The Hangover and Haoe (January 9, 2009)

Third time is a charm! Finally made it to Hangover today! Charlie and I left Maryville, stopped at A&W then drove to Beech Gap for my third attempt at seeing sunlight from Bob Bald/Haoe area. We hiked up to Bob Bald, set up the tent grabbed a snack and decided we could make it to Hangover by sunset. It was 4:00. At 5:45 we were perched on the rocks at Hangover! Here we are in my tent around 10:00 when we finally got back from the Hangover. It was so cool! We arrived at the peak just as the sun was setting. As the sun was hid from us bt Bob Bald to the west, the temperature plunged and darkness came. As a bonus the moon was full AND there were no clouds. Know what that means? Shadows on the snow!

Here is Charlie on Hangover. In the background is the Yellow Mountain range. To his right but out of the photo is Rock Creek Knob (where Walter Barker crashed his airplane in Nov. '98...thats another story!).

The trail from Bob Bald to Hangover is a mix of flat ridge top, combined with some very steep quick pulls up rock and mixed with low gaps where you have to loose and regain elevation. I believe it is 2.8 miles to Hangover from Bob Bald. We walked back to the bald with the full moon providing plenty of light. We did not use our headlamps and were even able to see our shadows most of the way back. Now that was cool!

This is the intersection at Naked Ground. There are four trails which intersect here. Look at all the signs would ya! "Which way do I go?" Between here and Haoe it is a climb...not too bad really. Haoe was neat. Just a top of a cone with a rock on it. I believe there used to be a firetower on the Haoe. We really could not see alot on the Haoe because of the snow so we did not look for remants to prove that. Anyway, a great day! Bob Bald, Haoe and Hangover all in the same day with zero clouds.

That did not stay that way though. At 6:22 am the rain began...in sheets with wind! The next day we suited up in layers of fleese and Gortex and made breakfast leaving around 10:00. We finished off our trip with food and shakes at A&W of course!