After a quick illness with hepatitis, sweet little Gracie died on May 3rd and was buried in Aaron's back yard.  We made a little cairn to mark her grave.

Gracie as I'll remember her. 

Thursday morning we were up early to head to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.  Out the door by 7 am in order to drop off Caesar and get some breakfast at Breau's Too and be at the trail head at a decent time to get started up the mountain.  We were heading to Zealand Falls Hut, one of the 3 Appalachian Mountain Club Huts to stay open year round.  During the fall through spring months it is open on a self-service, caretaker basis only.  People can stay the night and use the stoves and kitchenware and a caretaker keeps an eye on the hut and lights a fire in the wood stove in the evenings.  There are composting toilets available for use and well water which you have to gather yourself from the pump.  Drains are closed off for the winter so the grey water has to be disposed of.  We had to walk 3 miles to get to the trail head due to the road being closed to traffic in the winter.  Logging trucks use parts of the road during the winter so you have to watch for them.  I had read that the logging ended on the 15th, but checking with the ranger station learned that they still used the roads at least at night.  I did, however, see a logging truck entering the road as we left, so not sure what the deal was. 



At the entrance to Zealand Road is Zealand campground so I made use of the facilities before heading up the road.  It had been raining and sleeting as we drove to the area but turned to all snow by the time we got to Zealand.  We had pretty steady snow all the way up. 



Bridge at the start of Zealand road.



We walked up the road which was mostly slush that day and then once we went through the blocked-off portion of the road it was all snow--deep snow.  Decided to put our snowshoes on at that point. 



Cloudy, grey, snowy day.  View of the stream we followed up the trail.



Another view of the stream.



Aaron on the road to the trail. 



Me on the trail.




More of the stream.



Finally at the trail head.  It was a mostly level trail, gaining only 600 feet of elevation over the 2.8 miles.  The road gained 400 feet over 3.1 miles for a total of 1000 feet of elevation. 



Sign just starting up the trail.  We were mostly sheltered which was a good thing, walking through the trees following the stream.  



Coming up to a clearing at Zealand Pond.  The wind had started picking up and snow was blowing.  As it was a white-blazed trail, it became difficult to follow the trail when we got to the pond.  



Surrounding the pond.  We passed a beaver dam in a stream off the pond.  No sign of the beaver, though.  



The snow was pretty deep and the trail blazes on the trees were at foot level instead of eye level.  

We got to the hut and were met by the group who was already there, 9 high school girls and 2 guidance counselors who accompanied them.  Apparently they get a week where they can explore a new venture and this group came to the hut.  Other groups had gone on trips to Europe, stayed at the school to learn stain-glass making, etc.  We met only two sets of people on the way up to the hut, 2 guys heading down from the hut and a mother and son who were heading to the hut.  In all, there were 15 guests at the hut that first night along with the caretaker, Avery.  It was her last night and was changing out with another girl the next day.  

After getting to the cabin we changed into dry clothes and fixed ourselves something hot to drink.  We quickly realized we'd not brought enough of the hot drink mix and I would resort to drinking hot water from the stove.  I'd made a mix up from my Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin' cookbook, White Bear Cocoa, I think it was.  A mix of whole powdered milk, Girardhelli cocoa, sugar, and Kava instant coffee and was quite tasty.  Decided not to go out any more that day but instead made dinner and hung by the fire that was soon made in the wood stove.  

The next day we went out for a hike up to Mt. Hale.  It was quite windy that day, but we were in among the trees for most of the hike.  It was a 5 mile roundtrip which took about 3 miles to do.  We didn't stick around long at the top because it was quite windy and cold.  



Heading up to Mt. Hale, following another stream.


Snowshoeing up the trail.  The snow was so deep were literally in the trees, frequently having to duck under the branches.



Another view of the deep snow.



The trees had a layer of ice and had icicles hanging off of them.











The view from the top, somewhat obscured by the clouds.  



Deep drifts.  



Snowshoe trail heading back down the trail.  



Brr, cold.



Snow-covered hikers.  



The sign pointing the way was almost covered.  Notice the frosted white hair and eyelashes.



My turn to pose by the sign.



Pictures of the hut.







Sign outside the hut buried in snow.



Inside the hut.  There were coat racks that dropped down to hang coats and mittens on and then moved out of the way with the pull of a rope.



Dining table.



The kitchen area.  Hot water was always available on the stove.



The wood stove and the best seat in the hut.



The gift shop area.  



Hard to see for the glare, but the snow drift almost covers the window.



One of the bunk rooms.



Sitting by the stove.



The view outside the hut.  Not sure which mountains these are.







Almost a full moon.  Supposed to be a full moon the next night, but it was still nice and bright.

Heading back down after two nights at the hut. . .




Crossing a bridge over the stream.  Finally a sunny day, and it's time to go home.





You can see the hut in the distance, right in the middle of the picture.  It's roof is covered in snow.



Views near the pond.







Almost back. . .





Walking away. . .

And we headed back home.  Passed several groups hiking in and we'd heard there was going to be a group of 27 total staying the night.  We'd had a nice quiet night of just 9 the last night.