Red Hill Tower Attempt

Submitted by Pat

Stats
Mountain: Red Hill (2,020)
Date: December 15, 2017
Trail: Eagle Cliff Trail — Teedie Trail

An epic hike – that’s what today’s hike is, an epic hike with tons of twists and turns, and for me, a lot of lessons to learn. Nancy and I are working on the Fire Tower Quest sponsored by the NH Dept. of Natural & Cultural Resources. We need to climb five out of a list of fifteen fire towers. We’ve already done Kearsarge and Cardigan. Today we plan to hike Red Hill, going up the Eagle Cliff Trail and down the Red Hill Trail. First mistake – I don’t do my homework – I don’t read in depth any of the trip reports that describe Eagle Cliff Trail and a glance at the topo map makes it look fairly easy.

We know it’s going to be cold, single digits in the morning, warming into the mid-twenties until the sun’s meager warmth is blocked by the clouds. We meet for breakfast at the Village Kitchen in Moultonborough and enjoy a hearty breakfast. We talk about Grace, her soon to be new Golden Retriever puppy, and how anxious she feels about doing the right things regarding the timing of her spay and first vaccinations. The breeder is a believer in waiting until the dog is a year old before spaying so she can go through her growth period without the sudden loss of her ovaries coupled with puppy shots. I’ve never heard of this, nor followed it with my puppies, but it makes sense.

Nancy is anxious about the cold, feeling the anxiety pressing on her harder than in years past. I’m not looking forward to it either. The stamina and inner thermostat that I had when I hiked in my 50s isn’t working as well these days. I get cold quicker and don’t have the same ability to keep myself warm through pace alone. Nancy’s fear of cold is an old fear, and when it rears up, she feels its icy maw grab her and hold on, despite working hard to stay warm while climbing a mountain.

We decide to spot her car at the Red Hill trailhead and then drive my car over to the Eagle Cliff trailhead. We find the trail, but there is hardly any room to pull my car off the road to get it outside the white line. I lose it while trying to maneuver the car. I finally just pull off into the snow bank and leave it at that.

Another reason today is an epic is because I’m not prepared. I haven’t pre-packed my backpack with warm clothes and more gloves. And I still need to change over to snow baskets on my poles. When I’m ready, I still need to put on my snowshoes and adjust my hiking poles. By this time, my hands are frozen so I begin the hike in the minus column fighting cold, numb hands.

Between 10-12” of beautiful snow blankets the trail and the path is only broken out a short way. Nancy takes over breaking trail. I know I won’t be able to keep up a pace fast enough to keep her warm so I cede her the lead. It still feels like I’m breaking trail as I plunge along behind her. I haven’t been out on snowshoes this season and feel the weight of them doing a number on my hip flexors.

The Eagle Cliff Trail sign says it’s 2.6 miles to Red Hill. I know what that kind of mileage feels like when I’m not fit, and I’m not fit for this hike. The trail starts to climb immediately and the path is riddled with rocks hidden underneath the snow so it’s a continuous fight for balance as I hike up the trail. There are quite a few areas where we have to take big upward steps because the snow is unconsolidated and because the trail is so steep the effort to pull my body upward on one leg using my poles for balance sucks all the energy out of me.

Steep sections stress me as I strain to make upward progress while constantly slipping backward with every step. I have not expected this steepness. I expect a gradual climb up to the cliffs with an undulating ridge walk to the summit of Red Hill. I’m not prepared, emotionally or physically, to have to climb such a steep, rocky section of trail.

I struggle, my hip flexors hurting with every step and my quads losing strength with each push upward. I also don’t expect the ledges to be only .7 from the trailhead. When we arrive at the trail sign directly below the ledges, there is an arrow pointing straight up for the rock scramble or off on a side trail for the by-pass. We choose the by-pass and that is hard enough. I am sweating, and while my layers are doing their job wicking away the moisture, I still feel chilled when I stop to drink or a breeze passes through.

At one point, I step on a rock and my boot comes out of the snowshoe binding. I look at it and realize that the plastic that forms the heel cup of the binding has broken in two places. I put it back on, hoping like mad that it will hold for the rest of the hike, and mercifully, it does. Add this stress to the mix on this epic…

We finally reach the top of the ledges but there is still some tricky trail to negotiate. Falling or slipping on those traverses would not end well. I do, though, enjoy the clear view of Winnipesaukee, but spend most of the time looking down in order to decide where to put my snowshoe for the next step. Nancy stops often to wait for me and she has cold feet for most of the day. She bought new winter boots but after wearing them as we prepared for the hike, she felt a spot that might be a blister so she changed into her old winter boots. What she doesn’t know is that she took the insoles from her old boots and put them in her new boots, but didn’t switch them back when she decided to wear her old boots. No wonder her feet are cold. She has little insulating her feet from the cold rubber sole. Another reason today is an epic.

I finally give in and put on a hat to protect my ears. Usually I hike bareheaded in winter, but am not regulating my temperature very well today. We climb to the top of the ridge and start a downhill section that presents a heavy duty steep section that I feel is more than I can do today. We stop and talk. I see she has plenty left in her tank to complete the hike, but I feel like I am half empty. It feels lousy to mention the possibility of turning around but in the end I choose to push on.

We reach the junction of the Eagle Cliff Trail and the Teedie Trail. The Teedie Trail is a way back down to Bean Rd. (where I parked) without having to descend the Eagle Cliff Trail. Onward I go, breathing hard, working hard, and losing muscle power with each step. We climb a short section before skidding down to the gully between a summit. As we walk, I have a thought – Nancy has left her car keys in my car therefore when we arrive at her car we will have to either walk back to my car or knock on doors of the houses near the trailhead and ask for a ride back to my car.

Nancy feels terrible for making that mistake. She isn’t alone – when she told me she is going to put her car key in the cup holder and cover it with a pair of gloves, I think nothing of it…until I suddenly realize we are screwed, that her keys are in my car instead of in her pack. After discussing our options, I cave a little but decide to press on up the steep hill ahead of us. We both think the fire tower is on top of that hill. At least this section is more moderate, a series of switchbacks instead of straight up. With my head down, I plod on behind her, not looking up so I can’t see how slow our progress is.

As we approach the top of the hill, we’re still unable to see the fire tower. We think it should be up there…somewhere…but it isn’t. When we reach a height of land, I finally see the fire tower. It’s on top of another steep hill ahead of us. I hang my head and lean on my poles, breathing the rapid gasps of someone who is unfit for this level of exercise. I finally say I am ready to turn around, to go back to the Teedie Trail and head down that way. We can walk to my car on Bean Rd, although neither of us knows how far a road walk that will be.

As we turn around, I am well aware that Nancy is disappointed and I hate being the one to call an end to our forward progress. I do, however, feel a surge of relief at being able to get off this hill. I’m done, exhausted, and have gotten my exercise for the day. My reaction to turning around is more emotionally balanced this time. I don’t immediately launch into self-recriminations and anger at myself.

The sign for the Teedie Trail is much farther back than I expect. We have another hill to climb and I feel my legs.  Sore and beyond tired. Arriving at the sign, we take a left and begin breaking trail on our descent. We eat a bar and some almonds. The trail is rocky and steep, but not as dangerous as the Eagle Cliff Trail.

At 1:00 pm, we reach Bean Rd, take off our snowshoes, and begin walking back to my car. After maybe 2/10’s of a mile, I see the Welcome to Sandwich sign that means my car is only half a mile away. Yipee! Something actually goes right on this epic day.