The weather for today looked so perfect, especially since we've been having a ton of rain recently, that I decided it was time for a hike! I've been sort of pursuing the 52 with a view list - seems like they will all be nice mountains, with good views. Which I like. I thought about a bunch of different hikes, including a couple 4000 footers - Moosilauke and Osceola, and a couple other from the 52 list. I decided on Shaw because it looked like it was a good distance/elevation for early in the season, and the drive was 2 hours, with about 30 minutes each way not on the highway. I added Black Snout to the hike because how could I not hike a mountain with a name like Black Snout??
The hike was supposed to be a bit over 7 miles, with about 1776 of elevation gain. The path I chose was up an old carriage road, which I figured would be a little easier - more level and not just a pile of rocks. Estimated hike time was about 4 hours, so I also figured I could sleep in a little more. I set my alarm for 7 am, but didn't wind up getting up until 8. I packed everything the night before, so I was out at 8:15. I had a banana and three hard boiled eggs on the drive up, and was so glad I'd had all that protein. I listened to a book on the drive up, and was there in no time.
The hike actually starts on a bit of paved road, which I don't love - it's not really naturey. It then goes to the carriage paths - really nice if you are hiking with someone else because you can be two across. Of course, I was by myself, so not really a benefit. It was perfect weather - couldn't ask for better - mid 60's, sun and a slight breeze. Despite that there weren't really that many people out hiking. I saw about a half dozen on the trail. Not only was the trail graded and not too rocky, it has switchbacks. The way up I was kind of sucking wind for a while, I'm not super in hiking shape. Happily it leveled out after a bit and there was actually a long traverse near the top. I got up there around 1 and sat to eat my avocado and cheese sandwich - so good! Of course, then this guy was also at the top, and a woman with a really wet looking dog. They seemed friendly, though, and we sat around mostly in silence, eating and admiring the view, with the dog checking us out to see who would give him snacks :) From the top you could see the white mountains - I could make out Washington, which still has pretty visible snow, Lafayette, and then a bunch of others in that pemi area. There were just a few bugs, but I guess there will be more by next week.
I then went over to Black Snout, which has a really nice view of Lake Winnipesaukee. I had the top to myself, and I sat on a rock in the sun and ate an apple and some pistachios. I spent another 15 minutes or so there before heading down. There's quite a network of trails up there - I guess now snowmobilers use them in the winter, and there were a bunch of turns on the way down. I had to check all trails several times (pretending that I wasn't just looking at where I was). One time, near the top, I almost went the wrong way, so that made me even more vigilant.
It's been raining so much, parts of the trail were just slush. I had on my gore tex boots, but they did leak a little. I also had my new smartwool hiking socks, and I was so pleased with them. A few times I could feel water coming into my boots, but soon my feet felt warm and not uncomfortable. I got down and there were no blisters, but the socks were definitely wetter than I expected them to be. So that was a win.
I thought about going back via the kittery outlets. They close at 6 on Sunday. I finished my hike at 4 and could have had about 45 minutes of shopping, but then I decided I was hungry and would just rather go home. There was a lot more traffic on the way back, so I was glad I wasn't hangry. In the end, the hike wound up being over 9 miles with the trip to Black Snout. Very doable, though, and the hardest uphill at the beginning. When I look at my splits, I was actually moving quite fast for me. Weirdly I kind of missed the suffer fest of typical NH hiking, so this might be a one and done, but quite an enjoyable day overall!
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