- Sunday: Got an early start, heading up I-95 to New Haven, then taking 84-90 towards Boston, and 93 to Lincoln, New Hampshire. Stopped for lunch at a Panera on the way, and made a couple of gas stops, arriving in the late afternoon at my cabin for the next three nights (Franconia Notch Motel). I had originally booked the particular motel, thinking it was the Indian Head Resort (similar cabins), where Susan and I had stayed a few times, decades earlier. The tiny cabin was pleasant (nice stream directly behind the room). I unpacked, got my stuff ready for the next morning’s hike, and then headed to dinner at a Greek restaurant in North Woodstock (fish and chips, Greek salad, beer). After dinner, I headed back to the motel, read for a while, then turned in early.
- Monday: I got up around 5:30, in time for a quick shower and a trip to Peg’s in North Woodstock for breakfast (two eggs, bacon, French toast, real maple syrup, coffee). I got to the trailhead for the Franconia Ridge Loop around 7, but realized I had forgotten to fill my water bladder, so I headed back to the motel to take care of that, then got back to the trailhead a little before 8. The morning was brisk (car windshield heavily frosted), but sunny. I met lots of hikers on the trail, including many with dogs and one young couple carrying an 8-month old baby in a backpack. Susan and I had done this loop years before, and I remembered it being difficult, but nowhere near as brutal as it turned out to be. The trail climbed over 3000 ft in the first 5 miles (ascended via the Falling Waters Trail). The mile or two along Franconia Ridge was relatively easy, and the weather was perfect (warmed up to short-sleeve shirt temps). I met a woman (Deborah Gale, from the Lake Placid area) on Little Haystack (the southernmost peak of the ridge walk), and we chatted for a while before I went on my way (a little worried about getting done before dark). We met again on Mt Lafayette, and hiked together to the AMC Greenleaf Hut where she was staying for the night. We made tentative plans to hike Mt Marcy on Saturday (didn’t happen). The trip down the Bridal Trail was extremely difficult, since I was tired and my legs were worn out from the climb. I had to rest often to let my legs recover, and ended up getting back to my car at about 7 PM (well after sunset). I was too tired to head back to the motel to clean up, so I just grabbed some food at the McDonald’s in North Woodstock, and some beer and ice cream at a market on the way back up Route 3. I watched a little TV while I ate, then hit the hay for what I hoped would be another hike on Tuesday (I had dropped my plan to hike Mt Jefferson via the Castle Trail, and planned, instead to hike the Bog Brook Trail, near Jackson in Pinkham Notch).
- When I awoke on Tuesday, I could barely walk, so I scrapped the hiking plan, headed back to Peg’s for breakfast (same selection as Monday), then took a driving tour through the Whites. I got back to Lincoln around lunchtime, and stopped by a nearby drug store for ibuprofen and snacks. I rested in the afternoon, then headed to the Woodstock Inn for dinner (burger, fries, beer). I considered heading back there to drink at the bar and watch the wild-card game between the Nats and Brewers, but I had a decent signal at the motel, so I stuck around and watched the game on my iPad.
- I returned to the Woodstock Inn for breakfast on Wednesday (great reviews, well deserved), and met some folks from Alabama prior to being seated. They asked me to join them for breakfast, and we had a very entertaining conversation while we ate. After breakfast, I headed back to the motel to pack up for my drive to Jerry’s house. I started around 10, moseying through NH on Route 112 to I-91, and then I-91 to Route 4 in Vermont, which took me to Killington. I got to Jerry’s around noon. Friends of Jerry and Kathy were also staying with them (John, who had served on an SNP summer crew, and his wife, Val, both from NJ). We lounged around until dinnertime, then visited one of Jerry’s favorite restaurants for dinner (Choices Restaurant and Rotisserie…great chow, mixed seafood with ravioli: http://www.choicesrestaurantkillington.com/).
- Relaxed in the morning, then we headed to one of Jerry’s favorite breakfast places (Sugar and Spice, Mendon, VT: http://vtsugarandspice.com/). We returned to Jerry’s place, where I read for a while, then headed to the Long Trail Brewing Company ( http://longtrail.com/ ) for lunch, and to a local waterfall trail for a short walk. I took a brief nap, back at Jerry’s house. Kathy cooked dinner, and afterwards we watched the first game of the NLDS (the Nats lost 0-6).
- I got up around 6 on Friday, had breakfast with Jerry and Kathy, then packed up and headed out to the Adirondacks. The long ferry from Burlington to Port Kent, NY had closed for the season the weekend prior to my visit, so I drove to Charlotte to take the shorter ferry (about 30 minutes) to Essex, NY. It was a lovely, misty drive, and the weather cleared from rainy to windy by the time I got to Lake Champlain. From Essex, I drove north to Ausable Chasm. Although I had driven across the chasm several times, previously, I had never hiked the trails, so I spent a few hours there, exploring the area. After visiting the chasm, I drove to Ausable Forks and Wilmington, before heading back to I-87 for the trip to Schroon Lake, where I’d spend the next two nights (Rowe’s Lake Breeze Cabins). I unpacked at the cabin, rested for a while, then drove to DeCesare’s pizzeria. I got a large pizza (excellent, with onions, pepperoni, and anchovies) half of which I ate there. I stopped at a local convenience store to pick up more beer and snacks, then headed back to the cabin to watch game 2 of the NLDS on my tablet (Nats won 4-2).
- Up early on Saturday, and had the other half of the previous night’s pizza for breakfast. I had scrapped the idea of hiking Mt Marcy (relatively long drive to the trailhead, plus an impossible amount of mileage for a day-hike, after the NH adventure), so I found a nearby trail that went to Pharoah Mountain (out and back). I drove to one of the upper trailheads (rough, dirt road), and got rolling around 8. The trail was lovely and only challenging during the last mile or so. I had lunch on the peak, where I chatted with a hiker from Ontario, who recommended other good hikes in the Adirondacks (“The Jays” and “Pitchoff Mountain”). I got back to my car around 1, and thought about visiting Ft Ticonderoga, but skipped that plan due to the absurd entrance fee. I headed back to my cabin, packed up for the trip home, rested for a while, then headed to dinner at the Black Bear restaurant, near Pottersville (patty melt, fries, coke). Driving back to my cabin, I made a wrong turn near the restaurant, and ended up driving through beautiful Adirondacks back roads for an hour or so in order to get back to Route 9.
- I left Schroon Lake around 6:30, and had an uneventful drive home, arriving around 2:30 (in plenty of time to unpack and rest, before watching Game 3 of the NLDS).
Kerry Snow's Travel Blog (and other stuff)
