My 38th (Mount Monroe) and 39th (Mount Washington) 4,000 footers!

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Art Museums and National Parks (big trip coming this September & October)
hyperlink: dixonheadingwest
http://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/

This is what I call "The Northeast Group" (the Presidential Range on the left/center, and the Carter-Moriah Range on the right). Today's peaks (Thursday, August 27, 2015) - Mount Monroe and Mount Washington - are in the purple circle:

x's through Mounts Willey, Field and Tom means that I did them (last July); and I've done Jackson, Webster, Moriah, Adams, Madison, Jefferson, Wildcats A and D, and Mounts Isolation and Davis earlier this summer.

The Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail trailhead parking area is 5 miles up Cog Railway Base Road, off 302 (just before the Mount Washington Hotel) - up 93, around/east on 3, then south on 302. Cog Railway Base Road goes up alongside the beautiful Ammonoosuc River:


Looks like it is going to be a BEAUTIFUL DAY! (Ah, but looks can be deceiving)

The first part of the Trail is pretty flat and goes through lush forest:


After about a mile we go up along the Ammonoosuc River:

and this is where I saw (TWICE) a Great Blue Heron flying up the river! I was soooo quiet, but never saw him again.

There is a beautiful area as you cross over the River - this is Gem Pool:


And then, at 2.3 miles, take a little (unmarked) side-trail to the right, and see the tallest waterslides I have seen in the White Mountains - according to the AMC Mountain Guide, these two brooks fall 600 feet, at an angle of 45 degrees:


and, yes, it has started to rain/get misty.

This is my first view of the AMC Hut up at Lakes of the Clouds:

Yes, it sure is "of the Clouds"!

I made my way south, up to the top of Mount Monroe:


This is back down at one of the Lakes of the Clouds

Pretty cool, but not much of a view.

Of course, we have to have the prerequisite "Danger Sign":

Let's see - how "bad" do you think "Bad Weather" is?

This is the trail (Crawford Path), on the right, that leads up to the Mount Washington summit (this is all above the tree-line):


Two selfies in the howling wind and rain:



The weather for Mount Washington was listed

let's see - Max wind speed: 53 mph; temp ranged between 41 and 45, and the weather was listed as Fog Reducing Visibility to 1/4 Mile or Less. I'm in no mood to go back there anytime soon!

Following the cairns going down the Gulfside Trail, I heard this roaring, which was different from the wind howling - it was the Cog Railway crossing my path straight ahead:

like some Giant Beast roaming the Mountains.

I then took Jewell Trail 3.7 miles down to the parking area. It was beautiful as I started coming down out of the clouds:


And I was able to stop and finish my sandwich with a fantastic view:


The last two miles of Jewell Trail were very very pleasant - just a super nice walk-in-the-woods:



I have been wanting to do this hike for at least the past 3 years - in June 2012, our church hiking group went up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail to the Lakes of the Clouds. It was a great hike (I wrote a blog about it here). Unfortunately, I was the only one who wanted to scamper up to Mount Monroe (on that beautiful clear day), or even up to Mount Washington ("the trail's RIGHT THERE!"). But everyone said No Thanks, so we just went back down.

So I'm really glad that I could get this under my belt, even if the weather and the views were not-good at the tops. Thank you God for another Excellent Adventure Day!

Thursday, August 27, 2015 (left Boston at 9 AM, home at 10 PM)
180 miles -- Boston up 93, around/east on 3, then south on 302 (3 hours)
11.78 miles -- hiking (5 hours 45 minutes)
3 1/2 hours -- Subway coupon, gas fill-up, home at 10 for hugs/kisses/and a hot bath

I switched to my purple nano, but continued to listen to all my songs, in alphabetical order. I listened to 82 songs

After dropping Deede off at Logan Airport to return to California, I started with a great live cut:
Carry On 14:19 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 4 Way Street (2 cds) 1970
through
Crazy For You 3:44 Madonna 13 Going On 30 2004


Carry On 14:19 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 4 Way Street (2 cds) 1970
Cars Hiss By My Window 4:59 The Doors L.A. Woman 1971
A Case Of You 7:04 Diana Krall Live In Paris 2002
Casino Nation 6:57 Jackson Browne The Naked Ride Home 2002
Casino Nation 3:53 Jackson Browne Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2 2008
Castellorizon 3:47 David Gilmour Live In Gdansk 2006
Catch The Sun 3:46 Jamie Cullum Catching Tales 2005
Caught By The River 5:54 Doves Music From The OC: Mix 1 2004
Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks) 4:39 Grateful Dead Europe '72 (Live) (2 cds) 1972
Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks) 1:44 Grateful Dead Europe '72 (Live) (2 cds) 1972
Cemeteries Of London 3:21 Coldplay Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends 2008
Century City 3:45 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Damn The Torpedoes 1979
Chain Lightning 4:44 Steely Dan Marian Mcpartland's Piano Jazz 2005
Chandra 9:22 Keith Jarrett At The Deer Head Inn 1994
Change 4:03 Aaron Espe Songs From A Small Town 2008
Change My Way Of Living 6:15 The Allman Brothers Band Where It All Begins 1994
The Changeling 4:25 The Doors L.A. Woman 1971
Chap Stick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry 3:11 Relient K Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... but Three Do 2004
Charade 2:37 Si Zentner Ultra-Lounge, Vol. 8: Cocktail Capers 1964
Charlie Brown 4:45 Coldplay Mylo Xyloto 2011
Chasing Cars 4:28 Snow Patrol Eyes Open 2006
The Cheater 2:42 Bob Kuban And The In - Men 25 Beach Music Classics 2003
Check it Out 7:44 Karmadelics Goodsongs 2000
Checkin' It Out 3:31 Van Morrison Wavelength 1978
Cherokee 4:19 Michael Moore And Gene Bertoncini Two In Time 1989
Chestnut Mare 5:11 The Byrds Untitled / Unissued [Disc 1] 1970
Chicago 2:09 Count Basie & Tony Bennett Basie Swings Bennett Sings 1958
Chicago 3:11 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 4 Way Street (2 cds) 1970
Chicago 2:54 Graham Nash Songs For Beginners 1971
A Child Is Coming 6:22 Jefferson Starship Blows Against The Empire 1970
Child's Song 4:13 Tom Rush Tom Rush 1970
Children 3:08 America America 1972
Chinatown 4:08 Joe Jackson Night And Day 1982
Chinese Checkers 2:29 Booker T. & The MG's The Very Best Of Booker T. & The MG's 1965
Chopin Prelude Variations / Django 2:17 Michael Moore And Gene Bertoncini Two In Time 1989
Christmas Lullaby 4:09 Songs for a New World Songs for a New World 1996
Chrome 4:22 Joe Jackson Volume 4 2003
The Circle Is Small 3:29 Gordon Lightfoot Back Here On Earth 1968
City 4:36 Connor Garvey Songs Sung In Small Rooms 2006
The City 2:55 Mark-Almond All Day Thumbsucker Revisited: The History Of Blue Thumb Records 1995
The City (extended) 10:19 Mark-Almond Goodsongs 1971
Clandestine 9:09 Charles Lloyd Acoustic Masters I 1993
The Clap 3:18 Yes The Yes Album 1971
Clarice 4:01 America America 1972
Close To The Edge 18:14 Yes Yessongs [Live] (2 cds) 1978
Closer To The Bone 4:13 Louis Prima Ultra-Lounge, Vol. 5: Wild Cool & Swingin 1996
Cloudy 2:25 Simon & Garfunkel Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme 1966
Club Can't Handle Me 3:53 Flo Rida Feat. David Guetta Goodsongs 2010
Cold Hands From New York 5:19 Gordon Lightfoot Back Here On Earth 1968
Collecting Things 1:14 Jon Brion Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind 2004
College Kids 3:28 Relient K Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... but Three Do 2004
Color Him Father 3:06 The Winstons 25 Beach Music Classics 2003
Colorblind 3:23 Counting Crows This Desert Life 1999
Colors Of The Sun 3:52 Tom Rush Tom Rush 1970
Colossus 6:44 Afro Celt Sound System Volume 3: Further In Time 2001
Coloured Bedspread 4:31 Annie Lennox Songs Of Mass Destruction 2007
Come Around 3:40 Ian Murray Waiting For The Wind 2005
Come Dance With Me (Sugardaddy Remix By Tom Findlay & Tim Hutton) 4:41 Shirley Horn Verve Remixed, Vol. 3 2005
Come Go With Me 2:08 The Beach Boys Sounds Of Summer 1978
Come Here My Love 2:21 Van Morrison Veedon Fleece 1974
Come On Eileen 4:13 Dexys Midnight Runners Goodsongs 1982
Come To Me Softly 3:14 Jimmy James & The Vagabonds 25 Beach Music Classics 2003
Comfort You 4:28 Van Morrison Veedon Fleece 1974
Comfortably Numb 9:22 David Gilmour Live In Gdansk 2006
Coming Up (Live Version) 3:29 Paul McCartney & Wings Wingspan: Hits [Disc 1] 1980
Common One 6:39 Van Morrison Astral Weeks: Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2008
Complicated Melody 3:14 india.arie Voyage to India 2002
Constant Craving (kd lang) 4:28 k.d. lang The Very Best Of MTV Unplugged 2002
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill 3:06 The Beatles The Beatles (White Album) [2 cds] 1968
Contusion 3:46 Stevie Wonder Songs In The Key Of Life (2 cds) 2000
Cool Jerk 2:42 The Capitols 25 Beach Music Classics 2003
Cortez the Killer 7:31 Neil Young- Crazy Horse Zuma 1975
Cosmopolitan 4:38 Joe Jackson Mike's Murder 1983
Couldn't I Just Tell You 3:23 Todd Rundgren The Very Best Of Todd Rundgren 1997
Country Fair 5:39 Van Morrison Veedon Fleece 1974
Cousin Dupree 5:28 Steely Dan Two Against Nature 2000
Cowgirl In The Sand 3:59 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 4 Way Street (2 cds) 1970
Crawling King Snake 5:01 The Doors L.A. Woman 1971
Crazy 2:43 Patsy Cline Top Hits Of The Sixties P- Amazing Hits 1961
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 3:08 Miranda Lambert Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 2007
Crazy For This Girl 3:23 Evan & Jaron Songs From Dawson's Creek Vol. 2 2000
Crazy For You 3:44 Madonna 13 Going On 30 2004

The list can be accessed here
Highlights include:

Chinatown by Joe Jackson

2 versions of "The City" by Mark-Almond. This was the band formed by Jon Mark and Johnny Almond after working with John Mayall on his The Turning Point live album (1969) (I saw John Mayall at the Boston Garden in March 1970, along with Steve Miller and The Moody Blues). But back to Mark-Almond - they did a radio show/broadcast on WMMR in Philadelphia my Freshman year at Penn (70/71), and it has a warm place in my memory.

The morning ended with the live version of "Close To The Edge" by Yes, so I was able to have that running in my head for my hike.

I started my evening drive with "Close To The Edge", and I loved (almost) all the music coming home: Club Can't Handle Me; Come On Eileen; Comfortably Numb; Cortez the Killer; Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

My 37th (Mount Isolation) 4,000 footer! (plus Mt. Davis 3819')

This is what I call "The Northeast Group" (the Presidential Range on the left/center, and the Carter-Moriah Range on the right). Today's peaks (Thursday, August 13, 2015) - Mount Isolation and Mt. Davis - are in the purple circle between them:

x's through Mounts Willey, Field and Tom means that I did them (last July); and I've done Jackson, Webster, Moriah, Adams, Madison, Jefferson and Wildcats A and D earlier this summer.

The trailhead parking area is just south of AMC's Pinkham Notch Visitor Center on Rt. 16. The BEST WAY is up 93 to the Kancamagus Highway (112), and then north on Bear Notch Rod to Bartlett on 302, then east to 16 North:

Once again, the drive-by views from two turnouts on Bear Notch Road are wonderful:


I take a picture of the trail descriptions:

It is a good idea to actually READ CAREFULLY the description!

so that you DO NOT take the trail at the SOUTH end of the parking lot!

So, I actually did take the trail at the south end of the parking lot - it was lovely:


and it allowed me to pick up some junk metal in one of our National Forests!

Good thing I had my work gloves, just in case I was going to do some bushwhacking. (We'll see, we'll see)

After a mile-and-a-half, I went back and got on the real trail at 1:30. It was nice through the woods

and fields

but it got tricky when it turned into ITS OWN STREAM!


After 3.7 miles, I was crossing over Rocky Branch:


Then north 2.6 miles on Isolation Trail, which crosses back and forth over Rocky Branch. The cairn on the right marks where I enter the woods after this crossing:

Final crossing of Rocky Branch (it is the Rocky Branch of the Saco River, and this is all in the Dry Creek Wilderness):


About a mile-and-a-half into Isolation Trail, this is what "blowdown" looks like. Severe storms/micro-bursts literally "blow down" a stand of trees. This blowdown did not block the trail (much), and it opens up the sky and views:


I made it up to Davis Path - Mount Isolation is a mile south (some "Isolation" - I have already seen 3 guys and a dog):


And, after chatting with an AMC worker, and a guy and his son camping on Isolation, I got my selfie on the top!

the views were much better than I expected


and my wife really likes this picture:


Back down from the mountain top, I was able to take a picture of the NEW SIGN:

It had just been put up by the worker guy I talked with. I asked him about bushwhacking straight down from Mount Davis, to get back to Rocky Brach Trail in about 1 mile, instead of hiking 5 miles back up-and-around? He asked if I had done it before? "If I had done it, I wouldn't be asking you about it."(all with a smile on my face)

I have not shown you my MapMyWalk hike, so here it is:


And this terrain-view shows the area down from Mt. Davis (red icon) east to Rocky Branch:

Hey, they even put a dotted line on the map, just for me!!

He said that he had never heard anyone doing that bushwhack; and I told him that I had just read a blog about it last week, but they went up from Rocky Branch to Mt. Davis, then up-and-around on the trails. Well, he said, it will be a Great Adventure> (NOTE: He DID NOT SAY NO). So I headed south on Davis Trail (to Mt. Davis) still not knowing what I was going to do.

I have never seen this amount of moss! This whole Area is very mossy - maybe because it is in the shadow of The Presidentials (the sun literally sets behind The Presidentials).


To quote the AMC White Mountain Guide, "... the south summit of Mt. Davis, which commands perhaps the finest view on Montalban Ridge and one of the best in the mountains." I might pay for it later, but I'm not going to let an extra one-hour-round-trip-hike deter me from that Mountain Peak!




As you can tell from the picture, the sun is going down behind me; and that forest stuff, in front of me, is what I would have to bushwhack through. I thought about it, prayed about it, finished my sandwich, and figured that Wendy would kill me if I told her that I had gone "off trail". So, discretion being the better part of valour, I retreated back down the mountain peak and retraced my steps 9 miles back to the car.

The sun set as I was trucking back to the trailhead - 20 minute miles, 18 minute miles - but I ran out of light before the end. For the 2nd-to-last mile, I was just able to make out the path; but when I hit 1-mile-to-go, it got black. I had plugged in my battery extender on Mt. Davis, and the MapMyWalk lady had been talking to me each mile back, so I pulled out my phone and turned it on - It Worked, and the screen lit up my path like a flashlight!! And I made my way easily down to the car by 9:00! Thank you God for an Excellent Adventure Day!

Thursday, August 13, 2015 (left Boston at 9 AM, Days Inn at 10 PM)
180 miles -- Boston to 93 North, then the Kancamagus Highway (112), and then north on Bear Notch Road to Bartlett on 302, then east to 16 North (3 hours)
17.74 miles -- hiking (7 hours 24 minutes)
1 hour -- checked into a new Days Inn in Tamworth, NH - I was tired, and it made Wendy Very Very Happy!

I switched to my purple nano, but continued to listen to all my songs, in alphabetical order. I listened to 85 songs

starting with a lovely acoustic
At The Zoo 2:32 Simon & Garfunkel Bookends
driving through Manchester-by-the-Sea as the sun was rising
through
Bip Bop / Hey Diddle 3:37 Paul McCartney & Wings Wingspan: History


At The Zoo 2:32 Simon & Garfunkel Bookends
Auctioneer (Another Engine) 2:44 R.E.M. Fables Of The Reconstruction
Autumn In New York 6:52 Bill Charlap Live At The Village Vanguard
Autumn Song 10:37 Van Morrison Hard Nose The Highway
Awkward Age 3:23 Joe Jackson Volume 4
Baba O'Riley 5:09 The Who Who's Next
Baby Don't You Do It 5:15 The Who Who's Next
Baby Girl 3:46 Nelly Furtado Whoa, Nelly!
Baby How Long 5:06 Jackson Browne Looking East
Baby Love 2:43 The Supremes Top Hits Of The Sixties P- Amazing Hits
The Baby Tree 1:45 Jefferson Starship Blows Against The Empire
Baby, Did You Hear? (Danger Mouse Remix) 3:32 Dinah Washington Verve Remixed, Vol. 3
Back Door Man 3:34 The Doors The Doors
Back In The USSR 2:43 The Beatles The Beatles (White Album) [2 cds]
The Back Of Love 3:16 Echo & The Bunnymen Songs To Learn & Sing
Back Of My Mind 4:08 O Positive Toyboat ToyBoAt Toyboat
The Back Seat Of My Car 4:30 Paul McCartney & Wings Wingspan: History
Back To The Ground 4:37 Jamie Cullum Catching Tales
Back Where I Come From 4:45 Kenny Chesney Live Those Songs Again
Back Where It All Begins 9:12 The Allman Brothers Band Where It All Begins
Backfield In Motion 2:35 Mel & Tim 25 Beach Music Classics
Backstabber 3:07 Ke$ha Animal
Bad 6:08 U2 The Unforgettable Fire
Bad 8:03 U2 Wide Awake In America [Live] [EP]
The Bad And The Beautiful / Laura 8:05 Michael Moore And Gene Bertoncini Two In Time
Bad Boy 2:21 The Beatles Past Masters, Vol. 1
Bad Company 4:50 Bad Company 10 From 6
Bad Karma 3:13 Warren Zevon I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (Anthology) (2 cds)
Bad Luck 6:29 Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes The Preppy Album
Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School 2:59 Warren Zevon I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (Anthology) (2 cds)
Badge [Live] 3:59 Cream Royal Albert Hall London May 2005
The Ballad Of Billy The Kid 5:27 Billy Joel Songs In The Attic
The Ballad of John and Yoko 3:00 The Beatles Past Masters, Vol. 2
Ballerina 9:45 Van Morrison Astral Weeks: Live At The Hollywood Bowl
Ballon Man 3:34 Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians Goodsongs
Band On The Run 5:13 Paul McCartney & Wings Wingspan: Hits [Disc 1]
Bandit 5:13 Neil Young & Crazy Horse Goodsongs
Bang The Drum All Day 3:36 Todd Rundgren Anthology
Barbara Ann (Single Version) 2:14 The Beach Boys Sounds Of Summer
Barcelona 10:08 Connor Garvey Songs Sung In Small Rooms
Bargain 5:34 The Who Who's Next
The Barricades Of Heaven 5:42 Jackson Browne Looking East
Barstool Blues 3:01 Neil Young- Crazy Horse Zuma
Basin Street Blues 9:09 Keith Jarrett At The Deer Head Inn
Bastard 5:25 Ben Folds Songs for Silverman
Bat 6:05 Pat Metheny 80/81 (2 cds)
Bawitdaba 4:28 Kid Rock Totally Hits
Be Good 3:53 Hothouse Flowers Songs From The Rain
Be Nice To Me 3:26 Todd Rundgren The Very Best Of Todd Rundgren
Be Thou My Vision 2:59 Maeve Whatever Befall
Be True To Your School (Single Version) 2:10 The Beach Boys Sounds Of Summer
Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy 2:07 The Tams The Preppy Album
Be Yourself 3:12 Graham Nash Songs For Beginners
Beach Party 1:50 Annette 25 All-Time Greatest Summer Songs
Beautiful Baby 4:27 Scarlet Haven 3
Beautiful Day 4:08 U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind
Beautiful Stranger 4:23 Madonna Totally Hits 2
Beautiful Surprise 2:29 india.arie Voyage to India
Been Down So Long 4:44 The Doors L.A. Woman
Been To Canaan 3:41 Carole King Goodsongs
Beer In Mexico 4:37 Kenny Chesney Live Those Songs Again
Behind Blue Eyes 3:42 The Who Who's Next
Behind My Camel 2:55 The Police Zenyatta Mondatta
Bein' Green 4:22 Van Morrison Hard Nose The Highway
Being Drunk's A Lot Like Loving You 3:34 Kenny Chesney When The Sun Goes Down
Believe 3:59 Cher Totally Hits
Beloved 4:24 Anoushka Shankar Versions
Beside You 5:59 Van Morrison Astral Weeks: Live At The Hollywood Bowl
The Best I Can Do 3:09 Joe Jackson Blaze Of Glory
The Best Is Yet To Come 2:56 Frank Sinatra The Very Good Years
The Best Of Everything 4:04 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Southern Accents
Best Of What's Around 6:19 Dave Matthews Band Live At Red Rocks 8.15.95 (2 cds)
The Best of What's Around 4:18 Dave Matthews Band Under the Table and Dreaming
Bette Davis Eyes 3:48 Kim Carnes VH1: The Best Of Where Are They Now?
Better Day 4:57 Ian Murray Waiting For The Wind
Better Days 3:52 Graham Nash Songs For Beginners
Between a Laugh and a Tear 4:33 John Cougar Mellencamp Scarecrow
Bi-Coastal 4:24 Peter Allen The Very Best Of Peter Allen (TBDU)
The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine 2:51 Simon & Garfunkel Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Big Sky 4:02 Annie Lennox Songs Of Mass Destruction
Big Spender 2:05 Peggy Lee Ultra-Lounge: Vegas Baby!
Big Sur 3:07 The Thrills Music From The OC: Mix 2
Biloxi 4:43 Tom Rush Wrong End Of The Rainbow
Binga Banga Bongo-Percolator 4:45 Terry Snyder / Earl Palmer Ultra-Lounge, Vol. 8: Cocktail Capers
Bip Bop / Hey Diddle 3:37 Paul McCartney & Wings Wingspan: History

The list can be accessed here
It was a great drive into Boston, and up north in the morning, and the highlights include:

2 versions of "Bad" by U2 (the 6-minute studio version from The Unforgettable Fire, and then the 8-minute live version from Wide Awake In America)

Band On The Run by Paul McCartney & Wings

"Bandit" by Neil Young. This appeared on his Greendale album, on which every other song is a piece of awful. I was in the 3rd row for the Tweeter Center concert (7/1/2003) he did to support this album - he played the whole album, and the music and lyrics were so simple and dumb that I was dumbfounded. Neil is extremely talented, and an excellent craftsman, but this outing was one that should have definitely been missed. It was all worse-by-contrast, because this song (Bandit) came in the middle of the concert, just Neil sitting with his guitar; it was chills-and-tears. Again, to make the comparison worse, he (& Crazy Horse) did an EXCELLENT version of "Like a Hurricane" in the encore - music, lyrics, passion at his peak!

I actually started the next morning with "Beautiful Day" by U2, and the rest of the music took me home.

NOTE: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Art Museums and National Parks
hyperlink: dixonheadingwest
http://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/