Dennis Dixon is heading North!: NE 100 Highest

Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - Third Time's The Charm! Left home at 6:30 AM, Cumberland Farms coffee in Concord, NH, and started my hike to South Weeks at 10:20:

14 miles, and 6 hours later, I finished at 4:20 PM.

I'm really not a fan of "having to climb a 4000-footer in order to get to another mountain".

When this is the second time in 4 weeks, this whole "hiking thing" starts to wear a little thin.

I had plenty of water (4 big bottles, plus 1 small one), and plenty of time - I figured I could allocate 5 hours to making my way around the infamous blow-downs of Kilkenny Ridge Trail - one hour per mile:

I made it to the Starr King summit by noon, and got my first view of South Weeks:

The trail from Starr King to Mount Waumbek was very nice:

unless you find it a little annoying to BE PASSED BY A 19 year old and the two little kids hiking with him!!!

Passed through Mount Waumbek and got a nice view at the viewpoint just beyond it, at 12:30:

The cloudy skies meant that I stayed relatively cool in my long-sleeved shirt and firehose pants.

I moved pretty quickly along the Kilkenny Ridge Trail, and then I saw that THE BLOW-DOWNS HAD BEEN CUT THROUGH:

which made it a Wonderful Trail!!

This was a "Before" picture from 4 weeks ago:

I made the cairn on South Weeks at 1:50 (no sign or canister):

And here is pair of before-and-after pictures I took on my way back down:
4 weeks ago:

today:

It was almost an ecstatic experience going through the chainsaw cuttings - not unlike the first time I returned over the Bourne Bridge and continued straight onto 495 (no more fiddling with Route 6 in Bourne).

I finished at 4:20. Coming down I kept thinking of the line from Drive-By Truckers "Gravity's Gone": But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floatin'

I bought 2 pairs of socks at L.L Bean Outlet in Concord, NH (HUGE THUNDERSTORM), and Home at 8:30 (my right thigh muscle is all healed). WOW - THANK YOU GOD again for these great adventures!

I don't know if you are counting (I AM!!), but that was #91 on the New England 100 Highest - 2 in Vermont and 7 in Maine remaining!!

Today's driving music was "F" albums:

Fables of the Reconstruction by R.E.M., 1985

The Falcon and the Snowman by the Pat Metheny Group, 1985

The Family That Plays Together 2nd album by Spirit, 1968

Starts with a great song - "I Got a Line on You"

Family Tree by Tom Chapin, 1988

I have NEVER listened to this whole album, all the way through. It does, of course, have "A Long Way Home", which my girls HAVE MEMORIZED, and I still love.

Fans by Malcolm McLaren, 1984