Yahoo Hour

                                                                Yahoo Hour


   The Appalachian trail is one of the most iconic hiking trails in the United States, so Evan's planned  sunrise hike for July was more than appropriate on a mountain that's named after the first person to accomplish 2000 miles of the so named trail.

    Avery peak in the Bigelow mountain range of Maine is named after Myron Avery who's foresight and leadership was the force behind the completion of the AT.

   Our normal start time for any hike is usually well before the Yahoo hour of 9am, but with a lack of sleep and a long drive we arrived at the trail head for Fire Wardens trail after 9, so we considered ourselves Yahoo's for the day.
   Yahoo, by definition, is a "rude, noisy or violent person".  The definition in hiking terms is one who arrives at the trail head late, is noisy and traveling in large groups, disturbing the peacefulness and tranquility of the great outdoors that so many of us utilize to slip away from normal everyday existence in the mainstream world.
   It's been ten years since the last time we did this hike and with time comes changes. The road was in great shape and a parking lot with a kiosk has been built since.

The Yahoos for a day

   The trail started easy following an old road onto a footbridge across Stratton Brook and along Stratton Brook Pond at an easy, almost flat grade with a few rolling hills the further we hiked away from Stratton Brook Pond until we arrived at the intersection of Horns Pond Trail at 1.4 miles.

Crossing Stratton Brook

   The Bigelow mountain range is an interesting narrow range with a fairly flat landscape surrounding it's base, because of this natural feature Fire Wardens Trail starts gaining elevation at a steady pace once it leaves the valley floor climbing a modest 2500' in less than three miles.
  We arrived at the junction of the AT, after hiking approximately four miles from the parking lot, when we reached Avery Col there were many tent platforms to choose from. This was a perfect space to set camp with Avery peak only a quick 15 minute hike away.

Our camp

  After setting up camp and nourishing ourselves we headed out to enjoy the weather and views from the summit, where a sunset is a beautiful way to cap off a terrific day of hiking.

The setting sun with Bella looking ready for sleep

This was my favorite picture of the sunset with West Peak in the distance.

  We had a restful night sleep and were up and ready to go at 4:30am. With the sunrise starting around 5am it was an easy 15min hike up a boulder strewn trail with enough light of dawn that no headlamps were needed for the short trek.
   The summit greeted us with steady winds whipping across the flat northeast territory of the mountain, where the brightness on the horizon showed us approximately where the sun will be appearing in the next few minutes.

   As the sun appeared and slowly rose from the distant horizon, it seemed as if the perceptible natural movement of air was being forced across the landscape by the sun itself to where we stood.

Evan standing tall in the early morning winds

   In the early morning moments that it takes the sun to rise above the horizon, I always seem to take hundreds of pictures hoping just a few develop into something special, worthy enough to create a collage of one perfect photo from each sunrise we've done. I couldn't imagine attempting this in the days of rolls of film for a 35mm camera...

The heater pushing the winds across the flat landscape surrounding the Bigelows

   Now that the heater seems to be distantly floating above the horizon, we head back to our camp to have breakfast and break down camp.
  We finished our hike by traversing over West peak and over to the Horns for a summit of North Horn for more views, something this hike is far from lacking!

A tired Bella

The beautiful trail between the Horns

Resting at The Horns Pond

  We also rested by The Horns Pond so we could filter water and Bella could soak herself and relax before our descent from the Bigelow mt range. From the camps on The Horns Pond we branched off the A.T. onto Horns Pond trail, which merged back with Fire Wardens trail to complete our loop.


Our GPS Track: 1st Day: 1st Day
                           2nd Day: 2nd Day
Evan's Blog: Evan hikes

South Moat for June

                                   South Moat for June

   Evan's planned sunrise for the month of June brought us to the eastern edge of the White Mountains where South Moat Mountain overlooks the bustling area of Conway N.H.. This area is a touristy area, which usually has many people and a lot of traffic, but at 3am on a Monday morning we had our choice of parking at the trail head and the whole mountain to ourselves.
   We were staying a few miles away, at Attitash in Bartlett, NH, so the detailed coordination of the complex operation of getting to the summit for sunrise was made a bit easier than some treks in the past. Wake up at 2:30am and at trail head by 3am, easy!

The start was dark...

   The trail started as an easy hike on old logging roads in the darkness of the forest, then quickly brought us to a steady incline before arriving on ledges as the sky was slowly illuminating and the lights from the towns were scattered on the grounds below. The sparkles of stars throughout the dark western sky were slowly giving way to the brightness from the east.

The eastern sky illuminating

   After hiking just under three miles we arrived at the summit only to be greeted by steady, high, cold winds. The timing was great considering we only needed to wait a short time before the heater broke the horizon and displayed it's hues of colors among the trees and mountains surrounding us.

The under cast clouds meandering through the valley.

   The grayish white clouds in the valley below seemed to creep along in a methodical way, in unison with the slight breeze in the lower elevations, while the clouds in the distance, above the eastern horizon, were reflecting soft tones of orange.

   The mountains around us were slowly brightening, from the summits to the valleys below, as the sun was rising above the eastern horizon, casting it's light across the earth's floor beneath us.

The eastern horizon before the sun made it's appearance

The sun's rays illuminating the Presidential's to the North

     Attempting to take photos, while still observing and enjoying the sky within the five to ten minutes it takes the sun to rise, can be a challenge in itself. Everywhere I turn there's a change in the colors and tones reflecting off clouds, mountains and particles in the distance.

   As usual Evan let's me take a few silhouette shots, which are becoming my favorite.

   With the sun completely emerged above the horizon, we take one more look around as Evan does his peak naming of all the large naturally formed lumps in the earth's surface that surrounds us before heading down.

Evan leading the descent.

The descent always shows the beauty we missed in the dark.

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   The trek down is always pleasurable, as I never am fond of taking the same trail, it's almost as if it's a different one, because of the daylight we are able to view everything we missed in the dark on the ascent.

A well worn raised trail near the summit.

This trail seems to be an old logging or fire tower road.

   Before we knew it we had arrived back to our vehicle with our usual sense of accomplishment and need for nourishment.
   This was an awesome hike and spectacular summit. We were fortunate to have done it so early and in return we had the trail, summit and views all to ourselves.

Evan's blog: South Moat Sunrise. Evanhikes
GPS Track: GPS June sunrise

The Best Sunrise Campsite: Mt Pharaoh

  The Best Sunrise Campsite: Mt Pharaoh

  I've only been to the Adirondacks a few times over the years, so when Evan planned our sunrise hike for May at Pharaoh Lake Wilderness in the Adirondacks, I was anticipating another fantastic trip with different scenery.

  Pharaoh Lake Wilderness is a 46,000+ acre piece of the Adirondacks, which is located in between Schroon Lake and the Vermont border of NY. Our hike started from Crane Pond Road onto Crane Pond Trail, which is a quintessential old Fire Warden, or logging road, in the Northeast. Rolling through old growth pines while following Alder Creek to Alder Pond, passing Goose Pond trail on the right. Most of this old road was still passable with four wheel drive and moderate grades for easy hiking.

  The trail ended at the intersection of Long Swing Trail and Pharaoh Mt Trail, which was to the right,  where we had planned our stealth camping destination somewhere close to Pharaoh mountain summit.

  Shortly after taking the right onto Pharaoh Mt. Trail we came to Crane Pond where designated campsites and a privy were established. The area  was beautiful and definitely appeared as a possible place to return and explore... But our mission lay a few more miles up the trail.

  After approximately three miles from the trail head we were approaching the base of Pharaoh mountain where the trail climbed approximately 1300' in less than a mile and a half.
   We approached the summit rewarded with splendid views of the High Peaks to the Northwest, when Evan did his usual peak naming while pointing off into the horizon.

  The summit was unique, having ledges with stunning views on all sides and enough area with trees in the middle to offer a designated camping area out of the wind. If every summit was formed like this our sunrise hikes would be easy!

  The weather this May hadn't cooperated with us yet and this weekend's forecast wasn't predicting skies for a perfect sunrise, but with clouds in the forecast it gave us unique shades of colors for the sunset and sunrise with easily reached ledges from the tent, so no extra time for hiking was needed.
  The morning brought steady 20-30 mph winds with chilling temps, but after the summits of the last 5 winter months it was pleasant not to worry about frostbite...
  With the early morning wake-up call, and practically rolling out of the tent with no warm-up hike, Evan hunkered down behind a rock outcropping to be out of the wind while awaiting the illuminating clouds hiding the sun beyond the eastern horizon.

  Without the proper camera, and skills to operate, the photos captured with an older smart phone are difficult to show the beauty of the uniqueness of clouds as the vibrant shades of color lit up the early morning sky on the horizon.

  After breaking down camp we slowly meandered down the southeastern side of the summit on Pharaoh Mountain trail until we arrived at the quiet shores of Pharaoh Lake. We headed northeast for less than a mile along the shore where there was plenty of peaceful designated campsites within steps of the water until we came to the junction of  Glidden Marsh to Pharaoh Lake trail, where we headed Northwest along the eastern base of Pharaoh Mt.

  This part of the wilderness was mostly flat with some water crossings until we arrived at Glidden Marsh, where the trail ran along the shore with the slopes of Pharaoh mt across the picturesque marsh. We rested here for a while before we slung the packs onto our backs and finished the loop returning us to the intersection of Pharaoh Mountain Trail, which we followed back to the trail head where our vehicle awaited us.

The Route: Day one
                   Day two
Evan's Blog: EvanHikes