Anyone in the White Mountains this weekend?

Color me jealous! I had to give up climbing due to knee surgeries and arthritis. I can climb up all day long, but going downhill kills me. Mt. Washington would be do-able, if I could stand being confined with fragranced people. Climb up, and Cog down.

 

If there was an easy cheap way back down Katahdin, I'd pencil it in at least once a year. There are boulder-y ascents that require hand-strength and scrambling, and I could probably still do those easily, but the last time I descended, my knees swelled up so bad that when we hit the base, I had to get help taking off my jeans (cooler fall climb) and get some shorts on for the drive home. If you can get (and stay) fragrance-free including detergents and fabric softeners, I'll help you schedule some local accommodations, or you can camp on our property, and we can do a bit of fishing next summer. I fly-fish almost exclusively, but there are a couple of nice ponds that are really trout-y and allow artificial lures only (a bit more permissive) if you haven't gotten the fly-fishing bug. The best ponds are FFO, and some of them have a minimum length limit of 18". Wild brookies of 14-16" are a handful on light fly-rods, so if you've gotten hooked up with one 18-20", you'll need patience, luck, and some world-class grin-repellent.

 

Pictures man, pictures. Mt Washington is on my short list of places to go hiking.....

 

I'll be there with my wife and son. How will I know you?

 

You just do the secret PF handshake of course

 

Speak softly and carry a big fish.

 

:rofl: frozen of course :rofl:

 

We go leaf-peeping every year and this year we planned to go to NH this coming weekend. I thought perhaps Franconia Notch, but we didn't make any solid plans. We just go and find what lodging we can. Perhaps I will swing by and say hello if it doesn't disturb what vague plans we have. I spent a lot of time in the Lakes Region as a child and I will certainly head that way. We will not be climbing Mt. Washington unless by cog rail.

 

Haven't posted here for a while, but just saw this thread and had to reply.

I too will be in the area this weekend. Haven't yet figured out where I'll be staying, but weather permitting (there will likely be rain Friday night and possibly Saturday morning), I'll be hiking in the Presidentials on Saturday and summitting Whiteface and Passaconaway on Sunday. One of my fellow hikers is staying in the Dry River Campground in Crawford Notch (I presume that's the same one you're staying at), and I may join him there, but more likely, will stay either in North Conway or Gorham. Only time I am able to visit, is unfortunately after 8pm, but I might run into you on Mt Washington (yeah, right ... you and a million other people) if you happen to be there Saturday afternoon!

I was in the Notch last weekend too, when the colors were starting to seriously change. I took this picture from the summit of Mt Willey, looking south along the Notch:

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2522/pan1c.png [Broken]

 

Chi, Jimmy: Let me know if you folks are planning to meet up - I'd love to be able to join in, or meet either/both of you separately. Likely good times for me are Friday evening 6-8pm and maybe late Saturday night (after 9pm or so).

Astro: You should drive over - it's not too far from home is it? About 5-7 hrs from upstate NY along 90 and 91.

 

I PM'ed Gokul with my cell phone number. I can't PM Chi Meson, but he can PM me with any contact info if he wants me to call him.

 

The trip was a great success. We stayed in Laconia on Lake Winnipesaukee, the first night in a motel because we arrived late, the second night in a cabin which was our intention. Friday and Saturday were spent getting up there because we spent time with some relatives in Connecticut. When we got settled in Sat night, I saw that Gokul had left a message on my cell phone and so I called him back. He was in N. Conway which was too far north for us to get to that night. Sunday he spent the day hiking while we went leaf peeping. This is the best year I can recall for it. I had never gotten there at the peak before and so had never before seen an entire mountain covered in bright fall colors, and lit up by the sun. Crawford's Notch is a great place for it. However, there is a traffic jam of epic proportions in the town of N. Crawford and we went right through it. I didn't meet Chi Meson either, but I left a message at the desk and a note at his campsite just telling him that I had been there. Then we went further north and back south through Franconia Notch. It was getting late so we didn't stop at any of the sights, but the leaf peeping was excellent. As we went farther south, the spectacular show came to an end. By the time we got back to Laconia, the colors were about what you get in NJ at peak. After we got back, Gokul called again from N. Conway and again we didn't meet up.

 

These photos are none too good. Here are my son and wife.


Here is some mountain in Crawford's Notch.


Here is another photo of the scene that Chi Meson posted.


Our cabin on Lake Winnipesaukee.


The view across Lake Winnipesaukee from the cabin.

 

Cursor rollover message: "And I could replace you with older pictures of you, from back when you looked happy"