Date: 2011-08-16
To: Grafton Loop Prep Hike
Miles today: 0.0

Hello, readers. It¢s been a while since we last updated. Preparations for our March, 2012 thru-hike are going well. I (Bob) retired on July 1st, and have been enjoying every minute of my new found freedom since.   Ann has the summer off, so we¢ve been trying to do as much training as possible to keep our bodies in shape and to test all of our equipment in various conditions. We recently completed a 4 day backpacking trip on the Grafton Loop Trail in Maine. What a wonderful trip it was! With the benefit of being retired, we are able to watch the weather forecast and choose 4 consecutive days that were forecast for excellent weather. We began our hike on July 14th at the Eddy Road parking area on Rt 26 and headed up to Puzzle Mt summit for lunch, where we were treated to spectacular views ¢ Sunday River Ski Area, East & West Baldpate, and Old Speck. Later on during the day while we were walking in the woods, we spotted a large cow moose coming down the trail as we were going up. We saw her before she saw us, so we stopped and watched her walk towards us. When she saw us, she just stopped and stared at us for a few minutes before deciding to turn around and head back up the trail. We followed and spotted her one more time before she veered off the trail into the woods. On our 2nd day, the highlight was summitting East Baldpate where we once again were treated to unbelievable views on all sides. The Grafton Loop Trail and the Appalachian Trail become one at this intersection, and it was here that we met two northbound thru-hikers - ¢Tree Frog¢ and ¢The Colonel¢ whom we had a nice conversation with. Our plan for that night was to set up our tent close to the Baldpate Shelter, but there were quite a few people already there, so we found a tent site on the approach trail to the shelter, and spent the night there. At about 3:00 AM the next morning, I was lying awake in the tent when I hear some heavy footsteps coming down the trail. Kind of early for hikers to be starting out, I thought, but you never know¢¦maybe they wanted to get in a big mileage day. It soon dawned on me though, these footsteps were not hikers, but instead another moose. As it stomped past us within 10 feet of our tent, the noise of its footsteps startled Ann out her slumber. She grabbed my arm in fear whispering ¢WHAT¢S THAT!!? The moose continued on its way and we heard splash through the nearby stream. Wow¢¦2 moose in 2 days! The next morning, I could see its hoof prints in the soft dirt. On our 3rd day, we descended down the AT to Grafton Notch State Park and then ascended Old Speck, with it¢s observation tower on top. Again the views were outstanding on all sides, with the White Mountain Presidentials clearly visible to the west and the Baldpates and the distant Maine wilderness visible to the east. Coming off of Old Speck, we enjoyed a pleasant and relatively flat walk through beautiful woods over to the Slide Mt Campsite, which we shared that night with a group of 10 teenage boys who were on an 8 day backpacking trip with 2 AMC leaders. Our last day began with an ascent of Sunday River Whitecap, an open, alpine summit offering 360 degree views.   The weather became quite hot by the time we descended back to Rt 26 and our car, and so we completed our circuit of the Grafton Loop Trail. All four days of this backpacking trip treated us to magnificent summit views and interesting woods walking, not to mention very challenging terrain. On the way home, we treated ourselves to sodas, cheeseburgers, fries, and ice cream. Life is good! Next up for us - a 50 mile backpacking trip along the Monadnock Sunapee Greenway trail in New Hampshire.