On Saturday, Sept 15^th ten GO members and one Labrador “Deceiver” met at the Downes Brook/UNH/Mt Potash trail parking area (member #11 running late, but catching up to us later on the summit) at 10:00am to ascend Mt Potash. After a friendly round of greetings, we strapped on our packs and headed out by 10:15.

We started out on the Downes Brook trail, a .3 mile easy walk to the junction on the Mt Potash trail. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the Downes Brook crossing, which can be tricky in high water, but everyone was able to easily rock hop their way across with dry feet. The trail then began to rise quickly into a moderate grade with a few scattered switchbacks, before crossing over an active logging road. The remainder of the 1.9 mile ascent, along a varied moderate terrain, brought us through towering beech, white birch and maple trees before turning into a hemlock forest. The trail had interesting, and at times challenging, textures of exposed roots and rock from erosion and lined with lush green hues of moss covered boulders and hobblebush. We came across a pair of maples, with one of trees missing its BOTTOM half! The top half seemed to be mysteriously suspended in thin air (see photos)!

With only a few casual breaks along the way, we came out to our first view point… a medium sized ledge on the southwest corner of the mountain with clear views of Mt Chocorua & Mt Passaconaway. After a short pause, we continued traversing the southeast slope of the mountain before our final ¼ mile push to the summit… a steep, open slab face that was challenging, but very manageable with decent footing.

We reached the summit just after noon time, pleasantly surprised to find the place to ourselves for about 15 minutes or so before other hikers arrived. Here, we were welcomed with colorful vistas of cotton candy clouds lingering in bright blue skies and stunning views of Passaconaway & Tripyramid to the west and The Hancocks & Carrigain across the Kancamagus to the north. (Note: The last 3 mountains mentioned are upcoming GO hikes)  Bright sunshine with cool temps in the upper 60’s and very light wind, we were all content with hanging out for about an hour, basking in our “summit buzz”, eating our lunch and sharing friendly banter.

After a fairly quick, but relaxed, descent back down the trail, we were back at the parking lot shortly after 2:00. We then drove a few miles west on the Kanc to the Sabbaday Brook trail parking area. After a short .5 mile walk, we found ourselves at the picturesque Sabbaday Falls. More than ½ the group had never visited this popular waterfall before, so it was fun to share this experience. With all of us relaxed and deep into an alpha state, the majority of the group found a little time to gel quietly alongside the upper falls, take photos and chat.

By 3:15, we were back to our cars, where most of the group headed east over to Conway for Tex Mex & libations at Café Noche. Many thanks to all who participated on this trip… a great group of fun, friendly (not to mention good looking! :D) and good natured guys that made this an enjoyable experience for all of us. Several reconnected, many made new friends and all of us shared a “chillaxing” hike. Welcome to GO, new member Tim! Congrats on your maiden GO voyage! See you boys next time!!!

Peace, Kevin