Mt. Major (3/26/22)

This past week both Dragonfly and I celebrated our birthdays. As part of the celebration with friends and family, we decided to do a hike on Mt. Major. I don't know this for certain because it's seemingly impossible to find good records, but I would guess that Mt. Major is one of the five most popular hiking mountains in New Hampshire. I would guess that they are Mt. Monadnock, Mt. Chocorua, Mt. Washington, Mt. Major, and Mt. Lafayette in some order. Major is so popular that Dragonfly and I once drove by and counted a full mile of cars parked by the side of the road, and that's despite the fact that Major has a fairly large parking lot.

Joining Dragonfly and I for our hike were Dragonfly's cousin, now known as Hummingbird, as well as Dragonfly's sister Sondra, brother-in-law Ben, and niece Amaya. We got there at 10:45 or so, so we couldn't find a spot in the lot, but we got road parking that was pretty close to the lot. Everyone had their own hiking equipment except Amaya, so she borrowed her grandmother's boots and spikes. The spikes would come in very handy later on.

Hummingbird, Hawk, Dragonfly, Sondra, Amaya, and Ben.

As we moved through the parking lot, we commented on just how many electronic devices we were all running. Our walk in the woods looked more like a technology convention. Besides all the cell phones running AllTrails and that kind of stuff, Ben was using a BivyStick and I had my Garmin inReach Mini. Ben and I were comparing to see which device would do better. The inReach had its usual problems with not being able to acquire satellites and taking a long time to track and send messages, especially under tree cover, but I think the BivyStick did even worse. Neither device impressed me.

One of the reasons that I had the inReach back out was because I was testing it to get ready to use it on trail again. I will be back out on the Appalachian Trail in a few weeks. I will be hiking through Connecticut and finishing Massachusetts, and Ben will be joining me for part of the hike. I am looking forward to it. Maybe while we're there we can do more tests of the BivyStick and the inReach Mini.

At the beginning of the hike, I wound up in front,  but that's never a good idea because people often have a hard time keeping up with me. Thus, I suggested someone else should lead. Amaya took over, but that was an even worse idea, because she was going even faster than I was. We tried to get Sondra to set a pace that she was comfortable with, but that didn't work out because before long Ben, Amaya, and I were all out in front again. Eventually we just settled on letting people run out ahead, and then stop and wait when others had to catch up.

I was very impressed with Hummingbird on this hike. She has been working to get herself in shape recently, doing a lot of running, and the difference showed. The difficulties that she has had in the past with running out of breath were gone, and she was consistently at the front of the group. I suspect that she could keep up with me on a tough hike at this point, and I wouldn't have said that six months ago.

We took the blue trail up the mountain. As we got towards the higher elevations, we were warned by a couple hikers coming the other way that there was a lot of ice ahead, and we should use spikes on it if we had them. Thankfully, we did. Honestly, I think we were the only people on the mountain with real spikes. A lot of other people had those traction devices meant for flat ground, but that just won't work on tough mountain ice. You really need either MicroSpikes or Hillsounds.

We put our spikes on when we got to the base of the ice, right before a fairly steep climb. I showed Amaya how to put her spikes on, as she had never used them before. I was the first person up the climb, and I used my poles and spikes and handled the climb without much difficulty. There was a rock that I had to maneuver around, but it wasn't too bad. Hummingbird was the next up, and she took the bad weather workaround trail, which she was sure to point out still counts as part of the actual trail. Dragonfly came up next, and she followed me, and had no issues. She was a bit upset that she had to take her poles out, though, as she prefers to hike without them these days.

The fearsome ice hill.

The next one to attempt the climb was Amaya, and she failed to plant her spikes correctly on the climb. This led to the side of her spike hitting the ice instead of the teeth, and so her leg slipped out. Thankfully the other spike held firm, and it was a scary moment, but she was fine. Meanwhile, Sondra was also struggling to follow Dragonfly and I up, and so Ben suggested that they take the bad weather trail that Hummingbird had used.

Ascending from that side was still difficult, but there wasn't a need to work around the rock anymore, so it was easier. Amaya bounded up the mountain with youthful enthusiasm, while Ben and Sondra took it slower, but all three of them eventually met the other three of us at the top of the hill.

That was far from the end, though. We had to maneuver our way up more ice. With our spikes, we were all doing okay, but others were struggling. One couple had traction, but it was the inadequate type of traction that wasn't doing them any good on the thick mountain ice. The husband made it up a climb, but as his wife tried to follow, she started to slip. She kept repeating, "I'm good, I'm good," as she began to slide back down the hill. Realizing she wasn't good, Ben stepped in and got behind her to prevent her from taking a nasty fall.

A short time later, at the top of the next climb, the husband was passing me by as I waited for the rest of my group to catch up. Much like his wife, he kept saying that he was good as he began to slide backwards towards me. I reached out my hand and braced him, and that helped him recover his balance. He was then able to use the help of my arm and a tree branch to maneuver up the hill.

Thankfully, the ice section was short lived, and we were soon able to take our spikes back off. The next obstacle was a rock scramble. There was an easier workaround, but I decided to have fun some fun and climb right up the rock face. In retrospect, that probably wasn't the smartest move, given that I didn't have the grip of my Altras, but I managed it fine.

The views over Lake Winnipesaukee from the top of the rock scramble were magnificent. Hummingbird and I stood at the top and took them in while we waited for everyone else to catch up.

Lake Winnipesaukee, the largest lake in New Hampshire.

From the lookout, it was a short jaunt to the summit. Amaya wanted to be the first one to summit, but Dragonfly distracted her. I announced that I was going to summit before her, and she raced me up the mountain. Ben helpfully told her to push me off the mountain, but thankfully she didn't need to. She summited just a few steps in front of me.

The summit was windy, and I had to put my jacket on. We hid in the "fort," the remains of an old foundation located on the summit. Some quick Internet research showed that it is the remains of Mr. Phippen's Hut. We met a few other people up there and chatted with them. I gave them some suggestions for the best way to hike Franconia Ridge, which they were interested in doing.

We decided that the best way to descend was via the yellow trail, which was muckier than the blue trail, but avoided descending on steep ice. I spent most of my time in front with Ben talking about our upcoming trip and backpacking in general. Dragonfly and Sondra spent most of their time in back. Hummingbird and Amaya tended to bounce between the two groups. Amaya, in particular, was having a grand old time as she slid down any ice patch she could find.

I commented to Hummingbird at one point that the way down felt quite a bit longer than the way up, and she confirmed that it was. Still, the overall hike was only about four and a half miles, so it wasn't super strenuous either way.

We made it out in good time, and then we all headed home to enjoy birthday cake and apple pie. Any hike that ends with cake and pie has to be a good hike, right? Here is Dragonfly's take on the same hike, which I encourage you to read. Until the next hike, always remember that you can't take flight until you spread your wings.

Hawk spreading his wings (or checking his Garmin app).