The wet summer made us nervous about this trip. Rain was predicted as Bob Ciecierega, Donna and Tom Dinse, Eric Oogjen, Joe Roth, Larry Telle and Dan Young left Rochester, and that was before Hurricane Bill started to make his way up the east coast. Our drive to New Hampshire went through many heavy downpours. By the time we reached our campsite, it was flooded. We managed to squeeze in our tents by taking the highest points. This trip saw an addition to our car camping luxuries like hot showers and restaurants: Wi-Fi and the Internet. While this might feel like a wilderness intrusion, we were in town. And it sure helped us see what weather was around us.
Saturday started with a steady rain. We bagged the hiking and headed into North Conway to check out the shops. We found it to be quite the tourist town complete with $7.50 drafts and $10 glasses of house wine.
On Sunday the weather was still marginal. We decided to climb Carrigain, the peak with the shortest route of the weekend plan. Our views were obscured by clouds at the top, but at least the hiking was almost dry. We returned to find the campsite flooded again. Somehow a heavy storm missed us on the trail and slammed the campsite to the south. Having found the high spots Friday night proved to be a blessing by Sunday evening.
Seven people and two vehicles allowed us lots of flexibility for what we hiked. On Monday two climbed the Tripyramids, three climbed the Trips plus Whiteface and Passaconaway and two climbed nothing at all! We repeated it on Tuesday when three climbed the Hancocks and four climbed Whiteface and Passaconaway. And on Wednesday four climbed Moosilauke while three climbed none.
Luckily the weather improved after Sunday. Clouds and winds continued to toy with the mountain tops, but we never experienced rain. The water retreated at our campsites. The group climbed the six planned mountains, but the peak baggers were in heaven: They added an extra two peaks.
One lesson we learned about car camping was that there is a limit to how much gear people can take. We were required to drive an unplanned larger vehicle. Thanks Donna for squeezing into the jump seats.
