Mount Liberty and Flume 6.1.2013

Via Flume Slide Trail

Our hiking season started off with a snowy bang on Memorial Day for Mount Moosilauke, where we were greeted with fresh snowfall, snowdrifts of six inches, and massive mud puddles. Truthfully-- that's the kind of crap I like-- the sort of unexpected weather (while being prepared that is!).

The following weekend we decided to trek up two other familiar favorites-- Liberty and Flume. Last year Mount Liberty and Flume were numbers 10 and 11 on our 4,000 Footer list. At that time, we had elected to do an out and back hike, mainly because it was shorter (by around .5 miles- so minuscule) but also because I'm scared to death of heights these days.

So this time, in order to try challenge ourselves we elected to hike the Flume Slide Trail, which would give us a nice loop over the two peaks. Summer weekends can have these two popular mountains packed with vacationers and day hikers, so getting back up to see the amazing views before the crowds was an excellent idea.

Flume Slide Trail is a stellar, killer hike. I've read all sorts of different trail reports-- for some people it's not that steep or challenging and for others it's a haul. For us, we found it to be rugged and a challenge, but not what I like to call "a suffer fest." Many sections of the trail were extremely wet despite the relatively dry weather prior to our hike. I would only expect with the recent tsunami-like rain we've been getting in New Hampshire that the trail conditions continue to be wet and slick.

Looking at Mount Flume

The Top of Mount Flume

Mount Liberty from Mount Flume

The trail winds through a nice forested area, crisscrossing over a small stream several times. Our hike was accompanied by humid and hot weather, so it was nice to dip our faces and heads into the cool water. The trail later turns into a rocky scramble up sheer rock. It's manageable with footholds and handholds, but really tricky when wet.

Liberty Under a Cloud Shadow From Mount Flume (this is one of those peaks that looks ridiculously far away after you just killed yourself up one mountain)

We stopped near the top to down our sandwiches and bumped into a friendly hiker with his two dogs. I think the dogs handled the scrambles better than me! It's always great to see how even the smallest amongst us can handle tough terrain. This hiker and his dogs are roughly at around the same number for 4,000 footers after just starting last year and since we both saved many of the longer hikes for last-- we may be seeing more of each other!

Hikers on Top of Flume

Mount Flume with Waterville in the Distance

The views atop Liberty and Flume are absolutely amazing. I never get over the way the clouds cast shadows on top of the mountains and while I love the feeling of isolation in the middle of the wilderness, I'll take this busy, but scenic view any day...

Hiking the 4,000 Footers: Mount Moosilauke 5.27.2013

Gorge Brook Trail

To kick off our 2013 hiking, we decided to trek back up a familiar peak- Mount Moosilauke- in order to get ourselves back into shape for hiking our 4,000 Footer list.





(We had big plans to work on our Winter List this year, but let's face it- life gets in the way sometimes! For our plain 'ol 4,000 Footer list we have a lot of the big peaks and treks left- the Bonds, Isolation, etc., so we may be hiking peaks we've already hiked in order to prep.)





Memorial Day weekend gave us four days in a row to hike and we were so pumped! Until we saw the weather reports that is... Turns out Memorial Day weekend was basically a wash up here in New Hampshire. We had serious rain paired with winds and unseasonable cold temps. So we had only one day to really get a hike in and that was on Memorial Day itself.



The conditions were manageable, but extremely poor. You basically saw all your typical spring thaw conditions-- mud, mud and more mud. And did I mention snow? That too.





The lower end of the trail was extremely wet and muddy, making the trail slippery and slow going. As we climbed higher the trail became snowy and muddy and the trees began to melt away the snow stuck to their branches so it was almost raining on us.





Above treeline the snow was much deeper- maybe drifts of close to a foot. It would have been helpful with traction, but it wasn't necessary. Wind speeds were amazing on our hike! At the top sustained speeds had us hunched over and gusts knocked us around.



(I know- we are totally a Marmot commercial!)





The good news is as we hiked down the snow appeared to be melting quickly! So there may not be as much snow on Moosilauke for those who head out next weekend.

Camper of the Week

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AMC Huts 125th Year Anniversary

Natural Collections

I recently started my own collection of striped rocks. And I've been inspired by so many other forms of natural collections...

My own collection of rocks.

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Camper of the Week

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Cabin of the Week

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Tiny Greenhouses

I have long been a fan of the tiny trend- tiny houses, tiny cabins, tiny cars. Since we aren't in the market to build our own tiny cabin quite yet, I've decided to spend this cold wintery day dreaming up plans for a tiny greenhouse.

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The key to a tiny greenhouse is salvaged materials. Many creative builders across the web have demonstrated what a few discarded windows can give you. Whenever I see windows at yard sales I scoop them up because even if you aren't going to build a tiny greenhouse, you could certainly use the windows for a simple removable cold frame.

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Thoughtful placement is also a very important aspect to the tiny greenhouse. Maximize your passive heating and energy by locating the windows to the south, where the most direct sunlight will help warm up the greenhouse.

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The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax

Do Eskimos really have the largest snow vocabularies? For years, linguists have theorized that Eskimos in fact have accumulated the largest vocabularies in regards to snow, also known as the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis. The main idea being, that the more you know something, the more you experience it and the more you think, see, and touch something the greater your variety of language around it. Since Eskimos have vast experiences with snow, the idea that they may have the most varied and complex ways to describe it sounds logical.

Over the years "The Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax" has countered this hypothesis, stating that Eskimos in fact do not have the largest snow vocabularies. Linguists behind the Hoax theory point out that several Eskimo languages (Inuit, Yupik) vary their root words by adding any number of prefixes to them. By changing their root words in this way, Eskimos have dozens upon dozens of ways to really describe anything, not just snow.

So it seems that Eskimo languages are really more flexible in the way that they create vocabulary by adding prefixes, not that they have the largest snow vocabularies. Although the idea behind the Sapir- Wharf hypothesis still resonates with me. Based on the winter we have had here in New England my snow vocabulary is certainly growing (up to 12 different words!). Care to add to the list? Let me know what I am missing...

snow. powder. dusting. fluff. hardpack. slush. sleet. snowflake. flurry. avalanche. hail. frost.