1HappyHiker
Well-known member
Well, Friday the 13th turned out to be both an unlucky and a lucky day for me! Here’s my story about this day.
I wanted to take advantage of the current conditions that are fantastic for bushwhacking. So, my objective was to bushwhack to Mud Pond (NW of Mt. Pemigewasset), and then also do a side-trip to some of the ledges surrounding the pond.
I planned to begin my bushwhack from The Indian Head Trail. The trailhead parking lot was not plowed, and so I had to find parking nearby. However, that was the least of my problems. As soon as I stepped foot on the trail, I heard a snap beneath my left foot. My foot felt fine, but I immediately noticed that my foot and my snowshoe were nearly perpendicular to each other.
Expletive! Expletive! (use your imagination!). Not again! My snowshoe had broken. This makes the second pair of MSR Denali Classic snowshoes that have broken for me this season.
Guess they’re not made for “industrial use”! The first pair was replaced free-of-charge, and with the lifetime warranty, this pair should be replaced as well.
Anyway, the broken snowshoe was the bad part. The very good and truly excellent part is that it happened before I started the hike. Plus, it happened at a trailhead relatively close to my home in Bethlehem. It only took about an hour round-trip to go back home, pick up a spare set of snowshoes, and return to the trailhead. So overall, I think Friday the 13th was more lucky than unlucky.
Eventually, I got on my way, and followed the broken-out Indian Head Trail for about 1.5 miles before leaving the trail. Then, it was an easy whack up to Mud Pond through very open forest and on a very firm (nearly boiler-plate) snowpack.
From the SW shore of Mud Pond, there is a nice view toward Lafayette & Lincoln.
From the eastern shore, there is a view toward Cannon Mountain.
And although it’s kind of cheating in a way, there’s also a respectable view looking up the Franconia Range at the point where the Indian Head Trail passes under the southbound lane of I-93.
I was unable to achieve the second part of my objective to whack to some of the ledges surrounding Mud Pond. The broken snowshoe incident cut into my available time to hunt-and-peck around to find a safe route to the steep and icy ledges. I was able to work my way to one of the lower ledges, but the views from there were sort of shoddy. That’s OK . . . I can always return another day. The ledges will always be there!
1HappyHiker
I wanted to take advantage of the current conditions that are fantastic for bushwhacking. So, my objective was to bushwhack to Mud Pond (NW of Mt. Pemigewasset), and then also do a side-trip to some of the ledges surrounding the pond.
I planned to begin my bushwhack from The Indian Head Trail. The trailhead parking lot was not plowed, and so I had to find parking nearby. However, that was the least of my problems. As soon as I stepped foot on the trail, I heard a snap beneath my left foot. My foot felt fine, but I immediately noticed that my foot and my snowshoe were nearly perpendicular to each other.
Expletive! Expletive! (use your imagination!). Not again! My snowshoe had broken. This makes the second pair of MSR Denali Classic snowshoes that have broken for me this season.
Guess they’re not made for “industrial use”! The first pair was replaced free-of-charge, and with the lifetime warranty, this pair should be replaced as well.
Anyway, the broken snowshoe was the bad part. The very good and truly excellent part is that it happened before I started the hike. Plus, it happened at a trailhead relatively close to my home in Bethlehem. It only took about an hour round-trip to go back home, pick up a spare set of snowshoes, and return to the trailhead. So overall, I think Friday the 13th was more lucky than unlucky.
Eventually, I got on my way, and followed the broken-out Indian Head Trail for about 1.5 miles before leaving the trail. Then, it was an easy whack up to Mud Pond through very open forest and on a very firm (nearly boiler-plate) snowpack.
From the SW shore of Mud Pond, there is a nice view toward Lafayette & Lincoln.
From the eastern shore, there is a view toward Cannon Mountain.
And although it’s kind of cheating in a way, there’s also a respectable view looking up the Franconia Range at the point where the Indian Head Trail passes under the southbound lane of I-93.
I was unable to achieve the second part of my objective to whack to some of the ledges surrounding Mud Pond. The broken snowshoe incident cut into my available time to hunt-and-peck around to find a safe route to the steep and icy ledges. I was able to work my way to one of the lower ledges, but the views from there were sort of shoddy. That’s OK . . . I can always return another day. The ledges will always be there!
1HappyHiker
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