Date(s) Hiked: 7-12-08
Trails(s) Hiked: Welsh-dickey loop trail.
Total Distance: 4.4 miles
Difficulty: Moderate sections but not too bad overall.
Conditions: Trails:
Weather: party cloudy, some sun shine and some cool air.
Special Required Equipment: none
Trip Report
My first hike in the whites this year and I had two in tow who rarely hike. I had to decide between Mt cardigan, Mt chocorua, or the w/d loop. After some research of the two other mountains and considering our late start I chose the Welsh Dickey loop as the trip for the day.
We started out around 830 from the Nashua area and arrived at the trail head around 11 am. We geared up and started our hike up the Welsh Mountain. The trail starts off easy with gentle inclines and steepens slightly about 1/2 way up to the first ledge with really good views. We thought "wow that was a quick summit." We found out that if we looked up and to the left we could see the summit of mt welsh. That did not stop us from soaking in some great views with good visibility at the first ledge.
For me the climb started now. I would call some of the ledges we climb fairly steep and it was surely tiring for our group and a few others. We sat and took some water on the rock ledges and one could see that in the winter you could be in for an awful ride down the slabs. The trail changes slightly to less open slabs and more rock trails with walls of rock all around and we quickly navigated them and reached the top of Mt Welsh, which immediately paid us back for the tough climb we had hiked to this top.
There were quite a few fellow hikers at the top and we ate some lunch and soaked in some great views. Some storm clouds started approaching so we decided it would be best for us to continue on. The summit of Mt dickey looked worse than it actually was. The hike up was pretty easy compared to the Welsh summit. After a little bit of trickery finding the summit we felt satisfied that we had found the summit and then continued on down the trail. At this point I had some of the best hiking in my life. I really enjoyed the rock slabs and the solitude that was offered as we hiked own dickey. There is an amazing rock ledge completely open and you are at the mercy of the weather due to almost complete exposure. Needless to say the rest of the climb down was a little tough on the knees and slightly long winded, but for me and my fellow travelers they always are. Just about the time we were about to start complaining we came to the parking lot and we enjoyed a moment of accomplishment.
Overall it was a great hike and amazing views for a modest effort. The two fellow hikers with me both enjoyed the hike and can't wait to come back again. Glad I chose the Welsh-Dickey loop because I feel Cardigan and surely Chocorua would certainly been more then we bargained for.
Trails(s) Hiked: Welsh-dickey loop trail.
Total Distance: 4.4 miles
Difficulty: Moderate sections but not too bad overall.
Conditions: Trails:
Weather: party cloudy, some sun shine and some cool air.
Special Required Equipment: none
Trip Report
My first hike in the whites this year and I had two in tow who rarely hike. I had to decide between Mt cardigan, Mt chocorua, or the w/d loop. After some research of the two other mountains and considering our late start I chose the Welsh Dickey loop as the trip for the day.
We started out around 830 from the Nashua area and arrived at the trail head around 11 am. We geared up and started our hike up the Welsh Mountain. The trail starts off easy with gentle inclines and steepens slightly about 1/2 way up to the first ledge with really good views. We thought "wow that was a quick summit." We found out that if we looked up and to the left we could see the summit of mt welsh. That did not stop us from soaking in some great views with good visibility at the first ledge.
For me the climb started now. I would call some of the ledges we climb fairly steep and it was surely tiring for our group and a few others. We sat and took some water on the rock ledges and one could see that in the winter you could be in for an awful ride down the slabs. The trail changes slightly to less open slabs and more rock trails with walls of rock all around and we quickly navigated them and reached the top of Mt Welsh, which immediately paid us back for the tough climb we had hiked to this top.
There were quite a few fellow hikers at the top and we ate some lunch and soaked in some great views. Some storm clouds started approaching so we decided it would be best for us to continue on. The summit of Mt dickey looked worse than it actually was. The hike up was pretty easy compared to the Welsh summit. After a little bit of trickery finding the summit we felt satisfied that we had found the summit and then continued on down the trail. At this point I had some of the best hiking in my life. I really enjoyed the rock slabs and the solitude that was offered as we hiked own dickey. There is an amazing rock ledge completely open and you are at the mercy of the weather due to almost complete exposure. Needless to say the rest of the climb down was a little tough on the knees and slightly long winded, but for me and my fellow travelers they always are. Just about the time we were about to start complaining we came to the parking lot and we enjoyed a moment of accomplishment.
Overall it was a great hike and amazing views for a modest effort. The two fellow hikers with me both enjoyed the hike and can't wait to come back again. Glad I chose the Welsh-Dickey loop because I feel Cardigan and surely Chocorua would certainly been more then we bargained for.
