Mount Moosilauke

Sept 29,2013
We left Cape Cod early at 6 and headed our ways out for White Mountain adventure, new people for me to hike with this week. My comrades would be Dan, Paul and AJ, all local cape people, two who had never hiked before. We parked at Beaver Brook, which I had hiked the opposite side trail before.
We were without an offical trail map, mostly because I had looked over the trail several times and felt comfortable enough to make this trip. Beaver Brook to the AT link, this section I personally could have stayed on, taken a million pictures and never left.

Beaver Brook, Lower falls.

 

 

 

The trail is then marked with a caution sign, extremely challenging, can be slippery with water and ice. This did not deter the two new hikers, nor myself. I would say this could be very dangerous in the right condition, the rocks this sunday were wet but not slippery and the climb was not to overly stressful on the body. Plus climbing up rock that has stairs in the majority of it isn't much of hiking its more of walking up a hill. Including with rails on most of the parts, this I think is a great idea, seeing how in the rain or snow, this would be one giant slip and slide. The river drops down for about a half a mile full falls, so worth just enjoying it, we took our first break about mid way through got some great pictures.

Over a mile of falls, nature claims trees.

 

 

Onward, you pass Beaver Brook shelter, my comrades had passed on way ahead so I still have not got to seen one of these magical places, but next time. This small section is part of the AT, and not really of a giant incline, again more rock than root but alot of trees covered in moss, and if you look closely you can see how the water has washed away alot of the lesser plants, lots of birds sing here, I think its from stealing food from hikers. A decent rock formations stand on each side if you go slow enough and look. You have several turns on this trail that bring you to the opposite side of the mountain and off the AT. This small area is made for the slower moving want to see natures finest you get a mid line view of all your surrounding mountains.
 Junction to Summit climb, several winding paths, more rock, zero root on this section, the dirt is barely visable under the mud, moss has taken over most of this section on the lower. The rocks here are larger more stable for your step, I personally had alot of confidence here and breezed through this section, there wasn't alot of jump out at you area, its a dirt winding path through mud and surrounded by small trees and mud, not a giant view but I did find in this section the only one red flower. It caught my eye and i had to stop and take a picture.

Even the smallest refused to quit.

Peak to Summit, thing old fashioned hey-style grass, with the carines, I loved the peak, I loved the summit, my words for the view, couldn't even touch what you see. From my heart I will tell you the view is to live for, you have Mount Washington on one side, Vermont on the other, and lower NH. If you get the chance this peak is worth spending some time, just basking in how small you are compared to the sky. We had a mild lunch, shared a drink, I poked around, talked to some locals just trying to meet more like minded people. Well worth it, overall 10 mile up and back. Look forward to more. Hope to meet you all out on the trails, be great, keep smiling!
        

Third of 4000 club down.

48 Flags on the Summit Mount Hancock

Mount Hancock is a set of twin peak mountains, North/South Peaks. We arrived early in the morning for the 48 Flags on the Summit event. The fog rose from the forest hiding the summits surrounding us. We met the second group, whom were very nice and friendly and prepared ourselves for the 10 mile lollipop hike. Starting out, the trail to North peak is flat, gravel rocky, white mostly with a river running to the left side of the trail. About a mile in is your first of five crossings, some very easy some not so much.

Tarik, Jessy and Ian crossing section one. You couldn't ask for better people to be with.

 

 

After another two crossings several where you have to be careful of loose rock, slippery rock (more on that in a bit) and just plain no place to go but leap of faith. The second crossing demanded a sacrifice, and took my sunglasses, my leap of faith wasn't high enough, and took a one footer into the river. Not so much a big deal just squishy toes for the rest of the trip. After another crossing you meet were root and rock take form, this begins the north ascent and were I learned I'm not where as fast as my comrades in arms. I lagged behind, taking pictures here and there, exploring the moss covered forest but still pushing myself as fast as I personally could. This trail was something you have to enjoy, mini falls, rocks covered in moss, and fallen trees. You can see the elements of nature fighting for survival. Impressive is an understatement.
  North Peak trail .07 miles, doesn't even sound like much, except its directly up, its very loose rock, it makes you watch your step, and your poles get stuck into the ground. This challenged me, this slowed me down, and this made me frustrated not because the trail was hard, because I felt I should have been doing better. I fell far behind, Ian would wait up every five or so minutes and keep pushing me, driving me on, this helped alot, and I always sugguest having great friends with you.
North Peak Summit, we arrived early for our noon time for the flag raising, it felt good, i was beat from the climb and it showed. We found some amazing birds that would eat from your hand, head (Don't ask) and very friendly, I found a spot on the rocks, to lay and hope the fog would rise, sadly it never did. We could hear the helicopters, but we couldn't see them, everywhere was surrounded in grey. This was the cool down, getting cold, not moving, till 2, and my body started to give me the I'm shaking. Make a note be prepared, if it wasn't for Ian again, I would have been without a coat, and freezing, from my previous hikes I was never close to a 4000 footer, its really cold when you have down time.

Jessy(left)Ian(Top-left)Tarik(right)(Your fearless blogger middle)

Ridge Trail from North Peak to South Peak, we got moving again, warming the body up, this trail itself wasn't bad, infact it was a welcome break a slight incline coming up to South Peak but really straight forward, roots not rocks, keep moving forward feeling. I would love to include detail more but think dense woods with moss, you really couldn't see much else but fog around us. Steven King's the Mist, yup perfectly fit in the mood. Plus Yeti's.
  South Peak 4000 #2, South peak didn't seem bad at the top, we got a breather, and this would be our descent down path, the four of us decided at this point sitting and resting would just make us cold again, and we would move forward.Once again I was at my pace, and fell behind, even trying to push myself, I was ahead of group two, but couldn't keep up, plus King the Siberan Husky I think was taunting me the entire time as he had no issues moving down the mountain. Great dog, full of heart.
Crossing the river, this time was my downfall, I made it across the first go, the second go, I lost my footing, slipped and went down pretty bad. I felt the knee hit the rock and my elbow hit harder. Frustration set in, I was careless, and angry and trying to move fast , losing my footing, losing my poles. I believe the mountains wanted Blood and it demanded it from me. The second group had caught up to me and saw me fall. Good people wanting me to sit down to try to bandage myself. I wasn't dead, I wasn't done. After taking a breather, making sure nothing was broken, there was only one choice I would make get up, and keep going. By then the news that I had fell caught up with everyone else and they were worried. I wasn't ready to give up not when we were so close to finshing, we pushed forward, through the last couple miles, and it was good to finish with my friends. We headed back to our camp for the night, to cheer the mountains, ourselves and to friendship. I look forward to taking on the other 46 with them.
I learned alot about myself,my friends, and how people on a trail are there to help each other. I couldn't imagine being out there without them, thank you for inviting me, thank you for coming, thank you for being you. I am blessed to have you all, and love each one of you for these memories, more I hope in the future ~~Derek

48 Flags (9-11) Hike to remember.

Pawtuckaway State Park Nottingham NH

Early to rise on a perfect sunday morning in New Hampshire, after leaving Derry NH, headed up with a crayon made map from my amazing friends the Boulanger's. Off on my way, the trip which was about an hour from derry was direct straight forward, and following the swiggly lines I got there in a jiff.

Rt 156 Really easy to find.

  

 

            

The visitor center is about a mile down to the trails, I do suggest you drive down to the trail since you can and park right in front. The first trail I chose started on Mountain Trail that leads to Fire Tower trail, it's a non stressful, direct line from the first to the second, very mild slope but plenty to see. Including the beware of Black Bears sign, its an inside joke. You pass several different small ponds which have great view points. Lots of rocks and roots, so you do have to watch your step but not a lot of steep incline. 
                        

The first entire section is open trail.

This trail is marked very clearly with a white square and you can follow it down, passed natural small waterways, several small waterfalls. I personally love small waterfalls and take my time to appericate them. You can see giant rocks that liter the forest, I don't know if this used to be a quarry or something but they seem to be random and kinda out of place. 
      Fire Tower trail, the best section of this hike, its steep, has alot of rock inclines, and you keep a steady upward feeling to you. A couple of the trails leading up are closed, there was a logging cut back trying to save some of the older trees, which according to the signs is working. I really enjoyed this part, you can see in the distance the firetower but mostly its shadow till you get to the top. 

More incline, more of a work out.

Finally at the summit/Firetower top, you get one hell of view, after a short three mile from start to top, its really not a bad walk. A decent work out if you are in the area, well worth the five dollars to park inside the park. When you get views like this, you appericate them more. Glad I decided to take this walk.

Good morning friends.

The walk back I decided to ignore the map, just go with it, if you get the chance do the same, the off beaten non marked trails, have more of an steep, and lot more rock to climb over. Overall, a good trail, not to much beat up on my shoes or hiking poles. I barely drank a quart of water, so you can keep that in mind if you decide to visit, you can drop down to nothing if you chose.  Get out there friends!

Mount Monadnock NH June 23 2013

Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire, one of my favorite climbs to date. This was my first Doot lead the way up with my friend Tom. This was his first time hiking and he did a really good job, with no complaints. We chose to go the hardest way up, all rock, steep, and don't you dare slip. Granted my New Balance hiking shoes, not the best choice for this path, but we did it anyways.

Tom heading up, as people look on.

This is the trail i would personally take everytime I go up, its a work out. Every peak leads to another peak to climb, with a view to kill for. We did this in the middle of the hottest week in New England not the smartest choice, but was helping Tom prepare for Mudder, not that he needed it, he wanted to do it. I know his Team will be doing it again in 2014, and I know they will do just as great as they did. Back to the trails though, up top, how do I explain, you can see several miles, just you, the sky and this day about seventy five people. I think they all had the same idea. It was to nice of a day to pass up.

Half-way there.

One oddity that still bothered me, when you get to summit, there are little small pounds, or puddles rather, with countless frogs. How did they get there, to this date it still boggles my mind. I don't mean one or two, I mean hundreds, I got a good chuckle out of it. We at this point really didn't have one trail to go down, we had several. If i recall correctly we started down one, and mid way decided to shimmy across the top to another trail Everything is very well marked, but i wanted to see as much as possible before we ran out of time.

You won't find this sitting at home.

 

Early Spring Bear Mountain, CT
Nine miles, to me at the time sounded like torture, I mean I was out of shape, not really understanding what it means to get up and go. But this is where the itch got scratched, and really changed my outlook. My good friend Ian who has walked this before was my guide, and showed me the ups and downs of hiking, yes that was a corny joke but I laughed to myself.

The cool part of this hike is its part of the Appalachian Trail, I'm fairly sure you know it runs from down south in Georgia to the upmost of Maine.  It was my first section and made me feel really good about myself. When people say the first mile, you feel it, this is what made me experience that. About one mile in it starts to get very steep, and you feel the burn in your legs. When you hit the second wind, it all goes away. Bear has some very rocky, go slow, watch your step trails, as well as go at your own pace not so hard. I believe we took the harder path, which in life thats what I want to do.

Your fearless Blogger.

 

 

 

On the top of Bear is a giant rock pile, where we met an AMC guide who was counting people as they hiked, really cool guy, shared a bite to eat with him, talked trails. This is where I learned people hiking are honestly the nicest people on earth. We are all out there for different reasons, together we all love what we do. We had a decent lunch and decided to take the circle path back, going down, the rocks where very steep, and you had to put one pole in front of you. This made me appericate, the s turn, you know when you walk going left to right so you don't break your bones. Finally crossed the swamp back, which was a little bit rocky and wet. Back to the starting point, 9 miles, honestly didn't feel like it till the next day.

Sleeping Giant Hamden, CT August 23 2013

This was a new set of trails to me, and luckily I had a good guide who knew her stuff. We touched base on every trail we could. The overall level of hiking wasn't very stressful on the knees but had some great views. I really did enjoy the trails and company, they had some nice cliff over hangs that let you look down and over the rise.

Looking down the Giant is broken down into many sections head, arm, legs, torso each with trails going over and under these body parts, while I have a decent imagination, I really couldn't see them. There are alot of unmarked trails that if you are talking and not paying attention you can walk right down, and off your direction. Several times we did this but so many trails intercross you really find your way fast. The rock outbreaks on the lower half , really look neat, and to me remind me of old bear caves, dark forbidden and in the right time of the day you could scare the daylights out of someone.

Overall this is a nice enjoyable hike, you could spend several hours there and not cover all the grounds, and if you have the time, there are hidden pirate trails, no not really but the markings up top for the polo field really look like pirate swords and caused me lots of amusement. So I would say if you are in the area, well worth the hike.

Mount Snow 2013:
This is where it will start, and where I will need to be ready for Tough Mudder 2014, but before we get to that. Let's talk about me, who am I exactly and what this is all about. My name is Derek Bell, I'm 36, from wonderful Cape Cod Mass.  I have not been an avid fan of the outdoors, I was never a get up and go type. One day in 2012, dear friends of mine took me out sking for the first time. Needless to say it was the start. Then a trail called Bear in CT, just a taste, now I can't stop. If it's sunny out, and I have the day off, I'm trying to find where to go. Not just for the love of the hike, for the peace, the nature that I missed. There are places I have walked, that you won't ever see behind a desk. There are views from the top, I wouldn't trade the world for. And this is my journey, I know with good friends at my side, and the world under my feet, I hope to share my stories with you.