Baldface Loop

<Japanese version is after English: 日本語は英語の後にあります>

This super HOT Saturday, we went hiking in South and North Baldface loop in White mountains, New Hampshire.

HOT HOT HOT! It was 38C (100F). 

Total 9 miles, 3330 feet elevation gain. 

We started at route13, via Baldface circle trail. There are south and north baldface (two mountain tops). First destination was South Baldface. 5 minutes after I started hiking, I already got sweat. First 2 miles was in the forest and mostly in the shade, but I was sweaty all the time. 

Good thing was I brought frozen water bottles. To freeze 500 mL water bottle completely, you need to put it in the freezer at least for 48 hours. Wednesday night is the deadline to put water bottles in the freezer. I bring frozen bottles in a cooler box to a trailhead. Then I transfer bottles into my backpack at the trailhead. Because it was so hot, water started melting immediately. I get thirsty immediately, so all good. It was helpful to have cold water and wet my throat time to time. 

Rocky trail

After getting out of forest, now rocky portion. This is a typical pattern of New England hike. Forest--steep rocky part--top. The left picture is the section of rocky trail. 

This was the toughest section of the day. I regretted a little why I came hiking on a day of heat wave. 

However, after this section was not bad. 

 

Now we reached the top of South Baldface. 

South Baldface

Luckily due to the heatwave in New England, there was nobody at the top. This is unusual and nice. Some winds made me feel cool at the summit. I ate half of sandwich and saved the other half for the next summit. To go to North Baldface, one needs to go down and then go up, but this time going up was not that hard. 

North Baldface

At the north Baldface, again nobody was there. All 360 view was ours. It was nice. We fell asleep after lunch and snack. It was a great nap. 

In the distance the highest mountain in New England, Mt.Washington was visible. 

Fully enjoyed the views and we started descending. On the way back, there is a pool for swimming. Mr.N found it on Google and brought a swimsuit. He swam and I waded. It was refreshing. 

Then finally, on the way back to Boston, we stopped our favorite ice cream shop, Sandwich creamery. They don't sell sandwiches, it is in the town of Sandwich. Their style is interesting. There is a small cabin in the middle of nowhere, literally in the forest. There are several freezers in the cabin. Nobody there, you take ice cream, you put cash into a slot. Their ice cream is HBF (high fat butter). We brought a huge cooler with ice packs. Now we have ice cream for whole summer! 

今週末ニューハンプシャー州、ボールドフェイスにハイキングへ。

この日はとにかく暑かった。３８度！！！

１５キロ、１０１５メートルの登り。

まずはボールドサークルトレールからサウスボールドフェースを目指す。最初の数キロは森の中で直の日差しがないのにもかかわらずとにかく暑くてすぐに汗びっしょりになった。やはり３８度は暑すぎる。

この日は凍らせた水のボトルを５本持ってきていたので冷たい水が飲めて助かった。冷凍庫で完全に５００mlの水が凍るには２日かかるので水曜の夜までにはボトルを用意しておくことが重要。クーラーボックスでトレールヘッドまで持ってきてそこからバックパックへ移した。すぐに水は溶け始めるがすぐに水を飲みたくなるのでちょうどいい。

森を通り過ぎると今度は岩場。足と手を駆使して登っていく。ここはこの日一番辛いところだった。なにせいきなり強い日差しが来るし、岩はでかいしで汗だくだくになった。ヒートウェーブの日にハイクするんじゃなかったかなぁなどとも思ったがここを越えると特に問題もなし。とにかく暑すぎるのでハイクしてる人もおらず（笑、眺めを独り占めできたのは最高だった。

２枚目の写真がサウスボールドフェースからの眺め。いい眺めだ。そして２枚目がノースボールドフェースからの眺め。ノースボールドフェースでは昼寝をした。気持ち良かった！

そして下りの途中で川に入りリフレッシュ。冷たくて気持ちいい。

最後、ボストンへの帰り道にお気に入りのアイスクリーム屋に寄り道。ここは森の中にあるアイスクリーム屋で無人のお店。冷凍庫にアイスクリームが置いてありとってお金をスロットに入れる仕組み。牧場のアイスクリーム屋だけあって濃厚で美味しいのだ。どでかいクーラーボックスを持参し、この一夏分のアイスクリームをゲットしたのだった。