Summer Vacation

 From eastern Maine we intended to camp Wednesday through Saturday at Rangeley Lakes in western Maine: one night in a campground and two at a campsite we would kayak to.  Since we left Grand Lake on Tuesday, we went directly to Jefferson, NH, figuring we'd backtrack to Maine for the camping.  Except the weather was perfect in NH for hiking, and we didn't really want to pack up and go to the campground for a night, the kayaking part was what we looked forward to.  Except the forecast was miserable for kayaking and camping, so we stayed in NH for nine days instead of the planned five.  Not a hardship at all.

Upon arrival, we did something Gail had never done in all her years of hiking and living in and near the White Mountains:  hike in Randolph, north of Rt. 2.  It is near the lodge we stayed at (the same one we stayed in in 2019 that is owned by Ithaca friends).  Crescent Mountain turned out to be a nice opening hike, and we would return to Randolph for two more hikes during the trip.  

The next day dawned clear and cool, and Gail had a plan:  She would drop me off at the south end of the Carter Range and I could get a peak on my list, traverse the whole range (four Carters, Hight and Moriah), then meet her on Moriah, which she would get to by hiking the five miles from Rt. 2 on the north.  Since she'd done the Carter Range back-in-the-day the way I was doing it, and then rode her bike back to her car after the 18-mile hike, she was happy with this arrangement.  She didn't have quite enough time to add Shelburne  Moriah which has exposed ridges, but nothing wrong with a 10-mile hike, and the views of the northern Presidentials from Moriah are spectacular.  Plus, while waiting for me, she had enough time to pick a bag of wild blueberries that I devoured when I met her.

Early in my hike, looking north to what I'd be covering.

And looking back from Carter Dome at Carter Lake and Wildcat Mountain.  She did suggest I start by going over that.  I think I did enough for one day and don't regret skipping it.

Since we hadn't taken the kayaks off the car yet, the following day we did a paddle on the Moore Reservoir of the Connecticut River.  Despite the perfection of the day, we only saw one other person while we were on the water.  It was a good way to rest our weary legs.