RMNP2005

25 Nov 2005
Thanksgiving Day+1 Hike in Squam Range

Celia, the brothers Schoene---Blair the elder and Peter the younger---and I took day hike to the Squam Range in NH on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was our second annual post-Thanksgiving hike and it was great; view the movie of pics. We hiked 7.3 miles in the Squam Range north of Squam Lake. The day was mostly clear, the temperatures were in the 20s, the snow was not too deep, and views were spectacular. After coming up through the forest, we hiked along the rugged ridge of the peaks (Doublehead, Squam, Percival, and Morgan) and then came down again. We had expectations of going farther, but the ridge proved more rugged than we thought and kept our pace to ~1.5 mph. There were lots of good challenges for young and old, not icy but fun with the 4" of snow. The fresh snow from Thanksgiving was a treat as well; we broke trail all the way to Mt. Morgan.

Celia and Fred

The four of us did fine together. Pete led most of the way and was so adept at traversing the snowy terrain that he didn't even need mittens---just kept his hands in his pockets and smiled. I, on the other hand, could keep up, but I used all of my personal resources. (All my personal resources were recovering the next two days, while Pete was out lobstering in Maine.) I didn't need all the coats that I brought, thinking it was going to be much colder. No wind except at the summits.

We had lunch on what we thought was Mt. Percival---Thanksgiving leftovers and hot tea and cocoa. Celia suggested turkey-stuffing-cranberry-lettuce sandwiches, which were just great (and well made). Blair and Pete brought complete dinners in plastic containers. Everybody was satisfied. After lunch, we hiked until we REALLY got to Mt. Percival at 1:30pm.

Our original plan was to hike the east side of Franconia Notch (Falling Waters, Franconia Ridge, Greenleaf, and Bridle Trails at Mt. Lafayette and Mt. Lincoln), but the predicted cold temperatures (0-10 deg F) led us to try further south in the Squam Range. By 2:15pm, we had reached Mt. Morgan. Celia and Fred

Our second plan had been to continue south another 4.7 miles to Mt. Livermore and down to the waiting car below Cotton Mtn. By the time we reached Mt. Morgan it was already late, so we descended to the parking lot at the base of West Rattlesnake. We finished at about 3:15 pm, a good 5.74-hour hike. Luckily another pair of hikers were just leaving so Pete hitched a ride to the car.

The hike was great fun. Had we known that the temperature was going to be as warm as it was, I think we would have opted for Franconia. As it was, we had a balmy time with great views of Squam Lake, which we enjoy so much in the summer, and came home tired and happy.