Anthony and I revisited Mt Washington again yesterday, the 4th of July, on promises of a mostly sunny day from the mountain top observatory website. They got the weather right, good call. It was a terrific day to hike and the scenery was amazing.

We took the Tuckerman Ravine trail up to the top (4.2mi, 4,300ft elevation gain), which runs up the middle of the ravine and then straight up the headwall to the summit. It was a bit crowded, especially closer to the summit, but afforded amazing views of the valley and Wildcat Mtn to the east. There were still a half dozen skiers eeking turns on what snow was still left in the ravine. It must be the only place on the east coast that you can spend a day in July skiing in shorts. The water runoff from the headwall made these cool ice caves, deep enough to be able to stand up in, under the snow that ran all the way up to the cliffs at the base of the headwall. You could probably hike up through it, but we chickened out and stuck to the trail.

On the way down we took the Crawford Path to Davis Path to the Boott Spur trail(5.4 mi). There were cairns every dozen yards, which seems silly on a sunny day, but from the previous experiences are just about the right frequency for those dense fogs that commonly wrap the alpine zone. The first 2 miles across these wide open, gentle sloping slag fields made for an interesting contrast to the ascent. Mt Washington really does seem like it’s a giant pile of boulders.

The Boott Spur trail was okay, it did offer nice southernly views of the rest of the white mountain range, but the last 3 miles were a tedious affair. It was a near constant descent through the forest with nothing much to see - a bit anticlimactic after the previous 7 miles. There was an uber-steep set of wooden stairs about 2/3 of the way down that even came with it’s own rope railing tied to a tree upslope, that was interesting.

All in all, an amazing hike which can’t hardly compare to last weekend’s march through the clouds. The Tuckerman-Boott spur loop took us 7 hours to complete, with occasional breaks to enjoy the view.

Checkout the gallery of photos from the hike:

This weekend Anthony and I hiked Mt Washington, the tallest peak in the northeast (6288′). It was overcast when we started and low hanging clouds rapidly rolled down the mountain making most of the day a hike through the clouds, but even with the limited views it was still pretty amazing. Unfortunately due to the whiteout for most of the hike, I didn’t get very many interesting photos this trip… next time. Here’s a waterfall not too far up the trail from the Pinkham Notch visitors center.

We ascended Lion’s head trail (~4.2mi) which was offered a partial view of the headwall at Tuckerman’s Ravine through the clouds. We could actually see someone skiing down the last bits of snow in the ravine. It took us about 3.5hrs to get up to the summit. The lodge, roadway, and cog train made things a little surreal, especially in the dense fog. The last 0.5 mile was a scramble up boulders through fog that had about 50 ft of visibility (my glasses kept fogging up which added to the fun), you couldn’t really tell how close to the top you were until all of a sudden up ahead a parked bmw motorcycle appeared out of the white next to a outcropping of rocks. After several hours of hiking in the woods stepping out onto the asphalt of a crowded parking lot seemed bizarre, but it was nice to stop by the lodge, wash up and have a chance to grab a hot meal if you wanted it (we carried our own food).

Tuckerman’s Ravine Headwall

On the way down, we took the Tuckerman Ravine trail, which was also about 4.2mi. The descent down the head wall was terrific. Even with the low visibility the cliffs were impressive. I definitely need to repeat that trail on a clear day, I bet the views of the basin are amazing. The bowl of the ravine was still packed with a good amount of snow. We completed the ~8.4mi loop in about 6.5hrs, just in time to avoid the rain. All in all a fun hike for a cloudy day, but requires a mulligan on a sunny one.

Back to flexing the art muscles a bit more often. I’ve start a new project, as well as been organizing reference work and sketches for more of the T-station series. So with any luck, soon I’ll be posting regular painting wips again. Anyway, I had some free time Sunday afternoon and wanted to do some pencil work. I don’t draw still lifes very often, so I changed it up with a couple flower drawings. Enjoy!

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I went on two long day hikes this weekend up in NH and summited 3 mountains.

Mt Moosilauke

On Saturday, Brian and I climbed Mt Moosilauke. We took the Beaver Brook Trail, which is the shortest and steepest route to the summit. Nearly all of the upper elevation was covered in 1-3ft of snow, which wasn’t too bad going up in the morning before things started to thaw out. There was a front moving through, so above the tree line on the summit was brutally windy and cold. The sustained winds were strong enough to make walking difficult. If it weren’t for the rock wall shelters and cairns on the summit we would have had to return to the trees to eat lunch. The descent was very steep and very slippery, since the snow had gotten slushy from the dozen other hikers and afternoon thaw. The 4,802 ft Moosilauke was a terrific day hike, with terrific panoramic views even on an overcast day. Round trip, the 7.8 mile hike took us about 5.5hrs.

Mt Flume + Mt Liberty

On Sunday, I hiked the Mt Flume/Liberty loop with Anthony, Lori and her german sheppard Eli. Anticipating wet conditions, we decided to ascend the much steeper route of the Flume Slide and descend the more gradual Liberty Springs trail. I think that this is the best route - the flume is very steep and would be extremely hard to descend, even in dry conditions. I read plenty of posts saying how steep that trail is, and boy they aren’t kidding. Good stretches of the trail are a near vertical scramble up slabs of granite. Not an easy trail to bring a 100lb dog along on. Eli did a great job and made it the whole way, but Anthony had to haul him up a couple of the steepest parts. It was one of the harder trails I’ve climbed, but was a great experience. The views from the Mt Flume were terrific at 4,328ft you could clearly see snow capped Mt Washington to the east and it was clear enough to see the green mountain ridge in VT too towards the west. There was still a little snow between Flume and Liberty peaks, but otherwise the rest of the hike was as expected. There’s a great view of Cannon and the Franconian Notch from Mt Liberty (4,459 ft). Round trip, the 10.3 mile hike took about 6.5hrs.

On Sunday I hiked Mt Carrigian in the white mountian national forest. It was a terrific day to hike, sunny and in the 60s all morning, with only small amounts of wind near the summit. I went on my own and I didn’t see another person all day on this 14mile hike.

The road to the trail head was still closed for the winter, so this added another 4 miles (2 each way) onto the trip. From the trail head the signal ridge trail gently climbs for the first 1.7miles along the carrigain brook. The water levels were still very high due to snow melt from the peak. In two spots all of the river rocks were under water, and I had no choice but to roll up my pants and walk across ankle-deep in water. Thank goodness for waterproof boots.

After 1.7miles the carrigain notch trail splits off. Staying left, I continued up the signal ridge trail. The trail runs another 3.2 miles nearly straight up to the peak of Mt Carrigain, with very few switchbacks. The pitch of the trail steepens suddenly and continues without much leveling out until the summit. There was still a good amount of snow in the woods at the higher altitudes. The last 1.5miles of trail leading up to the summit were continuously under between 6-24inches of packed snow. It wasn’t icy, so little more than a good pair of waterproof boots were required - however it did take a bit longer during the ascent; ski poles helped. The snow did make the descent rapid and fun.

The trail levels out briefly and offers a terrific view of Carrigain Notch to the northeast, and Mt. Washington behind it in the distance. The summit of Mt Carrigain is also visible, with its observation tower at the peak. Another half mile up the snow covered trail and I was at the 4680ft summit. The views from the top of the tower were spectacular - the Pemigewasset wilderness to the north, the Franconian ridge and Mt Lafayette to the west, and Mt Washington to the east. I ate a leisurely lunch at the summit while enjoying the view and catching some sun. The way down was fun and much faster than the ascent, since I boot-skied down the trail where it was under snow. All in all a terrific day hike for a sunny day.

Directions: RT93N to exit 32, left onto RT112E, after 23mi left onto Bear Notch Rd, left at RT302W, after 3mi left at Sawyer River Rd (closed in winter), 2 mi down this dirt road, park after the bridge. Note parking requires annual or day ($3) permit. Trail head starts opposite the parking lot by the bridge.

Hiking times (actual): 0.5h - 2miles along Sawyer River Rd (still closed for winter) from RT302 parking lot. 0.5h - 1.7miles to Carrigain Notch Trail split (stay left). 2h - 3.2miles to summit. Return trip 1.5h from summit to trail split, 0.5h from split to fire road, 0.5h to RT302.

Here’s the article on the Davis Sqaure art panel unveiling from the Metro.

A replica of my Herbert Street cityscape painting was installed in the Davis Square T station this week along with 8 other new panels from artists around town. The panels look great and add splashes of color to the previously drab subway platform. Check them out next time you’re in Davis.

Here are a couple photos from the unveiling ceremony.

Thanks to everyone who braved the cold rain this weekend to visit the open studios.  Even with the lousy weather the turnout was very impressive.  I had a great time sharing some of my artwork and talking to everyone that stopped by.  I hope to see you all again next year.

If there was anything you’d like a print of, I’m happy to look into it for you.  If you have any questions, or just want to say hi, feel free to drop me a note.  I’d love to hear from you.  Thanks again for your support of local Somerville art!

Prints of selected works are now available at artist rising. You can print on-demand poster quality images of a few of my paintings. If there are other paintings you’d like to make prints of that you do not see or would like a larger size than is currently available, please send me an email and I’ll whip up something for you.

Note that I just set this up, so it may take a day or two before it’s running smoothly.

Somerville is hosting its 10th annual open studios event this weekend, May 3+4th. Over 300 artists will be opening their studio/home doors to the public to show off and sell their work. Check out the SOS website for more information (I’m studio # 85 on the map). The event is from noon-6pm both days, hope to see you out there!