Monday August 29 Presidentials

Seven of us did a variety of hikes on the Presidential Range on Monday. We all started from the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trailhead. Wharton hiked to Monroe. Dick, Larry, Doug B and Tom hiked to Monroe and Washington. Pam and Doug W hiked to Monroe and continued south over Eisenhower, Pierce and Jackson. We all met up at the Lakes of the Clouds hut and at the end of the day.

The weather was pretty decent. The clouds lingered on the summit of Washington but the southern summits were in the clear the whole day. The views were pretty spectacular. It was quite crowded on the summit of Washington.

There were two rescues on Monday, fortunately not for anyone in our group. One AT thru hiker had a serious leg injury and had to be airlifted off the trail near Eisenhower. This incident was first reported to NH Fish and Game at 9:20am but the rescue occurred close to 1:00pm. Another hiker was injured on the Crawford Path, closer to Crawford Notch, and was escorted back to the Notch and taken to the hospital. This is just another reminder of the risks involved with hiking in NH.

Below are pictures of the group at the Lakes of the Clouds hut. L to R are Pam, Dick, Doug W, Larry, Wharton, Dan and Doug B. (The group met Dan on the trail.)

Below, L to R are Tom, Pam, Larry, Doug W, Wharton, Dan and Doug B.

Below, Wharton, Larry, Dan, Tom and Doug B are at the summit of Monroe.

Below, Dan, Tom, Dick, Larry and Doug B are at the summit of Washington.

Below is a picture of the helicopter as it prepares to extract the injured hiker near Eisenhower.

T-Shirts, Tech Shirts, Fleece and Hats

We are putting together an order for Over the Hill Hikers T-Shirts, Tech Shirts, Fleece and Hats! 

Order and payment must be received prior to Sep 15th, with anticipated delivery early to mid October.  

Cash or Check (make payable to Over the Hill Hikers), should be mailed to: Griff O'Brien at 277 Elm Hill Rd, Center Sandwich, NH 03227. 

 Please ensure you complete and print out an order form to include your specific size, color and item choices along with your payment.  

Order form can be found at the following link: OTHH Order Form

Hats $12.00. color choices from Left to Right: Olive (green), Putty (white), Columbia (blue).

Fleece comes in Men's and women's sizing!!

 1/4 zip in Pearl or Navy $24.00

Full zip fleece not shown, but available in Pearl or Navy, $24.00 

Fleece Vest in Pearl or Navy (men); women have choice of Pearl or BLACK $24.00

please specify men's or women's sizing.

Unisex sizing for Sweatshirts.

Pullover Hooded Sweatshirt $24.00

Crew Sweatshirt $22.00

Red or Classic Navy

Unisex sizing for Tech Tees.

Long Sleeve in Silver $11.00

Short Sleeve in Carolina Blue $9.00

Cotton Beefy T-Shirts

Unisex sizing

Long Sleeve is Deep Forest  $11.00

Short Sleeve is Light Blue  $9.00

 The Turtles, about to head up through Big Pines to the fire tower on Great Hill, on Aug. 30 -- an early start on a warm and humid day.

Betsy, Monty, Nancy, John.  Photo by Ricky

Monty enjoys the comfort of the seat carved into a fallen tree!

 The Friday Walkers enjoyed Page Pond in Meredith on Aug. 26.  

Connie, Nancy, Ritva, Donna, Ray, Betsy, Lea, Traci

And they saw a very large mushroom!

Mt. Hayes, 52 WAV hike Aug 25th

 Leanne, Steve, and John had a great hike to the summit and ledges of Mt Hayes. Great views, a fair amount of AT through hikers, and seeing the remains of the burn on the Centennial trail we’re all interesting!

Thursday August 25 Mt Hale

On Thursday, seven of us hiked Mt Hale at 4055 feet. Hale is one of the easier and shorter 4000 footers. There's no view at the summit but there is a big cairn pile. The sky was overcast and the humidity was high. The trail was slippery as it was still wet from recent rains.

Below, the group prepares for the hike at the trailhead on Zealand Rd.

Below, the group is at the summit cairn. Left to right are Wharton, Larry, Dick, Katherine, Doug, Jane and Patsy.

Below, the group collected at a nice brook crossing. Pic by Dick.

 The Friday Walk to Wonalancet Brook Trail had been canceled earlier this year because of weather, and finally took place on Aug. 22.

Back row:  Peter, Wendy, Bruce, Connie

Front row:  Cheryl, Storey, Lea, Susan, Nancy

 On Aug. 23, the Turtles hiked Bald Knob.  The day was cloudy, but it didn't rain!

Ritva, Jorge, Ricky, Jane, Mary D, Tracy, Mary M, Peter

Three of us wanted a longer hike, so headed up to Turtleback!

Mary M, Peter, Tracy

August 15 Zealand Bonds Traverse

Three hikers from OTHH made the 20 mile hike from the Zealand trailhead to Lincoln Woods. Carol C and Doug W completed the hike in one day while Larry "enjoyed" a night at the Guyot Campsite and finished the following day. The hike includes the summits of Zealand (4260), Guyot (4580, not an official 4000 footer), West Bond (4540), Bond (4698) and Bondcliff (4265).

Zealand does not offer any views but the views from all the other summits are quite spectacular.

The picture below shows the happy hikers at the Zealand trailhead: Larry, Doug and Carol.

The photo below shows the Zealand summit.

The picture below is near the Bondcliff summit and shows the West Bond summit off to the left.

Osceolas - August 15, 2022

There were three different OTHH hikes going on yesterday, among them a trip by four of us up to the main peak of Osceola, over to the east peak, then back over the main peak and down to the cars. We had a really good weather day for this, with outstanding long views. Below are Tom, Dick, Marie, and Doug B at the top of East Osceola. There were no views right there, but the route over did have some nice ones.

Square Ledge, Mt Hibbard - August 11, 2022

 Five of the OTHH took a long (9+ mile) hike, with over 3000 ft of elevation gain, into the Sandwich Wilderness on a fairly decent weather day. The route took us first to Square Ledge (formerly a 52WAV), then on and up to a junction with the Walden trail, then down over the top of Mt Hibbard. Hibbard is an unremarkable summit, which we almost missed noticing! The area we explored doesn't seem to see a lot of hikers, at least not midweek, and we didn't see any others at all the whole day. Below, at a lookout on Square Ledge, with Mt Paugus in the background are Jean, Bruce, Katherine, and Robin (pic by Dick).

B group hikes Mt. Success, Aug 4th, 2022

The B group hiked Mt. Success, on a hot and humid kinda day.  The steep trail led its way to a beautiful outlook of ledges, followed by a .7 mile stretch along the Appalachian Trail.   We did not venture off to find the sight of the DC-3 airplane crash, as getting back before the 96 degrees got the better of us was most important.  It really was a nice hike... I'd call it a success, ha ha.

Patsy, Doug, Tracy, Katherine, Steve, and Leanne

Doug helping us identify all the peaks we see.  

North Twin, South Twin, Galehead - August 3, 2022

Five of the OTHH made the 12-mile loop up over the Twins, then down to Galehead Hut and the short climb to the peak above there, and finally out the Gale River Trail to the cars dropped there at the start of the day. Visibility was great for long views over the north end of the Pemigewasset Wilderness and beyond. Below is Doug B. at the top of South Twin, with Mt Guyot and the Bonds to his right.

 The Turtles on the top of Boulder Loop -- such a great view! -- on Aug. 2.

Linda, Deb, Nancy, Tracy, John, Ricky, Elizabeth, Betsy, Monty, Peter