WELCH-DICKEY

Not a NH/48 but we got out and did our thing. We decided on the Welch-Dickey loop trail on a dry soon to be sunny day in the whites. It would be myself, Jeremy and Rocky again and earlier in the week we were thinking Owl’s Head but again my foot and knee were most definitely not ready for the 18 mile out and back hike. We will have to wait to climb that one next year but for now it was all about just getting out hiking and having a few laughs along the way.

Started out on the trail at around 7-7:15ish after a smooth two hour ride up from Mass. The feeling of being happy, emotional and just damn lucky to not only be alive but to be alive and doing something you truly love to do can’t be beat. There is a certain feeling of freedom and calm when you hit these mountain ranges, a feeling I want to last and take advantage of while I can. After a short hike of 1.3 miles and 800 feet of elevation gain we came upon a giant slab of rocks. All I heard was “John, holy crap you gotta see this!’ That would be Jeremy hitting this view point first and he was not exaggerating his excitement. WOW! What a view indeed and just think we were only at the first view point of many more to come. We actually witnessed the sun coming up over the mountains and this just made the views that much better.

After shooting the breeze with a woman on her sixth hike up this loop trail we decided to get on with it and head up to Welch’s summit which was another 700 feet of gain in 0.6 miles. This view rivaled the first and we were both just stunned by the beauty of the colors of Fall and the sun still coming up. Absolutely amazing.

We sat down, shot the shit and had a snack before ascending our final peak which is Dickey. This trail is loaded with slabs so we were happy to do this on a dry day. This would absolutely suck on a wet day. After climbing slab after slab with views virtually everywhere we looked, we made it to Dickey which was every bit as stunning as the last two stops. The lesson learned on this hike is that we only went four miles and gained 1800 feet but got some of the best views to date on any mountain. So if you pick the right mountain on the right day with the right weather, than holy shit you get what we got and didn’t have to climb 4000 feet to get ridiculous views. That is obviously why this trail is listed on the 52 with a view (52WAV). These are 52 mountains under 4000 feet with great views. There is a patch you can receive by hiking all the mountains on the list. That is another patch I intend to get at some point!

Now for the descent. It was quick going down, mostly open slabs and fantastic views. I recommend this trail to anyone who likes to get out to the mountains and grab a quick view of the white mountains without getting exhausted or bored. Again, was great to be in the company of a good friend which always makes the hike more enjoyable.

Trailhead leading to the loop. This one will be hiked again!!