Lunch With A Gray Jay On Mt Avalon 3-3-2013

Mt Avalon

Elevation: 3,442 feet
Elevation Gain: 1,550 feet
Distance: 3.6 miles
Time: 3.5 hours


A week ago, my brother Gary and I were able to leave the busy Philadelphia area and spend a couple of beautiful snowy days in The Whites. We have hiked together on various trails up here before, but because he has never snowshoed, we chose a relatively easy summit for this trip. From the Highland Center parking lot that was almost full, we took the Avalon Trail and the spur path to the summit.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8368/8...48a8c91b96.jpg

Gary begins his first snowshoe hike.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8366/8...fbae8441d4.jpg

The trail was fairly packed out which made it easy to move along. It was nice to be in all the snow, because in Philly, we haven't had much at all to speak of this year.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8380/8...0f8d7f699a.jpg

At about a mile an a half or so, we reached what I believe was the spur trail.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8368/8...61e17f45cb.jpg

Almost to the summit. We were loving what little views there were.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8381/8...4518613fe3.jpg


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8384/8...88469fb2e5.jpg

As most hikers in The Whites know, the gray jays are very friendly and will usually eat tidbits of food right from ones hand. We were lucky to have one greet us on this trip just as we began to eat lunch.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8097/8...01a2b071ef.jpg

Gary got a chance to feed this hungry little guy.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8518/8...0d384001b2.jpg

Then I got a chance. This particular one hung around the entire half hour we were there.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8232/8...97452189de.jpg

He even found it comforting to sit on my mittens and watch us eat.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8520/8...3323cbf789.jpg

Then it was one last view of the snow covered trees before heading back down. It was a nice day to be out for a hike, and an even nicer day to spend lunch with some wildlife. :)


If you would like to see a small gallery of photos, they can be found HERE.

Bob,
A great set of photos of your hike, especially the one with the gray jay perching on the mittens. They are cool birds. Looks like your brother was enjoying the trek as much as you. Mount Avalon is a nice hike for the amount of miles and elevation gain. The snow is absolutely gorgeous. Too bad you didn't have any views. But like our week up in the mountains, we had 0 views. Nonetheless, it was great being in the NH mountains again. Did you have a chance for any other hikes?

Donna:)

Great pics and trip report! Makes me want to head back to New Hampshire.

Bob very nice pictures especially the ones with the hungry Jay, thanks for sharing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jimmy Legs and Little d

Did you have a chance for any other hikes?

---

We only had one day to hike on this trip :( Next time we have to allow more time to make the long drive worth it.

I love the shot on the birds! They are so tamed!

Great stuff, Bob! Sorry you got no views on this hike as the views from Avalon are tough to beat, but meeting the Grayjays is an excellent consolation prize!

KDT