Lone Stranger
Member
First chance to get out to camp in the snow this year so wanted to do a short and safe shakedown. Well actually I wanted to hike three times as far and spend a few more nights, but this seemed more realistic for an old fat man.
A big group had gone up to West Baldpate the weekend before so the trail was nicely broken out for me. Snow depth isn't much so some rocks in spots but I was able to use snowshoes the whole way both days. A couple of ice patches down low so I bet the ones farther up the mountain are pretty bad by now.
23°f in the parking lot but it felt warmer in the trees without the breeze. I didn't make it far in my jacket before dropping the pack to take it off heh. I know you're supposed to start cold, but it was cold
Very little snow at the shelter with no protective drift in front to block the wind. Thankfully there were a few inches of powder available for making water because the brook was frozen solid. It was 14°f as I started setting up camp around 3pm.
My favorite spot was available so I moved right in. After a few trips back and forth with the snowshoes I had a firm enough packed trail to take them off. I think someone spent a night at the shelter recently, but it didn't look like anyone had camped in the woods for a bit.
Frozen chocolate donuts with my coffee in the morning made it worth getting out of a nice warm hammock. It was 9°f by the time I got up around 7am. I had expected it to be colder so was well insulated overnight and in camp. The summit was in clouds and flurries were floating down so I used that as my excuse to go home rather than climbing higher. As expected it cleared up as I descended, but I wanted to get home in time for my daughter's hockey practice.
The summit of West mocked me a bit on the way down by looking pretty, but I enjoyed the beautiful morning anyway
A big group had gone up to West Baldpate the weekend before so the trail was nicely broken out for me. Snow depth isn't much so some rocks in spots but I was able to use snowshoes the whole way both days. A couple of ice patches down low so I bet the ones farther up the mountain are pretty bad by now.
23°f in the parking lot but it felt warmer in the trees without the breeze. I didn't make it far in my jacket before dropping the pack to take it off heh. I know you're supposed to start cold, but it was cold
Very little snow at the shelter with no protective drift in front to block the wind. Thankfully there were a few inches of powder available for making water because the brook was frozen solid. It was 14°f as I started setting up camp around 3pm.
My favorite spot was available so I moved right in. After a few trips back and forth with the snowshoes I had a firm enough packed trail to take them off. I think someone spent a night at the shelter recently, but it didn't look like anyone had camped in the woods for a bit.
Frozen chocolate donuts with my coffee in the morning made it worth getting out of a nice warm hammock. It was 9°f by the time I got up around 7am. I had expected it to be colder so was well insulated overnight and in camp. The summit was in clouds and flurries were floating down so I used that as my excuse to go home rather than climbing higher. As expected it cleared up as I descended, but I wanted to get home in time for my daughter's hockey practice.
The summit of West mocked me a bit on the way down by looking pretty, but I enjoyed the beautiful morning anyway
