Your Appalachian Mountain Thread

Absarokanaut

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I came to Wyoming as a little boy more than 40 years ago, fortunate enough to be a snowbird until I was almost done with college in the mid 1980s. My Aunt and Uncle that raised me built a wonderful house near Kelly, WY and every summer I backpacked, horse packed, canoed... and even climbed some "epic" peaks including the Grand and other Teton treasures.

I went to Colorado College and overall lived in Colorado for 20 years and came to love the Central Rockies and American Southwest. In the Spring of 2002 I returned to a glorious Guest Ranch owned by some of my family in a very remote location near Dubois, WY. For ten years I was again in the mountains I horse packed as a boy and young man. I was overjoyed to be back in my favorite place on earth; but the isolation sometimes got to me. Three years ago I moved to the Jackson, WY area and started reliving many cherished childhood memories and that wonderful Ranch was just an hour and a half away.

Forgive my seemingly arrogant bias but I was born in one of the world's unequivocally greatest cities, Boston. As a boy I loved my occasional school year forays into the New England wilds but they just simply could not compare to my beloved Rockies. In late 1994 business was not going well for me and at Christmas I went for an extended visit to the home of my brother and his fabulous family about 40 minutes Southwest of downtown Boston. At a nearby school I started playing pickup basketball and after a few sessions I had a serious ankle injury. What was supposed to be just a month or so visit to recharge my proverbial batteries turned into a longer term presence on crutches for a few months. I got a job with a firm in Cambridge, MA where my duties revolved around helping environmentally minded organizations like the Sierra Club and Wilderness Society raise money. When I could finally ditch the crutches I started walking from the train station in Back Bay Boston over the Longfellow Bridge and Charles River to Cambridge. I was also connecting with childhood friends and was happier and happier every day to say the least.

In late April of 1995 I had recovered enough to move beyond walks to hikes of longer and longer duration around Greater Boston and on Cape Cod near my brothers cottage in Wellfleet. Memorial Day weekend I made a trip to Franconia Notch, NH and got reacquainted with the wonderful White Mountains I had not held in very high regard as a boy. Age brings perspective, and often that perspective promotes appreciation for that we had not thought much of as younger, less experienced souls. For the rest of the summer and fall I spent many weekends in the Whites and became infatuated with deciduous paradise. I was really happy at my brother's getting involved in the lives of my niece and nephew, and remained in New England until just after Christmas 1995. The catastrophic injury recuperation aside 1995 will always be one of the greatest years of my life.

In 2002 I had much of the summer to myself and took another brother's daughter hiking in and around the National Parks. After a pretty darn good afternoon thunderstorm we decided to spend the night at one of the planet's greatest hostels, The American Alpine Club's Grand Teton Climbers Ranch. I pretended to be incensed that the cost of a night's stay had increased four times from the $2 I had last paid in 1980 to 2002's $8. We had a great time and ended up spending 3 nights dayhiking right out the door. There I met an awesome photographer from West Virginia and after my niece went home to her family near New York City we took a wonderful trip through Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. He invited me to West Virginia and in 2003 I spent the month of April in the magnificent Mountain State. In travels on 5 continents I had never come across a more poorly stereotyped place. West Virginia does indeed have some nasty, polluted places and there are arguably more less educated people than many other states but what I found was paradise sprinkled with a lot of salt of the earth. I had kayaked there many years before but as it was with New England I simply wasn't seasoned enough to appreciate the gems around me. Although I haven't seen him in far too long Bruce remains one of my great friends.

I know now that the "App a latch ins" are one of the universe's most exquisite environs. I love all you Beehivers and other western folks and the fabulous images you post here, but I think it will far from hurt to expand our horizons just a bit and at the same time welcome some more of the great folks out East. I'll post some photos and share some info but more than anything this is OUR place. Let's see some of that awesome Appalachian allure friends; lets hear of the wonders you've been privileged to enjoy. So here we go!

Let's start in my favorite State out East, "Nu Hampshuh." This is hiking up the Old Bridle Path from Franconia Notch on one of the world's greatest hikes, the Franconia Ridge loop. On this incredibly warm October 1, 1995 I had the great fortune to come across hundreds of great folks from the Montreal area and met a lovely lady that motivated me to visit another of the world's greatest cities.

Whites Lafayette Lincoln in Fall.jpg

Those two mountains are two of New Hampshire's 5,000'ers, Lafayette on the Left and Lincoln on the right. Here's the view of Cannon Mt. and the Kinsman Ridge from near the summit of Lafayette. Here I am on the Appalachian Trail looking Southwest at some of the country it follows southbound.

Whites Kinsmans and Cannon from Lafayette.jpg
 
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Technomoronman here screwed up third pic so let's move forward here. Also from the summit of Lafayette the White Mountain National Forest's Pemigewasset Wilderness unfolds with the Bondcliffs to the East.

Whites Pemi from Lafayette.jpg

I'm hoping some folks come here with better photos, this scene was simply one of the most incredibly beautiful i/'ve ever been priviliged to see.

My favorite place out East is the few thousand acres owned by Dartmouth College on the East side of New Hampshire's 10th highest Mountain and most isolated of the dozens of 4,000'+ers. Mount Moosliluakee ["Moose hill ock"] is an amazing place, the only place I've ever seen a moose above treeline. From Moosilaukee the view to the Northeast of the Franconias and Presidentials is fantastic. We all owe Dartmouth a great deal for preserving and caretaking such sensational spectacle. On the far right horizon is the Northeast's highest peak, Mt. Washington.

Whites Moosilaukee to Presidentials.jpg
 
Thanks for starting this thread @Absarokanaut. Not sure if it'll get much attention on this site but I'll still play. It's really interesting to hear your perspective since you have a great amount of experience on both sides. Your well-rounded and diverse travels are something I hope to develop over the course of my years.

Love the your older pictures of the Whites. I'll start with some alternate versions of the pics you already posted.

This is hiking up the Old Bridle Path from Franconia Notch on one of the world's greatest hikes, the Franconia Ridge loop. Those two mountains are two of New Hampshire's 5,000'ers, Lafayette on the Left and Lincoln on the right.
Whites Lafayette Lincoln in Fall.jpg

Here's the same view of Lafayette and Lincoln from the Old Bridle Path. I was going down though, so we did the loop in opposite directions. I went up the Falling Waters Trail.
998-01-1.jpg

Also from the summit of Lafayette the White Mountain National Forest's Pemigewasset Wilderness unfolds with the Bondcliffs to the East.
Whites Pemi from Lafayette.jpg

Same view of the Pemi Wilderness
14.jpg

A few other shots of the trail up on Franconia Ridge. The Franconia Ridge Trail is also part of the Appalachian Trail.
zzz.jpg

10.jpg
Trail heading up Mount Lafayette coming from Mount Lincoln
24.jpg

I hope that someone can share about the Blue Ridge Mountains in WV, The Smokies, Shenendoah.. places further south of me that I don't have much experience with but would like to visit next year. Would love to see some discussion of Maine as well. I haven't been to Acadia National Park in Maine in almost 2 decades and need to revisit. Would also like to visit Baxter State Park in Maine. @Absarokanaut - when you were living in Mass did you ever hike Mount Greylock? I had plans to make it out there this summer because I have heard awesome things about it, but my plans never materialized.
 
I'll also share a little about an interesting section of the Appalachian Trail that is about a half hour from my house near Waywayanda State Park, NJ. In this section called Pochuk Valley, the Appalachian Trail is a winding boardwalk over protected wetlands for over a mile. You normally see dozens of turtles swimming in the creeks and lined up on logs during this section. After the wetlands section, you enter into a hardwood forest for a while before going up and over a stile (wooden steps up and over a fence) because the AT then travels along planks for a few hundred feet through a cow pasture on a private farm (not sure exactly how this is arranged between the govt. and the farm) but on one occasions while hiking this section, the planks went straight through a herd of a few dozen cows that were literally about 5 feet from the plank walkway. After another stile up and over the wire fence, you cross a road and climb a mountain called Pinwheel Vista that has a nice lookout over the NJ farmlands.

I haven't done this hike in about 3 years, since before I started taking pictures, but my wife had these on her computer of the boardwalk section which she took on two of our hikes here in different seasons. I'll have to dig a little to see if she took any pictures of the stiles, cow pasture, or view from Pinwheel Vista.

Photo Sep 21, 9 52 21 PM.jpg

Photo Mar 09, 5 56 58 PM.jpg
 
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I'll also share a little about an interesting section of the Appalachian Trail that is about a half hour from my house near Waywayanda State Park, NJ. In this section called Pochuk Valley, the Appalachian Trail is a winding boardwalk over protected wetlands for over a mile. You normally see dozens of turtles swimming in the creeks and lined up on logs during this section. After the wetlands section, you enter into a hardwood forest for a while before going up and over a stile (wooden steps up and over a fence) because the AT then travels along planks for a few hundred feet through a cow pasture on a private farm (not sure exactly how this is arranged between the govt. and the farm) but on one occasions while hiking this section, the planks went straight through a herd of a few dozen cows that were literally about 5 feet from the plank walkway. After another stile up and over the wire fence, you cross a road and climb a mountain called Pinwheel Vista that has a nice lookout over the NJ farmlands.

I haven't done this hike in about 3 years, since before I started taking pictures, but my wife had these on her computer of the boardwalk section which she took on two of our hikes here in different seasons. I'll have to dig a little to see if she took any pictures of the stiles, cow pasture, or view from Pinwheel Vista.

View attachment 21869

View attachment 21868
My AT photos in general are pretty bad, however I'll post them anyway. The Appalachians are really undersold. They have a lushness and a hidden-gems aspect to them that you just don't find in the more arid west. My camera died right before I went over the Whites (tropical storm, camera in only one layer of ziplock), but the Whites stack up to any place in the world in terms of majesty, alpine feel, views, diffficulty, etc.
20130304_064811.jpg 20130315_082833.jpg 20130410_093736.jpg 20130526_093722.jpg
 
Those pics are awesome @LarryBoy. Did you thru-hike the AT? I agree about the Whites being a special place. My dad had a love affair with those mountains and in a way I think them as "his" mountains. As a child I only experienced them from drive in campsites, usually along the Pemigewasset River, but even then I could feel there was something magical about those mountains.

Here's a pic of Mt Washington from Mt Hight along the Carter Dome Trail. Taken in Nov.
image.jpg
 
Nice! You guys get me all excited!
I'm taking family to Virginia highlands in June. The ponies sold the trip.
I'm taking 12yo daughter, wife and 17yo son second week in June.
6 days hiking the AT from Mount Rogers Headquarters to Damascus.
Keep it coming!
 
Those pics are awesome @LarryBoy. Did you thru-hike the AT? I agree about the Whites being a special place. My dad had a love affair with those mountains and in a way I think them as "his" mountains. As a child I only experienced them from drive in campsites, usually along the Pemigewasset River, but even then I could feel there was something magical about those mountains.

Here's a pic of Mt Washington from Mt Hight along the Carter Dome Trail. Taken in Nov.
View attachment 25881
I had to get off the trail in Maine to start a job I had previously committed to. Headed back up to Maine this coming July to finish off the last 115 miles.

I must say, it's totally admirable in a crazy way to hike the Whites in November. Beautiful, yes, but I'd imagine the traction situation is dicey what with the slippery rocks and steep trails. I'm sure spikes are a must-have. The climb from Pinkham Notch to Wildcat E is absolutely mind-boggling brutal - not sure if you've done that particular stretch of trail or not. If there's a steep section of supposed trail anywhere, I'd be shocked to find it.
 
Nice! You guys get me all excited!
I'm taking family to Virginia highlands in June. The ponies sold the trip.
I'm taking 12yo daughter, wife and 17yo son second week in June.
6 days hiking the AT from Mount Rogers Headquarters to Damascus.
Keep it coming!

If you're talking about Mt Rogers in Shenandoah I've got it on my list for this season too. It's about a 6 hr drove for me so I'm looking to do a long weekend to squeeze in Mt Rogers and Old Rag Mtn. I'll be going after you most likely, so I look forward to seeing your report and picking your brain.

I had to get off the trail in Maine to start a job I had previously committed to. Headed back up to Maine this coming July to finish off the last 115 miles.

I must say, it's totally admirable in a crazy way to hike the Whites in November. Beautiful, yes, but I'd imagine the traction situation is dicey what with the slippery rocks and steep trails. I'm sure spikes are a must-have. The climb from Pinkham Notch to Wildcat E is absolutely mind-boggling brutal - not sure if you've done that particular stretch of trail or not. If there's a steep section of supposed trail anywhere, I'd be shocked to find it.

Good on you for getting back and finishing up. Congrats! I stayed at the Carter Notch Hut that trip but didn't take the Wildcat trail approach from the Pinkham Notch Visitor center like you're talking about. I came from the other direction across Carter Dome and Mt Hight. I was supposed to climb to the Wildcat A Peak the next morning but I woke up in the clouds.. so opted not to do the steep climb up Wildcat knowing there were no views to be had. Footing wasn't that bad with microspikes but would've been nearly impossible without them.
 
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So the Adirondacks technically aren't the Appalachians but they're on the east coast so close enough.

Just a quick iPhone video I took from the summit of Armstrong Mountain in the Adirondacks earlier this summer.

 
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