Mountain Quest 2012 No.1

At precisely 1:20 pm today I began my "Mountain Quest" series for 2012 with a hike up the Wapack and Kidder Mountain trails to the summit of Kidder Mountain.

I parked my car at the Wapack Trail head on Nashua Road in Sharon, NH, and before I even had my pack on my back, three mountain joggers and their dog preceded me onto the trail, and they were soon out of my sight. I set out on a sunny clear day, with the temperature around 50 degrees. The first part of the trail was a steady incline, very muddy but easy to navigate. A lot of the route was a frozen mountain stream, with various bypasses to get around the wettest spots, and lots of views through the trees. My shoes had been on their last legs for some time, and I expected to get soggy anyway, so I just enjoyed the walk down the woody trail full of icy patches (but no snow) and across several streams.

The directions I'd jotted down indicated that after spending some time on the Wapack Trail that I should turn left to follow the Kidder Mountain Trail to the summit. Well, at a point where it was well-marked to turn right on the Wapack (see above), I turned left as I thought I should. After a half mile up an old cart track I came to a vista, with a huge house on the right and no obvious route to the top of the mountain. I should have known it wasn't the right path to take, because there were no blue triangle blazes, and my assumption led me astray. Oh well... Thankfully the view was worth the backtracking, which I did after a few moments.

Once I was back on the Wapack I continued for awhile until I realized that the sun was in my face, and not on my left where it should have been since I was headed to the summit. So I backtracked once again to where some electrical towers ran up the hill, and found a poorly-situated marker sign to point me the right way (it can only be seen from the opposite direction). Then it was smooth sailing up a frequently-blazed trail, with a more challenging incline, random sweeping views and lots of switchbacks. The actual climbing part of the day had finally arrived after a lot of up and down wandering. I passed a pair of older women on their way down, exchanged pleasantries ("It's beautiful up there!" "Oh good, thank you!"), and with anticipation, trudged (can one 'trudge' merrily?) to the summit.

The view atop Kidder Mountain was amazing. There was nearly a full 360-degrees of unobstructed vision. I could see Watatic, Monadnock, Barrett, Temple, and a ton of other mountains and hills. I could see the ski trails on Mount Wachusett. I could even see Boston way off on the horizon. Who'd have thought the view would be such a perfect a payoff on January first? The bracing 30-something-degrees temperature on the summit didn't even bother me. The sun was out, I had my first climb of the year in the books, and the sights were incredible. I spent 15 minutes or so taking a few photos and then eating my customary almonds and apple (don't apples always taste better when they are eaten outdoors?) before choosing some songs to play on my way back down. Kristin Cifelli, Mojave 3, Abbie Barrett & The Last Date, and Barnaby Bright all took turns on my iPod. The trip up (with the two unplanned, yet welcome, detours) took me an hour and forty minutes, and the descent took only an hour. I was in my car at four, with muddy shoes (soon to be retired) and a happy spirit, and I drove home content...