Beckwith's Hiking Log

This is just a really simple way for me to keep track of my hiking expeditions. Pictures may arrive if the camera I use actually works.

Long Trail/Appalachian Trail

August 18, 2004 - August 21, 2004

This trip was my very first hiking expedition, and I decided to not waste any time. I went on a three day hike with my Uncle David. The trip started about 20 miles south of Manchester, VT on sunday night. We stayed at Story Brook (?) shelter. Nice place, three walls and an open side with a small fire pit. There was also a newly constructed privy (outhouse). The next day we were off and did a good 5 mile trek to the next shelter (can't remember the name). Next day we went about 11 miles and arrived just in time for a downpour to the nice shelter. Yeah, I'll fill in the names later. The last day we went back to Manchester, cleaned up, and I went back to civilization.

Webster-Jackson Loop

September 18, 2005

Hike #2 in the rain. This was a nice day hike. According to all the literature I read, I went about 6-7 miles and did two mountains. MY FIRST 4000 FOOTER! That was Mt. Jackson. On a nice day where the summit is not in a cloud, I imagine the view would be quite spectacular. I went up Mt. Webster, then across on the Webster Cliff trail to the summit of Mt. Jackson. Two really tricky spots on this one, first, going down to the falls and pool after the trail splits. And second, the summit of Mt. Jackson has some very steep ledges. Beautiful hike but miserable weather.

Cascade Path

August 6, 2006

Hike #3 was on a beautiful day. Jess and I had gone camping the previous night in Waterville Valley, and this day was just way too nice to pass up. After reading a few sections in the WM Guide, I found a nice "short" walk for the both of us to check out. The path was about 1.7 miles long, and ended at the beatiful cascades. We grabbed a sandwich in the deli in Waterville Valley Town Square and then headed off. We had lunch at the cascades, and didn't see anyone else for the whole way there. We were definitely alarmed when an animal's nose started sniffing our backs, but we quickly discovered that it was just a family's black lab. He definitely enjoyed the casacades. After this, we headed back. The weather was absolutely perfect for this - not too hot or cold at all.

Mount Osceola Trail

August 13, 2006

This one I tacked solo. Getting to the trail took a while - Tripoli Road leading up to it was a dirt road and full of small rocks. The air was chilly before I started but it warmed up nicely when I hit the trail. I got started at 11:55, and after 15 minutes I needed a breather. Damn asthma! The trail was full of baseball to watermelon sized (and bigger) rocks that made it pretty challenging to get good footing. There aws no water though, so dealing with the rocks was the biggest problem. The trail was pretty busy on the way up, and then I made it to the summit, to see about 20-30 people up there. I completely understand why. The view was amazing. You could see Chocura it was so clear. I sat and enjoyed the view while enjoying my lunch, then decided to tackle East Osceola too. This wasn't too bad, except the chimney made for slow going. When I reached the summit of "East" (as they call it) nobody else was there. There was no view to speak of, but a small pile of rocks marked the top. I went back, made it to the peak of Osceola in 1:10 round trip, took a break and enjoyed the scenery again. This time there was only 2 others up there, and they left soon after I arrived. It was absolutely gorgeous - I took some pictures but I'm not sure that captures how nice it was. After a little while, I hit the trail down. Had to remember to take it slow sometimes, as it's tough on the knees and legs. I made it down in 1:30, and I ended the day at 5:30. This was the hike I'd been waiting for!

Mount Willard

September 30, 2006

Jess and I took off up north to try to catch the "peak" of the leaf season in Crawford Notch. Mount Willard is a 2840 foot peak and was about a 3 hour round trip hike. The weather was beautiful - a little on the chilly side, but perfect for a fall day. It was about a 1.5 hour drive up there, and when we arrived we hit the trail. It was pretty busy, a constant stream of people and a few dogs as well, but everyone was happy and said the hike would be well worth it at the top. It certainly was a sight to see, fall foliage, clear sky, and Crawford Notch sprawling out in front of us. We had a fairly quick lunch and then made the trip back, much easier on the way down.

UNH Trail

Summer, 2007

Missed this entry, but it was a pretty nice hike on a nice day. Moderately difficult. I have some pictures... here?

Parker Mountain

July 12, 2008

Small little mountain in Strafford. By far the closest hike to where we live in Pittsfield. Julia's first hike! Beautiful day, and beautiful lookout. The top wasn't much to look at though...

Arathusa Falls

July 19, 2008

the next weekend we went camping with Kevin and Kristen. Twas fun and we also made our way up to Arathusa Falls, beautiful falls! Kevin and I headed up to the top of the falls and looked down. It was pretty crowded at the falls, but that's what you get for a pretty easy hike on a beautiful weekend.

Welch-Dickey Loop

October 5, 2008

A beauty-ful day up on the old loop. Nice and chilly with wonderful foliage - the parking lot was a bit crowded with MA plates, but, eh. I'm glad I went. Good day trip hike, I think it took me a little over 3 hrs, but I'll have to check the time and date on the photos.

Mt. Chocourua

October 6, 2009

Up the Brook trail, down the Liberty Trail. The Brook trail was quite a bit harder than I had anticipated - complete with 3 times that I missed the trail! Very poorly marked. I started out from the parking lot up an old dirt/logging rd. There was a sign that said "there's a bees nest on the trail!" but I decided to take my chances anyways. Made a left onto the trail right before the bridge and followed the brook for a while. A pile of sticks indicating a right turn up a hill led me to nowhere. Retracing my steps, and following the brook did the same. After a 3rd attempt, I managed to see the barely-marked yellow blazes on the tree, and I made a left turn in the middle of the hill and successfully found the trail again. About .3 mi later, I came to a ripped-out piece of spiral notebook paper that said "bees nest on trail" and I figured it was really cold still (and I had no idea WHEN these people saw the bees nest), so I kept on trudging along. I wasn't too far above the brook and I could tell the trail was headed in that direction anyways, so I veered off the trail slightly and reconnected about 200 yards later, quickening my pace and lightening my step (and THOMP from my stick) so that I would hopefully avoid any sleepy, slow-moving bees. Anyways, I missed a river crossing, and retraced my steps again to find the beginning of the real incline. After this point, the trail pretty much followed the guidebook's desciption with the steep ledges beginning. The ledges were the most difficult hiking challenge I've faced thus far. Far more challenging than the ledges on the Webster-Jackon loop. Once I made it past the tree line, there was only about 40' of rock until the peak. WINDY and COLD at the top, but myself and the 8 others enjoyed the foliage quite a bit. After stopping for some lunch and getting out of the wind, I started on the way down when the clouds started to get dark (I wouldn't have given it a second thought with a 10% chance of precip, but I did see a large batch of rain pass to the north earlier!). The way down was nice and easy, lots of rocks, not too many ledges, some nice outlooks. My knees thanked me when I took a few breaks and were glad to reach the bottom at 3:30. Pictures here