Into the Ossipees-Bald And Roberts Mountains: 4/12/14

Mileage: 11.5
Elevation gain: 3514'
Trails used: Snowmobile trail, bushwhack, Mt. Roberts Trail.

Looking for just ONE hike where snow would not be a huge problem, we decided to head into the Ossipees to climb two peaks in them.  The whole area is an old ring dike, which is the geologic remnants of a prehistoric volcano that once rose up in the area.  The plan was to do Bald first, then drive over to meet Greg's girlfriend Desi to do Roberts with her.  Alas, like all things this year, there would be no such thing as an easy thing.

We would be using a snowmobile trail to get us part of the way to Bald

But just our luck we find snow, snow and more snow

We stumbled upon another snowmobile trail a bit higher up so used it for a while

But it only got us so far, so it was back into the deep snow again

It got to the point that we had to use snowshoes if we were going to get anywhere.  The woods were nice and open on the way up to the summit

As we were heading down from the summit we had a pretty substantial disaster...Greg broke a snowshoe.  This slowed us down even more than we were already going because Greg wold float okay on the foot that had a shoe, but was continually punching down really deep with the non-snowshoed foot.  Here he is carrying the remains of the broken shoe

After finally making it back to the car we had to make a mad dash for the Mt. Roberts trail head, which was on the other side of the Ossipee's.  We had only planned on a couple of  hours for Bald, and Greg had told Desi as such.  When he had cellphone signal, but while we still climbing up, he called and said we would be running a bit late.  Little did we know we would be FOUR hours, and thankfully Desi didn't wait for us.  When we got to the trail head he managed to text her that we had arrived.  She was just below the summit on a nice ledge, so Greg told her to wait for us there and we kicked on the afterburners.

We start from a small parking area near the water bottling plant on the Castle In The Clouds Conservation area

We be a' headin' that er way!

Pano of the ridge that forms part of the Ossipee Ring Dike

Warm,perhaps, but I don't know if I would call it HOT

 

  

 I suppose words could be written about the views, but I will let a picture (or rather a few) do the talking!

It was about here we met up with Desi and continued on to the summit which offered yet more views!

Mt Washington makes an appearance

After lingering for a bit on the summit, it was time to head down.  Near the bottom we found a friend sunning himself (or herself)

Thankfully the trails on the southern facing side of Mt. Roberts were in better shape snow wise than the mess we ran into on Bald.  We managed to get from the parking lot to where Desi was waiting, over 2.5 miles, in about an hour.  She seemed to be enjoying the warm sun, so it was none the worse for wear.  Alas Greg's snowshoe can't say the same.  It will be a trip back to the manufacturer before she will be useable again, but we should not need them any more this year....or so we hope!



Already donated but want to do more? Can't donate but still want to help? "Like" and "share" our Facebook page. Even as little as a dollar helps. Even "sharing" with just one person does too by spreading the word. Our Donation Page is set up directly through the National Multiple Sclerosis Society website, so you can donate with confidence that 100% of the money goes to this fine collection of people working to help those stricken with MS.

Greg says "thumbs up to all who donate, or like and share on Facebook!"