docross
In Memoriam to a Deceased Member
10 of us today attempted the Huntingtons via Hancock Notch trail and the Huntington slide. It was clear that since the snow level started at 1900 feet on the Kanc, and that at 2500 feet the snow was thick on the trees, we couldn't take our intended route along the ridge to the col between the two Huntingtons.
On the HN trail there was insignificant snow from the get-go, well-trampled by people heading toward the Hancocks. After the junction with the Hancock Loop trail, things started to deteriorate. The weather was delightful, but the trail began to be increasingly obstructed by trees bowed over from the recent heavy snow.
This, added to a fair number of honest-to-goodness blowdowns, impeded our progress to such an extent that we made only a half mile in about an hour or more. Part of the problem was just route-finding.
By 11 am (we had left the hairpin turn at 8:15), the leaders, Lyn and Annie, made the decision to turn around and abort the attempt. If conditions on the trail were this bad, the bushwhack would have been equally impossible. We hadn't yet reached Hancock Notch; were still about a quarter-mile from it, by GPS.
Got back to the parking lot by 1:15 in bright sunshine. Loads of tourists ogling the snow-dusted peaks.
On the HN trail there was insignificant snow from the get-go, well-trampled by people heading toward the Hancocks. After the junction with the Hancock Loop trail, things started to deteriorate. The weather was delightful, but the trail began to be increasingly obstructed by trees bowed over from the recent heavy snow.
This, added to a fair number of honest-to-goodness blowdowns, impeded our progress to such an extent that we made only a half mile in about an hour or more. Part of the problem was just route-finding.
By 11 am (we had left the hairpin turn at 8:15), the leaders, Lyn and Annie, made the decision to turn around and abort the attempt. If conditions on the trail were this bad, the bushwhack would have been equally impossible. We hadn't yet reached Hancock Notch; were still about a quarter-mile from it, by GPS.
Got back to the parking lot by 1:15 in bright sunshine. Loads of tourists ogling the snow-dusted peaks.
