Mt Kendall

Sunrise over Mt Kendall, photographed 3/18/15.

Sunrise over Mt Kendall, photographed 3/18/15.

The glacial flows from Mt Kendall are a menace to pedestrians.

The glacial flows from Mt Kendall are a menace to pedestrians.

Mt Kendall swallows everything in its path.

Mt Kendall swallows everything in its path.

With all the snow in Boston this winter, several new mountain have formed out of desperation for places to put snow. Here are of few pictures of what I call Mt. Kendall. Since the first day of spring was last week, I wanted to document Mt. Kendall, which I pass each morning on the way to work. It has a vertical of about 30 ft, multiple peaks, and several glaciers. As the mountain melts, an interesting collection of show shovels, parking cones, bits of car bumpers, and other debris has begun to emerge. It might be interesting to take an ice core and study the strata from the different storms to learn about what people were doing last January.

For some reason, the Kendall Square Diamond which was abandoned at this location several years ago was kindly moved to the side before the dumping began, and was spared the full wrath of Mt. Kendall.

I have also heard reports of another mountain at the western edge of MIT that many have begun calling Mt. Cambridge-manjaro. It is supposed to be good for late-season sledding.

Anyone want to guess when the last day I can find snow here is? My guess is the first week of June.

Katahdin Reflection

Dave, Shannon, Courtney and Dan at the Roaring Brook parking lot.

Back at the beginning of October we took our yearly hiking trip to Mt. Katahdin with Shannon and Dave. This year we backpacked to Chimney Pond and stayed in a lean to rather than camping at Roaring Brook. This allowed us to do a longer day hike which included Hamlin Peak. We backpacked in on the first day, hiked the second day, and backpacked out on the third day. The first night we had a ton of rain and strong winds, but things cleared up and we had perfect weather for our hike. The last day we hiked out in the rain unfortunately, but the clear weather for the loop was worth it.

We got a great view of the Knife Edge from Pamola Peak:

The Knife Edge viewed from Pamola Peak.

We really enjoyed adding Hamlin Peak to the loop. That area is much less crowded than Baxter Peak, and the alpine meadow is really nice (and covered with blueberries). You also get a great view on the way down with ravines on both sides. The descent from Hamlin Peak might be my new favorite Baxter Park trail.

Courtney approaching the top of Hamlin Peak.

On the last day we awoke to a perfectly still Chimney Pond. However a couple hours later for our hike out it started to rain. I got two great panoramas of the lake, including one of the reflection of the Knife Edge in the water. The water was calm enough that the different peaks are identifiable.

The Knife Edge reflecting in Chimney Pond on a calm morning.

Chimney Pond and Baxter Peak panorama.