Remember yesterday’s guest? We mentioned her and her wolf/dog, Echo, here. The two were back today hoping for more, again going out with Redline Guide Tim Jones. The plan was to stay as cool as possible, meet Echo’s needs, and stick close to water. Tim decided another multi-trail jaunt in Crawford Notch was in order. Tim summarized the day, below.
Our returning guest and her 11-year old wolf/dog, Echo, had so much fun on day one (despite the oppressive heat and humidity), that they opted for another hike on day two. This time, we started out on the short-but-cool-and-lovely Bemis Brook trail. Up to Coliseum Falls the trail was perfectly enjoyable for both Echo and her owner. Above Coliseum Falls, on the way to Bemis Brook Falls, the trail suddenly gets much steeper and more uneven — uncomfortably so, it turned out.
Our guest and I conferenced and decided to backtrack and head for Plan B. Echo didn’t object; in fact, she seemed to enjoy the stops we made on the way down so she could wade in Bemis Brook and drink her fill.
Heading up toward Crawford Notch, we left a car at the AT crossing, proceeded up to Willey House and headed down the Sam Willey Trail which is very smooth and flat to begin with but gradually gets a little rougher. We stopped several times so both humans and wolf/dog could hydrate in the building heat. By the time we connected with the AT, the temperature was well above 90 with high humidity and no cooling breeze.
Rather than continue down the Saço River trail to the Dry River Trail, we headed back out to the second car, and drove to Thorne Pond, where an easy loop around the pond with cooling water always close by finished the morning. —Tim
