It turns out that I only have 15 mountains left - 2 in Vermont, 3 in New Hampshire, and 10 in Maine! With my new-found confidence in bushwacking (well, maybe not "confidence", but at least "competence"), I read a bunch of blogs and decided to tackle Mount Nancy:
It seems straightforward enough - the trailhead is 7.7 miles beyond the Attitash Ski Area (on 302), then up Nancy Pond Trail for 2.4 miles to the bottom of Nancy Cascades (Rating 5.0 out of 5.0 in "New England Waterfalls" book), then 1.1 miles to Nancy Pond, then 0.8 miles to the north end of Norcross Pond, then a sharp right up into the woods for less than a mile. Return the same way.
You can see from the map that there is No Red Trail Line to the Mount Nancy summit - but don't worry, there "used to be an official trail", but it is still there "as a herd path" (so it is literally impossible to get lost).
It is always fun to be "Entering White Mountain National Forest":
I went down from my parked car to see the Saco River:
I was the only one in the parking area at 12:55
The Trail is very good for hiking:
My splits for the first 2 miles were 23 minutes and 27 minutes. It is nice to see the yellow blazes.
In fact, the next 1/2 mile was fast also (16 minutes). But the next 0.4 miles up to the Cascades was VERY STEEP (sorry, Wendy could not have made it.) The Cascades are GREAT:
And then it was a combination of hard back-and-forths to get to the top of the Cascades, followed by flat boggy areas in the woods to get to Nancy Pond:
It was wonderful getting my first glimpse of Nancy Pond:
Leaving Nancy Pond behind, I entered the Pemigewasset Wilderness
It really is SO COOL being up here, 4.4 miles into my hike!
You get a quick glimpse of Little Norcross Pond:
Soon you hit Norcross Pond:
which is just BEAUTIFUL! Looking northwest
and then, after going around the pond, the view looking southeast:
turn around, and you get a GREAT VIEW of the Pemigewasset Wilderness (the Bonds?):
I had hiked 5 miles, and was ready to get to the summit. The "clearing area":
and the trail to Mount Nancy - take the left fork:
For the first 7 minutes (0.2 miles), it is a "nice trail in the woods":
but then it goes STRAIGHT UP!!!
All my readings told me about "herd path" (not "official trail"), and kind-of-overgrown in places. NONE OF THEM talked about the VERTICAL. The next 0.6 miles took me 32 minutes, finally hitting the summit at 4:15 PM.
Very nice views-to-the-north at the summit:
After "failing-to-summit" on my last 3 hikes, I'm really really glad I GOT THIS ONE:
Going back down, you can see Norcross Pond through the trees - very cool, but nothing that you can see in a picture. The view southwest at Mount Anderson also loses any punch because of the trees on Mount Nancy.
A final photo going around Norcross Pond:
Back at the base of the Cascades, there is a lovely pool. A bit too cold to swim, but I did do some fun splashing around:
I took GIANT STEPS on the trail going down (and let gravity do most of the work), and arrived back at my car at 6:27 PM:
I'm still the only car here. 11.35 miles in 5 hours 29 minutes:
Large #9 sub at D'Angelo's in North Conway, gas fill-up in Peabody, and home at 10:00 - Thank you God for these wonderful adventures!!
Today's driving music was the 3rd group of the "G" songs from my big iPod. I made it through 92 songs (click here for the list of songs), beginning with:
Matchbox Twenty - "Girl Like That" from the album Yourself or Someone Like You, 1996
and ending with:
Curves Cardio (workout music) - "Gloria Medley" from the album Vol 22 - Latin Music, 2005
highlights include:
Talking Heads - "Girlfriend Is Better" from the album The Best of Talking Heads, 2004 (original album 1983)
Bruce Springsteen - "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" from the album Magic, 2007
Chairmen Of The Board - "Give Me Just A Little More Time" from the album 25 Beach Music Classics, 2003
Jamie Cullum - "Give Me The Simple Life" from the album Meet the Robinsons, 2007 soundtrack
The Dave Clark Five - "Glad All Over" from the album The Hits - DC5, 1964 original single
7 versions of "Gloria" (some are totally different songs!)
Laura Branigan, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Patti Smith, Rickie Lee Jones, U2, Van Morrison & John Lee Hooker, Van Morrison (live). The 4 I like best are:
Patti Smith - from the album Horses, 1975
Rickie Lee Jones - from the album Live At Red Rocks, 2001
As Rickie Lee says in the song: "So I was 12 when this song came out. And I have never forgotten - I will never forget - that's why I will never get old."
U2 - from the album Under a Blood Red Sky, 1983 live album
Van Morrison & John Lee Hooker - from the album Too Long in Exile, 1993
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