North + South Pack 4/22

Wow! What can you say about this weekend? This was the first time since Nov. we were able to hike w/o Arctic gear and crampons on.( not that those things are bad! ) T-shirts and hiking shoes were called upon this fine day. Pulled into Miller State Park a little later than expected, apparently far behind 40 other cars. Decided to go in from Old Mountain Rd. This was a good move . The trail in was in pretty good shape considering the rain we've had. Went about a mile before we met our first hiker heading out . Nice guy, he and his dog were obviously having a great day! Ours was definately heading that way. Crossed 3 or 4 shallow brooks on the way, thinking I should have brought the new purifier to try out. <_<

The t-shirt plan was working out great , the lack of traction devices not so good for my kid. First slip was just as the trail steepend a bit. Flat on his butt he went, into roughly 4'' of slush. Slightly embarrassed and more than slightly wet he got up and continued on. 3 more spills would follow before we reached the summit of North! Between the trailhead and the North summit we passed only 3 people and a Chocolate Lab. SWEET !!! The views half way up were awesome. The higher we went , the better they got. The pasture lands were still visible in places . Were they cows or mountain goats ???? :blink:

We were about an hour and a half into it so we decided to work our way over to South. As we went , we met pairs of hikers occasionally , as well as the stray soloist. All were very friendly , and I enjoyed talking with them. The boy decided to fall twice more before we got to Southy. :unsure:

It was then that I heard it . Someones car stereo cranked to about 11 ! I knew then that we had indeed reached the " summit " of South Pack! The 40 cars at the parking lot were there because they couldn't fit with the other hundred at the top!!! :blink:

No place for me to be. Went down to a nice little spot on the way back, dedicated to someone who had passed away . Broke out the lunch and Powerades and relaxed as best we could with 50Cent beating in the background.( no common courtesy for anyone these days ) Beautiful day for spotting birds. Saw about 12 hawks , blue jays, crows , turkey vultures , and my personal favorite, Chicadees.(cute little things) Off in the distance, we noticed the city of Manchester, so peaceful from 25 miles! Also a couple big white spheres. Book says they are Air Force radar systems..... cool.We were about 3 1/2 hours into our day so I figured we should move along. I was hoping to take the Cliff trail on the way back and wasn't sure how much more time it would take. Once again the kid repeated his X treme stunt hiking performance , by now soaked from his Adios to his !@#$% Met a fellow from Boston, whom we had passed earlier, and chatted with him for a few. He also enjoyed the North side over the much more hectic South side. Probably too much like home for him! :unsure:

By the time we hit the Cliff trail it was about 5 o'clock. Being unsure about length of Cliff trail and being absolutely sure about how soaked my kid was, decided to stay on Wapack trail back to Jeep. We paused on the summit of North once more to take in the warm sun, watch a few more birds, and reflect on what a great day it had been. We headed back down towards the Jeep with the belief that we were probably the last ones off, as is usually the case when you sleep 'til 8:30!! :blink:

Knowing this, the kid managed to only fall once on the way down. (passenger seat still soaked as of this entry!) Sure enough, we were the only rig left on the street. Still daylight out and everything.(that's good for us if you don't know us.) Total of about 7 hours, about 7 1/2 miles , 1 really soaked butt, 2 big smiles, 1 FANTASTIC day.