt Sam Adams, a bump on the shoulder of Mt Adams just off the right edge of the photo.

B group hike, Sep 10th, Mt. Cardigan

 Only two of us (Mary and Ginger) hiked Mt Cardigan on 9/10. It had rained hard overnight so there were sections with rushing water and several wet, steep scrambles. By the time we reached the top the 30 mph winds had dried the open ledges. It was a lovely day and hike!

Photos taken, but I can't get them to load at the moment.  

Garfield 4500' - September 8, 2026

Although the weather wasn’t perfect, we didn’t get rained on and we had another large group of 11 hikers! More importantly, we celebrated Jonathan and Becky completing their first round of the NH 48 4,000 footers! Congratulations!!

The group hiked Mt. Garfield using the Garfield Trail and a little bit of the Garfield Ridge Trail. Chris ascended using the Skookumchuck and Garfield Ridge Trails.

We had a wonderful celebration at the bottom of the trail with champagne, brownies and wonderful homemade cake! And Larry joined us to celebrate, too!

Below are Becky, Jonathan, Pam, Deb, Jane, Chas, Doug, Chris, Andy and Dick. No views but lots of smiling faces (even Dick!)!

Congratulations Jonathan and Becky!

The party begins!

Andy and Deb celebrated completing their second round, too!

Turtles, Sep 8th, Flume Gorge & Polly's pancakes

 As is our long-standing tradition for the day after Labor Day, on Sept. 8 the Turtles hiked at the Flume Gorge, and then treated ourselves to lunch at Polly's Pancake Parlor.

Ann, Chris, Ricky, John, Mary Lou, Ted

Friday Walkers, Sep 4th, Dot Banks trail

 

On Sept. 4, the Friday Walkers hiked the Dot Banks trail to Lost Lake.

John, Jane, Kathie, Robyn, Neng, Ricky, Li   photographer:  Ann

Turtles, Aug 25th, Boulder Loop

 On Aug. 25, the Turtles hiked the appropriately-named Boulder Loop.

Monty, Irena, Denise, Karen, Tracy, Jeff, Lorraine

Turtles, Sep 1st, Black Cap

 It might have been raining in other parts of NH on Sept. 1, but it was a lovely day in Bartlett where the Turtles hiked Black Cap.

Karen, Lorraine, Jane, Nancy, Irena, John   Photographer:  Ricky

Mt Madison and Adams - August 31, 2026

There was a lot of interest in this hike. Twelve of us (!) hiked up Valley Way on a perfect late summer day, with clear skies and cool, dry air. High up on the trail, Steve M cut over to the Airline trail, then on up to bag Adams (5799'), while the rest of us continued to Madison Hut. After a brief stop at the hut to snack, we did the half mile scramble up over boulders to the top of Mt Madison (5367'). On the way up, we encountered two more of us, Larry and Andy, who had decided separately to do the hike also but left earlier. They connected atop Madison and were on their way down. "Small world," amid a much larger one! The view up there is 360 degrees, from looking across the Great Gulf at Mt Washington, part of the Auto Road, across the notch at the Wildcat ski area, sweeping around past the Carter Range, northward to the Kilkenny Range. It seems odd that we couldn't see Mt Adams itself, just a mile and a half to our west, but that was hidden behind Mt Quincy Adams, looming above the hut. Back down at the hut, we took our time having lunch and snacking on the hut's "front porch." Below are Ginger (front), David, Marie, Barbara, Michele, Mary, Jane, Katherine, Dick, Charlie, and Leanne.

 

Our photographer, Lynn:

 

Another group hiked Adams and Madison from a different direction. Pam, Chris, Doug and Steve started from Rt 16 at the Great Gulf Wilderness Trailhead and ascended to Adams on the Great Gulf, Madison Gulf and Star Lake trails. Great Gulf and Madison Gulf are on the NH Terrifying 25 list. At the top of Adams, they met up with Andy and Larry. Upon leaving Adams, the group of 4 headed to Madison Hut and the summit of Madison before descending to Appalachia. Andy and Larry descended partly on Airline and then took the cutoff to Valley Way.

The views and the weather were absolutely tremendous.

Below are Pam, Steve and Doug on the trail. Pic by Chris.

Below are Larry, Pam, Andy, Steve and Doug on the Adams summit. Pic by Chris.

Below are Steve, Doug, Pam and Chris on the Madison summit with Mt Washington to the right.

Friday Walkers, Aug 28th, Knights Pond

 On Aug. 28, the Friday Walkers hiked around Knights Pond in Wolfeboro (though perhaps it is in Alton...).  A lovely trail which allows one to see the pond from many different vantage points.

Jane, John, Ricky, Lisa, Kathie, David   Photographer:  Ann

B group hike, Rogers Ledge

 On the third attempt to hike to Roger’s Ledge, we finally made it! The weather cooperated (after two cancellations due to heat and rain), and Michele, John, and I (Mary) enjoyed the good views and wonderful breeze.  Chris, after being waylaid with car troubles, was also able to complete the hike.

B group hike, Mt Percival & Morgan, Aug 21, 2026

Four hikers went in a counterclockwise direction heading up Mount Percival first. Steve and Carol went through the caves to reach the summit. Katherine and Brenda went to the summit via the cliffs route. Great views and snacks at the summit looking out over Squam lake. After a 1 mile traverse to Mount Morgan, another stop for more views, pictures and snacks. Carol, Steve and Katherine descended via the ladders as Brenda went around to meet them.

5.3 miles, 1512 feet, with some fun adventures along the way.

Mt Cabot - August 26, 2026

 We had a very good weather day for our trip up Mt Cabot, the northernmost of the NH 48 4K. The route from near the hatchery on York Pond Rd took us up Bunnell Notch to the Kilkenny Ridge trail. From there it was on and up, first to the cabin near the top, and finally up the last couple tenths of a mile to the wooded, viewless summit. Steve and Brenda decided to continue on, going over the Bulge and to the Horn (a 52WAV peak), down past Unknown Pond, and out via the southern half of the Unknown Pond Trail. Meanwhile, Pam and Chris did that loop counterclockwise. At the end, we all arrived back at the cars over about a half hour or so. Here we are, the hike done, and ready for the long ride home. Front: Katherine, Brenda, Dick; rear: Steve, Chris, Pam, Michele.

Friday Walkers, Aug 21, Center Harbor Woods

 On Aug. 21, the Friday Walkers hiked the Center Harbor Woods and Proctor Wildlife Preserve.  The lack of rain this summer meant that there were no mosquitoes, but also that several of the streams were entirely dry, as were the wetland areas.

Ann, Lisa, John, Lea, Jane, Mary, Kathie, Jorge

North Twin, South Twin - August 19, 2026

Four of us OTHH made a loop hike out of the trip to the Twins, going up the North Twin Trail, down the Twinway to the AMC Galehead hut, and out via the Gale River Trail. The first part of the trip is a fairly easy two miles in from the end of Haystack Road, following the Little River for much of the way. The river crossing wasn't too hard, as water flows were less than at other times. Then we got down to business, over a steeper and generally rocky two more miles, topping out at a very nice view ledge. Five minutes later we were at the top of North Twin. There is no view at all from the actual summit, but a couple hundred feet past that leads to an open ledge. This was a nice place to regroup, have a snack, and take photos. Below is part of the view from there, with South Twin (4902') on the left , looming over "little" Galehead (4204') to its right. Beyond Galehead is first the long humped ridge that is Owls Head, and beyond that the two pointy peaks of Flume and Liberty. Part of the Franconia Ridge is shown to the right, all of which, plus Garfield, were easily identified from where we stood. If you look closely, the roof of Galehead Hut is visible as that small white dot in the col between South Twin and Galehead.

From North Twin, we took the spur trail down, over, and up to the top of South Twin, which has its own grand view of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. That makes a great place to stop for lunch. Below, at the top, are the four of us (L-R), Brenda, Dick, Chris, and Pam.

Next was the mile long, steep descent from South Twin to the hut, dropping around 1,000 ft in elevation. Pam and Chris dropped packs at the hut and made the short hike up to bag viewless Galehead, since it's "right there." Meanwhile Brenda and I decided that an 11-mile day would be long enough, left Galehead for another day, and went on ahead. It wasn't long before Pam and Chris caught up. After the rocky first two miles of descent, the trail got a lot easier to cover, but the rest of it, while fairly easy walking, seemed to go on forever. Chris gave us a ride back to Haystack Road, where we began the long day.

Turtles, Aug 18th, Mt. Roberts

 

On Aug. 18, the Turtles hiked to the first viewpoint on Mt. Roberts.  In spite of forecasts for rain, the weather turned out to be just fine.

Monty, Ann, John, Tracy, Jeff, Lacey, Ricky, Lorraine, Mary, Lea, Jorge

A few of the hikers then continued on to the top of Mt. Roberts

Lorraine, Lacey, Jeff  photographer:  Tracy

Friday Walkers, Aug 14th, Cooks Pond Trail

 On Aug. 14, the Friday Walkers hiked the Cooks Pond Trail in the Ossipee Pine Barrens.  We departed from the blazed trail, hiking an unmarked trail that brought us closer to the river that connects Cooks Pond and Silver Lake -- a much more interesting option.

Jorge, Lisa, Ann, John, Mary, Kathie, Lea

Aug 13th, B group, Mt. Hedgehog

 7 hikers climbed up and around Mt Hedgehog after a rainy night and before more rain arrived later in the day. 

Great hike with beautiful views along the way!

Turtles, Aug 11th, Cardigan

 On Aug. 11, the Turtles hiked Cardigan on a beautiful day.

Mary Lou, Irena, Tracy, Monica, Brian

Middle Carter, South Carter - August 10, 2026

A good size group of us took a long walk in the woods and uphill to the ridge that comprises the Carter Range, on the east side of Pinkham Notch. We did a clockwise loop, starting with a half mile road walk, then uphill for a few miles to the ridge, at the junction of the North Carter Trail and Carter-Moriah Trail. Turning south, we hiked 0.6 miles along the ridge to Middle Carter, the high point on the loop for most of us. There were nice views along the way, both west across the notch to the northern presidentials and east over to the Baldfaces and beyond into Maine.

Moving on southward, we came next to South Carter, and finally down to what's called Zeta Pass, the col between South Carter and Carter Dome. Some of the faster hikers had gone on ahead, to do the out-and-back to include Carter Dome. Several went up to Carter Dome via Mt Hight, known for its great 360-degree views.

For those of us who did just the two Carter loop, the return to the cars was the end of an 11-mile, nine-hour hike. For those who also did Carter Dome, add another 2-1/2 miles and close to two hours. That's all, folks!