It was a cool morning as I drove to the trailhead. The sky was clear and the summits were beautiful against the blue sky. As I was driving down Tripoli Road I came around a bend in the road and saw to barred owls fly up into the woods. I managed to watch one fly onto a tree branch but it was difficult to get a clear photo through the leaves and branches. I was disappointed with the quality of the photo but happy to have seen them.
I pulled into an empty parking lot. I had the trail to myself. It was a nice, cool ascent. On a beautiful day like today I thought hikers would be coming up from the more popular Waterville Valley side but I had the summit to myself. It took a couple of minutes for them to find me but the black flies soon covered all of my available exposed skin. They were quite intolerable. After some hasty summit photos I quickly started my descent. As long as I kept moving the black flies were not a problem.
It was a nice hike back down. I met two hikers coming up and it was the only two that I would see all day until I reached the parking lot and a family of hikers was just starting up. I was certainly glad that I had taken the day off as the conditions were absolutely ideal. It makes up for those winter days that were not so ideal. Hazy, hot and humid weather is in the forecast for this upcoming weekend. I'll be looking for another short hike to close out the month of June.
Enjoy the photos and video!
Two barred owls were on Tripoli Road that flew up into the woods but I was able to watch this one
Easy water crossing
Very low water
Top half of this tree is hanging over the tail
Burl is forming on this tree
A cairn beside the trail
Bunchberries
The moose was here
Coming up to a high point on the trail before dropping back down
Tecumseh can be seen through the trees
Recent trail work cleared several blowdowns
Crooked tree
It was a cool morning walk through the woods
The summit is up ahead
On the summit
A beautiful clear day
The Tripyramids
North Tripyramid
Spectacular views
Appears to be construction on the ski area below
Looking down from the summit
The Osceolas
Summit sign
Starting my descent
The Franconia summits in the distance
More bunchberries
Eastern tiger swallowtail
Mount Moosilauke where I hiked last Saturday
Ferns along the trail
More ferns
A built-in seat on this boulder
A mushroom hat over this burl
Admiral butterfly
Wings spread
Back at the beginning after 6.2 miles in 4 hours
Having Fun in the Great Outdoors!
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