Dennis Dixon is heading North!: hiking North Weeks Mtn

Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - Having completed the "New England 4000 footers" last year, the next list is the "New England 100 Highest", which includes (of course) the 67 mountains over 4,000 feet, plus another 33 - my map of the 33:

I decided to tackle the ones in Northern New Hampshire, in an area called the Pilot Pliny Ranges:

It is a remote area - west of Berlin, NH. In reviewing my blogs, I was in this area almost exactly 3 years ago, for Mount Cabot (my 27th 4000 footer) click for blog. It turns out that I hit both "The Horn" and "The Bulge" on that hike, so I am halfway done with this area!!! So today's hike will bag North Weeks and South Weeks (plus Middle Weeks in between them) - how hard can that be?

Left home at 6:15, up at the trailhead at 10:25. It is 6.1 miles in to South Weeks, so 12.2 miles round-trip. I do 30-minute miles, so I figured if I pushed myself a little (and had a little luck), I could get to the car in time for the Berlin Hatchery Gate closing at 4 PM. [Dream on].

Driving around "York Pond", it is a beautiful day in New Hampshire:

Trailhead for York Pond Trail at 10:30

beautiful walk through the woods ten minutes later:

and hiking uphill through the forest at 11:30

and intersection with Kilkenny Ridge Trail (2.4 miles) at 11:42

I did a lot of branches-on-trail clearing (a couple of downed trees need loppers and clippers - another day), so my timing feels good. It then took an hour to go 1.3 miles to North Weeks Mtn - longer than I like, but I'm AT THE TOP:

(no view, though)

And that is when it started to deteriorate. I had encountered some blow-downs going up to North Weeks, but it was relatively easy to go around and get back on the trail (nothing a good weed-wacker, or chainsaw, couldn't take care of). But going down from North Weeks there were a couple of bad ones:

I hit the "peak" of Middle Weeks Mtn about 1:45

and I should have turned around there - that would have gotten me back to the car maybe around 4.

But NOOOOO, I just had to keep going. 35 minutes later, going up South Weeks Mtn, it got bad:

At 2:20 I finally called it quits - after scrambling over, and under, and around all the blow-down:

After hiking up-and-in for 3 hours 50 minutes, it took me 2 hours 40 minutes to get back down to the car:

A big shout-out to all the moss up on these mountains:

And of course I had to take a fun picture of the spring-fed creek:

I made it down-and-out the gate at 5:07 - Thank You GOD for having the gate open!

Of course you cannot drive home through Jackson, NH without stopping at Jackson Falls:
looking upstream:

looking downstream:

I already have plans underway to bag South Weeks Mtn. Home a little after 9, for a big kiss from my Wonderful Wife, and a Hot Bath! Thank you God for these wonderful adventures!!

Today's driving music was from my big iPod - the "K" albums:

various artists - Kahuna Classics - A Collection Of Surf Music, 1997