grouseking
Well-known member
Well I think its safe to say that I am not supposed to summit Smarts Mountain in western NH. Last time Matt and I attempted it was back in July and we couldnt even find the stupid trailhead. I called that, the Smarts Mtn mistake. Matt has since summited the mountain, but that day I was on the other side of the state tackling Kearsarge North. Today we had the day off, and it was finally time to head to Smarts.
It seemed perfect for me...new snow, beautiful, deep blue sky. Trouble is, a strong arctic front plowed thru last night, dropping the temps and really kicking up the winds. That combined with my lack of real cold weather gear made this a very short trip, although it was still a very nice one. We started up the Ranger trail which had already been broken out. Winds were blowing easily at 20 mph even in the woods, so I can only imagine what they were like at the summit. The snow was very deep, and I was postholing with my 36 inch snowshoes. My best estimate would be 30 inches of snow...probably more in spots. We didn't get that high in elevation so the snow amounts didn't increase too much.
The hike was a constant struggle for me. At first my feet were extremely cold as there is a malfunction in my boot (hole...I know not good). Usually my feet warm right up no matter what. But today was a different story and it took almost an hour for them to be comfortable. Then attention was turned to my legs. I need to invest in some snowpants. They were COLD!!! The wind was cutting through the double lined pants very easily. Even though I have hiked 4000 footers in winter conditions with those pants on, I have never been so cold in my life. I kept having to stop to warm my legs up and they were getting extremely numb. Despite it all, I was enjoying the beauty, although not as much as normal. You can see it in my pics too...normally I look more carefully for nice shots, but I was just kind of taking pics in hopes that it would bring back memories when I viewed them later. My concentration was on staying warm.
We arrived at the cabin/garage looking building and I decided not to go any further. Thankfully that thing was there, because I was in desperate need of warmth and more importantly, I needed to get out of the wind. The garage fit the bill, and while I warmed up, I noticed a field mouse had decided to take up residence in the shelter as well. He was actually quite cute and Matt got some pics of him. "Smarty" as we named him (har har) was all about scampering about in the shelter, probably trying to run away. Then he got used to Matt and posed for the camera and video. It was nice to see that there are actually living things out there this time of year.
So we headed back after I attempted to warm up in the shelter. Funny thing is, it felt like the wind was constantly in my face on the way to the shelter. Well I forgot that the first 1/3 of the hike in it was actually at my back. Now it was at my face again, and it was very strong. It made my legs as numb as they could possibly be and I lost all feeling. I kept having to stop, kneel down a little and rub them to warm them up.....not a fun activity.
We made our way back and were at the car around 1pm...maybe earlier. My camera died again thanks to the batteries....either I need new ones or this 500 dollar camera sucks, because my old shotty canon a75 never died. And that thing took some abuse. I'm posting my pics first, and then a selection of Matt's pics because I think he captured the real beauty of the hike...much better than I. He wasn't cold and constantly trying to warm up, like me, so was able to enjoy it more. Oh well, lesson learned for me.
Here are the pics http://grouseking.phanfare.com/album/216286
videos will be updated by tomorrow morning. Those things take awhile to upload.
A still partially frozen,
grouseking
It seemed perfect for me...new snow, beautiful, deep blue sky. Trouble is, a strong arctic front plowed thru last night, dropping the temps and really kicking up the winds. That combined with my lack of real cold weather gear made this a very short trip, although it was still a very nice one. We started up the Ranger trail which had already been broken out. Winds were blowing easily at 20 mph even in the woods, so I can only imagine what they were like at the summit. The snow was very deep, and I was postholing with my 36 inch snowshoes. My best estimate would be 30 inches of snow...probably more in spots. We didn't get that high in elevation so the snow amounts didn't increase too much.
The hike was a constant struggle for me. At first my feet were extremely cold as there is a malfunction in my boot (hole...I know not good). Usually my feet warm right up no matter what. But today was a different story and it took almost an hour for them to be comfortable. Then attention was turned to my legs. I need to invest in some snowpants. They were COLD!!! The wind was cutting through the double lined pants very easily. Even though I have hiked 4000 footers in winter conditions with those pants on, I have never been so cold in my life. I kept having to stop to warm my legs up and they were getting extremely numb. Despite it all, I was enjoying the beauty, although not as much as normal. You can see it in my pics too...normally I look more carefully for nice shots, but I was just kind of taking pics in hopes that it would bring back memories when I viewed them later. My concentration was on staying warm.
We arrived at the cabin/garage looking building and I decided not to go any further. Thankfully that thing was there, because I was in desperate need of warmth and more importantly, I needed to get out of the wind. The garage fit the bill, and while I warmed up, I noticed a field mouse had decided to take up residence in the shelter as well. He was actually quite cute and Matt got some pics of him. "Smarty" as we named him (har har) was all about scampering about in the shelter, probably trying to run away. Then he got used to Matt and posed for the camera and video. It was nice to see that there are actually living things out there this time of year.
So we headed back after I attempted to warm up in the shelter. Funny thing is, it felt like the wind was constantly in my face on the way to the shelter. Well I forgot that the first 1/3 of the hike in it was actually at my back. Now it was at my face again, and it was very strong. It made my legs as numb as they could possibly be and I lost all feeling. I kept having to stop, kneel down a little and rub them to warm them up.....not a fun activity.
We made our way back and were at the car around 1pm...maybe earlier. My camera died again thanks to the batteries....either I need new ones or this 500 dollar camera sucks, because my old shotty canon a75 never died. And that thing took some abuse. I'm posting my pics first, and then a selection of Matt's pics because I think he captured the real beauty of the hike...much better than I. He wasn't cold and constantly trying to warm up, like me, so was able to enjoy it more. Oh well, lesson learned for me.
Here are the pics http://grouseking.phanfare.com/album/216286
videos will be updated by tomorrow morning. Those things take awhile to upload.
A still partially frozen,
grouseking
