Baldpate Mountain West Peak 3662' and Baldpate Mountain East Peak 3780'

Appalachian Trail

7.6 Miles 3448' Elevation gain

Kevin, Judy, Mark, Nat, Erich, Gloria

We had chosen this destination with the Trumans some time back and had decided to try to work it in this weekend. With the washout of Seek the Peak the day before we could have changed our plans and gone ahead and hiked Mount Washington on this day, but decided to stick to our original plan of hiking the Baldpates in Grafton Notch. Moosebrook was a pretty good base camp for this hike although there was still close to fifty miles of driving each way to get there. Judy and I had first visited here last fall with Emma, one of the last "new" places we hiked with her. Today we would miss her, but we had the Truman's and friends Erich and Gloria for company.

I am using the excuse of not having much sleep at all the previous two nights to explain my pitiful poor performance on this hike. I allowed myself to get dehydrated and cramp up as we hiked back to West Baldpate. Chugging two Gatorades and a half a liter of water allowed me to continue despite my exhaustion. Honestly, I am way out of hiking shape as we have done little since Emma's passing and because of our hatred of humidity and biting insects. The insects were bad, but not terrible, mostly only bothersome when we stopped. Despite it being a nicer, much cooler day than it had been in some time, the humidity was still topping the charts and I felt as though I had sweat off several pounds. A quick look in the mirror corrected me on that.

Luckily for me the first couple of miles are pretty easy and I had a good warm up before the difficult ascent of many steep stairs to the summit of West Baldface. I struggled up these, stopping only to be stung by a Yellow Jacket before reaching the level of the summit and continuing on to the northern ledges where the first views appear. Looking out across the saddle between East and West Baldpate I thought of our trip here last fall with Emma and what a wonderful place we had all thought it was. Exhausted I flopped down and rummaged in my pack for something to eat. I thought of how Emma would paw me to share whatever I had with her. Sandwich in hand I looked over my shoulder to see if the others were coming yet, then I saw it.

In the sky above West Baldpate was a rainbow. Well, not really a rainbow, a phenomenon known as Iridescent Clouds. Now there is the explanation of how the light is refracted by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere and all that science to explain away what I know in my heart it was. There are dog owners who believe in the place known as the Rainbow Bridge where they will meet their beloved pets again on the other side. There are those that believe that rainbows are a sign from heaven that we are being smiled down on from above. Well, I could try to rationalize what it was with some science, or I could choose to believe what I know it to have been. Judy and I embraced as the sign from heaven faded.

I'm sure at this point there is plenty of head wagging and eye rolling going on, but you know what? No one is telling you what to believe or not to believe. I choose to believe in what I know to be true, I am sure my truths are not the same as yours, nor yours mine, though many will share these same truths. I believe that conscious energy continues to exist outside this earthly form and there is but a thin veil between this world and the next, you don't have to believe that if you don't want to, this is also a truth. I believe there is communication from the other side, though not everyone recognizes it for what it is.

We were now standing at the beginning of the fun section of trail between West and East Baldpate. Somewhat refueled I managed to hike down the trail and over a couple of sets of ladders to where there are puncheons laid across an alpine bog in the saddle between the summits. There were patches of Mountain Sandwort just coming into bloom all along the trail through this section. We were soon headed up along the ledges on the southern flank of East Baldpate, amazingly reminiscent of the ledges above Baldface Shelter on South Baldface.

We gathered again on the summit of East Baldface where I lay down to die. I wanted to do it where a helicopter could land easily so no one had to carry my ass out of the woods. I was however not allowed to do so by my fellow companions, who were all too soon for me ready to leave the beautiful surroundings. I had hoped to catch a couple of hours nap then and there. As I stand to don my pack I can hardly name any mountains as I look to the north and east and I find it refreshing to look upon vistas less familiar. We begin the hike across the summit back to the ledges and down, talking about using my body as a way-point on East Baldface if I should not make it. After the cramping incident as we returned up West Baldpate it was a pretty good walk out considering how I felt.

We discussed visiting Table Rock on the way out and I decided that it would be ridiculous not to since we were here. I had forgotten the short rock scramble near the top, and was wondering what I had been thinking when taking this side trip instead of hiking straight out. The view from the top made it well worthwhile as I knew it would, and I enjoyed seeing the others reactions to being there. We retraced our steps from there as neither Judy nor I wanted to revisit the spot along the trail below the cliffs where Emma had gotten stuck last fall, for an account of that check http://ghostflowers.smugmug.com/White-Mountain-Hikes/Baldpates-9-11-12/25359908_QMgtk5#!i=2085828854&k=t3ScfMG We were soon down and on our way back to Moosebrook. Back at camp we put together a potluck dinner and had some well deserved food and conversation/relax time around the fire. I was the first one to turn in.