Posing with South Baldface over Steve's shoulder in the distance
We finally made it out to the Whites this summer for some camping and hiking in our favorite mountain playground. Steve suggested that we do the Baldface Circle Trail - a 10.5 mile jaunt up and over South and North Baldface mountains that finishes up conveniently close to Emerald Pool...a natural swimming hole with refreshing, and yes, emerald-green pool & falls. We drove out to the campground on Friday night and awoke to a beautiful, sunny, if a little hot day on Saturday for our hike. Steve whipped up some pancakes and we were on our way. 
I love hiking light. With just a little daypack on we could move so much more quickly and with a little more spring in our step than with heavy backpacks. We climbed South Baldface first and took a brief break at the shelter about 2/3 up the mountain, stopping to chat with a mother and son hiking duo who had spent the night there. 
As soon as we moved on past the shelter, the trees gave way to completely exposed rock and spectacular views, as well as a series of unique ledges that inspired the rock climber in me to come out and play! 
The variety of terrain on the entire hike was great and kept things very interesting throughout the day. Another highlight on the way up S. Baldface was the abundance of wild blueberries that were ripe for the picking - yum!
We made it to the first summit and after a short break moved on to tackle the North Baldface. The ridge connecting the two mountains made for a nice stretch of relatively flat hiking and more time to take in the 360 view of the Whites - including a crystal clear view of Washington. We summited N. Baldface and stopped for lunch there.
All along the way we had the help of the DeLorme PN-20 (plug, plug!) which Steve had loaded up with the USGS topo maps to help navigate our path. It was fun to watch our progress and see how fast we were moving too (usually between 1-3 miles per hour). 
Finally, we made our descent down and found ourselves back at Emerald Pool where the jump into the deep cool waters felt incredibly rewarding after all our effort during the day. I even jumped off the cliff after a little convincing ;)
Steve in mid-air jumping into Emerald Pool.
The water was suprisingly not very cold!
All along the way we had the help of the DeLorme PN-20 (plug, plug!) which Steve had loaded up with the USGS topo maps to help navigate our path. It was fun to watch our progress and see how fast we were moving too (usually between 1-3 miles per hour). 
Finally, we made our descent down and found ourselves back at Emerald Pool where the jump into the deep cool waters felt incredibly rewarding after all our effort during the day. I even jumped off the cliff after a little convincing ;)
Steve in mid-air jumping into Emerald Pool.
The water was suprisingly not very cold!Overall, a really great weekend getaway and reminder that we have to do this more often!!
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1 comment:
As Joyce said, you two are having way too much fun. Jessica Lane and I did Washington last weekend - and I was in the Seek The Peak fund raising event for the Observatory two weeks before.
There are so many places to hike and enjoy Maine-NH. Maybe over Columbus Day weekend in October we can get out for a hike together.
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