NE 100 Highest - East Sleeper, New Hampshire

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 - The New England "100 Highest" - East Sleeper, New Hampshire:

There is always "another list". Having finished with the New England 4000 Footers (67 peaks), the "next list" is the New England Highest 100 - it consists of the "next highest" 33 peaks in New England. If you have been following my blog, you know that it is a "list I will not complete" - there was NO TRAIL to Fort Mountain (it is the far-upper-right black X). A new black X addition to the map (in the middle) is the Peak Above the Nubble - all its hiking descriptions include the word BUSHWACK!

The other 6 I have done (South Brother, Mount Coe, Mount Bigelow-South Horn, The Cannon Balls-NE Peak, Jay Peak, and Big Jay) are marked with red X's, and today's peak East Sleeper is in the purple circle. Today I hiked 13.31 miles in 5 hours 15 minutes:

The Google Earth view, looking up Downes Brook Trsil

The red in the upper-left is a hike I did in 2014 to Mount Whiteface. Here is a Google-Earth-screenshot of today's East Sleeper hike among other hikes I have done along the Kancamagus Highway (State Route 112) in New Hampshire:


After breakfast-in-Boston, I returned some cds in Winchester, then continued up 93 North. Stopped for coffee and gas in Tilton, New Hampshire, and to mail a postcard in Lincoln, New Hampshire. The Kanc has new blacktop, and is a BEAUTIFUL ROAD. Its a BEAUTIFUL day in New England! Parked at the trailhead, and started my hike at 12:25. Downes Brrok Trail is the "nicest trail I have ever been on":

(not "the BEST", or "the Most Rewarding", but just really really "NICE".)

The trail is generally an old logging road, running straight and true, and crosses over Downes Brook 9 TIMES:



and there are usually easy cairns to mark the brook-crossings:


Downes Brook Trail is 5.2 miles long, and for much of that goes right alongside Downes Brook. It ends at the Kate Sleeper Trail, which runs along the top of the ridge from Whiteface to the Pyramids:

There are some "blow-down" areas:


and one moss-covered, rock-climbing area


0.8 miles west, and you come to an unmarked path leading up to the right, to the summit (3:30 PM):


nice forest up there:


OK views from the blow-down areas:


But the hike was really about Downes Brook: looking upstream

and downstream

around 4 o'clock.

I made GREAT TIME heading down, and I finished the hike at 5:40. The sun was going down, and I was heading home!

Until I got 30 minutes down the road - my 2015 Honda Fit STOPPED WORKING as I was going up the hill next to Chocorua Lake:

It was like I "dropped the transmission" on the old BMW 2002tii (which I did coming out of Boston one Thursday morning on Route 1 North). The "engine" worked, but nothing was going to the wheels, either in Drive or in Reverse. I coasted back down the hill, with my red flashers on, and got to the side of the road. There was NO CELL PHONE SERVICE, so I just waited for 1 hour 30 minutes until a super-nice guy in a truck stopped and asked if I was ok. He let me use his phone (SURE, HE GETS RECEPTION!!), and I spoke with AAA. A tow guy was there 15 minutes later, and he towed me south to Tice's Automotive Services in Tamworth. It turns out that it is RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the Day's Inn I stayed at in August 2015!! So that's where I spent the night.

I'm certainly wondering how "car breaks down" fits into God's plans, but I still have to say "THANK YOU GOD for all these wonderful hiking adventures!!!"

Today, it was a morning for jazz:

Chick Corea Akoustic Band - Alive 1991 live album


Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland - Like Minds, 1998


Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitous, Roy Haynes - Trio Music Live in Europe, 1986 live album


and then it was time for some Rock and Roll!!
various artists - Lipstick Hits, 2000


Jefferson Airplane - The Woodstock Experience, 1969 live

21-minute version of "Wooden Ships"!!!!

NE 100 Highest - Jay Peak and Big Jay, Vermont

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017 - The New England "100 Highest" - Jay Peak and Big Jay, Vermont:

There is always "another list". Having finished with the New England 4000 Footers (67 peaks), the "next list" is the New England Highest 100 - it consists of the "next highest" 33 peaks in New England. If you have been following my blog, you know that it is a "list I will not complete" - there was NO TRAIL to Fort Mountain 2 weeks ago!

(It has a black X on the above map.) The other 4 I have done (South Brother, Mount Coe, Mount Bigelow-South Horn, and The Cannon Balls, NE Peak) are marked with red X,s, and today's peaks Jay Peak and Big Jay are in the purple circle. Today I hiked 5.4 miles in 3 hours. This is what the gps-track looks like when MapMyWalk dies, and then is revived by plugging it into my car charger:

NOTE: I DID NOT BUSHWACK DOWN FROM BIG JAY!!!!

This is what the 2.7 mile one-way hike looks like::

The return is just back down the same trail.

It was a beautiful-but-cold morning - 36º as I drove through Reading at 7:15 AM! Four hours later, even with some clouds moving in, it was a beautiful day in Vermont:




On Route 242, just down from Jay Peak in Vermont, I stopped and saw a pretty little waterfall:



The trail up to Jay Peak is lovely - looking up the trail:

and looking back down the trail:

(the leaves are all turning/have turned here in Northern Vermont.)

You don't often see stairways while hiking in the mountains:


The stairway opens onto a ski slope:

with a really nice view east:


You continue up the ski slope:

, past the ice on the tree branches:


and get to the summit of Jay Peak:




The "mile" trail over to Big Jay (sorry - "herd path") is ok:

but it still took me about 45 minutes to get through the bogs and branches to get to the summit:



AND THAT'S WHEN MY iPhone Battery DIED!!!! I figured that I didn't need an extra battery for a hike of only 6 miles, but I guess I was wrong. An extra battery will always go with me in the future (one more thing to think about).

I retraced my path back down the mountains, and I finished the hike at 3, and with a stop to pick up a pizza and gas in Concord, NH, made it home a little after 7. THANK YOU GOD for all these wonderful hiking adventures!!!

Today, it was "music" in my orange nano:

I burned a copy of the 7-cd set A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

and listened to cds 3-through-7 today, beginning with his "I Have A Dream" speech (August 28, 1963 in Washington, DC) and ending with "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (April 3, 1968, Memphis, Tennessee, on the eve of his death). pretty powerful stuff, and maybe just as applicable today as it was then.

and of course I had to ROCK OUT on my way home!!

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Hurricane Relief: Houston '78, 1978

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Boston Aug. 27, 1999, 1999

I was there that night in Boston. EXCELLENT SHOW!!

NE 100 Highest - The Cannon Balls, NE Peak, New Hampshire

Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 - A New List - the New England "100 Highest" - The Cannon Balls, NE Peak, New Hampshire:

There is always "another list". Having finished with the New England 4000 Footers (67 peaks), the "next list" is the New England Highest 100 - it consists of the "next highest" 33 peaks in New England. If you have been following my blog, you know that it is a "list I will not complete" - there was NO TRAIL to Fort Mountain 2 weeks ago!

(It has a black X on the above map.) The other 3 I have done (South Brother, Mount Coe, and Mount Bigelow-South Horn) are marked with red X,s, and today's peak The Cannon Balls, NE Peak is in the purple circle. Today I hiked 8.5 miles in 5 hours:


Since Wendy was going to a conference out in Northfield, Mass., I wanted to hit the mountains! Left home at 9, got to the trailhead up in Franconia Notch at 12 noon. It was a BEAUTIFUL day in New England:

Lafayette Campground, looking northeast with Mount Lafayette in the distance.

After hiking the very difficult trails of Maine, it was a pleasure being able to hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire:


1.2 miles up the trail, you get to the east end of Lonesome Lake, which was beautiful today:




Continuing on Lonesome Lake Trail 0.2 miles around the right end of the lake, then the trail goes up to Kinsman Ridge Trail. There are some nice views along Kinsman Ridge Trail:


but the (very nice) trail was almost always in the trees:

It's pretty cool being up here.

The Trail hits all 3 Cannon Balls - NE Peak, Middle and West. Unfortunately, there are no indicators for the summits of Middle or West; NE Peak has a cairn:



Although the weather was clear, clean and perfect (not too hot, not too cold), it is obvious that there is A LOT OF MOISTURE UP HERE. Moss is thick and lush:


The Kinsman Ridge Trail is 2.4 miles, and then you take a sharp left to head back down Fishin' Jimmy Trail:


Fishin' Jimmy Trail is actually part of the Appalachian Trail, so it is nice seeing the AT's white blazes:


2 miles down the trail (kind of slow and tricky - I think Fishin' Jimmy was drunk when he made up this trail), and you get to the south end of Lonesome Lake:



I finished the hike at 5:05:

and made it home by 7:30

Because I am jaded from "hiking 4000 footers", today's hike was harder than I expected. Wendy pointed out that although they are not 4000 feet, today's main peak is 3769 feet - still a pretty big climb. So, I'm still doing "mountain climbing". THANK YOU GOD for all these wonderful hiking adventures!!!

Today, it was some "new" music in my orange nano:

I have discovered some new music/new recordings on the John Wick soundtracks (2014 & 2017)

Ciscandra Nostalghia, and Candy Shop Boys

various artists - Where Music Meets Film, 1999

Acoustic highlights from the Sundance Film Festival's after-hours live shows.

Frank Sinatra - The Main Event – Live, 1974


Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Hurricane Relief: Houston '78, 1978

Untethered from the Darkness box set to benefit this year's MusiCares® Hurricane Relief Fund, Houston ’78 captures the final leg of the Darkness tour in all its glory. Bruce, the E Street band, Sony Music and nugs.net will donate all their proceeds to the hurricane relief effort.