Copy/Repost Hike

The day started out a little delayed; the parking lots were full, so I had to park at the nearby Mount Percival trailhead lot, then walk back over and reconnect with JR at the Mount Morgan trailhead.  No biggie, JR was extremely gracious as he got there early enough to nab a prime parking space.  It was a foggy and misty morning, lending to a truly magical setting in the woods.  From all of the previous days of rain, everything was still very wet, with lots of streams, puddles, and muddy spots.  As we ascended up Mount Morgan, JR pointed out the hermit thrushes singing.  There were many showcasing their flutelike voices that day.  For a moment, we strayed off the trail, which we discovered when I stepped on a soggy log and broke through, stepping about a foot deep into the stream below.  YAY, soggy feet :-D

We finally got to the iconic ladders up the side of Mount Morgan.  These were VERY fun.  JR decided to take copious pics of my ass as I forged ahead.  At the top of the ladders, there was a narrow cave like tunnel that we had to navigate through in order to continue with our ascent.  Finally, we got to a wide open clearing near the top where we decided to eat lunch.  There were lots of fun folks up there eating and lounging.  Unfortunately, I had forgotten my spoon, and eating muesli without a spoon is certainly an experience.  On the bright side, JR seemed to get a real kick out of it!  There were a few dogs there, which were mostly friendly.  There was one with a wildly untamed coat, whose attitude was about as wild as his coat.  He lunged spontaneously and aggressively at us several times.  Good thing he was small and on a leash!   

After a nice long lunch, I cleaned up my hands and we proceeded toward the peak of Mount Morgan.  We passed a busload of kids from Camp Walt Whitman.  At the peak of Mount Morgan, we had a nice chat with a couple of the counselors.  It was intriguing to learn that the camp counselors come from all over the world; one was from Pennsylvania and the other was from London.   Afterwards, we continued towards Mount Percival.  On our way, we found lots of funnel spider webs!  They were fascinating to look at, especially with the droplets of water highlighting their three dimensional structures.  It was JRs first time seeing them in person and he seemed to be awestruck!  I was happy to introduce him to his newest obsession. 

We finally got to the top of Mount Percival.  JR being the self-described "completist" that he is, had to stand on the peak.  We chatted for a bit and JR noticed that the fog seemed to be clearing up a bit.  He asked if we could stay at the top to chat for a bit, to see if the fog would give way to the views.  So, we had a great conversation talking about current events, LGBT issues, the nuances of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, politics, history, and more!  As our conversation progressed, the fog slowly began to dissipate, revealing captivating views of Squam Lake and East & West Rattlesnake Mountains.

After a really great conversation, we began our descent down Mount Percival.  For a portion of it, the path became very steep.  We were both grateful we had our trekking poles and lauded the benefits of using them.  With it being so wet, steep, and slippery, I'm sure at least one of us would've ended up on our asses without them!  At this point along the hike, the birds seemed to stir back to life.  There was a chorus of hermit thrushes and other birds doing their best composing the soundtrack to our hike.  Nearing the end of our journey, we found a cluster of delicately intricate mushrooms.  We didn't know what they were, so we used iNaturalist to identify them.  JR hadn't used the app before, so I gave him a quick tutorial and we discovered the fungi were pinwheel and parachute mushrooms, which are aptly named!!!

Finally, we got to the end of the trail.  JR was gentlemanly enough to walk me to the Mount Percival trailhead lot, where we said goodbye.  It was great to experience the Mount Morgan and Percival loop with a new friend.  

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