Hiked by: Tim, Valerie and a couple dozen other VFTT'ers on August 30, 2009 via Gorge Brook Trail. We returned via Carriage Trail and Snapper Trail.
We chose this hike today so that we could celebrate as Trish&Alex completed their NH48. We almost always hike alone because we don't hike fast, and we usually are concerned about holding other people up. With the size of the crowd today, that wasn't a problem.
We arrived at the Ravine Lodge around 9am, and immediately ran into Rocket21, TheFeatheredHat, BarkingCat, Silverfox, una_dogger and others at the trailhead. They were headed up the Asquam trail to hit a couple peaks from the NH hundred highest before meeting us at the top to celebrate with Trish&Alex. We headed off alone up the Gorge Brook Trail. Around 9:30am, we caught up with the party!
The trip up was a lot of fun. We talked to people we knew and met lots of people that we'd seen on the forum for years. We met Bob&Geri, whom we'd emailed with before but never met.
Everyone took a break at the first viewpoint
Further up the trail, Tim convinced Trish to allow him to carry Sage for awhile. Once Bob stopped tickling her and making her squirm (!!!) then she fell right to sleep to the motion of Tim's hiking. We were all fairly spread out along the trail now.
Alex and Amanda (I hope that's right!) discuss the pros and cons of cotton... I swear, I'm not making that up
We started to make our way up to treeline. We all congregated at this point to ensure that we'd all go to the summit together. Sage decided she was ready to walk the rest of the way by herself.
Alex sees her dad near the summit and her energy goes UP, UP, UP!
The final assault on the summit. A great ceremony awaits Trish&Alex.
There were T-shirts and patches and presents and cookies and candy bars! It was quite a celebration.
Alex takes a private moment to think about her accomplishment
DaveBear, Geri and Tim hide from the chilly wind to eat lunch.
Finally, the group we met at the trailhead shows up and now we've got a huge crowd!
We took the road less traveled on the way down.
After the hike, we all met at MadRiver and Sue's house (on the Mad River) for a party/picnic. We enjoyed meeting Gwynna and Becca and talked with them for awhile, as well as getting to talk to Sabrina about the ADKs.
It was a great celebration (again!!). We really look forward to meeting up with all our new friends on the trails.