Why I Went to Mt. Tecumseh

Why did I choose to do a hike to Mt. Tecumseh on 07-June-2012, especially since I've been to this 4K peak many times before, and have seen the views in both summer and winter?  Well, there were two reasons.

First of all, I'm still engaged in my recent quest of trying to do something new for each hike that I undertake.  In this case, the destination was not new, but the route I chose was new, at least for me.  I'd never hiked the Mt. Tecumseh Trail from the Tripoli Road trailhead.

My second reason was weather-related.  Depending upon which website you accessed (and when you accessed it), the chances for rain varied from 40% to 60%.  With those uncertain odds, I didn't want to go to a new destination and then be unable to experience the views due to weather conditions.

So, in the end, I chose to use a new route to hike to a destination where I'd already seen the views, and so it didn't matter to me how obscured the vistas might be.

I was favorably impressed with the route from the Tripoli Road trailhead.  The trail is well-maintained, and the treadway is only lightly worn and soft underfoot.  There are large segments on the upper portion of the trail where pine cone debris on the trail makes it appear as though it has been freshly mulched! (see photo below)

If I had to say anything bad about the Tripoli Road approach it would be this.  There is a reverse elevation gain which sort of sucks.  However, I timed it, and it took less than 15 minutes to slog up the steep slope that I'd descended on the outbound leg of my hike.  So, in the grand scheme of things, that's not much to complain about!

Did I get rained on?  Nope!  I did not.  There were some threatening clouds, as seen in the next photo.

However, despite the obscured vistas in some directions, there were views in other directions. Particularly scenic was the Franconia Range which can be seen on the horizon in the next photo.  This photo was taken from the Sosman Trail just a bit south of the Tecumseh summit (Mt. Tecumseh is seen nearby through the trees on the far right).

The next snapshot is just a zoomed photo of the Franconia Range.

I hiked to the end of the Sosman Trail to take a look at the ski area during its "summer break".   As seen in the composite photo below, it looked perhaps a bit lonely and forlorn.  I suspect it is counting the days until snow season when it will have hoards of visitors to keep it company.

And speaking of "summer break", during my travels to Mt. Tecumseh, I came across a few other items that had experienced a "break" of sorts.  There was a recently broken Robin's egg, and a butterfly with a rectangular chunk broken-off from the bottom of its right wing (next photo).

To sum it up, this was a rather short and somewhat silly Blog report of a trek to Mt. Tecumseh.  Next week, I'll be travelling with my wife over to Camden, Maine for a few days.  If time, weather and opportunities are favorable, perhaps there will be something of general interest to report from that experience.