grouseking
Well-known member
I've been wanting to test my Black Diamond crampons out for a couple months now, and my schedule has not warranted a time to do so. Any hike I went on either had no ice, or 3 feet of powder so I used my snow shoes. Finally I got an opportunity to test them and myself on a hike up Mt Liberty on Saturday. The hike was fantastic and I was impressed with the performance of the crampons.
I hiked with Brian (bintrepidhiker) and we arrived at the Whitehouse Trail at about 8:20am (after somehow passing the exit...guess I wasn't paying attention). After getting ready we set out on the Whitehouse trail shortly after 8:30. Temps were in the mid 30s with partial sun and no wind. It was quite mild for early in the morning....I guess spring is here. A couple hundred yards in we saw some large moose prints in a big patch of snow. They looked fresh, so I kept a lookout, but alas, no moose. In no time we made it to the bike path and were nearing the Liberty Spring trail to start the real hike.
So off we went....we walked thru a lowland with a few inches of wet snow and rose out into a large area of bare ground...probably gets hit by the sun. We passed the Flume Slide trail in no time and continued on until we passed the only "major" stream crossing of the trip. Of course my foot fell thru the leftover ice bridge
but I came out so fast I didn't get wet. This is when things started to get icy. I struggled up the side of the trail while Brian went right up it. Then things were easy going for a bit till we started climbing in earnest and traction became very difficult. Brian nearly took a faceplant into the snow/ice and that is when we decided to throw on the crampons. I was very concerned about having them stay on my feet, even though I practiced beforehand, but in the end they didn't budge and I didn't have to tighten them up all day. So off I went, with surprising speed up the mountain. Never have I had so much traction in my life....sometimes too much traction. I caught my crampons in my nice hiking pants and punctured several holes in them. Oh well, you live and you learn.
The trail wasn't overly difficult....just long, so it felt like it was never going to end. "Just around the corner I swear......AHH SH*T another steep hill!" But eventually we made it to the Liberty Spring Campsite, took a break briefly and continued on until the ridge. This was the steepest part of the hike and it slowed me down, but my spirits were really high and I was up at the Franconia Ridge Trail in no time. Now it was off to the summit of Liberty. Before arriving on the summit I had my first opportunity at walking on rocks with crampons....this was the most awkward thing I've had to do and it slowed me down. Finally we were at the last push to the summit and I went up some sketchy looking ice and summited around noon. Temps were in the mid 20s wind NO WIND! Visibility was awesome and as usual, I luck out with a hike. Conditions were so nice, we stayed up there for 45 minutes lounging around, snacking and having some hot chocolate. (thanks brian) We had the summit to ourselves the entire time! I took tons of pics as usual and soon started taking more of the same. Since it wasn't summer I couldnt take a real nap up there and it was time to head down...despite the calm weather.
Here is the part I was concerned about....coming down the steep pitch on Liberty with all that ice. Thankfully, a hiker came up as we were about to descend and I asked him the best way to descend. He told me to kind of go down diagonally as best as possible. If he's on VFTT, I thank him for calming me down and giving me advice, cause I was shakin' in me boots! Goin down that was actually a piece of cake but I just took it extra slow. Eventually we we descended below the rocks and into the trees and in less than 5 min we were back at the Liberty Springs Trail.
Down we went. By now many people had gone up the mountain....several without traction and some with snowshoes. Now only bare ice was showing on large sections of the trail. I don't know how people were making it up without traction, and the people we saw going up without anything must have had a very difficult time coming down. We made it down pretty quickly and before we knew it were back at the stream crossing. I took my crampons off while Brian kept his on until an extended spot of bare ground. The most amazing thing about taking your crampons off is when you start walking again, you automatically slip. I got so used not slipping I must have become lazy. As I trudged through the snow/slush, I slipped over and over and over and over...well you get the idea. Finally I got used to the snow again and was all set.
Soon the trip became a little monotonous as we neared the bottom of Liberty Spring. We were anticpating the end of the trek, and even though I knew we had another 0.9 to go, it was still discouraging to see pavement, hear cars and not see the parking lot. But off we went, and we ripped off the final 0.7 of the hike via the Whitehouse Trail in what seemed to be record time.
The peak was number 15 for me and a repeat for Brian (finally he did a repeat instead of me ). I took lots of pics as usual and they are up on two pages....no major comments yet but I will add them soon enough.
Mt Liberty 1
Mt Liberty 2
I hiked with Brian (bintrepidhiker) and we arrived at the Whitehouse Trail at about 8:20am (after somehow passing the exit...guess I wasn't paying attention). After getting ready we set out on the Whitehouse trail shortly after 8:30. Temps were in the mid 30s with partial sun and no wind. It was quite mild for early in the morning....I guess spring is here. A couple hundred yards in we saw some large moose prints in a big patch of snow. They looked fresh, so I kept a lookout, but alas, no moose. In no time we made it to the bike path and were nearing the Liberty Spring trail to start the real hike.
So off we went....we walked thru a lowland with a few inches of wet snow and rose out into a large area of bare ground...probably gets hit by the sun. We passed the Flume Slide trail in no time and continued on until we passed the only "major" stream crossing of the trip. Of course my foot fell thru the leftover ice bridge
but I came out so fast I didn't get wet. This is when things started to get icy. I struggled up the side of the trail while Brian went right up it. Then things were easy going for a bit till we started climbing in earnest and traction became very difficult. Brian nearly took a faceplant into the snow/ice and that is when we decided to throw on the crampons. I was very concerned about having them stay on my feet, even though I practiced beforehand, but in the end they didn't budge and I didn't have to tighten them up all day. So off I went, with surprising speed up the mountain. Never have I had so much traction in my life....sometimes too much traction. I caught my crampons in my nice hiking pants and punctured several holes in them. Oh well, you live and you learn. The trail wasn't overly difficult....just long, so it felt like it was never going to end. "Just around the corner I swear......AHH SH*T another steep hill!" But eventually we made it to the Liberty Spring Campsite, took a break briefly and continued on until the ridge. This was the steepest part of the hike and it slowed me down, but my spirits were really high and I was up at the Franconia Ridge Trail in no time. Now it was off to the summit of Liberty. Before arriving on the summit I had my first opportunity at walking on rocks with crampons....this was the most awkward thing I've had to do and it slowed me down. Finally we were at the last push to the summit and I went up some sketchy looking ice and summited around noon. Temps were in the mid 20s wind NO WIND! Visibility was awesome and as usual, I luck out with a hike. Conditions were so nice, we stayed up there for 45 minutes lounging around, snacking and having some hot chocolate. (thanks brian) We had the summit to ourselves the entire time! I took tons of pics as usual and soon started taking more of the same. Since it wasn't summer I couldnt take a real nap up there and it was time to head down...despite the calm weather.
Here is the part I was concerned about....coming down the steep pitch on Liberty with all that ice. Thankfully, a hiker came up as we were about to descend and I asked him the best way to descend. He told me to kind of go down diagonally as best as possible. If he's on VFTT, I thank him for calming me down and giving me advice, cause I was shakin' in me boots! Goin down that was actually a piece of cake but I just took it extra slow. Eventually we we descended below the rocks and into the trees and in less than 5 min we were back at the Liberty Springs Trail.
Down we went. By now many people had gone up the mountain....several without traction and some with snowshoes. Now only bare ice was showing on large sections of the trail. I don't know how people were making it up without traction, and the people we saw going up without anything must have had a very difficult time coming down. We made it down pretty quickly and before we knew it were back at the stream crossing. I took my crampons off while Brian kept his on until an extended spot of bare ground. The most amazing thing about taking your crampons off is when you start walking again, you automatically slip. I got so used not slipping I must have become lazy. As I trudged through the snow/slush, I slipped over and over and over and over...well you get the idea. Finally I got used to the snow again and was all set.
Soon the trip became a little monotonous as we neared the bottom of Liberty Spring. We were anticpating the end of the trek, and even though I knew we had another 0.9 to go, it was still discouraging to see pavement, hear cars and not see the parking lot. But off we went, and we ripped off the final 0.7 of the hike via the Whitehouse Trail in what seemed to be record time.
The peak was number 15 for me and a repeat for Brian (finally he did a repeat instead of me
). I took lots of pics as usual and they are up on two pages....no major comments yet but I will add them soon enough.Mt Liberty 1
Mt Liberty 2
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