CohnHampshire

Snowmelt fog

2012-01-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

Sycamore Field in the snowmelt fog

Left is on Monday, right is on Tuesday.

Such Great Hights

2012-01-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

Mt. Hight, New Years Day

Looking back at Carter Dome as clouds moved in.

The face of Wildcat A in Carter Notch.

Perception vs. Reality

2011-12-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

With the influx of photographer, writers and television crews to fair Concord it has been interesting to watch other people's styles as we each jostle for space and try to get "the shot." Some will show what is happening from a wider perspective like they've taken a step back. Others choose to show the moment with no other distractions to interfere. I could argue that it is purer to show just how staged these events are. But, to each their own. They have their editors to please and I have mine.

Mitt Romney joins his wife, Ann, and a lucky contest winner for a burrito at Dos Amigos on North Main Street in Concord.

Winter, is that you?

2011-12-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

Way up high, there's winter.

Solitude Lake on Mount Sunapee, Christmas Eve

Debate?

2011-12-14T18:38:00.001-08:00

Can it be a debate if they agree on everything?

Favorites from the campaign trail thus far

2011-11-28T19:38:00.001-08:00

Mitt Romney outside the New Hampshire State House. Look closely and you can see John H. Sununu.

Mitt Romney at Lincoln Financial in Concord.

Rick Perry supporters meet Vermin Supreme.

Tim Pawlenty pours himself a cola at the Barley House in Concord.

Ron Paul cycles past Turtle Pond in Concord.

Rick Santorum talks to the press in the Secretary of State's office.

Gary Johnson moves a bale of hay at Miles Smith Farm in Loudon.

Johnson staffers fix a banner.

Newt Gingrich meets with Secretary of State Bill Gardner.

Newt Gingrich eats breakfast with veterans on Veterans Day in Epsom. he had a ham and mushroom omelet.

Jon Huntsman gets cover from the rain in Concord in June.

Herman Cain receives a New Hampshire pin from the staff of the State House gift shop.

Michele Bachmann supporters in Raymond.

Michele Bachmann speaks at New England College in Henniker.

Lonesome

2011-11-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

Lonesome Lake, that is. Winter is already in the mountains and on Franconia ridge.

Coffee with a side of Newt

2011-11-12T09:13:00.000-08:00

Emily and Nate Whiteman of Concord eat breakfast with their niece, Natasha, at the Circle Restaurant in Epsom, New Hampshire while former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks to the press on Veterans Day; Friday, November 11, 2011.

More Monitor coverage of the Primary at: http://www.concordmonitor.com/primary-circus-2012

The view from Mount Welch

2011-10-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

or Mount Dickey. I get them confused. Either way, along the Welch-Dickey loop in Campton/ Waterville Valley

Risa and Colin

2011-10-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Craig Dilger I shot my first wedding in a while as a second photographer. So here are a few shots, Channing Johnson style.

The couple held a Paebek, traditional Korean, ceremony in the morning and a western ceremony later in the day.

Dance Floor

2011-10-04T05:52:00.000-07:00

I shot a wedding for the first time in a while. I tone slowly, so here is an early favorite.

First test

2011-10-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

My point and shoot was falling apart and not as crisp as I would like it to be, especially in low light. So, for the first test if my new pocket sized camera (Canon s95) I took it out to a foam (going away) party.

I guess Alan wants the house to be clean before he sells it.

Fall is coming

2011-09-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

Jed started leading climbs when he was 40. That was around 1980. Jed still leads climbs, and teaches newer climbers how to do it. This is Jed on Whitehorse Ledge's Sliding Board route, shot from the Beginner's route.

The Kanc meets Irene

2011-09-02T17:58:00.000-07:00

Roadwork on the Kancamagus Highway damaged by Tropical Storm Irene.

Wyoming

2011-08-15T18:20:00.001-07:00

Or, photos of mountains from a distance.

Owl Creek Mountains between Riverton and Thermopolis.

I don't know what those ragged cliffs are, but I'd like to.

near Laramie

Frost on the grass along the Big Sandy river.

Wildfloweers in the Cirque.

One day in Boulder Canyon

2011-08-15T17:12:00.001-07:00

Cascade crag, complete with a Tyrolean Traverse to and from

and gracious hosts Jenn and Jeremy Fields

photo by Tony Schmidt

Granite Towers

2011-08-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

A trip to the Cirque of the Towers in Wyoming's Wind River Mountains.

Pingora from our campsite. We woke up Tuesday to hail and storm clouds and guessed they might blow over by the time we got to the base of the climb and we got lucky.

On the 5.7 variation of the second pitch.

It got crowded. Tony is up top, a guy from Boston on the "K crack" on the right and a belayer at the rappel point just in front of me.

We rappelled down to the grassy patches and walked from there.

The Watchtower and Pylon Peak.

Wolf's Head

Tony Schmidt climbs between hand traverses on the East Ridge route of Wolf's Head. Our camp is somewhere in the middle lobe of dark green, 1,000 feet below.

One of eight rappel from Wolf's Head back to the valley.

Dusk high on the ridge.

Peter gets a haircut

2011-08-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

Climbing down to climb up

2011-08-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

Hiked from the Mount Washington Auto Road down the Huntington Ravine trail to the base of the Pinnacle Buttress route on the ravine's East ridge (second from left). At least 12 people climbed the route on Sunday, so there was always company.

Yes, hiking down the Class 3 trail was scarier than climbing the 5.7 route.

Friends in the mountains

2011-07-17T18:35:00.001-07:00

Larry Krutko climbs "Route 66" on Hounds Hump Ridge in Franconia Notch.

Tony Schmidt climbs up the West Chimney on the Eaglet spire.

Max Bittle got a nice shot shot of my vintage 1998 La Sportiva Kaukalator climbing shoes. High top for nasty jams.

Then Max climbs a chimney at Pawtuckaway.

Max gets a shot of Jen Gross finding something else to laugh at me about.

Cathedral

2011-07-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

Cathedral Ledge in North Conway

Weissner's Dike

2011-07-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

After months of driving by and staring up slack-jawed, trying to avoid the guard rails on 93, I finally made plans to head up Cannon Cliff. It is big, it is loose, it can be fun.

Saturday proved weather worthy of an all-day climb after several weekends of wash-outs.
Tony and I talked about Weissner's Buttress, a climb from the 1930s on the northern end of the cliff. It is not as popular as some of the other routes, but it is supposedly moderate and can be dry. Not today, it turns out.

So, we tracked around the buttress to try Weissner's Dike, starting with the diagonal cut across the lower section of the cliff. Sunny day, cool temperature, mostly dry rock.

It was nice moderate climbing. Just when I was wondering how far to go a nice double-bolt rappel station came into sight and I decided to set up shop. The climb was not as run-out as it looks here, the last couple of placements are hidden.

Tony led the second pitch, around a loose horn and up a gully of sorts through some shrubs. I took the lead for pitch three and had one of the more interesting leads in a while. The pitch tracked up some slabs with occasional protection over to a brushy corner. The preferred route might have crossed onto the better rock up a side wall from the brush. I stayed low and found myself among some soft granite that turned to sand when I pinched it. Easing my way down from the crumblies I head back to some scrub. That's when Tony yelled "10-feet of rope left." I could see a piece in 20 and there was nothing here to build an anchor with. I found a stance and plugged in a #3 cam as he moved up to a rap station that was just below our last anchor. That little bit gave me room to climb up onto better rock and build an anchor. Tony led off from there onto the beginning of the good climbing on pitches 4 and 5 (below).

Pitch 5 has an overhanging first move and is nicely vertical for the rest of the pitch, though it is still 5.6 At the top of the pitch, feet from the anchor, I grabbed a horn and pulled myself up. And then the horn, crack-less before, pulled off and disintegrated on the ledges below. My faith in the rock around us started to dwindle. Just above me the silicone-filled cracks that used to line the Old Man of the Mountain faced out into the void.

The last pitch climbs the chimney in what was the Old Man's left ear. The first move, over a tall slice of granite called the Archival Flake, or the Hump, is famous for its awkwardness. Tony led. Next time, I will. The last fifty feet climb an interesting, flaring chimney. Usable features switch from side to side, so there is a lot of looking for the next move, but it is always there. Sometimes it's just behind you.

Cars line the road to hike Mount Lafayette (as seen from the Old Man's comb-over braces.

Rain on, Willey

2011-06-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

Lots of rain recently, so more hiking than planned and less climbing.
Kedron Flume and Mount Webster

The 100 steps of Mount Willey

Another attempt at a decent State House photo

2011-06-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

Mount Moriah

2011-05-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

Spruce grouse near the summit of Mt. Moriah.

After battling black flies Ore stops for birthday well-wishers on the ridge leading to Mount Moriah's summit (with the Presidential range in the background: Mount Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Madison)

glacial erratics on a ledge-laden ridge on Moriah's east flank.

Monadnock

2011-05-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

From a few weeks ago.

Madison Gulf

2011-05-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

The alpine gardens in bloom.

Ben's last hurrah as a Concord resident was a trip up the Madison Gulf trail. The higher summits forecast called for "continuous lightning" and we drove up anyway, passing through rain in Franconia Notch and into sunshine on the northern side. The trail eased into things, but picked up in the wilderness. The streams were not too high, but the rocks on all of them were slick and treacherous. Snow still remains just below the headwall, but the slabs and chimney are clean.

Mount Washington Auto Road.

Rain and dark clouds hastened our descent into the trees, but the lightning never materialized. Back in the trees the rain stopped, the mugginess returned and black flies came in force. We saw four other hikers the entire day.

Parapet Brook

a week inside

2011-05-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.concordmonitor.com/willis

A full week of court days as pool photographer makes me glad to be back to the Monitor in the daytime.

In Small Things Forgotten

2011-05-22T16:11:00.001-07:00

sandstone grave in Newburyport

When I spent a summer in Boston I was happy to visit some of the old burying grounds to see what a college professor was talking about with his theories on the evolution of 18th-century tombstone design. The Granary and King's Chapel and, my favorite, the Old North Burying Ground, have lots of mid-18th-century tombs with their reminders that death is not only part of life, but you can't escape it, even if you want to. The sanitized headstones of the last 200 years are dignified and somber, but these were grim or quirky and sometimes playful.

New Hampshire has some old stones, but you really have to cross the southern border into Mass. to see the good old ones with "death's heads" and well-carved "flying cherubs."

the Crosses, Ralph and Sarah

stairs leading from the river to the Old South Cemetery, Ipswich.

Bonds

2011-05-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

Bondcliff in the rain. May 15, 2011

The Bonds are some of the most remote peaks in NH. Most make a long day of it. We chose to backpack. Not sure we chose the right day, but so it goes.

Smooth going to Zealand Falls and the hut. Temps around 50 and no snow before the hut. But there is a stream crossing there. It's frozen in winter, negligible in summer, but roaring in spring. A herd path took us where it as only boot-soaking deep.

And then the snow began. Instant monorail. And it did not give up for the rest of the day. Microspikes work, but snowshoes work better. Just know that somewhere in the near future will be extended rocky sections where you have to take the snowshoes off for a 1/4 mile. We took turns slipping dramatically. Face plants, rolls into the trees. It could have been a slapstick routine.

After the Zealand summit the monorail disappeared and less compacted snow took over. Rain started once we hit the alpine zone of Guyot and was steady by the time we got to the lean-to.

Since there was still some light we decided to visit West Bond (and not feel the need to go there the next day). What some describe as a 20-minute walk in the summer took us 1:15 round trip. Made some pics of the limited view and went back to the shelter for some dry clothes and dinner.

Cathy and Alan joined us...at 12:20am.

It was cool but not cold in the shelter, but coffee was good in the morning. Kaitrin and I were packed and out for a noon-time start. Not an early start and some incredibly slow going to get to Mount Bond. 0.7 miles took an hour and then, on top we were met with driving fog. It came and went for the next 90 minutes or so as we crossed Bondcliff and marveled at it in the mist. So too the snow, ice and rocks. We probably kept microspikes on longer than needed, but those icy sections were reason enough.

Soon after Bondcliff summit we were back among the trees and could stop for a bite to eat and put on some layers. As the rain soaked through layers, wet or not, were helpful. Soon enough they were clinging and dripping inside my jacket and rain pants. Not long after this I noticed my raincoat zipper had broken, so I kept it half zipped--better than not at all.

We stopped every few minutes to re-adjust sagging pants and eat morsels of cliff bar and brownie. As the trail descended the wind turned down a notch and the rain was bearable. On the Wilderness trail we finally started making some good time, poling along across the old railroad ties. Nips of Johnny Walker work well at keeping the cold at bay too.

We made it to Lincoln Woods at 7:40 and changed into the only clothes still dry--buried deep inside the pack. We knew Cathy and Alan were getting a later start, but also knew they are faster hikers. I figured that they would catch us somewhere along the walk out. As we drank our second cups of tea they got in, just before 9:00.

In the Bowl

2011-05-01T04:02:00.000-07:00

Climbing the Chute

Grigory sees his line

Schmidt in Chute

Salmon stocking

2011-04-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

Fish and Game Department stocking Atlantic salmon fry in the Mad river and beebe river.

Springing up politics

2011-04-21T14:53:00.001-07:00

Presidential wannabes are starting to descend on New Hampshire. Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, declared his intentions on Friday.

Newt Gingrich was at St. Anselm's College admiring the campaign trail photos from years past.

And in state politics, more than 3,000 people protested outside the State house over proposed budget cuts as the House voted.

extending the season

2011-04-18T19:17:00.001-07:00

It is mid-April and skiing is still being attempted, though not always successfully. The chutes of King Ravine proved to be too rock-hard to do much with on Saturday, but they were awfully pretty to look at.

I think Jen and Mardi enjoying swinging their ice axes around, though.

Further south, the snow was even less accessible. Ben White goes searching for snow on Mt. Passaconaway despite the rain...

...or rain-swollen streams.

Back in the Gulf

2011-04-09T15:51:00.001-07:00

The Gulf of Slides on April 9th. Temperatures in the 50s with lots of snow and low avalanche danger. Great day.

Looking up Central Gully. Cars lined Rte. 16 with the Tuckerman Ravine-bound crowds. You couldn't tell there was a crowd one mile south in the Gulf of Slides.

It was possible to skin up all the way to tundra and the howl of winds coming over the ridge in the Left gully.

Brian Adams jump-turns in the trees.

The difference that one week makes. Fantastic temperatures, safe snow, spring skiing. The Gulf of Slides trail is intact all the way to the parking lot. A stream crossing towards the bottom is starting to open up, but is easy to cross for now. Once the sunshine loosened the snow it was lovely skiing on the trail and the gullies get even more sun, so are in great condition while it's warm. Snowboarders will have to stop about .2 miles from the trailhead where the run flattens out.

Looking for avalanches

2011-04-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

Jenn Gross leans into the wind in the Central Gully of the Gulf of Slides, Mount Washington.

The comments at the end are to a skier trying to head up around the corner when we all started bombing past her. I was not one of them.

birthday party

2011-03-31T05:51:00.001-07:00

Snowshoe weekend in the cold, cold mountains

2011-03-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

The snow is still deep on Cannon Mountain.

Ice clots a view of Franconia Ridge over Lonesome Lake

Happy Birthday Cari

Roarers

Owl's Head

2011-03-23T20:30:00.001-07:00

A trip up Owls Head. 11 hours of skiing, hiking, buchwhacking, snowshoeing and stream crossing in the Pemigewasset Wilderness.

How 'bout that chute on the east side of Lincoln?

Comments and commenters

2011-03-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

It is not every day that I get a letter, good or bad, about my work but I got a few emails and one call about a recent assignment I covered.

The family was very kind and accepted Maddie, the reporter, and I into the funeral despite the tragic reason for it. I do not enjoy covering funerals, but they went out of their way to welcome us, which is rare. This is in no small part because of Maddie's fantastic reporting (that day, and the following day) on the events and the person at the center of them, something no other news outlet did.

The comments to a letter to the editor gave me heart and reminded me that there are a lot of folks out there who pay attention and rely on the paper.

Wayne's foster-sister did write Maddie to say she was thankful for the coverage and was not upset with the image.

Almost a week after it ran we decided to discuss it with readers one more time.

A ski across the Pemi...almost

2011-03-06T13:40:00.001-08:00

We started out at 7:45 to ski the 23 miles from Zealand to Lincoln Woods. At Shoal Pond, not quite half-way, we decided we were moving too slowly and it wasn't going to get any better, so we headed back. Great tour, but not the planned tour.

Entertainment at the trailhead.

Rte. 302

That's what sticky snow looks like. Even glide-waxing the fish-scales didn't help.

Crossing the slide.

Turning back at Shoal Pond.

We returned to 302 and the Zealand parking lot at 5:30 having skied 20 miles without getting into the remote sections of the Pemigewasset Wilderness.
This is the intended route.

Breakfast

2011-03-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

Feeling inspired this morning, I poached some eggs and made a tarragon and brown butter sauce.

snow-filled weekend

2011-02-28T07:17:00.000-08:00

Sean and Frea tackle the snowmobile-free trails along the Kancamagus Highway. A foot of snow the day before made things fun.

Ben and Becky make some turns on the Mount Moosilauke Carriage Road just below tree-line. The trail hosted the fist ski race in America in 1927 and was widened back to the way it was in the 1990s. A couple of inches of fresh snow made it enjoyable all the way down.

How high is it?

2011-02-07T06:19:00.001-08:00

The cliffs of Mt. Pisgah rise out of Lake Willoughby, Vermont and squeeze out ice cascades for hundreds of feet. But how many hundreds? I couldn't tell until after we climbed an 'easy' route.

Rappeling on two 200-foot ropes--that didn't quite reach the spot we started from.

Ski Adventure

2011-02-06T14:22:00.001-08:00

Livermore Road to Greeley Ponds trail to Kancamaus Brook trail to Livermore trail and down. 10 skiers. 5.5 hours. Sunshine and snowstorm. Lots of herring-bone steps in deep, soft snow.

exciting down-hills

More views of Cannon Mountain

2011-02-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

Vista View

Cannonball

Skiing for work

2011-01-18T14:57:00.001-08:00

Back to Cannon mountain, this time for the opening of a lift on Mittersill. Mittersill has been a backconutry ski area since 1984 when the ski area closed, but after a land swap between the state and the National Forest, it has been incorporated into Cannon Mountain and Franconia State Park. Does this mean they will get pissy if I hike up now?

A lot of rocks up there, so I only had time for a run for photos.

Visiting the Great White North

2011-01-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

The family Cohn came up to NH and I took them up the tram to Cannon Mountain to get a better sense of winter. Up there, it is much more wintry than snow-drought Concord.

weekend activities

2010-12-28T05:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas on ice: Tony Schmidt on the upper Standard route of Frankenstein Cliff.

Skinning up the Tucker Brook trail on Cannon Mountain before it gets really steep.

Ryan Young, tele style.

the blues

2010-12-27T16:30:00.000-08:00

More blue photos from a trip to Gloucester and Rockport, Mass. with a few hours to kill.

tiny dancer

2010-12-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

from the Nutcracker.

In the golden sunlight

2010-12-01T15:40:00.001-08:00

Cape Cod, Provincetown and Wellfleet, Mass. from the air on Thanksgiving morning.

Looking north across Lake Winnipesaukee to Mt. Washington a few minutes earlier.

Railroad Park in Birmingham, Ala.

The latest in maple technology

2010-11-23T07:48:00.000-08:00

Tim Meeh got a grant to upgrade the equipment in his Canterbury sugar shack. A new reverse osmosis machine and a cleaner, more efficient evaporator that burns 25-30% of the wood of his old evaporator. You can buy North Family Farms syrup at Shaker Village (next door to the farm) and at the Concord Co-Op.

I am less of a fan of this shot, but it is the only one that shows off the shiny new evaporator. Nice reflection.

Ascents

2010-11-22T14:17:00.001-08:00

Karen and Sarah brave the winds of Mt. Garfield on Saturday

Jen and Kevin get one last climb in (at an unusually empty Pawtuckaway) on frozen fingers on Sunday.

Winterizing or (icing)

2010-11-16T06:37:00.000-08:00

South Carter looking east into Maine, Nov. 7th.

Thin pond ice, Zealand Pond, Nov. 14th.

Two view of the Presidentials

2010-11-16T06:06:00.000-08:00

Mt. Washington and Pinkham Notch from Middle Carter Mtn., Nov. 7th.

Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson from Zeacliff, Nov. 14th.

Swans Island '10

2010-11-04T05:50:00.000-07:00

More food loving this time. Still explored, but spent much more time by the stove making lobster benedict, pumpkin fondue, Amalfi-style seafood stew, butternut squash and fig risotto, baked grits-Highlands-style and more.

Add your own caption

2010-11-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

From the John Lynch victory party at the Puritan in Manchester.

The snows of Waumbek and fires of Bethlehem

2010-10-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

Rugged Maniac run

2010-10-04T19:33:00.001-07:00

photo by Alan Hammersmith

B/W film

2010-10-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

I finally developed a roll of film that had b een sitting in a camera for a year. It includes documentation of an aborted attempt to hike Mt. Jefferson on an icy September morning. Peggy made friends on the way down.

And James was with his piping troop at loon for the Highland Games.

I did make some pics in the year--Kaitrin's first lobster (after living next to the Gulf of Maine her whole life).

Pemi mist

2010-09-29T20:03:00.001-07:00

South into the Pemigewasset Wilderness from Gale Mountain; September 26, 2010.

Southern Migration

2010-09-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

I had been wondering about the cliff that looms over a sweeping turn on the western side of the Kancamagus Highway. It seemed high, remote and impossible looking. Searching online I found a route that was something I could handle and convinced Tony it was something we should do. Southern Migration heads up the center of the right lobe of the cliff (below). The first pitch is 5.9 but there is a 5.6 alternative. I chose that and soon realized it is more likely a 5.7+ and the hardest thing I have led in years. I even stopped at a double bolt station 30 feet below the one I was aiming for. Whoops

The third pitch is billed as a 5.7 and it is a 5.7 with some fun climbing and hand holds right where you want them. Tony led. He wanted it and I wasn't sure I could do it justice after that first pitch.

The leaves that were just starting to turn last week are peaking this weekend. Mt. Osceola and Greeley Ponds (above) and Kancamagus pass.

Be warned the "smooth slabs" are really smooth and the slab climbing is steep. Somebody said 5.7 on pitch 4, but what they really meant was 5.9.

I think there are lots of first ascents on the left side of the cliff if you want them.

One more of Whitney Gilman

2010-09-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

The fog was dramatic as I drove by this afternoon, so I thought I would stop for a better picture than the one on an earlier post. This is the view from I-93.

Glider

2010-09-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

I finally developed a roll of film that has been sitting on my desk for a year. It has shots from Bay City, 2008 on it and a hike to the top of Mt. Kinsman in September 2009. There were a couple of glider planes up there from Franconia airport.

I think this is looking north to North Kinsman.

Kancamagus morning

2010-09-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

From the Sugar Hill overlook. For once, the overlooks had a view surpassing those from the road.

Primary night

2010-09-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night was probably the longest election I have ever witnessed. The results dragged in and the major races were uncounted at deadline. Most of my shots did not make the paper, but the TV lights and bar setting made the victory party for Republican Senate hopeful Ovide Lamontagne a lot of fun.

Guinta for Congress staffers tallying votes by laptop.

Booing the Democratic opposition, Congressman Paul Hodes.

The next day the count showed Lamontagne losing to Kelly Ayotte by less than 2,000 votes.

Meg and Brian

2010-09-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

Across the Universe

2010-09-13T09:24:00.001-07:00

Tony at the crux of "Across the Universe" (5.10a) on Mount Willard.

Looking down into Crawford Notch on a 5.5 section of pitch 3, comfortable enough to pull out a camera while on lead.

Looking back along the pitch 3 traverse from the anchor.

Route-finding on the upper slab. Tony led what he is calling (until shown otherwise) a 5.8+ route named "Black Mamba Flake Dance." Nice vertical cracks that thin out before the bolt line, at which point a layer of black, carpet-like moss takes over.

Whitney-Gilman to Cannon summit

2010-09-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Most hikers talk about "climbing Cannon " Mountain and most climbers climb Cannon, but take small, unofficial trails back down from the tops of the climbs, never venturing towards the summit. What about climbing Cannon to the summit via the Whitney-Gilman ridge?

I had been talking about it for two years and my buddy from Bay City days, Travis, was coming into town and wouldn't be swayed from tackling it, the harder variations on every pitch or even combining pitches. Thankfully, he was also game for spending almost as much time bushwhacking through thick scrub as on the route.

Looking down from the top of pitch 5 to some climbers at the top of pitch 3 and on down to the talus field. Twelve climbers showed up to climb the route between 7:45 and 8:15am.

Looking up the 5.7 start (the 5.4 starts around the corner to the right and meets up 50 feet above).

Travis tackles the 5.8 variation on pitch 2. The crack wasn't bad, but the sharp, loose flakes around the right corner took some concentration.

Coming up pitch 5 after hugging both sides of the arete to reach the spot.

Across Cannon cliff from the top of pitch 5

Climbing parties on VMC Direct (5.10d) and Moby Grape (5.8)

Bushwhacking through the upper talus field, looking for the Kinsman Trail. Sorry, no photos of the balsam and moss jungle at the top of the mountain.

On the trail, with the summit in sight.

Cannon Ale and hot dogs at the top of the gondola.

The route from a March 2010 shot from Mt. Lafayette (no snow on Labor Day weekend).

As written for the Concord Monitor:
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/218873/looking-up

Echo II

2010-08-31T04:45:00.000-07:00

More from Echo Crag. Getting my head back into trad. (traditional) climbing after almost a decade away from it.

Mt. Webster in the rain

2010-08-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Rumney repoint

2010-08-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

Arielle Slam redpoints "Things I should have learned in kindergarten" (5.6) at Rumney, New Hampshire; Saturday, August 14, 2010.

One week's schedule

2010-08-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday: Make fun feature photos at a mud truck rally

Sunday: Hike King ravine, Mt. Adams and Madison

Monday: recovery run to get legs working again from hiking

Tuesday: climb at Rumney

Wednesday: paddle around the Merrimack (trying for a photo)

Thursday: cook risotto

Friday: bike Rattlesnake Hill and return with wrists and ankles still functioning

repeat (or try to)

In the North Presidentials

2010-08-09T18:46:00.001-07:00

Mt. Madison (above) and Mt. Adams via the King Ravine headwall (below).

First NH bear

2010-08-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

He (or she) was walking down the road where we were looking for a campsite north of Fabyan's. We didn't find a spot there.

heirloom tomoato salad

2010-08-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

A shot in my kitchen of an attempt to recreate Hot and Hot Fish Club's tomato salad using local (Yankee) ingredients.

Is the light band up top distracting?

Echo

2010-08-03T05:24:00.000-07:00

Jen Gross climbs through the lower finger crack of VH-1

Too many climbing photos are from below with an emphasis on the butt. Getting above a climber makes a huge difference. I got that chance on Sunday at Echo Crag in Franconia Notch.

pillow fight

2010-07-31T14:11:00.001-07:00

Canterbury Fair

A passion renewed

2010-07-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

Growing up we paddled or rafted all over the Southeast on river like the Locust Fork, Nantahala, Chattooga and Ocoee (above). I learned to whitewater canoe and almost got good at it. When I left for college my brother and father got even more into it. After a recent trip on the Merrimack I decided it was time to renew my interest. I even drove to Alabama for a boat.

East of Osceola

2010-07-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

water samples

2010-07-14T12:49:00.001-07:00

from the Merrimack at Garvins Falls in Bow, NH

Glen Lake, Goffstown

2010-07-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

Franklin Pierce, President

2010-06-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

Now Franklin Pierce has has own dollar coin. Some folks are excited.

Determination

2010-05-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

Cahaba river

Searching for "Bear" Bryant's grave somehwere near my grandparents'

West of Manchester, NH

Archibald's

2010-05-06T18:50:00.001-07:00

more images of Archibalds Bar-B-Q

Southern cooking

2010-05-06T05:58:00.001-07:00

What I enjoy most about coming home to Alabama-- the food.

Rib sandwich at Archibald's in Northport, Ala.

Sneaky Pete's in Mtn. Brook Village, where I walked for lunch as a kid. No IBC root beer this time around.

Nikki's West in North Birmingham--fried tomatoes, turnip greens, fried okra, black-eyed peas and candied yams.

I did not photograph any of the delicious shrimp I ate--will there be any more Gulf shrimp for the next few months?

shrimp, crawfish and oysters sauteed in vermouth at Highlands Bar and Grill
then
barbeque shrimp in a butter/cream reduction that I made at home from a John Besh recipe.
Good stuff.

softball

2010-04-20T10:53:00.001-07:00

from my weekly excursion into sports photography

shock-wave

Awful, but funny. Awfully funny?

2010-04-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

recreating a recent Wilco set on Playlist

2010-04-03T12:42:00.001-07:00

minus a couple of songs, from Concord, NH at the Capitol Center for the Arts

Franconia Ridge

2010-03-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

Equinox above treeline
Mt. Lafayete and Lincoln

Chocorua

2010-03-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

From the summit of Mt. Chocorua last Sunday. Middle Sister to the right and Mt. Washington way out there. Tee-shirt weather until tree-line, but soft snow the whole way.

Obama's back in NH

2010-02-03T10:03:00.001-08:00

Since I missed the visit to Portsmouth in August, the last minute scramble was worth revisiting for this trip, to Nashua.

out of the clouds

2010-01-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

Mt. Washington from Carter Dome; Jan. 17, 2009.
The last shot of Mt. Washington was from the southwest. This one is from the northeast.

From Wildcat, looking southeast into Jackson

Straight down to Cartner Notch Hut

Kevin approaching the summit of Wildcat

Party pics

2010-01-10T18:35:00.000-08:00

Zealand

2010-01-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

New Years at Zealand Falls Hut

Not too cold and plenty of snow to play in.

2009-12-25T13:29:00.000-08:00

On assignment in Manchester.
At the time I noticed the vine, now I can't get away from the grid.

Mt. Washington in winter

2009-12-21T10:09:00.000-08:00

A view from the top of the lift at Bretton Woods ski area as the clouds lift just long enough for a clear view. The weekend was cold and windy. Typical.

Kearsarge

2009-12-03T12:03:00.001-08:00

From the air, Thanksgiving morning between Manchester and Chicago.

2009-12-02T18:05:00.001-08:00