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I just checked with my co-worker and was told Beaudry Rd is only passable to mile 6.5. He wasn’t sure about Gold Brook Rd.

The problem in the area is you can be driving along a logging road and your GPS will often show you as not being on a road, much farther than can be accounted for by GPS error. It’s incredibly easy to make a wrong turn because new roads are constantly being made by loggers and won’t show up on...

That’s a good question. It probably depends on whether anyone is cutting or hauling timber out of there. From Rte 27 in Eustis all the way up Gold Brook Rd & Holeb Rd to 201 is a long way, I’ve never been the whole way but I’d guess it’s 30 miles easily and probably more like 40. Signage isn’t...

Coburn Mountain (3717’) on US 201 between West Forks and Jackman has a pretty short drive down a logging road (Enchanted Mountain Rd) to the trailhead, maybe 2.5 miles. The Enchanted Mountain ski area from the early 70s was on Coburn. A problem could be the hiking trail is also a snowmobile...

The problem here is in Roma’s case he might not have had the energy for that kind of a workout. Going light with 25” snowshoes on your pack might save you 2-3lb over larger ones suitable for deep snow, but is carrying a near-useless 3lb better than a very useful 6lb? When these 3 pics were...

Yes, anyone who spends any time outside in the winter will tell you that they can feel and even smell the snow coming at least a couple hours in advance. I think what you’re actually “smelling” is the increasing humidity making your nasal passages feel colder, but “smell” is close enough.

Blaming the weather service as in the U-L article is a copout, they’re not and can’t be 100% correct 100% of the time for 100% of locations. “Nothing in the forecast prepared him for what he encountered.” His experience should have prepared him to be prepared for it, though.

Wearing snowshoes, I don’t bring traction aids because I don’t go anywhere near trails.

I’m trying out a lighter pack for this weekend, I’m down to 33lb. The stove, fuel, pot, and food seem to be the heaviest group, but I like having 1 day’s food. Even if I cut back I doubt I’ll save more than a pound. Maybe I’ll leave the 1l insulated bottle home and use my 1l plastic bottle if I...

I’ve never had a problem getting my Whisperlite started down to around 0F, I haven’t tried it much lower than that. I need to. I’ll use my pack, rocks, or dig a hole in the snow to get it out of the wind. The blade of my shovel makes a good heat shield to set it on. It’s not something you can...

I’ve worn a light down jacket descending Kearsarge North and Chocorua on windy 0F days, at least until I got down to denser tree cover, but even just 10 minutes shoveling a foot of snow in the driveway had me sweating in it. I make it a habit of squeezing all the air out of down gear after use...

Leaving the sleeping bag and just using my down gear is something I have considered. With my EMS jacket inside my Marmot Greenland I should easily be good to 0F, I’m not as sure about the WM down pants or booties though. I could always pull my emergency bivy up to my waist for extra lower body...

When I first started getting back into hiking I carried a pack lighter than that up Chocorua with a friend on a frigid March day. It was around -15F without wind chill, -40ish with, and as I did more hiking after that I realized how foolish it had been. I basically had an extra midlayer top, a...

That’s my winter day pack, but I’m hiking by myself and off-trail in a very remote area where the closest contact I’m likely to have with other people is hearing snowmobiles in the distance. In the 5 years I’ve lived in Jackman I haven’t seen a single other person while hiking in winter...

Why would you set a weight limit instead of a required gear list? I just weighed the pack I packed for tomorrow‘s hike in temps forecast to be around 10F and winds 15-30mph. 38.4lb, with the following gear: GG Nimbus Trace Access 70 FF Ibis long 0F bag in 18l GG eVent Sil Compression Drysack...

I don’t consider it “reasonable” to expect everything to go perfectly and equip yourself accordingly, especially in winter.

Winter pack load out. I took this video a few weeks ago when I was out bushwhacking on Boundary Bald. Temps that day were in the mid 30s F or so, with overnight lows forecast to be around 20F so I had some things I wouldn’t have brought in colder weather - the Soto Amicus and SMD Deschutes...

If I bring just what’s necessary for my own somewhat comfortable survival my pack weight is a little under 30lb. But for another 6-8lb I can bring the stuff needed to help someone else and survive myself while they’re in my sleeping bag. Leaving them in the sleeping bag & tent while I hike out...

That’s why any time I’m out in the mountains here, day hiking or snowshoeing, I carry a pack with appropriate sleeping bag, pad, 2P tent, stove, 1-2 days food, thermos of hot drink, extra clothes, and down jacket/pants/booties. Along with the 10 essentials, of course. You never know when you’ll...

Like Peakbagger said, that style of binding wears out and it usually happens deep in the woods. I had it happen about 5 years ago on a pair of Garneau snowshoes that were about 4 years old. The rivets pulled through the strap and really enlarged the holes in the deck. I used 80A durometer 2”...