I started this a solo hike and wound up finishing with a meet-up group led by VFTT member Peakbagger. I left the house at 6:00 AM and headed to Crawford Notch. It was clear when I left. I knew the weather forecast was for increasing clouds and snow showers in the mountains for the afternoon but as I drove West the clouds increased quickly. It was looking like views today would be limited or nonexistent. Knowing Willey had limited views anyway and knowing, hiking for me is as much about the journey as the destination, I drove on. After a quick breakfast stop in North Conway I arrived at the Ethan Pond trailhead about 7:45. There was only one other vehicle in the parking lot. As I finished breakfast the guy pulled away. I wondered where he’d been. He clearly had finished a hike but it was too early for him to have done the hike I was doing unless he started in the middle of the night. Mystery. As I got out to gear up another car pulled up. The guy asked me if I was meeting anyone. I told him I was solo hiking. He was hiking with a group he’d met on a previous hike but had not hiked with before. I finished loading my pack and headed off on the Ethan Pond Trail which is also the AT. It’s only 2.5 miles to the top but the trail is very steep. I set off and began the first climb which is, compared to the last half-mile, moderate. About three quarters of a mile up the trail, I flushed a partridge. I very seldom see partridge in the White Mountains in New Hampshire though I do see them in Maine on occasion. Not sure why. At 1.1 mi. the Kedron Flume Trail comes up on the right from the Willey House at the foot of Crawford Notch. It was 8:50. I was making pretty good time despite the steepness of the trail. Three tenths further on the Willy Range trail diverges to the right while the Ethan Pond trail continues on to eventually connect with the Zealand trail. I reach these junctions and often wish I was doing a longer hike especially if I have never been on the trail before. I turned right and headed up toward Mount Willey. It had been spitting snow for most of the way but now it was more steady and the ground was beginning to be covered. The trail became considerably steeper after the intersection and my pace slowed a bit. After crossing a couple of small brooks the really steep stuff starts and here there were 15 sets of log stairs and by the time I got to the top of them I was feeling the burn. The mountain relents a bit for the last quarter mile and I was soon at the top. The time was 10:45. I’d been there only a few minutes when Peakbagger’s group came up to join me.
One of them offered first to take my summit photo and then a congratulatory “summit cookie”, a tasty treat after all the hard work. I got out my lunch and was immediately accosted by a Gray Jay. I have seen them on many peaks through the years but this one was the most aggressive. Twice he swooped and struck at the sandwich in my hand as if trying to knock it onto the ground.
I got a picture of him less than two feet away. I fed him bits of my lunch, sometimes right from my hand. Soon it was time to head down and I put on the micro-spikes to help with traction. There had been some slippery places on the way up.
I was right behind the group that came up after me and had a nice conversation with Peakbagger as we descended. It turned out that we had a lot in common, knew some of the same people and frequented some of the same haunts around Upton. We got down through the steep section and quickly descended to the parking lot. We arrived about 1:00. Peakbagger and company have a post hike tradition I like. Someone brings cheese and crackers and other folks bring whatever they have left in the fridge for beer, a couple of these and one of those. They all have a beer and a snack and hash over the hike before heading their separate ways. A nice way to end a hike. I headed home and arrived about 2:30.
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