Jonni
Member
Date Hiked: 5/30/2009
Trails(s) Hiked: Welch Mountain Trail, Dickey Mountain Trail
Total Distance: 4.5 mi, 1,700 ft el. gain
Difficulty: Easy/Moderate
Conditions: Good, rain made it a little slick in spots
Special Required Equipment: None
Trip Report: Been three weeks in the making but my friend Blake and I finally made it up to hike the Welch Dickey Loop. We weren't 100% sure what we were getting into with this hike as many of the guide books didn't seem to do it justice. Started out kind of late at around noon time. Made good time getting to the first view point as well as found the one Geocache on the mountain. Quickly getting that out of the way the dark clouds began to move in. Shortly after we left the first viewpoint it started to rain. Debating whether or not we wanted to head back the rain quickly went away and the rest of the afternoon was nice and sunny.
Heading further up the trail and up the steeper ledges on the other hand did become more tricky. There were many spots that were still pretty wet from the last three days worth of rain. A few small detours over some less-steep ledges and small wooded patches and we found ourselves at the summit of Welch. Great views in every direction as well as only one other small group of people there to enjoy it with. The interesting part was what was going on on the top of Dickey.
Apparently, the National Guard (I think) was doing some helicopter training? at the top of Dickey today, which resulted in an interesting maneuver of raising and lowering a person about five times from the helicopter onto the summit of Dickey Mountain. Each time the helicopter would either pick-up it's passenger or drop-off it's passenger it would circle the valley and return to either drop or pick-up the guy that was part of the training. This went on for seemed like about a half an hour.
After the helicopter left it was a quick and easy hike to Dickey's summit to more great views in all directions. Continuing down the other side for the last leg of the hike back to the parking lot was a nice steady downhill walk through the woods. Overall hike time was about 3 1/2 hours including about 10 minutes spent looking for and logging the Geocache.
I try to do a few smaller summits in the beginning of the season to get my hiking legs back under me, after being so attuned to skiing for the last 6 months. Despite how easy this hike was for me, (not so much for Blake), I feel like I'm a heck of a lot more ready for tackling some more NH 4000'ers for this summer. Perhaps maybe even this week depending on time, money and weather.
Pictures:
View of the Tripyramids from the first viewpoint
Ridgeline south of the Dickey Summit from Welch's Summit
Close up of the Helicopter as it was circling
Welch from Dickey
Southern view on the way down from Dickey's Summit
Not sure what I'm gonna hit next, but definitely eying a 4ker if possible.
Trails(s) Hiked: Welch Mountain Trail, Dickey Mountain Trail
Total Distance: 4.5 mi, 1,700 ft el. gain
Difficulty: Easy/Moderate
Conditions: Good, rain made it a little slick in spots
Special Required Equipment: None
Trip Report: Been three weeks in the making but my friend Blake and I finally made it up to hike the Welch Dickey Loop. We weren't 100% sure what we were getting into with this hike as many of the guide books didn't seem to do it justice. Started out kind of late at around noon time. Made good time getting to the first view point as well as found the one Geocache on the mountain. Quickly getting that out of the way the dark clouds began to move in. Shortly after we left the first viewpoint it started to rain. Debating whether or not we wanted to head back the rain quickly went away and the rest of the afternoon was nice and sunny.
Heading further up the trail and up the steeper ledges on the other hand did become more tricky. There were many spots that were still pretty wet from the last three days worth of rain. A few small detours over some less-steep ledges and small wooded patches and we found ourselves at the summit of Welch. Great views in every direction as well as only one other small group of people there to enjoy it with. The interesting part was what was going on on the top of Dickey.
Apparently, the National Guard (I think) was doing some helicopter training? at the top of Dickey today, which resulted in an interesting maneuver of raising and lowering a person about five times from the helicopter onto the summit of Dickey Mountain. Each time the helicopter would either pick-up it's passenger or drop-off it's passenger it would circle the valley and return to either drop or pick-up the guy that was part of the training. This went on for seemed like about a half an hour.
After the helicopter left it was a quick and easy hike to Dickey's summit to more great views in all directions. Continuing down the other side for the last leg of the hike back to the parking lot was a nice steady downhill walk through the woods. Overall hike time was about 3 1/2 hours including about 10 minutes spent looking for and logging the Geocache.
I try to do a few smaller summits in the beginning of the season to get my hiking legs back under me, after being so attuned to skiing for the last 6 months. Despite how easy this hike was for me, (not so much for Blake), I feel like I'm a heck of a lot more ready for tackling some more NH 4000'ers for this summer. Perhaps maybe even this week depending on time, money and weather.
Pictures:
View of the Tripyramids from the first viewpoint
Ridgeline south of the Dickey Summit from Welch's Summit
Close up of the Helicopter as it was circling
Welch from Dickey
Southern view on the way down from Dickey's Summit
Not sure what I'm gonna hit next, but definitely eying a 4ker if possible.
