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PLANDOME
BSA TROOP #71's 'HIGH ADVENTURE TRIP 2001'
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'THE
PRESIDENTAL RANGE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE'
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by Edward Wachowicz
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The White Mountains of New Hampshire
are known for their picturesque views. In particular, the Presidential
Range, which is part of the Appalachian Trail, offers some of the
most challenging hiking in the United States. The pinnacle of this
area is Mount Washington, where, over 70 years ago, the highest
recorded wind was measured at a speed of 231 miles per hour. |
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During the summer, this trail can offer
some of the most beautiful views of up to 90 miles of New Hampshire,
Vermont, Maine and Canada. However, even in the summer, there have
been times when cold rain, sleet and even snow have enveloped the
mountains and have made it treacherous for those hiking and camping. |
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The second week of August this past year
was scheduled for Plandome's Boy Scout Troop 71 'High Adventure
Experience'. Troop 71 has been built on the premise that the outdoors
is for enjoying, and camping and hiking trips are part of the yearly
schedule of events. Troop 71 has attempted to schedule a trip yearly
that would be able to test the skills of some of the senior Boy
Scouts within the troop. This past summer's trip to New Hampshire
would serve for this sojourn. |
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Assistant Scout Master Robert Corti organized
the trip. Bob, also a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club, worked
the scheduling and co-ordination of this event. In all, three adults
(one an Eagle Scout), four alumni scouts from Troop #71 (all Eagle
Scouts) and three current scouts (one an Eagle and two soon-to-be
Eagle Scouts) took part in the trip. |
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The troop arrived on Sunday afternoon,
August 12 in New Hampshire at the Zealand Falls trailhead. The purpose
of this was to stretch our legs, after six hours of driving, and
to 'shake out' the boots and equipment in the event that their might
be any problems. That hike, which took the group up to the Zealand
Falls AMC Hut, was a moderate six-mile round trip with fully loaded
packs. The size of the packs varied, but the average weight carried
per individual was around 30 to 35 pounds each. Our first night
was at the Crawford Hostel in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. After
a good dinner prepared by the scouts, and after the adults positioned
the cars for when we descended at the end of the week, we turned
in for a good night sleep at 'sea level. |
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Day two would take the group up to the
Mizpah Hut, which is at an elevation of 3800-feet. We arrived at
the hut around mid-day, left our full packs, took our day packs,
and headed over to Mount Jackson, which is the first of the Presidential
Peaks at over 4000 foot elevation. It took about an hour to get
over there, we had our lunch, found the official National Geological
Survey marker, took some pictures and headed back to the hut. We
spent the afternoon in the warm sun, with John-Paul Leonardi borrowing
the hut guitar and playing some tunes. |
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After a good night's sleep, the goal
was to get to the 'Lakes of the Clouds' hut, which would be our
Tuesday night stop. As part of this day trip along the Crawford
Path, we were to reach the hut by lunchtime, drop our bags and day
hike to the top of Mount Washington, the highest peak in New England.
The day hike took us above the tree line, which is about 4300 feet
in elevation and over Mt. Pierce (also known as Mt. Clinton), Mt.
Eisenhower, Mt. Franklin (the first 5000-foot peak) and Mt. Monroe.
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The trip to the top of Mount Washington,
which has an elevation of 6,288 feet, requires good stamina and
a lot of water. The trail up, which is not a long one at only four-tenths
of a mile, but is a steep one. You hike over large boulders, as
once you are at the base of Mt. Washington, there are no longer
any 'dirt paths' available for hiking. The entire group made the
top by 3:20 PM and we stayed up top for about forty minutes to do
the 'Kodak moment thing'. We hiked back down to the 'Lakes of the
Clouds' hut and a couple of us took a quick dip in the lake, which
was mountain cold, but very refreshing. That evening, we had a spectacular
sunset with the sun 'going to sleep' into the Green Mountains of
Vermont. |
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The next day, Wednesday, turned out to
be the warmest day of the week, and the longest hike of any of the
days. We left the hut after breakfast, and headed North towards
the Madison Hut. This day trip took us around the West and North
side of Mount Washington, along the Westside Trail to the Gulfside
Trail, with great views of Vermont and Lower Canada. It also turned
out to be the warmest day on the trip, with the temperature reaching
close to 80 degrees. |
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On this trail, we had to pass under the
Cog railway, and we had to wait until the trains passed by due to
the amount of soot that they spew out. From this point we headed
over Mt. Clay to Mt. Jefferson, where we stopped for lunch. Because
of the heat, we took a longer break, then head on to Mt. Adams,
which is the second highest peak in the Presidential Range. We were
able to drop our backs at the trail junction and take only our water
bottles to the top of Mt. Adams. After this 0.6 mile round trip,
we returned to the junction, picked up our packs, and headed down
the trail towards the Madison Hut. Madison Hut is the hut we visited
with the highest elevation, which is 4800 feet. Once we reached
the hut, we had the option to 'run up' Mt. Madison which was right
behind us. We opted for re-hydration and a good night sleep, again
after a second spectacular sunset. |
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The next morning, we packed for the trip
down. But we grabbed our water bottles and headed up to the top
of Mt. Madison, which allowed us a great view to the South and East
of the rest of the White Mountains. |
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The hike down Mt. Madison was initially
steep and rocky, but eventually it leveled off and we actually were
hiking on dirt and ground cover about half day down the mountain.
We reached the first car location around 1:00 PM and spent the afternoon
shuffling cars to this rendezvous site so that we could get to our
final evening destination, which was Pinkham Notch, headquarters
of the Appalachian Mountain Club. We went into North Conway to see
the town after dinner. |
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On Friday, we began our drive home. We
changed paths and decided to show the group the famous 'Old Man
in the Mountain', the symbol of the State of New Hampshire. This
was a first for all except this author. Opposite the 'Man', is Mt.
Lafayette, which has a trailhead that leads over to some of the
4000 footers of the White Mountains and eventually leads to the
Zealand Falls hut. This hike has the potential to be a future High
Adventure trip. |
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The participants for this past years
hike included Scott Christensen, the former scoutmaster of Troop
71 and current District Council leader for the Shelter Rock District,
Bob Corti and Ed Wachowicz, who is currently assisting with the
Troop. Robert Corti the Younger, Michael Corti, Brian West and Peter
Christensen were the alumni on the trip. The current scouts included
John-Paul Leonardi, Kirk Stephens and Christopher Lee. |
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We had some of the best weather for this
trip. Sunny and warm each day was the weather, which we counted
our blessings for. And what we found is that duct tape is the solution
to most problems on the trip. And we were also thankful for that. |
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