Cymbidium
New member
I had my doubts about this hike from the warmth of my bed Saturday night. The unrelenting howling winds kept me tossing and turning and worrying about the next days trek up Mount Moosilauke. But I have to say that despite the roaring winds and blowing snow our group of 7 ( a lucky number right?) intrepid hikers did quite well for ourselves.
The parking lot at Glencliff was not plowed when we arrived at 7:45 and did I mention the wind?? It was cold with lots of blowing snow. We had a little trouble finding the trail through the fields. But this is how it goes. Stay to the right when you come to the first field and after the opening to the second field stay to the left.
Just breaking trail through the drifted snow in these two fields would be enough to turn around a lot of folks. The intrepid 7 were not turned back. There was 8-10 inches of new snow at the beginning of our trek through the woods. The higher we climbed, the more drifting we encountered. Tim the drift buster was our hero today as he plowed through drifts of 3 feet and more. We all took turns leading but I have to say that Tim was the one who made it possible for us to complete the hike today.
There were times when some of the drifted snow reached my waist and Silverfox had to help me dig out my snowshow so I could keep going.
It took us almost 4.5 hours to reach the scrub where we broke out to the open top. Freezing fog and blowing snow iced up our goggles and made it practically impossible to see. I turned back just short of the summit because I just could not see where I was going. Val came back down with me followed by Lesley and Tim. Fran, Mark and Beth all made it to the very top.
The trip down was slick and quick and pretty uneventful. All in all a very satisfying and exhilarating day on the big Moose for the 7.
A few photos can be seen here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/newhkm/Moosilauke01032010?feat=directlink
The parking lot at Glencliff was not plowed when we arrived at 7:45 and did I mention the wind?? It was cold with lots of blowing snow. We had a little trouble finding the trail through the fields. But this is how it goes. Stay to the right when you come to the first field and after the opening to the second field stay to the left.
Just breaking trail through the drifted snow in these two fields would be enough to turn around a lot of folks. The intrepid 7 were not turned back. There was 8-10 inches of new snow at the beginning of our trek through the woods. The higher we climbed, the more drifting we encountered. Tim the drift buster was our hero today as he plowed through drifts of 3 feet and more. We all took turns leading but I have to say that Tim was the one who made it possible for us to complete the hike today.
There were times when some of the drifted snow reached my waist and Silverfox had to help me dig out my snowshow so I could keep going.
It took us almost 4.5 hours to reach the scrub where we broke out to the open top. Freezing fog and blowing snow iced up our goggles and made it practically impossible to see. I turned back just short of the summit because I just could not see where I was going. Val came back down with me followed by Lesley and Tim. Fran, Mark and Beth all made it to the very top.
The trip down was slick and quick and pretty uneventful. All in all a very satisfying and exhilarating day on the big Moose for the 7.
A few photos can be seen here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/newhkm/Moosilauke01032010?feat=directlink
