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September 19, 2019
Hi Folks,
Last night's temp was the harbinger of winter. Temps dropped down to just above freezing here in the Valley and well below it in the upper elevations. I had to rush pulling up my basil and tarragon and cover my cherry tomatoes! While that's to be expected on Mt Washington, the 27 degrees they had in Littleton certainly was a trifle unexpected. While many of us aren't exactly looking forward to the cold and snow, it surely serves to get people thinking about the coming winter and ice season.
Many folks are already keeping their eyes on what's happening on Cannon and Huntington Ravine. How early will the first ascent of this year be of the Black Dike or Pinnacle Gully? While it's never something to count on, it HAS been done pre-Halloween. One thing that's unquestionable, is that it IS coming sooner or later. Still, we haven't even gotten to leaf-peeper season yet. I drove up into Crawford Notch on Wednesday and the leaves aren't really changing.
The first day of Fall is only this coming Monday and many of us locals are hoping that winter is not quite as snowy or long as it was last year. Here's to another month of glorious Fall rock climbing. Look - when I have to get on my roof to shovel more than once, and still can't see my back yard in early April, that's a little much. [wry grin] But, as they say in New Hampshire. "It is what it is..."
It is a time to start sticking that light shell into your pack, and even in your Camelback when you're out riding. I was up Sawyer River Road on Wednesday and while it was sunny and balmy riding uphill at 2:30 pm, coming downhill 45 minutes later was surprisingly cool. It gets dark quite a bit earlier and having a headlamp in the pack would also be smart. Just sayin'...
If you've driven up Rt 16 lately you've certainly experienced the slowdowns from the work being done replacing two bridges over the Bearcamp River in Ossipee. Last week I drove down to Wolfeboro and back and spent almost 30 minutes stopped in each direction. That's going to probably get worse from September 27 - October 1, when over that period of time Rt 16 will actually be closed! Just another thing to be aware of.
I did my first mountain bike ride in a couple of months yesterday, just up Sawyer River Road and back. I was hoping to see a change in foliage, but even up there things were still very green.
The mosquito population seems to be lower these days. Thank goodness... That's one of the good things about the declining temps. But the ticks are still out there, so be vigilant.
Up on one of the Mount Washington Valley's finest crags and want to know what that climb you're looking at is? Or maybe you're on your way up from Boston and want to check out the Ice Report for your upcoming weekend plans. Or more likely, you're at work just want to daydream about your next adventure. Well if you have a smart phone handy, you can get to NEClimbs from anywhere you have cell service. While it doesn't offer every single feature of the site and it's not an "app", in mobile form, it does do a whole lot and is very useful. Here is the live link to the mobile version of NEClimbs:
http://www.neclimbs.com/mobile
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
Join us and LIKE us on Facebook. I'll try and post interesting pix every Thursday and the latest Ice Report in the season, tho certainly not the whole Report. Here's where you can check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/NEClimbs/
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
| There are all kinds of values to be gotten out of climbing. Sometimes you can take a girlfriend up a climb and get laid for it. |
| Steve Wunsch |
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