More 4000 foot mountains

Before the albies came in, I went back to New Hampshire on my days off last week. I got up there early enough to go for a short hike. I did a quick loop of Ammonoosuc Lake. It was close to dark, but it was a short flat stroll. I was just happy to be in the mountains.

 The next morning I climbed Mt Waumbeck. To get there one has to go over Mt. Star King. There are great views on Star King. Sadly, it was overcast. Most of the view was blocked by the clouds. By far the highlight was this Grey Jay. These guys are not shy and will eat out of your hand

                                                   
                                                     Waumbeck's Summit is wooded, but I climbed it hoping to enjoy Star King.

 Waumbeck is in the northern Whites. After I got down at 1 pm, I drove around the area. I came across this spring and filled up my water bottles

And turned around in the Santa's Village parking lot

I was aggrivated that I climbed a mountain without a view thanks to the clouds. The weather cleared throughout the day. I decided to climb Mt. Avalon in the evening. Although much shorter than Waumbeck, I found it difficult. The view of the Presidentials was amazing though.

The cliff scared mountain is Mt. Webster. This was a great place to admire how rugged it is!

I was almost even with the clouds

There was a very steep pitch with jagged jumbled rocks that slowed me down.

The next day I hiked the Kinsman's. First stop was  Lonesome Lake. North and South Kinsman's in the background.

The cairn on S. Kinsman. The Kinsman's were hard. I knew it was a long hike. Ten miles round trip. I did not expect the steepness climbing from Lonesome Lake to North Kinsman.

There is a great flat ledge on North Kinsman. It was a great view of the Franconias. It was clouding up with rain showers in the afternoon. Lincoln was under the cloud ceiling, but Lafayette a couple hundred feet higher was hidden

White blazes in the mountains are the Appalachian Trail. All other trails are marked by different colors.

                                                   Kinsman Pond

 This is the view from Lonesome Lake of Franconia Ridge. I was there two winters ago.

 This was the view in March 2015. The air temp was about ten degrees. That does not include the wind which was easily blowing at thirty miles an hour.

I had a good couple of days. Both Kinsmans and Waumbeck are four thousand footers. Both Avalalon and Star King are under the catagory of "52 with a view". I only have five more hikes left to join the "Four Thousand Foot Club".

Things I learned- I was glad to find the spring on Rt. 2. It is south of the junction with Rt. 115.