1/3-6/07 What I did on my Winter Vacation

[rocksnrolls]

I rarely get the chance to head up north on weekdays, but with some vacation time left over from 2006, I decided to head up and hit some of the smaller peaks. Now that I'm nearly done with the 48, I feel more free to explore other areas that I'd been curious about for these last couple years. I picked Lyon's Hospitality in Twin Mountain as my base of operation. It's a nice place if you can be satisfied by the bare essentials - bunk beds, microwave oven, bathroom with a shower - for just $20 a night. Turns out I would have the place to myself for my entire stay.

 

[rocksnrolls]

Day 1 - Sandwich Dome

Getting a late start Wednesday morning, I didn't find myself at the Sandwich Mtn TH until 10:30. The parking lot was very icy, so I started off with my stabilicers already strapped on. The initial brook crossing was rather high, but with my new waterproof boots I had no problem getting across with dry feet. I soon found that the trail condition was less than ideal - the snow was about a foot deep and there was a crust of ice on top of it about an inch thick. With every step I would go through the crust with a loud crunch. As you can imagine, my noisy steps would warn any animals around of my approach and I would see virtually no wildlife on this day.

I slowly worked my way up through the pleasant wooded slope, eventually reaching Noon Peak, a ledgy area with some nice views northward to Waterville Valley and the summits beyond. Continuing along, crunch crunch crunch, I soon reached the junction of the Drakes Brook Tr, my planned descent route, and soon after that, the spur trail to Jennings Peak. At this point I calculated my speed to be right around 1 mile per hour. Pretty darn slow, but hey, I was on vacation and not in any hurry. But I did figure at that rate, if I continued on to Sandwich Dome, I wouldn't get back to my car until 7:30. So I found a comfortable tree stump to sit on and had my lunch (a sandwich, naturally) while I contemplated my options. I didn't want to push myself too hard on the first day of my trip, didn't feel like spending a couple hours under headlamp (and near-full moon), and besides, there's three other routes to the Dome that I'll want to check out sometime in the future, so I figured I'd save that peak for another day.

After my meal, I headed up the steepish pitch to Jennings Peak where I was rewarded with some fine views to the southwest. The trees around me were covered in ice that was melting quickly in the unseasonably warm weather and I was nervous because of the occasional sound of chunks of ice dropping from the treetops around me. Luckily none of them connected with my head.

I wandered the summit, squeezing the most out of every viewpoint I could find, and then made my way back down and made my way onto the Drakes Brook Tr. I was glad to be able to take my time ambling down this beautiful trail. It would have been a shame to have to hurry through it as it really was lovely. I stopped for many pictures along the way and tried my best to soak in the beauty around me.

Reaching my car, I realized I had gone all day without seeing anyone else on the trail. Passing by the Smarts Brook TH on my way to the highway I saw there were 4 cars parked there, so I guess I would have seen other hikers if I had continued to the Dome. This was the first time I had hiked in the Whites without seeing anyone else. I could get used to this mid-week hiking!

photos: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/556920683OeMmHp

 

[rocksnrolls]

Day 2 - Cherry Mountain including Mt Martha and Owl's Head

This would be my only non-solo outing. I had arranged with MtnMagic (and Ghistdog) and his friend Diane M for a 10am start on this peak that I had failed on my attempt to summit last winter. I had enjoyed hiking with Diane on my bagging of Whiteface and Passaconaway, so was glad she had decided to join us. Magic thought one more friend of his would show, but she never appeared, so the four of us geared up and hit the trail. Diane and I opted to wear stabilicers for the whole trip while Magic barebooted it the whole way.

We enjoyed some friendly conversation as we made our way up the trail which started gentle and got steeper the higher we ascended. Diane's very new to winter hiking (though she's hooked now!) so we were setting a slow pace. The snow was easier to handle than the day before. The temps had warmed some more and the crusty stuff was mostly gone. Not much depth to it up here, and it wasn't until the summit areas that we hit any ice trouble. I recognized the area where I had turned back before (after my hiking partner had already given up and started down) and about 5 minutes later we hit the top of the ridge. A short walk along the ridge later and we were awestruck by the amazing view of the northern Presidentials from Mt Martha. I can't believe I came so close last winter to such an incredible viewpoint! The sky this day was clear and blue, the Presis where snowcapped (except Madison, which oddly seemed to be mostly bare) and we speculated that anyone up on them must be having a wonderous day.

After soaking in the views, Magic led us to the start of Martha's Mile. I was surprised it dog-legged away from the summit in the opposite direction than the map would seem to indicate. I had noticed tracks in the snow left by a previous hiker had wandered all around the summit like they were looking for the trail as well. We headed down quite a ways until hitting the col, then a short steep section to get to Owl's Head. There was some nasty ice on this part of the trail and it took some teamwork to get us all up safely. Once on the summit, we were again treated to some magnificent views which we spent some time enjoying.

Heading back the way we came, we spent some more time enjoying the view of the Presidential Range from Mt Martha and then made our way off the mountain. After the hike we headed to the Woodstock Inn for half-priced appetizers at the bar, followed by the $6 dinner special which was a huge plate of chicken parm. A nice way to end the day!

photos: http://community.webshots.com/album/556922703sxWmmq

 

[rocksnrolls]

Day 3 - Mt Crescent and Mt Randolph

Starting off on Randolph Mtn Rd, I spoke briefly about the warm weather with someone who lived next to the trailhead. I then headed up the Mt Crescent Tr, following it to the southern junction with the Crescent Ridge Tr. Along the way I stopped off at Castle View Rock for a dissappointingly cloudy view of Mt Jefferson. I did enjoy scrambling up onto this huge boulder and hope to return someday when the weather is better.

The Mt Crescent Tr is a moderate climb through some nice woods, but once I hit the Crescent Ridge Tr the ascent got steeper and rockier, the way I like it! I spied some views along the way to the summit, to the east and northeast. I'm not too familiar with the peaks in those areas so couldn't readily identify what I was seeing. Reaching the summit area I went over to the northern outlook for a brief scan of the nearby peaks (Cabot?) and then hunted around for the high point. I was surprised to surmise that the trails didn't actually go over the summit, especially since Crescent is on the T-3000 list. I hunted around for a likely place to bushwhack in and pushed through and up onto what seemed to be the highest spot around. As I looked around for higher land I was pleasently surprised to see a summit cannister right at eye level. It was a glass jar with a metal lid that seemwed to be well-rusted closed so I was unable to open it to sign in. Sigh…

There were several sets of boot prints heading up to Crescent, but I guess they all headed back down from there as I saw no human prints for the rest of the day. As I made my way along the gorgeous Crescent Ridge the only tracks I saw were of moose (and a deer or two). The snow was nice and soft up there and my steps were much quieter than they had been the previous day so I had hopes of some wildlife encounters. Sure enough, heading down into Carlton Notch, I spooked a grouse (and it spooked me). I snapped lots of photos along the way, once again drinking in the beauty of my surroundings. I stopped briefly at the summit of Mt Randolph for a snack and short rest. Heading down of Randolph the trail got much steeper and quite icy. After the ice started I stopped seeing moose tracks in the snow until I had gotten well down from the summit. And that's when I had the best animal encounter of the week - a pair of moose were in the woods about 40' from where I was hiking. When I first spied them, it looked like the larger of the two was trying to mount the smaller. Now, I know it's not mating season, so I figured it might have been a young bull trying to get the hang of it. I snapped a quick blurry shot from where I first saw them, but sadly they notcied me as I tried to get closer and quickly moved off and out of sight.

At the next junction I decided to head back via the Four Soldiers Tr rather than heading on to Lookout Ledge. I figured the views would be disappointing so would return for that pleasure at a later date. Four Soldiers turned out to be another beautiful trail. Very wild, with trees sprouting up all over the place, many of which were starting to bud out leaves in the false spring weather. The trail crosses numerous streams, none of which were difficult despite the large amount of snowmelt flowing along them. Soon I was on the Pasture Path which led to Grassy ln and then back to my car. This is a beautiful area and I look forward to returning there in a warmer season.

photos: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/556919751wuzzxS

 

[rocksnrolls]

Day 4 - Mt Chocorua

The plan for today was for una_dogger and MichaelJ to come up Friday night to stay at Lyon's and we were going to head up to bag Shelburne Moriah and Moriah. Unfortunately, the forcast called for lots of rain, so they cancelled their plans to join me. It was indeed raining when I got up, so I took my time getting ready to leave. The rain had lessened to a sprinkle by the time I had finished packing my car so I headed off to Lincoln for some breakfast at Mr W's. As I got ready for bed the previous night, I had contemplated many possible hikes for today. North Moat, Mt Wolf via Kinsman Ridge, South Moosilauke via Glencliff, Sandwich Dome via Smarts Brook, Tripyramids via Pine Bend, Mt Tremont, Hedgehog Mtn (Magic was hiking there with some folks from another website). But as I ate my pancakes and eggs, I decided on Mt Chocorua via Champney Falls. I figured I'd at least get up to the falls which should be magnificent with the recent rain and snowmelt - it was close to 50 degrees out!

Getting to the parking lot I saw that someone was already parked there, so I wondered if I'd see them on the mountain. The snow was mostly gone, but the trail was covered with packed ice from the many feet that had travelled up it in the past week. So on went the stabilicers right away. I headed up and took the loop trail over to the falls and was well rewarded indeed! I snapped lots of pictures as I made my way up the very icy and steep trail. The falls were truly gushing and I figure I need to return sometime when they'll be dry to get the contrast.

Continuing up past where the loop trail rejoined the main trail, I soon reached the doglegs where the trail heads away from the brook. That's where it really got icy! Great big slabs of wet ice with a strong slope made for some careful maneuvering on my part. After the second tough, scarey section, I broke out the crampons for the last couple sections and was very glad to have the chance to finally use them this week (since I'd had them in my pack all along).

Coming to the Middle Sister cutoff, I switched back to stabilicers for the rest of the ascent. When I reached the above-treeline area I encountered two young guys on their way down. They warned me of the high winds on the summit and I commented on the fact they had barebooted it all the way. They said they wished they had crampons too, but they had been as careful as they could, picking their way up on rocks and tree roots.

I followed the yellow blazes across the incredible rocky summit, or what I thought was the summit, came around a small peak and then the clouds ahead of me openned up exposing to my eyes the true summit. Very impressive! Now I was beginning to see why this is such a popular destination. As I carefully followed the blazes I soon needed to put on my shell to protect me from the wind. Now and then the clouds would part in one direction or another and if I was quick I was able to snap a shot of the views that appeared. I struggled up the steep rocks and made it to the top just in time for the clouds to open up, providing magnificent views in all directions. What a treat! I snapped a bunch of pictures and stood there marvelling at the beauty of it all. I'm looking forward to returning to this summit on the many trails this mountain boasts. Maybe I'll even camp out at one of the shelters sometime this year - I bet the sunsets and sunrises are spectacular! If I had had more time I would have then headed over to Middle Sister, which looked daunting as I made my way off the summit. That'll be something to look forward to later this year!

Heading back down the way I came, I soon overtook the two young guys carefully working their way across the icy doglegs. They enviously watched me stride by with my crampons making for an easy stroll across the slipperiness. I quickly made my way down the trail after switching back to stabilicers and in a little while was back at my car where I was happy to change into warm, dry clothes - it had started to rain again for the last hour of my descent. While it was not what I had planned for this day, it truly provided an excellent end to one of the best vacations of my life.

photos: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/556940588NBwzUr

 

[una_dogger]

That's awesome, RnR! Good for you for making the time to pursue these hikes -- we had such a great time with you the previous weekend and I was green with envy that you had the week off to continue hiking! Sorry we couldn't make it saturday, Doug from Lyons was kind enough to email me saturday and let me know the sun was shining! Doh!

Sounds like you picked a great one for your final day!

 

[rocksnrolls]

Sorry we couldn't make it saturday, Doug from Lyons was kind enough to email me saturday and let me know the sun was shining! Doh!

Sounds like you picked a great one for your final day!

poor Doug, with you guys cancelling out completely and me not staying Saturday night I don't think he had any more customers that weekend