sapblatt
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- Oct 22, 2004
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There must be something about July 1 – last year on this date, Larry, Rols and me took on Glen Boulder and Boott Spur, and during a moment I can best describe as a lack of clarity, we decided to take a little jaunt over to Mount Monroe via Lakes of the Clouds. That made a rather normal hike into an ordeal by the time we got down Boott Spur. Well, fast forward one year – Larry, Bobby and I decide that we will head up Madison Gulf via the Great Gulf Trail and then we will, conditions permitting go up over Madison and then descend the Howker Ridge Trail.
We hit the trail at 6:20am under partly cloudy skies and about 50 degrees – forecast was decent, with only a 20 % chance of rain. Higher summits were calling for around 40 degrees with winds in the 40 mph range – also, the higher elevations would be in the clouds. We made great time on the easier sections of Great Gulf and Madison Gulf trails. I forgot how nice the Great Gulf is – it has been a long time! Eventually, the Madison Gulf Trail starts some real climbing as it crosses Parapet Brook three times and eventually makes it way to the beautiful Sylvan Cascade. Shortly after that the headwall begins with some tough slabs and a lot of boulder scrambles. Before we got to the first we felt a few rain drops – nothing much and nothing sustained, we carried on.
There were a few smaller slabs that were a little tricky and there is one real big one made me real glad I had two friends with me that had more experience on this kind of stuff than I do. The big one was tough for me, but with Larry and Bobby coaching me along I got through it fine. I even looked down while traversing the crack that ran thru the middle of it – it did not bother me at all – I just need to be sure I know the next move at all times! When you view the pictures, the picture with Larry at the top of the slab is this slab (the toughest one.) After this point it really started to rain a bit more, which made me really glad that we had already go to the big one. From hear up, there are a few more slabs, but it was mainly boulder scrambles which are not as bad when they are wet than steep slabs.
Soon enough we made it to tree line and the Parapet for the quick walk over to Madison Hut – we were feeling the cold and wind for the first time now and the fog was thick enough that we were only about 150 feet from the hut when we first saw it as we approached from the Star Lake Trail.
We got to the hut in about six hours – slower than book, but I was still quite pleased with that – it was one of the tougher hikes I have ever done. We ate and layered up and checked the forecast and still decided that Madison was doable and we headed up to get Bobby number 28. Visibility was not great, but we could always see the next cairn or two and we were good about maintaining visual contact. We made it up in greatly deteriorating conditions – the wind was (my guess) a steady 40 mph with gusts that were high enough to move me a few times. As we made the summit the precipitation was changing from mist and rain to sleet and snow – and it really could sting when it got you on exposed skin. I was the first in the group to start feeling the effects of the day. We made our way off via the Osgood Trail as we made our way towards Howker Ridge.
The real planning error for the day, based on at least my level of conditioning (and I think Larry and Bobby would agree) was to take a challenging trail down after taking a challenging trail up. I was beat and it would have made sense to get down via the Valley Way as it is a lot more sheltered, it is quicker and I know it well. But, redlining was calling and we stuck it out. The descent on Howker would probably be spectacular if you were not exhausted and there were views. For quite awhile you stay above tree line and pretty exposed most of the time to the northwest winds that were driving the freezing rain. I was fine – my layers were doing the job, and I forced myself to eat and hydrate. I was just getting real tired, both physically and mentally. On these types of days it can be real tough when you just do not want to have to keep thinking about every step on a wet, slippery and steep trail. Until we were well back in the trees, and we finally polished off all of the uphills on the four Howks I had lost my sense of humor.
The descent was just unbelievably long and difficult – in fact, with the weather and out fatigue it was proving to be longer and harder than our ascent via the Madison Gulf Trail. My left quad was killing, Bobby’s knees were cracking and Larry took a spill and jammed his wrist pretty badly on his trekking pole – he was OK. It was just that type of trail where you just wanted to be done. There was one spot where we saw an immense fir wave of dead, tilted and downed trees – we all commented that the trees were smart enough to have killed themselves! The slow progress made us agree around 7pm that we would stop at 8pm and gear up for the dark – did not want to be bumbling around for headlamps in the dark if they were going to be needed. The trail was getting a bit easier and we were hopeful that we would at least cross the Hitchcock Fall before dark. We did make it past there with no issues and we welcomed the last mile in the dark. The trail is very easy at this point and a few times we had to take our time to be sure we stayed on the trail. We made it back to the car just after 9pm – when we get a day to hike – we mean a DAY hike – all day! We had some car troubles which kept us at Randolph East for awhile and when Larry and I finally got back to his place in Conway it was after 11pm and his wife Cathy correctly pointed out that we are nuts!
In closing – a tough, great day was had by the three of us. As tough as it was the three of us stuck together, tried not to get to down about and tried to stay positive when it was real tough on the descent. I also really appreciated the guidance on the slabs on the headwall - A great day with great hiking partners.
An added bonus when Larry and I drove over in the morning is that we saw a young bear in a clearing in Dolly Copp Road near the height of land and when we picked Bobby up at Randolph East we say a young moose as we headed back to the Great Gulf Trailhead. I would also like to add the a Coos County Sherriff, Kieth Roberge was one of the best public safetly people I have ever encountered. He stayed with us over an hour while we tried to get the car going and he gave Larry and I a ride back to Great Gulf so Bobby could head back home more directly. Thank you!
Due to the weather and not wanting to fall off the mountain I took a lot fewer pictures than usual – I hope Bobby posts his when he can – he took a few as well.
PICTURES
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CauGbVozaN-u¬ag=1
We hit the trail at 6:20am under partly cloudy skies and about 50 degrees – forecast was decent, with only a 20 % chance of rain. Higher summits were calling for around 40 degrees with winds in the 40 mph range – also, the higher elevations would be in the clouds. We made great time on the easier sections of Great Gulf and Madison Gulf trails. I forgot how nice the Great Gulf is – it has been a long time! Eventually, the Madison Gulf Trail starts some real climbing as it crosses Parapet Brook three times and eventually makes it way to the beautiful Sylvan Cascade. Shortly after that the headwall begins with some tough slabs and a lot of boulder scrambles. Before we got to the first we felt a few rain drops – nothing much and nothing sustained, we carried on.
There were a few smaller slabs that were a little tricky and there is one real big one made me real glad I had two friends with me that had more experience on this kind of stuff than I do. The big one was tough for me, but with Larry and Bobby coaching me along I got through it fine. I even looked down while traversing the crack that ran thru the middle of it – it did not bother me at all – I just need to be sure I know the next move at all times! When you view the pictures, the picture with Larry at the top of the slab is this slab (the toughest one.) After this point it really started to rain a bit more, which made me really glad that we had already go to the big one. From hear up, there are a few more slabs, but it was mainly boulder scrambles which are not as bad when they are wet than steep slabs.
Soon enough we made it to tree line and the Parapet for the quick walk over to Madison Hut – we were feeling the cold and wind for the first time now and the fog was thick enough that we were only about 150 feet from the hut when we first saw it as we approached from the Star Lake Trail.
We got to the hut in about six hours – slower than book, but I was still quite pleased with that – it was one of the tougher hikes I have ever done. We ate and layered up and checked the forecast and still decided that Madison was doable and we headed up to get Bobby number 28. Visibility was not great, but we could always see the next cairn or two and we were good about maintaining visual contact. We made it up in greatly deteriorating conditions – the wind was (my guess) a steady 40 mph with gusts that were high enough to move me a few times. As we made the summit the precipitation was changing from mist and rain to sleet and snow – and it really could sting when it got you on exposed skin. I was the first in the group to start feeling the effects of the day. We made our way off via the Osgood Trail as we made our way towards Howker Ridge.
The real planning error for the day, based on at least my level of conditioning (and I think Larry and Bobby would agree) was to take a challenging trail down after taking a challenging trail up. I was beat and it would have made sense to get down via the Valley Way as it is a lot more sheltered, it is quicker and I know it well. But, redlining was calling and we stuck it out. The descent on Howker would probably be spectacular if you were not exhausted and there were views. For quite awhile you stay above tree line and pretty exposed most of the time to the northwest winds that were driving the freezing rain. I was fine – my layers were doing the job, and I forced myself to eat and hydrate. I was just getting real tired, both physically and mentally. On these types of days it can be real tough when you just do not want to have to keep thinking about every step on a wet, slippery and steep trail. Until we were well back in the trees, and we finally polished off all of the uphills on the four Howks I had lost my sense of humor.
The descent was just unbelievably long and difficult – in fact, with the weather and out fatigue it was proving to be longer and harder than our ascent via the Madison Gulf Trail. My left quad was killing, Bobby’s knees were cracking and Larry took a spill and jammed his wrist pretty badly on his trekking pole – he was OK. It was just that type of trail where you just wanted to be done. There was one spot where we saw an immense fir wave of dead, tilted and downed trees – we all commented that the trees were smart enough to have killed themselves!
The slow progress made us agree around 7pm that we would stop at 8pm and gear up for the dark – did not want to be bumbling around for headlamps in the dark if they were going to be needed. The trail was getting a bit easier and we were hopeful that we would at least cross the Hitchcock Fall before dark. We did make it past there with no issues and we welcomed the last mile in the dark. The trail is very easy at this point and a few times we had to take our time to be sure we stayed on the trail. We made it back to the car just after 9pm – when we get a day to hike – we mean a DAY hike – all day! We had some car troubles which kept us at Randolph East for awhile and when Larry and I finally got back to his place in Conway it was after 11pm and his wife Cathy correctly pointed out that we are nuts! In closing – a tough, great day was had by the three of us. As tough as it was the three of us stuck together, tried not to get to down about and tried to stay positive when it was real tough on the descent. I also really appreciated the guidance on the slabs on the headwall - A great day with great hiking partners.
An added bonus when Larry and I drove over in the morning is that we saw a young bear in a clearing in Dolly Copp Road near the height of land and when we picked Bobby up at Randolph East we say a young moose as we headed back to the Great Gulf Trailhead. I would also like to add the a Coos County Sherriff, Kieth Roberge was one of the best public safetly people I have ever encountered. He stayed with us over an hour while we tried to get the car going and he gave Larry and I a ride back to Great Gulf so Bobby could head back home more directly. Thank you!
Due to the weather and not wanting to fall off the mountain I took a lot fewer pictures than usual – I hope Bobby posts his when he can – he took a few as well.
PICTURES
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CauGbVozaN-u¬ag=1
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