New Hampshire 2013 Act 2

Silver Cascade in Crawford Notch after a day of rain

I took an extra day off from work last week so I could do a three day trip to New Hampshire. I went with my hiking partner Miss Laurie Devine. We left Wednesday night after work. We arrived after dark and set up the tent.

Thursday

The weather report for Thursday called for rain and clouds. We got up about 7 am. It was drizzly so we decided to wait until what the weather did. We drove to the Saco River so I could fish for a while. I could see ten trout in a pool but could only get one to hit. I fished about 30 minutes. Laurie had mentioned she wanted to climb the Elephants Head on Route 302 near the AMC Hostile. We climbed that (only about 10 minutes each way). I looked up and saw the sky clearing so we took a chance on a real hike.

We packed the backpack and about 10:30 am and headed out to Thoreau Falls. It’s a five mile hike to the waterfall. The hike is relatively flat. We hiked up the Zealand Trail to the Ethan Pond Trail. At the junction of Ethan Pond Trail @ Thoreau Falls trail, take the latter and the waterfall is 100 yards downhill.

I love this waterfall because its big and there is a wide open view of the mountains. It’s the only waterfall I know that was a great view of mountains also (if you know of others please leave a comment). We ate lunch and soaked our feet. We spent about an hour on the sun drenched rocks.

After our hike out we bought pizza in Twin Mountain and got Laurie fudge. When Laurie eats fudge, I get to fish. After dinner it was still only 6 pm. I went fishing at a roadside lake. Fishing was hot. Using a small Kastmaster spoon, I caught 20 trout in about 90 minutes. If I can give any advice on trout fishing it’s this; fish with the wind in your face. They will stack up on the windward shoreline. After fishing we went back to camp.

Friday

It rained, thundered and lightning most of the night. When we woke up Friday it was raining hard. We lingered in the tent until almost 8:30. Finally we got up and got in the car. We drove around for a few hours. We got lunch in Lincoln, more pizza. After lunch we window shopped at a couple outdoor gear store. Then we went back to the campsite. If I would have been alone I would have fished all day in the rain. This of course would have been selfish and unfair to do to Laurie. Finally about 5 pm I couldn’t take it anymore, so I went fishing. As we drove to the same lake, the sky brightened and the weather cleared. Fishing wasn’t quite as good, but I managed another ten trout. I wanted to fly fish but there wasn’t enough room to backcast. Also, I couldn’t wade out in the water because I have an infection in my lower leg that’s almost healed. I have been trying to keep it from getting wet. So I used the same spinning rod and spoon.

After I fished for an hour, we headed to Crawford Notch to make some mac and cheese and use of their picnic tables and view. On the way there we saw a cow moose. She posed for a few minutes while Laurie snapped some pictures.



 Because of all the rain, Flume and Silver Cascades (both are roadside waterfalls in Crawford Notch State Park) were huge. I never saw so much water rushing out of them.  We ate supper with an awesome view of Mt Webster and Mt Willey then headed back to camp.

View at Thoreau Falls

Saturday

We packed the tent when we got up then headed back to Crawford Notch. Our hike for the day was out to Ethan Pond. Ethan is a fly fishing only pond managed for wild trout. This lake has been on my to do list for years. This trip we decided to do it. Besides a trout pond there is also an AMC Hut. I figured we could eat lunch at the hut. This hike is only three miles. The first half mile is fairly steep but it levels off quickly. The pond is gorgeous. There is a nice view of mountains beyond. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing very hard in my face. I thought this would trigger some fish to hit, but I didn’t get any in the short time I fished. Again I was limited by my unwillingness to get my leg wet. It was still a nice hike and I had fun.

After our hike, we stopped and picked blueberries for an hour (so we can make blueberry dumplings) then headed home.

Chutters in Littleton, NH

As always, New Hampshire did not disappoint. Even on a rainy Friday, we managed to see a moose, eat pizza, and catch a bunch of fish. Granted we were bored out of minds until 4 pm, but then it turned out to be a beautiful evening. We did a lot in three days. I’m glad Chutter’s has that fudge because it makes it very easy to convince Laurie to let me fish for an hour when she has it.

Animals 2 adult wild turkeys, 5 poults, moose, frogs, toads, garter snake, 31 trout