September 6-7, 2009
Saturday night, Kevin, Judy and Emma arrived at the house in time for a tour around the gardens and then a great grilled dinner on the back porch. Kevin brought marinated shrimp and beef kabobs - absolutely delicious!! We talked and ate until almost dark. We tried to convince them to stay in the house, but they thought it would be best to sleep in a tent in the yard. It was a cold night and we worried about them out there!
We were all up early and had a good breakfast before we headed up the highway. We arrived at the trailhead about 9:50am and were perhaps naively surprised to find it full. Hmmm... beautiful Labor Day weekend, 0% change of precip, no humidity, no bugs... why wouldn't everyone in NH be here?
As we got our gear prepped for the trip out, Emma got a drink of water. Little did we know that she would find about a dozen brooks and streams (sometimes nice and clear but sometimes not) between the car and the pond.
Our first views from the trail. While hiking in, we met several young men hiking out. They reported that there had been 30 people camping at the pond on Saturday night. Now, we were even less sure about getting a campsite.
As we reached the pond, we were elated to find out that almost all of the overnight campers had left on Sunday morning. We had our choice of tent sites and chose the two that were farthest away from the trail. They had partial views through the trees looking towards the south and the Presidentials. We got our tents set up and had some lunch. Then Emma was ready to head out again!
Afternoon views of Unknown Pond
The Horn is about 1.7 miles from the campsite. From the rocks on top, we had a 360-degree view of New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. It was a stellar day!
Also at the top, Tim captured these pictures of a Yellow-rumped Warbler and an American Painted Lady butterfly. Tim and Kevin must have taken a couple dozen pictures of the butterfly. I think they tired of it before it flew away. It was a very patient subject.
Emma took a rest in the shade on The Horn.
Next, we hiked over to The Bulge. It's just a wooded bump between Mt Cabot and The Horn. At this point, it was getting on towards dinner and we had a couple miles to go back to camp, so we turned around and headed home.
Late afternoon views. The Horn is reflected in Unknown Pond.
We ate dinner at a sandy spot near the water. This was the last place around camp with any sun at all, and so it was much, much more comfortable. We talked with a few other campers - a nice young couple from Burlington and a local woman named Sarah who was hiking with her brother, his friend and three dogs. We all watched the sunset and felt the temperatures drop as soon as the shadows fell upon us!
Later that evening, a family from our hiking forum (DAYHIKER), who were also staying at the campsite, started a campfire at the kitchen area. Kevin, Judy and Emma decided to turn in early, so we wandered over and talked with the folks there until quite late. The night was chilly, but apparently nothing like the night before had been. The sunrise started up nicely through the trees, but by the time we were ready for breakfast, a cloud had rolled in on us. Kevin's trip report shows a great picture of the arrival of the weather front. We ate a quick breakfast, broke down camp and headed out.
On the way home, Kevin and Judy suggested lunch at Mary's Pizza in Berlin. Unfortunately, it was closed for Labor Day. We went into Gorham and had some sandwiches at a picnic table at the park. The sun was back out here and the rest of the day was beautiful!
We had a great time hiking with Kevin, Judy and Emma! Lots of good food, good conversation! We're looking forward to doing it again soon!