Saturday January 29, 2005

Mt Moosilauke - Seema's #48

A regular on VFTT planned to complete her goal of the NH48 peaks and invited fellow hikers to join her.

This is the route we took today up to the summit of Mt Moosilauke via the Glencliff trail.

Directions to the trailhead: Rte 93 north to exit 26 (Rte 25), or Rte 93 north to exit 32 (Rte 112), then south on Rte 118 to Rte 25. From the intersection of Rte 25 and Rte 118, travel north to the town of Glencliff. Take a right onto High Street (formally Sanatorium Rd) just before the village.The parking is 1.2 miles on the right in gravel lot.

Time to summit: 4:30

This is the profile of the hike to the summit from our GPS.

A 3-D view of our hike.

We started out at 7:45 AM with the temp at 9 degrees below zero. People arrived at the trailhead over a 30 minute time frame and started getting ready.

The star of the day showed up a little later than the 7 AM time she posted :> A group of 17 came up on Friday night and spent the night at a motel in North Woodstock. Hmmm - 17 people all trying to get ready to go at the same time ....

Old and new friends said hello and tried to stay warm as they got ready.

Although we all started out together the group quickly spread out based on their hiking pace.

Audry and Pat were part of the group we hiked with. Most people left snowshoes in the cars, but did bring crampons.

Others that Geri and I hiked with were Julie, Danette, and Ken who we know from kayaking with the North Shore Paddlers Network.

Other than this one icy section which we managed to get around without putting on our crampons, the trail was soft snow.

Danette was alone on this hike as Dugan (her dog) was recovering from a small mishap and was left at home.

As we neared the ridge we started to feel the wind, but finally we reached the sunshine for a bit more warmth.

The trees were still snow coverd from the snow over the last week.

Here is Meri and Geri at the intersection with the Carriage road.

We regrouped here as we didn't want to be too far ahead of Seema.

The Glencliff trail is part of the Appalachian trail.

While waiting a group of us decided to head over to South Peak. We had a few deep drifts to make our way through, but much of the trail was windblown.

All bundled up it is hard to identify who people are.

With her back to the wind Geri smiles for us. That is our final destination in the background.

Ken fighting the wind to take a pic.

Back at the intersection snacks are broken out as more hikers from our group arrive.

With the sun shining and the trees protecting us from the wind we were very comfortable.

While some ate, others dcided to take a well deserved rest. Beth and Adam were the youngest hikers in our group at 10 and 13.

Back on the trail to the summit.

The final push up the frozen rock summit.

The last part of the trail is marked with carins as it is all above treeline.

Pete was the first to the top and pulled out the Prayer flags he had been carrying.

Looking East it was easy to identify many of the White Mountains. Here we have Ken, Geri, Audry, and Pat. Pat was the oldest hiker in the group at a very young-hearted 65.

The Franconia Ridge seemed very close.

It was cold and windy at the summit, but there were smiles on everyone's faces including Eric, the third admirable youngster in the group.

While waiting for Seema to arrive, Audrey and Pat refueled and sheltered from the winds.

We were lucky to have such a nice day with bright blue skies.

There is a plaque remembering Dick Sanders who was the president of the Dartmoth Outing Club on the summit.

Yes - Pete carried up a jug of home brew to celebrate.

Seema arrived with a large smile on her face while we cheered and clapped.

This photo of Seema was provided by Pat & Audrey

They may have just hiked to the summit in cold, windy weather, but the kids (Eric, Beth and Adam) had energy to spare.

Seema pops the cork on a bottle of champagne to toast her accomplishment.

SherpaK decided that she needed to shower with the campagne as well as drinking it.

MichaelJ under the prayer flags.

Adam and Beth, (13 & 10) posing for us. Both these hikers completed the New England Hundred Highest list 2 years ago!!! Beth is the youngest female to have done so. These kids would rather be outside that sitting in front of video games.

We were on the summit for an hour, but it seems like it was much shorter as we traded stories and made new friends.

Here is most of the group. There were @ 32 hikers that joined Seema in here celebration of #48. The age range of hikers was 10 - 65 with every decade between represented.

Carmel (in red parka) and her friends Candice and Jocelyn - are they tired from the hike or the late night party???

All good things come to an end and we start the return trip.

One last look back as people descend.

Back at the intersection, people stopped for more snacks and removed some clothing.

One thing to remember when hiking in the Winter is to be sure to drink enough.

A group heading up carried skis for the descent.

Back in the parking lot, MichaelJ decides it's time for a nap.

As others do their best to get rid of "hat hair".

Now that people aren't completely covered it we can better see who we hiked with :>

Mom and the kids. How lucky are they to be able to experience the wonder of hiking as a family.

Smiles abounded as the group returns to their cars.

Others showed unique methods for undressing.

That is snow he is standing on!

While signing a poster of the mountain for Seema to remember #48.

That pile of clothes looks like a nice bed for the ride home.

More of the crew signing the poster.

As you can see in the background we overflowed from the parking area onto the road.

While some of the group stayed on for another hike on Sunday, several of us drove down to Derry, NH to see the premiere of the film "48", a documentary on hiking the NH48 peaks that SherpaJohn produced to raise money for the fight against Diabetes. It was wonderful to see what this team of passionate hikers and dedicated people could accompish with their movie and goal to suport Diabetes research. The DVD of the movie can be purchased from his website "http://www.48movie.com/" After the movie several of us joined Sherpa John / Team Sherpa group for some dinner and toasts to their continued success.

John (red shirt center) and his fiance Sarah (laughing) are part of Team Sherpa who have a goal of raising $48,000 for Diabetes research. We hope everyone who views these pictures will make a donatation in support of the great cause.

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