2019-09-22
2019-09-20
Grafton Loop Backpacking in Maine Day2 p.m no.2 and Day3
Mr.N walked down on the dry creek to see if there was some water. No luck.
Then he walked up on the creek. After 5 minutes or so, he shouted, "I found a puddle!"
He actually found small spring. Phew. We didn't need to walk another 2 miles in dark. We settled in and ate pasta for dinner. While we enjoyed after meal tea with chocolate, I saw a small headlamp light coming to us. Wow. A hiker came in very late.
He talked to us, "My friend is having a rough time with knee issues. He is taking time."
Mr.N answered, "Oh dear."
The guy asked, "You guys are the only one here?"
Mr.N said, "Yes."
The guy said great and went to the site further. 20 minutes or so, the guy having knee issues came in and they pitched tents. We were able to see their tents in the distance. Hmm...?
We noticed that the tents were the same as ones we saw previous night at our campsite. At first when the guy talked to us, I didn't notice the same guy we saw a day before, but I think they were the same guys. Considering the distance and unpopularity of the trail, it is very unlikely for other two guys to have the same tents.
I always feel nice to have fellow hikers on the same itinerary. We did similar experience having similar itinerary on the Teton Crest Trail in Grand Teton.
I woke up in the middle of the night I heard sounds of rain hitting out tent. Grrrr. The forecast was "chance of shower", but it was raining continuously. Again I woke up in the morning, it was still raining, but it was not bad in the forest. Trees are so dense in Grafton Loop, actual water didn't come hit too much.
I went out of the tent and actually surprised. Wet forest was very pretty. It was extra quiet. The rain covered all the noise.
Wet leaves were shining. The forest was in the moist, which was pretty. 
I did enjoy walking in the beautiful wet forest. Well, for a while. At the same time I have to admit it was not very comfortable wearing rain jacket and sweat couldn't go out and the rain jacket was stick to my arm.
Luckily it was a good distance to be in the forest, meaning enjoyable distance, because the day3 was only about 6 miles.
Surprisingly, near the trailhead, some people were starting backpacking in the rain. How hardcore they were.
Super hardcore, and nice loop in the long weekend.
2019-09-18
Grafton Loop Backpacking in Maine Day2 p.m
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| Between East and West Baldpate |
After enjoying the view at the top of East Baldpate, we descended a little and ascended to the West Baldpate. There was no view at West Baldpate, but the way there was nice as you can see in the left picture.
After here was descending 1800 feet. We descended to the road. There is another trailhead. On the parking lot, a group was doing BBQ for Appalachian trail through hikers. There was a sign of "trail magic"
We saw two AT hikers on the trail after we passed the parking lot. We were on the uphill, but the first AT hiker passed us (we yielded), but the second one yielded us and said, "You guys have the right of way. (for the first hiker) Heard about trail magic and running lol". It was funny. I can imagine how BBQ sounds for AT hikers.
It reminded me of a day before final day of my John Muir Trail trip. I only had one pack of ramen left for dinner. It was only 2 p.m. No snack for the day or next day. I had to hike out the next day, because of ride. Then I met another JMT hikers who were hiking out that day. They had a bunch of bars no longer needed: they offered surrounded JMT hikers to take them as much as people want. I got 5 or 6 bars. I was really hungry, so it saved me!
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| Old Speck Mountain |
After we crossed the road, we climbed (again.) to Old Speck mountain. 2000 feet of ascend. On the summit, there was not much view, but you can climb the fire tower. The scenic view is offered from the top of tower. In New England it is typical to have a fire tower on the top, since summit is still in the forest. Usually stairs to the top are provided, but this time it was a long ladder! Grrrrrr. It was very scary for me! The view was nice from the top. It was worth climbing the ladder.
After we climbed, took pictures, went down, and we rested for a while on the ground.
One day hikers' party came and one guy was saying on the ladder, "Wow this is ***king high!" and joking, "Mommy.....!"
I was glad that I was not the only one who got scared of ladder.
Another funny incident here was about a dog. A couple brought cute black labrador to the top. The couple went to the fire tower. The doggie couldn't climb the ladder, she had to wait for the bottom. Then she started crying, "Cayn cayn can....!!!" She was feeling unsecured by being left alone. So one of the owners had to come down very quickly. Cute and funny! After 2000 feet climb, the dog was tired and she started sleeping. Adorable!
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| Sunday River Whitecap |
After leaving Old Spec, there was literally nobody until we reached the campground. After 1200 feet descend, there was a chance to stop and camp at Slide Mountain Campsite. It was 4 p.m. Options were: stop early and set up camp and relax, or push more and have short day on day3. We chose the latter. The reason was the third day's weather forecast would be rain, so I thought that it would be better to climb the final mountain when it was sunny. So we started climbing another 800 feet. The final mountain name was Sunday River Whitecap. Well, it was better anyway to climb Sunday River Whitecap on Sunday, rather than Monday. Actually I liked the this peak best. It was getting evening time, which is extra beautiful in the mountain. Also there was nobody there. Extra peaceful.
Then we descended 600 feet and finally made it to the campsite, Sargent Brook campsite. These designated campsites along Grafton Loop are all near the creek or stream, so that water source is nearby. Actually the sign indicate "water 50 feet, campsites 0.1 mile".
Good, and we turn right and arrived the campsite. There are 3 or 4 big campsites. Nice.....but wait, we didn't see any water source despite of the sign. We came back to the 50 feet point and found completely dried up creek. Mr.N walked around and searched another creek further campsites. No luck. We relied on creek near this campsite, so we only had 300 mL of water. According to map, reliable next water source is 2 miles further. It was already 6:30 p.m. and getting dark in the forest.
What did we do?!
To be continued...
2019-09-14
Grafton Loop Backpacking in Maine Day1, Day2 a.m
In the U.S. the first Monday of September is a holiday. It is Labor Day. That means there is a three-day weekend.
We went hardcore backpacking in Maine: Grafton Loop. 2 and a half day. 2 nights/3 days, but the last day we finished before noon, so it was 2.5 days.
How hard? 33.5 miles, 11,500 feet elevation gain and loss total. 54 km, +/- 3500 meters. Considering very rocky terrain here, +/-11,500 feet was A LOT.
<Day1>
First climb is for Puzzle mountain. On the way we met two cute dogs on the trail. A black and a yellow labrador retrievers! The black one is younger and running back and forth. The yellow one is calm and just following the owner. The hiker said by pointing the black then yellow and said "Young one and old one. hahahaha"
It is nice to see many hiking doggies on a trail in New England. All hiking dogs are happy and cute.
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| On the way to Puzzle Mountains |
On the way to the Puzzle mountain, there was a good view point (the left picture). The perfect weather on this day. Up high and shadow from clouds could be seen on the mountains.
This Grafton loop is not popular at all, so it was very quiet. One exception was near here a female trail runner passed us. Running up and down on this tough trail! Very hardcore.
After Puzzle mountain was about 2000 feet climb. From the top we started descending. Now 1600 feet elevation loss. Grrr. Sometimes I think, "Why going down? I just climbed so hard." After the descend, again 1200 feet climb to the Long mountain with no view. Here we saw a solo female backpacker going on opposite site. It was really rare to see backpackers here, which was nice. Then again 1200 feet elevation loss. Our first plan was stop here at Lane campsite, but we pushed ourselves to the next campsite. Here at Grafton Loop trail, there are some official established campsites. All of them are near the river (water source) with plenty of flat dirt space. Usually 3-4 parties can camp. Good thing is free. A little sad thing is fire is not permitted because most of the Grafton Loop trail is in the private land (some portion is in the state park). After 300 feet elevation gain, we decided to camp at East Baldpate campsite. It was nice to camp in the forest. The creek was nearby, so the sound of stream was relaxing. In the forest, there was no wind. It was not cold or hot. It was rare for a person like me whose optimal temperature range is very narrow.
Ten or twenty minutes after we arrived at the campsite, two male backpackers came and they camped at East Baldpate, too.
<Day2>
Day2 started by climbing 1500 feet. On the way we saw many interesting kinds of mushrooms, which were clearly poisonous, and lichen on the ground.
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| This it the trail |
There was nobody on the trail. The trail is not popular, and also because it was only 7:30 a.m. It is far from a trailhead with car access, so no dayhikers were there, and also it is probably too tough for normal hikers to come here. It was very quiet and peaceful. Nice...but trail was hard to walk smoothly. Not only rocky as typical in New England, but also there were many roots.
The left picture is an example. It is pretty to look at. It is nice to take pictures. However, I admit I am not a fan of walking on roots. Anyway, it is a good training for sure!
The top of the first climb was East Baldpate. On the top is the junction with Appalachian trail. From the top I could see mountains popped up from rolling clouds. It was something like islands on the sea of clouds. It also looked like waves of ocean.
This view reminded me of the 4th grade summer.
One of my 4th grade's summer homework was to write "sea of clouds", in Japanese "雲海" in calligraphy. At that time, I didn't know or had never seen sea of clouds, so I was bored to write it. In calligraphy, it is required to write at least 30 papers the same letter(s), and hand in the perfect one. I wrote and wrote and I didn't know what it was. After I saw these kinds of scenery, I know what it was. I wish I had know the meaning at 4th grade.
To be continued...
2019-09-13
Wind River Range Day4
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| Photographer's Point |
The final day in the Winds. It was easy because of only downhill to the trailhead. We again stopped at the last (and twas first) viewpoint, Photographer's point. This time the scenery was a little different due to clouds. It was differently beautiful.
Then the rest was all downhill to the end. After saying goodbye to Chip, we soon arrived at the trailhead.
There were many cars in the parking lot. Whoa. Cars were from Washington to California on the West coast, from Montana to Arizona in the West, Quebec to Mass on the East coast. Cars were from all over the North America. I was surprised why so many people came here at the beginning, but after backpacking it was not surprising. People came to the Winds just because it is beautiful.
At the parking lot, we sorted out stuff so that we could quickly check in bags at the airport. We finished backpacking around 11 a.m. and the flight was 11:59 p.m. on the same day. The same day flight sounds aggressive, but we had 12 hours.
First we went to the nearest town, Pinedale. This is the town CDT hikers to hike out and resupply food.
Pinedale is a small town, however, surprisingly there are many restaurants and coffee shops, a couple of motels, and an outdoor store.
First we were craving for "real" food, not camping food. So we went to Wind River Brewing Company. We took outdoor seat which was very relaxing. Mr.N got beer and I had a sip. Half of the table were occupied and some groups were obviously after backpacking in the Winds. It was obvious because they wore hiking shoes and looked so happy with beer and food.
We both ate12 oz ribeye steak. 12 oz is 340 gram. Yes, it is big! Why not?
After we filled out tummies, we checked out the small and only outdoor store, Great Outdoor Shop (this is the name of store, it is actually great) in Pinedale. This is just next to Wind River Brewing Company. Mr.N had come to the Great Outdoor Shop to get a shuttle to a trailhead. This shop offers hikers shuttle service. Their way is quite old-school. If hikers make reservation for shuttle, the shop calls registered drivers living nearby. The shop asks if drivers can give a ride on the day until the shop finds one.
When Mr.N asked shuttle, he didn't have a reservation. So the owner started calling drivers one by one and luckily Mr.N got a ride.
Another interesting stuff I saw at the shop was a sticker saying "REI sucks, support small business".
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| badlands |
After enjoying the small town, we started driving to Salt Lake City. The driving was like in the Western movie.
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| Add caption |
Badlands were seen here and there. "Badlands" is a terrain like sandy rocks like the ones in the left picture. Nothing wrong with badlands, but I don't know why they are called badlands. I asked Mr.N this question, but he didn't know the answer. Does some of the readers know?
Badlands and vast prairie and road. That's it. This is the West. This kind of scenery is exactly the one Japanese people think about America.
The left picture is the road we drove to Salt Lake City (SLC). Somehow one cop car was parking along the road as you can see.
This view reminded me of the song "Magnificent Seven", so I tried to play music with my iPhone, but AT&T didn't have a good coverage in Wyoming. After a while the moment we got into Utah, AT&T provided LTE (Apparently AT&T covers UT well but not WY). So I played Magnificent Seven.
In SLC, we went to In-N-Out Burger. I was excited about seeing it when we had arrived in SLC a week ago as I wrote here. We took out the food and went to the last stop, Great Salt Lake. Because we were in Salt Lake City, why not stop at the Great Salt Lake?
We went to the visitor center and I learned how salty the Great Salt Lake is. The most salty one I had known was Mono Lake in the Eastern Sierra.
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| Sunset at Great Salt Lake |
We ate hamburger and french fries with view of Great Salt Lake. It was really nice. In-N-Out is delicious, especially after a week of backpacking, and much cheaper than Five Guys. I do hope In-N-Out expand more in the U.S.
Then we flew to Boston. Due to time difference the flight arrived around 6 a.m. on Monday. Obviously it was hard to work on that day.
Overall, this summers Wyoming trip with Grand Teton National Park and Wind River Range was wonderful.
2019-09-10
Wind River Range Day3 no.3
It started raining, but soon it stopped. The good thing about Wyoming is that rain doesn't last long. That's why nobody cares the weather. Even thunder clouds are nearby, people start hiking.
Soon after rain stopped, sun came! I felt much better. Finally I was able to stop without feeling cold. Then we took a nap under the tree with some sun. Comfy, comfy!
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| 2nd night campsite |
On the second night we had planned to camp at the Eklund Lake, but there was not a good spot with view. We decided to walk a mile more to the meadow. With one more mile, we would be back to the out-and-back portion, so we knew that the meadow has a good view with water source. The last dinner in the wilderness was pasta! Anything is delicious in the mountain.
While we were eating dinner, a party of horses were hiking back to the trailhead. People were on the hourse ride. Looked fun. They stopped at the pond at the meadow and horses drank water there. Hummm. Also horses dropped stuff. Hummm. We got water from there. Oh well.
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| Campfire |
In this regions, Bridger Wilderness, fire is allowed below treeline. This night was below tree line. There was already a fire ring where we camped. Why not have a fire? Campfire in the wilderness is my favorite.
As we enjoyed pasta and fire, the sun was setting. In the right picture did you notice orange sky AND orange campfire?
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| Alpenglow |
Then we were preparing aftermeal tea. Then we noticed that the mountains were in alpenglow. We walked over the best position to see alpenglow and looked at that with tea. What a gorgeous time. The previous night was in that basin. I felt I walked a long way for a day.
While we were around campsite, one hike approached us and asked if it was okay to camp in the same area. Of course okay. The meadow is huge. Later we found out he was a section CDT hiker and he was going to spend a few days in the nearby town, then go to the next section to meet a friend. Mr.N said that long distance hikers on CDT have small backpacks for big hikes. Indeed he had a small pack. It is funny that overnight backpackers have huge backpacks and 3000 mile hikers have small ones (well except for people who make mules deliver their backpacks).
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| moon |
After alpenglow was gone, waxing gibbous appeared and it gave us substantial light. It was nice. Everyday in the wilderness the moonlight was increasing.
When I am in the city, it is impossible to notice how bright moonlight is. In the wilderness I am sometimes amazed how moonlight is bright especially when it is full moon. City like Tokyo, San Francisco, Boston are full of lights and you will never have time to think about moonlight.
The same thing is for stars. You will be amazed how many stars in the world. They are just hidden in the cities. These things keep me go back to stay overnight in the wilderness.
After fully enjoyed the beautiful night with pasta, tea, chocolate, fire, alpenglow, stars, and moon, we went to bed.
To be continued...
2019-09-09
Wind River Range Day3 no.2
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| Wild flowers |
Going through the meadow was nice. There were so many, SO MANY wildflowers, and so many kinds of them. Since the meadow was wet and sunny, it must be a perfect place for flowers.
In the vast meadow, no other hikers, only two of us. There is a true peace in deep wilderness.
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| Meadow |
Looking back the way we came is in the right picture. It would be nice to spend a night here. It is very remote. I couldn't believe just off the trail 1 meter (3.2 feet: for those Americans) took us to the completely silent world.
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| Wall Lake |
Then we descended to the level of Wall Lake. Wall Lake is a very big lake. Now we hike along the lake, but need to hike up on the hill along the lake. Because it is difficult to walk on the level of lake geologically, and we eventually needed to go up to meet the actual trail later.
Surprisingly we saw a tent on the hill near the Wall Lake. There was no person around. Probably really hardcore hiker is hiking in the area. Maybe s/he was climbing nearby mountains or scouting mountains for the future attempt.
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| Wall Lake |
Then we again climbed the hill and looked down Wall Lake. Wall lake is beautiful from any direction. Rocks, lakes, mountains, snow, green, blue sky, clouds were all at 360 view. What a gorgeous place!
Surprisingly, there were cairns occasionally. Those cairns are clearly on the path to our destination. Mr.N and I were talking this might be an abandoned trail. It used to be a trail a few decades ago, but it no longer is. Mr.N told me that Ms.L has 1930's Glacier National Park map, and there are many more trails written on the map. Actually people like those maps because they can no those hidden secret trails. I really like the old map stories and now I am very interested in old maps of every National parks and wilderness! Secret trails sound super exciting.
Then we came back to a real trail! It felt good to find a trail after off-trail. I felt some achievement. Real trail appeared on the edge of Cook Lakes. We ate lunch at the lake shore. It was a nice view, but there were tremendous amount of mosquitoes. I immediately put DEET (100%) everywhere on my body. Mosquitoes are evil. I felt good when mosquitoes were blown away by breeze, even though I felt cold by the winds. Maybe I am evil, too.
After we passed Cook Laks, it got cloudy and started drizzling and some raining. I put my rain gear on and carried on walking. It was cold.
Wyoming is cold at night even in summer (I knew that it is very cold in winter). Because Wyoming is very very dry, temperature drastically drops once sun sets.
When I moved to California where it is much drier than Japan, I noticed how different the temperature is between daytime and night. After I moved to humid Boston, I forgot how quickly temperature goes down after sunset.
Wyoming is extreme version of California. In the evening after sun hides behind the mountains, temperature drops really quickly. My experience of West mountains is more based on Sierra Nevada, so it was a little unexpected. Luckily it was cold, but not freezing cold.
Morning in the Winds starts chilly and once sun shows up above mountains, temperature goes up sky rocket. I felt cold to super hot quickly. My comfortable zone is very narrow, so I was busy to put on/take off jackets during trip. In contrast to me, Mr.N's temperature zone is much wider, so he was less busy and curious why my optimal zone was so small. hahahaha.
To be continued...
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