Sweetbriar Nature Center - Smithtown, NY

Sometimes instead of a grand adventure, all I yearn for is a sweet, mellow walk through the trails of a nature preserve. There are a few preserves on Long Island that feature short, easy nature walks with lots of wildlife. This one in particular also has a butterfly garden. This is a great place to go to as a family if you have little ones in tow. There were some beautiful butterflies in the mix. See below. :)

A cute pair

A side trip to the beach

Gypsy ladies :) Friends make everything better in life.

Link:
http://www.sweetbriarnc.org/

Wandering back in time Wednesday - Mashomack Preserve August 2012

Mashomack preserve is located on the very eastern tip of Long Island. It can be a long drive to get out there, but it is a leisurely and relaxed drive through sparse land. The preserve is located on Shelter Island, so you will also need to take a short ferry ride to get over to the preserve. If you go in the summertime, you'll also be lucky enough to be able to check out the farmer's markets while you're out there. The farmer's market that we had stopped at had one of the best local soft cheeses I had ever tried. There are 4 different color trails to choose from depending on what distance you'd like to hike. We chose the red, yellow and green trails. Blue would be the longest at over 10 miles. Another great activity to try in the area would be kayaking.

After the hike, if you drive out a little farther to Orient Point, near the LI ferry, there is a nice beach you can check out. Across from the beach, there is also a small trailhead for a short hike though the woods that leads to the ocean. It is more hidden and thus less populated and a great place for more privacy to relax near the ocean away from the crowds at the beach.

Links: http://www.shelter-island.org/mashomack.html

map

Mt. Washington, NH - The Lazy Way 08/18/2013

I came off Mount Isolation Sunday morning. My original plan was to do a day hike of Mount Pierce, but my energy was waning and time was crunched to be able to fit in another hike. I wasn't quite ready to head home yet, so instead I decided "Hey, let's do a drive up Mount Washington!"

I didn't know much about the methodology of driving up there. I knew this option existed, but always thought I'd never do that! Who drives up a mountain, when you can hike it? Well I became that person and I loved this way too! I wouldn't include this visit on my list of high points I've accomplished. I will save the hike up Mount Washington for when I eventually get to hike the entire Appalachian trail.

They charge a fee to drive your vehicle up this mountain along the Auto Road.  It is $26, plus additional fees for passengers. Another option is to take the train up or use the tour guides across the street who will drive you up in a group in a van. The tour is $35. I lucked out and got the tour for free. Apparently, my car is old and doesn't have a low gear to handle the mountains so Honda is gracious enough to pay the fee to use the tour van. How awesome is that? As we were driving up that mountain near the top, I was kind of glad I wasn't driving it. It was a bit scary and a tight road. One wrong swerve and off you'll go! Eek.

Driving up the mountain is a great way to include your family members who aren't into hiking in your mountain adventures. They can see what you see when you hike and appreciate the beauty around us that can't be grasped in a photograph.

The summit as expected was crowded with many visitors. It is the opposite of the experience on Mount Isolation. The two extremes are something to appreciate. The summit features a cafe with options for food and to sit down and relax. There is a museum and restrooms and many places to wander. You might forget that you are on top of a mountain. But when you look around outside and venture more off to the trails, the views are spectacular.

Although the majority of the people at the summit drove, there were plenty of hikers too, including 3 thru-hikers. The woman I sat next to while I chowed down on some pizza said it took 5 hours to hike the 4 miles up as a day hike and it was the longest 5 hours of her life! Hiking is the most rewarding activity to get to these views though.

It was one of the best days you could ask for with weather, though a bit chilly at 49 degrees at the top. Mount Washington is officially the second highest mountain I've had the blessing to be able to see, following Mount Mitchell.

Overall, I would highly recommend the tour. The tour guide was very good and offered funny banter and lots of useful information about the area. He is a professional photographer and knows his stuff about climbing. As we drove down the mountain he advised you should never bring a rocky relationship up into the mountains. If you have a harrowing experience it will either bond you or break you up. Ah lover's quarrels...The mountains offer one of the greatest compatibility tests there are.


Link: http://mtwashingtonautoroad.com/

Mount Isolation - White Mountains, NH August 17, 2013

"But if you could just see the beauty,

These things I could never describe,

These pleasures a wayward distraction,

This is my one lucky prize."

-Ian Curtis

There are many, many peaks in New Hampshire one can choose to tackle for a day. This day I chose to do Mount Isolation. It is the second smallest peak of the 48 four-thousand footers in the state, coming in at 4,004 feet. The total hike mileage out and back is 14.6 miles. I decided to turn what can be a day hike into an overnight and broke the hike down into 10.9 miles on day one and finished with 3.7 out the next morning. 

Elevation gain is about 3,400 feet. You will follow 3 paths. Starting on the Rocky Branch Trail for 3.7 miles you will reach the Rocky Branch Shelter #2, followed by the Isolation trail for 2.6 miles and then the Davis Path for .9 miles leading to the Mt. Isolation summit path for .1 miles. There are two trail heads starting at the parking lot. Make sure to start at the north end. There is plenty of parking here.

Beginning of the trail

It felt to me that most of the elevation gain took place within the first 3 miles. It was a steady climb, until I reached the sign stating I had reached the Dry River Wilderness and it energized my spirits after trudging uphill for awhile. Woohoo

The trail does level out for a bit both before and after the shelter. The level area entails hiking over wet rocks and muddy terrain so it does not allow you to hike much faster as you must be careful not to slip. There are also a few river crossings. Since there are no trail markings on the trees, look out for the cairns on the river that let you know where to cross. One of the crossings is very easy to miss if not paying close attention!

When I reached the shelter I decided to leave my tent there and lose some weight for the rest of the hike to the summit. Plus it allowed my tent to air out for a bit from the condensation from the night before. I'm also glad the shelter had some rope to hang my food, as I couldn't find my bear bag before leaving for this trip. The temperatures are starting to dip more at nightfall. Next time I will have to pack in the heavier thermals. It seems it was only a few weeks ago it was too hot for a sleeping bag. Fyi...the water from the river near the shelter tastes funky. Thankfully I only needed to hike a few miles the next day and didn't have to take in too much of it.

Rocky Branch Shelter #2

The remainder of the hike was a lot of mud and water below treeline. As I got closer to the top, I was surprised at how much damage was still left from Hurricane Irene 2 years ago.

There is a lot less hiker traffic on this trail than on other peaks in the White mountains, which is one of the reasons I chose it, seeing as it was a busy summer weekend in the whites. In fact, if you hear a noise while hiking, your first thought will be that it is a bear and not another hiker.

What is this darling little critter?

Eventually, you will come to the intersection with the Davis Path...

 From here it is short hike up to the summit and you will start to rise above treeline!

Magic Marker board?

Summit

There were a few people on and off the summit, but I had a good amount of time up there to myself which I enjoyed. There are few times when you are granted an entire space to yourself anywhere on earth for one to gather one's thoughts and rest in quiet solitude.

View from the summit - Mount Washington is in the distance.

This is definitely a good trail to hike, but if you are an out of stater and looking for a mind blowing hike I will always recommend the Franconia Ridge trail. Nothing beats hiking along a ridge line. When you want a little more solitude though, try out these lesser traveled ones. The views when you reach the top are always beautiful, no matter which peak you choose.

I had stopped on the way up at an awesome vegan cafe to grab some food and bought along a cupcake for the summit. I was super excited to eat my cupcake at the summit and as I was taking photos, this sneaky bird flew in and took a peck at my cupcake! The nerve! lol I forgave the birdie though :)

Hungry birdie

Mmmm A cupcake and Mt. Washington in the background!

Mount Isolation would also be a good hike for the wintertime. I came across this blog post and the pictures are absolutely beautiful and serene with the snow. It could be worth a second trip. Plus it would eliminate the issue of the muddy and watery trails. See post here... http://peakpursuits.blogspot.com/2012/02/mount-isolation-18-february-2012.html

My original goal for a White Mountain hike this year that I alluded to in a previous post had been to do a triple date with Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Adams and Mr. Madison via the infamous Six Husbands trail. I will see if that will make it into the plan book, but for now it may wait until I get more training hikes under my belt. There are many beautiful hikes to see in other states so I may venture off somewhere new. We shall see. I will keep you surprised. :)

Planning Link: http://home.earthlink.net/~ellozy/mount-isolation.html

Wandering back in time Wednesday - Mt. Monadnock - November 2010

Winter Hike of Mount Monadnock

This was a short hike via the White Dot Trail. Because it was November, the top of the mountain became quite icy and slippery.The trail had a bit of rock scrambling and a pretty steep climb up. Nothing too strenuous compared to the Whites though. It offered some very nice views.

Going up the mountain

If you look closely at the 2 pictures above and below, you will see it's the same location but very contrasting weather. How fast climate can change! The top photo is going up and the bottom one is going down.

Going down the mountain

Link: http://www.mountainsummits.com/pphikes/newhampshire/monadnockpphike.htm