My year-end reviews are published for public consumption. However, I primarily do them for myself as a means of creating an easily reviewable synopsis of my
hiking life for the past year.
Regarding this past year of 2014, it's going to be a very tough act to follow in
2015! My hiking adventures in 2014 included
treks to many places where I'd never been, as well as revisits to a sizable number
of familiar destinations.
HIKES TO PLACES
WHERE I'D NEVER BEEN:
_
NEW YORK'S ADIRONDACKS: Phelps
Mountain; Ampersand Mountain; Giant Mountain; Hopkins Mountain; Big Crow Mountain;
St. Regis Mountain; McKenzie Mountain; Haystack Mountain; Rattlesnake Mountain;
Cobble Hill
_
VERMONT: Mt. Mansfield; Mt. Abraham; Mt. Ellen, Killington Peak; Spruce Peak; Stowe Pinnacle; Moss Glen Falls; Bingham Falls; Sunset Rock; Silver Ledge; Devil's Hill; Glen Falls; Bald Top
Mountain; Wright's Mountain; Fairlee Palisades; Kettle Pond; Spice Mountain; Sawyer
Mountain; Texas Falls; Cheever Falls; Stannard Pond; Victory Basin Wildlife
Management Area; Hazen's Notch XC-Ski
_
MAINE: Bigelow
Range (Avery Peak and West Peak); Mt. Kineo; Big Moose Mountain; Little
Wilson Falls; Moxie Falls; Cascade Stream Gorge;
Burnt Mountain; Little Kineo; Little Spencer Mountain; Little Squaw Mountain; Eagle Rock; B-52
Bomber crash site on Elephant Mountain
_ NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Mt. Major; Mt. Cardigan; Firescrew; Jobildunk Ravine; Slide Brook Ravine; Benton Ravine; Monkey Cliffs; Bald Mountain (near Mt.
Chocorua); Tin Mountain; Lone Oak Trail outlook; Duck
Head Mountain (Jackson, NH); Mt. Mary (Pilot Range); Old Hill Village. And
last but certainly not least was perhaps my most rewarding trek of 2014. Using
information contained in an article written in a 1945 edition of Appalachia, I
was able to locate a forgotten cascade near Mt. Willard.
_ CANADA: Mont Owl's Head,
and Le Parc National du Mont Megantic
HIKES TO FAMILIAR
PLACES:
Besides
the many "first-time" hikes to destinations that were new to me, I
also re-visited several familiar places in my home State of NH. By no means is this a complete list, but here
are a few of the familiar places revisited in 2014: Mt. Eisenhower; Mt. Tom;
Mt. Pemigewasset; Black Cap Mountain; Mt. Tremont; Mt. Martha and Owl's Head on
Cherry Mountain; Bald Cap Peak; Mt. Crawford; Mt. Crescent; The Watcher
(Franconia Notch); The Nubble; Pondicherry; Greeley Ponds; several hikes in the
Cooley-Jericho Community Forest; XC skiing off-trail, and at several Nordic
Centers such as Bretton Woods, Great Glen Trails, Bear Notch Ski Touring, Nansen Ski
Club, Jackson Ski Touring Foundation.
MORE DETAILS ABOUT
MY 2014 HIKES:
For
anyone who might be interested in reading my full blog postings to obtain more
details about any of the hikes mentioned above, please note that at the top of
each of my blog reports there are two search tools that can be helpful in
locating a particular topic. One is an
icon labeled "Click Here For a List of All My Blog Reports". And located above that icon is a search box
that enables you to search my entire compendium of blog reports for specific
words and word combinations.
PHOTOS:
In
an attempt to reduce the "photo-fatigue" factor, I've selected only 25
of my personal favorites from 2014.
 |
| Mt. Adams and Mt. Madison as viewed while cross-country skiing at Great Glen Trails in early March |
 |
| Feeding the Gray Jays on Mt. Tom in mid-March |
 |
| Looking northward up the
Crawford Notch from summit of Mt. Crawford in April |
 |
| Glen Falls at Lake Morey (Fairlee, VT) in April |
 |
| Early May trip to Plymouth Mountain. This composite is a sampling of just a few of many wildflowers that were seen
(from left to right: Dutchman's Breeches; Yellow Violet; Purple Trillium) |
 |
| Mt. Washington and other peaks in Presidential
Range as viewed looking eastward from Devil's Hill, VT in early May |
 |
| Bushwhack to ledges on Bald Mountain in May provided classic views of Mt. Chocorua, the Three Sisters and Carter
Ledge rising above the Chocorua River valley |
 |
| Hike in late June to Spruce Peak, VT provided a
nice view. Some of more notable peaks visible include (left to right): Camels
Hump; Bolton Mtn; the 'Nose' on Mt. Mansfield |
 |
| Photo taken in late June during steep descent
from "The Chin" (Mt. Mansfield, VT) while en route to "Adams
Apple" |
 |
| Photo of Mt. Kineo taken in late July during my
ferry ride to the trailhead |
 |
| Moxie Falls at the Forks Plantation, ME in late
July |
 |
| Looking southward toward Mt. Pierce and the
Crawford Notch on a trek to Mt. Eisenhower in late July |
 |
| On a trek to Speckled Mountain, ME in early
August, there was an abundance of ripe blueberries at various points along my
route. It took only about 2-minutes to gather the handful of berries
shown in this photo. |
 |
| Vista seen in mid-August from a point near
the summit of Mt. Ellen where the Long Trail skirts the top of ski trails |
 |
| View from Phelps Mountain, NY showing Mt. Colden
(left) and peaks in the MacIntyre Range (right). This hike was done at the end of August and
it was the first time I'd hiked to an Adirondack 4K peak! |
 |
| Early morning vista from lakeside lodging at
Rangeley, ME in mid-September |
 |
| Upon arrival at West Peak, I snapped this photo
looking back at Avery Peak during a hike in the Bigelow Range in mid-September |
 |
| Along the Bigelow ridgeline, there are many
awesome vistas overlooking Flagstaff Lake, such as the NE view shown here
during a hike in mid-September |
 |
| Roadside view of Little Spencer while en route
to trailhead at end of September |
 |
Looking down Crawford Notch from the foot
of "New Cascade" in mid-October. This was perhaps my most rewarding trek of
2014. Using information contained in an article written in a 1945 edition of
Appalachia, I was able to locate this forgotten cascade near Mt. Willard
|
 |
| Mid-October view from Mont Owl’s Head (located
on the western shore of Lake Memphremagog in the Eastern Townships
of Quebec near the town of Mansonville
which is about 12 miles over the Canadian border from North Troy, VT). |
 |
| Mont Megantic as viewed in mid-October from Quebec village of Notre-Dame-des-Bois |
 |
| A visit to Old Hill Village, NH at the end of
October |
 |
| Mt. Cardigan as viewed from South Peak (along South Ridge Trail) in early November |
 |
| One of several magnificent vistas that were
experienced from atop Mt. Major over Thanksgiving weekend |
To sum it up, if you have managed
to make it to bottom of this report without falling asleep, I congratulate you
and offer you my sincerest wishes for a happy and healthy New Year!
14 comments:
Wow, John - what a great year you had! I like the way you listed the places you visited, both new and familiar. You really explored a lot of new territory in the Adirondacks, Vermont and Maine. Of your many fine photos, perhaps my favorites are the three slide-scarred peaks seen from Phelps - classic 'dacks; the Bald Mountain view; the view of Little Spencer; and the view of the Notch from the New Cascade. Thanks for sharing - here's to another great year in 2015!
Steve
Thanks Steve for taking time to read and comment on my year-end review!
As you are surely aware from having recently done a 2014 review for your own blog (links below), it’s a challenging task to choose favorite photos, especially since each photo has its own special memory and personal significance.
http://mountainwandering.blogspot.com/2015/01/favorite-photos-from-2014-january.html
http://mountainwandering.blogspot.com/2015/01/favorite-photos-from-2014-july-through.html
My best wishes to you and yours for a healthy and happy New Year!
John
I agree with Steve on this one—Wow! What a dizzying array of spectacular hikes you took in 2014, John!
As I've said before, I think you could write a very interesting guide book about hiking the "Best of the Northeastern US" (and now Canada, too.)
I like all your pictures but I think my personal favorite is the photo taken along the fence post near the summit of Mt. Ellen. The fence post draws the viewer into the picture, and it looks like a wonderfully inviting place to spend the day!
Keep up the good work on this blog, John, and... Happy Hiking in 2015!
All I can add is, Fantastic John! Maybe add to Rita's comment that picture from near summit of Mt. Ellen might be my favorite too :-) Well, and all the other photos, especially the Dutchman's breeches. Are you still using the point and shoot camera that you bought a few years ago?
Happy hiking in 2015, Ellen
What a great variety of adventures and nice recap! Your photos bring back lots of memories from this year, for me, too, especially the views from the Bigelows in Maine. I hope you'll have a 2015 that is as exciting and as full of adventure as 2014 was.
Thanks Rita for your glowing remarks about my year-end review!
I truly appreciate you being supportive and confident that I could author a hiking guide book. However, for whatever reason, it’s just one of those things that I have no ambition to do. But as the adage goes, ‘one should never say never’. :-)
All the best to you and yours for 2015 and for many years to come!
John
Thanks Ellen so much for your feedback about my year-end review!
In answer to your question about my camera, yup . . . believe it or not, I’m still using the ‘point and shoot’ camera that I bought brand new for $97 several years ago. Each time I consider upgrading, I think of the adage, ‘if ain’t broke, don’t fix it’! :-)
Oh! And, it’s completely understandable, Ellen, why you would have some partiality for my photo taken from near the summit of Mt. Ellen! :-)
Best wishes to you and yours for a healthy and happy New Year!
John
Summerset, as always, thank you for reading and responding to my blog.
And although my year 2014 was indeed personally exciting and full of adventure, it pales in comparison to the adventure that you will be embarking upon in 2015 when you thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, as I just read in your blog (link below). Godspeed to you, Summerset, on this epic quest!
https://nh48.wordpress.com/2015/01/08/three-months-from-today/
John
What a year you had! Thanks for always writing about your adventures, it has always been an excellent resource for all of us hikers, much appreciated. Those blueberries you picked on Speckled Mountain looked tasty :)
Hi Chris,
Wow! Thanks for your kind words and thoughtful comments. Very much appreciated!
I must hasten to add that I’m honestly envious of the grand adventures that you undertake on a routine basis, and the skilled manner in which you report them in your blog (link below).
http://dailey7779.blogspot.com/
Your narrative and photos are all top-notch, and I like the catchy titles for your reports. Also, I especially like the fact that you include a GPS track for most of your treks. I find this very helpful in pinning down the precise location without having to scramble for maps to figure out where the adventure took place.
John
Thanks For sharing all your adventures. This is hands down my favorite hiking blog to read. Especially some of your bushwacks. -Jan
Jan . . . thanks for your kind words about my blog. I’m especially appreciative for your feedback regarding my postings about bushwhacks. Many of my off-trail adventures go unposted to my blog. I’d assumed this topic had limited appeal to most of my readers since I get a low number of “hits” from postings about bushwhacks. But perhaps I need to do some reconsideration!?
If you use Facebook, most everything I do is posted there. My Facebook page is:
https://www.facebook.com/1HappyHikerNH
Just as a final note, you might have noticed that overall my blog postings have become less frequent during the winter months when I devote more time to my other passion of Nordic skiing.
John
Those are some really cool photos. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your travels.
Thanks for your comments, Matthew. Glad you enjoyed the photos!
John
Post a Comment