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After
leaving the guy and his dog behind, I continued ascending the wonderful
rocky ledges at the south end of Mt Moriah. All was quiet and peaceful
until I began to hear voices below. Soon, a group of three noisy young
teenage boys appeared over a rise, followed close behind by more, then
more, and then more boys. Their leader, not much more than a boy himself,
brought up the rear with a few stragglers. I let them all pass me by,
hoping that they were considerably fast and would soon be out of sight.
Unfortunately,
such was not the case. A bit up the trail, I encountered the whole group
again, resting on a large flat ledge. I tend to hike slowly but
continuously, rarely stopping for more than an occasional breather or
drink of water. But this group hiked fast and furious, only to stop for
longer sit-down rests at regular intervals. Naturally, this had us
leapfrogging all the way to the summit, and then back again. Preferring
solitude, I was not pleased.
Along
the way, there grew numerous alpine flowers and shrubs, many past their
prime, but some, like sheep laurel, were in full bloom.
Just
below the summit cone, I stopped to wait for the boys to scramble about
fifty vertical feet single-file up a sort of chimney on a steep rock face.
While waiting, I stopped to talk to a couple of girls who had just come
down and were on their way to the Imp Campsite as part of a north-to-south
trek of the Appalachian Trail. It was obvious to them that the noisy boy's
group would pretty much take over the small bare summit area, and that I
wouldn't have much peace. I told them that I thought they wouldn't stay up
there very long.
Of
course, naturally, they did. As they were sprawled all over the rock on
the tiny summit area, I was forced onto some east-facing ledges, which did
have some great views of the Androscoggin River the Mahoosuc Range. I
figured I'd wait them out, and I expected them to leave at any minute.
Again, no such luck! I got tired of waiting, so I stepped carefully over
their prone bodies to sneak a quick look east from some rocks near the
summit. Disgusted, I grabbed my pack and left. Large groups should be
considerate enough not to occupy an entire summit area with
no regard for others. Even if the boys didn't have a sense of this, their
leader should have.
On
the way back, they caught up with me once again on the south ledges. I
went around a corner by the edge of the cliffs to photograph some trees
and wait until they all passed. My greatest fear was that they'd end up at
the Imp Campsite that night, thus ensuring a noisy and restless sleep. |
The
Northern Presidentials - Mts Jefferson, Adams, and Madison - from
the ledges at the south end of Mt Moriah. |
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