Rand, Klem and Mack Mountains

It was sometime last fall that Kevin told me about the Belknap Range. Sure, I'd hiked Mount Major along with the rest of the world (3 times too), but I hadn't paid any attention to the other mountains near it. Kevin told me that since I wasn't too far away, I should hike them all and get the patch offered for doing so. Somehow, this tickled my fancy and I decided to go for it. He wanted to as well, and we started talking about doing a big hike together. Suggestions were thrown out to do a loop of 7 at one point, later turned to 5, etc. Lots of talk. 

Well, we finally went for our Belknap Range hike, but we smartly (mostly after me seeing how tiring 3 mountain loops are, and realizing that these aren't huge mountains, but they're nothing to laugh at) switched it to 3 mountains. I decided on Rand, Klem and Mack- 3 mountains that looked relatively close to each other and I knew how to get to the start of. And it wouldn't be a loop hike, just an out-and-back. We met at the parking lot past Stonybrook Farm (Glidden Road off 11A, off 11 in Gilford) at noon on Memorial Day. It was in the 70s and sunny. We had water, food and bug spray. It looked to be the perfect day. 

What's that on Kevin's head? Oh, yea. This is how Kevin hiked:

I expected the Camelbak. I didn't expect the weird over the shoulder murder juice holder. I didn't expect the mosquito headnet (and certainly didn't expect it to be anything more than a joke that lasted 20 minutes or so). And I really didn't expect a laminated map attached to a shoulder strap. It's still hard to believe I know someone like this. 

He was trying to be well prepared though, since weeks of looking into these maps gave me zero confidence that we'd be able to loop the mountains together. It seemed like the Quarry Trail would get us started, but after that, it would be either bushwacking or guessing and possibly dying in the woods. 

We got to walking, and headed up the mile walk up a boring road I had road tested on my hike up West Quarry Mountain just a few days before.

We took a right this time, and the trail immediately gained elevation. I was instantly happy that I had someone to take pictures of, rather than just take pictures of a blank trail. Kevin= good reference point.

This trail seemed to be even less travelled than West Quarry.

After initially thinking we had somehow made it to the top, his topographic map told us we had a bit farther to go. Either way, it didn't take long, and even though I was certainly feeling it (the mile of direct heat we started with didn't help), we made it to the top of Rand in good time.

With zero break in the trail, we kept following the quarry trail (marked with white blazes) down the side of Rand. 

And there, we were met with a pretty nice view, especially after the top of Rand was just woods. Those lakes are either Manning Lake, Lake Eileen, Sunset Lake, Hills Pond, or some combination of them all.

This view was great, and standing on the ledge of the side of the mountain, we realized that looking to the right, we pretty much saw what we had ahead of us- Klem on the right, Mack on the left.

The ledge we were on was incredibly steep, losing nearly all of the climbing we had just done in not a whole lot of distance. Thankfully, the trail had some decent switchbacks and at least a lot of rocks and roots to hold onto.

After going down for a bit and ending up in thick woods, we were worried that this would be where the trail disappeared. Thankfully, it kept going, and it looked much more travelled than we were expecting.

At one point, the white blazes kind of disappeared, but the only place where there was a clear trail was over these big rocks on a steep incline, next to a red blaze. There was no option to go anywhere else though, so it seemed like the trail just changed colors.

It wasn't long before we came out to semi-open mountain top, with lots of evergreen trees and exposed rocks. It was beautiful up there.

And after the initial climbing, the trail was fairly flat/gently rolling. Suddenly, we realized that the cairn ahead of us was the top of Klem. We stood on top of the cairn, I precariously balanced my camera, and we posed for horrible-picture-on-a-mountain-summit #2.

Kevin is clearly an axe murderer, and we're somehow floating in a tree

Even though the trail was incredibly easy to follow, it turned out to be pretty awesome to have a topographic map with us. Kevin was pretty good at guessing where we were based on elevation gain/loss, and it provided a nice topic of discussion while I was wheezing at breaks. 

Probably the best part of the hike was the somewhat flatter middle section between Klem and Mack, right before elevation dropped a little and then gained a lot. Exposed rock, trees, grass, and a sweet view- it's just what I want on top of a mountain. Here's a panorama that actually kind of worked:

After this section, we entered fairly thick pine woods again, and saw this in a tree:

We guessed/Kevin had heard that people snowmobile out here in the winter (duh). We then started climbing again, and I actually felt good. I love sections of woods like this:

And with just a bit more of an effort, we were on top of mountain #3 for the day, which is the 4th highest of the Belknaps.

So we took another horrible picture, with me showing how many mountains we had climbed, and Kevin looking PISSED/confused.

We sat down for my summit granola bar and his graham crackers with nutella and carrots. I kind of wish I had brought lunch at this point. Instead I only brought granola bars and shot blocks. Still nice to take a seat with a feeling of accomplishment though.

I was surprised to see a sign for Mount Anna (on the tree on the right). I felt like Anna was very far from here, but I guess for people really going for a serious hike, this was an option. 

Not thinking of how many total miles it would be (it would have been probably 5 miles more), I realized we could have left 1 car at Major and gone from here to Anna, then Straightback, and finishing with Major. This would be HUGE, but it looked to be at least well marked and possible.

We headed down, and the heat and muscle pain started getting to me nicely. But it was gorgeous out there.

The hardest part of going back the way we came was exactly what I expected- going up the incredibly steep side of Rand which I remembered the whole time. It was doable and fun to conquer, but boy did it hurt my lungs.

When we got to the top of Rand again, I told Kevin that even though I was hurting, I was still considering heading over to West Quarry (since he needed to hike it for the patch, and since I hadn't seen what the views were like up there). Thankfully, by the time I got to the trailhead, I decided against it. My right knee and heel were miserable, I was almost out of water, and my head was starting to hurt a lot from dehydration. Kevin said he didn't really want to hike it anyway- he's absurdly in shape, but he had had enough. 

So, we did something much better- walked the horrible 1 mile back to our cars, got in, and headed to Sawyer's in Gilford.

He had really only gotten ice cream there, so food was new to both of us. Let me tell you something- it was PERFECT. I was starving and had more than earned whatever I decided to eat. I got a cheddar bacon burger and fries. Both were absolutely fantastic, especially after conquering 3 mountains and hiking for several hours. 

We went our separate ways, and later that day he sent me the info from his garmin GPS dealie, which I can now post:

I was surprised the elevation gain was as low as it was (we felt like we had easily done more than 2,000 feet) but 5 miles definitely felt about right. I like how it shows "moving time," especially since we were out there for over 4 hours with all my breaks. 

It worked out great though- this was my first time hiking with Kevin and he's probably the most in-shape person I know. He wouldn't have taken the breaks I did, but we had about the same hiking pace, so it was a great day for both of us. Only 3 more mountains left until I get patched in!

Hike time: 4+ hours

Mileage: 5, almost exactly

Elevation gain: 1,644 feet according to Kevin's electronics

Music listened to: Neon Trees- Picture Show, Saxon Shore- Luck Will Not Save Us From A Jackpot Of Nothing, The Republic Of Wolves- The Cartographer, Panic At The Disco- Vices & Virtues, Streetlight Fire- Architects

currently listening to: The Boys Of Summer- A Collection