This weekend proved to be a wonderful weekend for hiking up here in NH. I spent most of the weekend in the white mountain national forest. I love this place.
Saturday proved to be challenging as I summited both Mount Jefferson (5712 ft) and Mount Washington (6,288 ft).
For those of you unfamiliar with Mt. Washington it is commonly said that it has the worst weather on the planet. There is snow on the summit for 9 months out of the year and is home to the highest wind speed ever recorded. Wind speed is frequently 80 mph or greater.
Anyway, the trail had snow 2-3 feet in depth at altitudes of > 3,400, which made ascention rather challenging.
Summit conditions of both Jefferson and Washington including freezing fog and 3 inches of rime ice. Wind speed was ~50 MPH above tree line. High temperature for the day was 31 degrees, low of 27. So overall, great day for hiking those peaks. The only disadvantage was there was no view, so...no pictures. That's ok though because I've done those peaks a few times already.
Total hiking distance on Saturday: 14.2 miles Total hiking time on Saturday: 10 hours Pack weight: 40 pounds
Sunday proved to be a much nicer day. Picked two smaller peaks to hike on that day. Mount Hancock North and Mount Hancock South.
Summit conditions were 40 degrees, wind of aproximately 20 mph. There was 2-3 feet of snow at 3,400+ feet, which again made for an interesting ascention. The weather was clear and visibility was aproximately 120 miles.
Total hiking distance on Saturday: 12.0 miles Total hiking time on Saturday: 8 hours Pack weight: 40 pounds
WEEKEND TOTALS: TOTAL DISTANCE: 26.2 TOTAL TIME: 18 hours AVERAGE SPEED: 1.47 MPH TOTAL POSITIVE ELEVATION HIKED: 20,739 FT. AVERAGE TEMPERATURE: 35 degrees F. AVERAGE WIND SPEED: 40 MPH TOTAL SUMMITS REACHED: 4 AVERAGE SUMMIT HEIGHT: 5,184 FT
Had a great time. I didn't starve and I didn't get a single blister. Imagine that.
I don't take things personally, especially when it comes to the internet.
My point in the ranger thread was that the colloquial use of "ignorant" is that of a derogatory phrase.
"Dude, he's so ignorant." "That guy is an idiot, I can't believe how ignorant he is."
If we actually look at the history of "ignorant," it actually describes someone who "ignores" knowledge, chooses not to learn - meant to be an insult. Other words derived - ignoramus.
So while the definition and usage is technically correct, you neglected to think about how the word is most commonly used.
I'm sure that if you walked up to your squadron commander and said, "Why are you so ignorant?" that the response would not be what you expected.
You never know who you're talking to over the internet or sometimes in person, so it is advisable for everyone/anyone to refrain from divulging into comments that can easily be taken as personally degrading and insulting.
I don't want to turn this into another one of "those" threads. You don't have to worry about retaliation or me calling your squadron commander - I know what you meant. No harm, no foul.
So, do you like hiking too? You said you were in Whitefield, did you take some time to hit the trails after the SAREX?
No, I went home after the sarex. I will have to be more specific, in the future, using the word ignorant, ie. I am ignorant of the rules of quantum physics.
I'm a big fan of hiking. I've climbed Katahdin several times. (to the summit once, the other times were to the second highest and other points of interest.) I am returning there this summer with my friends from CAP. Besides that, I mostly like climbing up things... Nature hikes along flat lands are kind of boring to me...
Gunnabemarine: You should not be so ignorant to quantam physics, there's some good stuff in there! You have your partical physics, string theory, multiple dimensions... ah, never mind...
Originally posted by SgtParent: I'm a big fan of hiking. I've climbed Katahdin several times. (to the summit once, the other times were to the second highest and other points of interest.) I am returning there this summer with my friends from CAP. Besides that, I mostly like climbing up things... Nature hikes along flat lands are kind of boring to me...
Katahdin is a nice hike, though many don't do it. I especially like hiking it via the knife edge.
I'm currently working on the 48 NH peaks over 4,000'. I only have 13 left. A few of them are the ski area mountains - Cannon, Wildcat.
I'm going to try to knock out Owl's head this month but I really hate the wilderness trail - it's about 5 miles of flat, straight trail with railroad ties every 3.5 feet or so. It's tedious.
Originally posted by Gunnabeamarine: No, I went home after the sarex. I will have to be more specific, in the future, using the word ignorant, ie. I am ignorant of the rules of quantum physics.
It is a fine distinction, and one not frequently made, but you are nescient of the rules of quantum physics. To be ignorant is to not know something that you should know. To be nescient is not to know something you should not be reasonably expected to know.
Knife's Edge is definatly the way to go. Not nearly as narrow as I had imagined, but definatly as steep. My grandfather who hiked with me to the summit had a close call. As you know, there are some small, loose rocks underfoot on the Edge. He slipped and started to tumble a few feet... luckily he fell into a bush nearby and stopped. It could have ended a lot worse...
Hiking safety is something that I take very seriously - not only for myself, but those who hike with me. Accidents do happen, but more so if you're unprepared. I'm glad your grand father avoided a potential disaster.
When I go hiking with someone "new" to hiking with me they think I'm cheesy because I start every hike with a safety brief about trail conditions, weather, potential hazards, etc. Then we go over our gear list.
I like to use www.hikesafe.com as a resource. There is a lot of common sense information and general good practices that a lot of people don't think about.
Oh, if you're looking for a pretty good challenging hike, I would recommend Mt. Bond, West Bond and Bond Cliffe - they have some of the best views I've seen and it's not a sissy hike. The only drawback is the wilderness trail I despise to get to the trailhead.
I have hiked all over Hawk mountain PA, both in the winter and summer. Some of the main peaks like the Pinnicle, and infamous hikes such as The Wall. Although Hawk must be considered Hades to you. Nevertheless it's a cool mountain to hike.
I don't have any experience in hiking Hawk Mountain, but my understanding looking at topo maps it's more like Hawk Hill (1400 ft). Although it's northern and southern faces appear to have a pretty steep elevation gain.
Not to knock it or anything because I think it serves a good purpose for the training, but I don't think it would even make my list of things I would want to hike unless I had a spare hour.
I would consider this to be on par with Mount Belknap in Gilford, NH. Although Mt. Belknap is taller, it has the same gradation as Hawk Mountain. This is a popular destination for people to bring their small children hiking.
One thing I must admit though is that the pictures of the views from the top of Hawk Mt. are very nice. Because of the smaller size of everything around it, you appear to be able to see for a good distance. The view is the best part of hiking.
I'm glad that you enjoy hiking, perhaps you should get out to some of the more local Mts in our area, you'd be surprised at how amazing it is.
I didn’t say it was a huge mountain, just cool. It is part of the Appellation trail so you see some other hikers while on it. I saw a couple with their dog, and the dog had its own pack. It was carrying all its own food, water, bowls etc. I thought that was pretty interesting. Also the mountain is a bird preserve. And the steep part that you saw on your topo map was probably The Wall, or part of it. That was hard climbing, not only because it was steep bet because the terrain was louse, and if you tried to grab on to a sapling or something it would just pull out of the louse rocks. We also had to look out for timber rattlers… my squadron didn’t find any but one did.
