Baldface, August 26, 2006

Sat. Aug. 26 we will hike the Baldface Circle Trail. This trip is 9.8 mi., 3600 ft. and estimated to be 6 hours and 40 minutes. This is a great hike, offering views of the Carter Range. This trail makes a loop over North and South Baldface with about 4 miles of open views. However, there are some steep climbs on rock to reach these views. Hence, the name "Baldface".

NEXT HIKE: August 26, Baldface
MEETING SPOT: Mobil Puffin Stop, Corner of Rt. 109 & Rt. 16, Wakefield, NH, 7:30 am
Trailhead, 9 am. The trailhead parking can be reached from Rt. 113, just 1 mile north of the Cold River Camp.
HIKE LEADER: Deb Hann

Saturday Deb took us to Baldface, great hike, here is her review:

Another great hike with the SDH! We started with 5 hikers (plus one dog), and ended with 7 (people, not dogs)! We made our ascent up South Baldface Mtn. via the Baldface Circle Trail. We were not far past the shelter (2.5 mi. in) when we reached the ledges & the fun began! There was a lot of rock scrambling; let's just say "Tessa" was not the only one on all fours!

We lunched on South Baldface, and met up with stray coonhound. After a phone call (who knew I would get service??!), we discovered the dog is a bear hunter and is let to run when they get a "strike". Some poor hunter was roaming the woods looking for his dog (equipped with a radio collar) while his dog was lounging and lunching at the summit! Serves them right for treeing bears! I digress....

From there, we had fabulous 360-degree views and a long ledge walk. There were still lots of blueberries and Mark gathered some for Sunday breakfast. After a snack on chocolate (have to keep that blood sugar up), on the summit of North Baldface, we continued on. Jim had a slight ankle twist while testing out new hiking poles. Both Jim and the poles remain unscathed. We met up with Reinhild and Christopher who hiked the Bicknell Ridge trail.

We began our descent. After a short area of steep rocks, we reached "Easy Street". The rest of the descent was gradual. Five of our group headed off to Emerald Pool for a swim and general merriment. Christopher nailed a few high jumps. We all went to the Ice Cream stop, but it was closed due to illness. So we decided to forego ice cream (gasp!) as the hour was late. It was a long day, but one that offered great views and varied terrain. Happy Trails!

Members may see more photos in our online photo album.