cbcbd
Well-known member
Trails hiked: Airline, Short Line, King Ravine, Airline, Gulfside, Watson, Brookside, Valley Way
Peaks: Adams, Madison
Miles: I calculated 9.9mi
Conditions: Excellent!! Very little ice to worry about
Last minute decisions as always, left at 9pm on Saturday towards the Whites and got to the Apalachia trailhead at 2:15am. As I got off the Twin Mountain exit I was greeted by falling snow!
Went to bed in the car, woke up around 7am with plans on leaving at 8.
Left at 7:50am and the trails had a dusting of snow
I really didn't know what to expect of the King Ravine and was ready to turn around if conditions were bad on the trail. But, no worries, the trail was a long tough scramble but thankfully the rocks were pretty dry. I didn't take the Subway because I was worried about the time but did go through the very cool ice caves.
I huddled behind a huge boulder on the left of the trail, right before it reaches the Airline and put on my shell and goggles and got ready for the crazy wind that had been going since the previous day.
It was pretty windy, but not enough that I had trouble standing. I get to the Gulfside junction and turn my back to the wind for a little bit while I checked my bearings one last time... just then everything gets very bright, I look up and can now see Madison
The view just takes my breath and emotions away, I turn around to face Adams and see that the clouds had parted and the sun was shining in full glory
I quickly took my camera out thinking this moment would be fleeting but from that moment on the sun was out the whole day. I was hollering with excitement as I tried to take in all the views that had just opened up.
After some pictures and video I headed up to Adams and talked to 3 guys who had spent the night at Crag and were heading down. At the summit of Adams I could now see tons of people heading up the Airline - a group of 4, 3 singles and I passed another guy on my way down who had just come from Madison.
It was 12:20 when I left the Adams summit and decided that I could probably do Madison and come down the Watson before dark. Passed the Madison hut at around 1pm and kept on up
Got to the Madison summit at 1:20 and the day was still gorgeous.
Headed down the long and joint-jarring descent of the Watson path and after the duck falls, opted to take Brookside all the way down to Valley Way... which seemed like forever but had some great views.
It was a great day and I couldn't have asked for better weather!
On the way back I had a Double Whopper with cheese - it was overflowing with messiness and goodness - ooooh yeah
-Doug
Peaks: Adams, Madison
Miles: I calculated 9.9mi
Conditions: Excellent!! Very little ice to worry about
Last minute decisions as always, left at 9pm on Saturday towards the Whites and got to the Apalachia trailhead at 2:15am. As I got off the Twin Mountain exit I was greeted by falling snow!
Went to bed in the car, woke up around 7am with plans on leaving at 8.
Left at 7:50am and the trails had a dusting of snow
I really didn't know what to expect of the King Ravine and was ready to turn around if conditions were bad on the trail. But, no worries, the trail was a long tough scramble but thankfully the rocks were pretty dry. I didn't take the Subway because I was worried about the time but did go through the very cool ice caves.
I huddled behind a huge boulder on the left of the trail, right before it reaches the Airline and put on my shell and goggles and got ready for the crazy wind that had been going since the previous day.
It was pretty windy, but not enough that I had trouble standing. I get to the Gulfside junction and turn my back to the wind for a little bit while I checked my bearings one last time... just then everything gets very bright, I look up and can now see Madison
The view just takes my breath and emotions away, I turn around to face Adams and see that the clouds had parted and the sun was shining in full glory
I quickly took my camera out thinking this moment would be fleeting but from that moment on the sun was out the whole day. I was hollering with excitement as I tried to take in all the views that had just opened up.
After some pictures and video I headed up to Adams and talked to 3 guys who had spent the night at Crag and were heading down. At the summit of Adams I could now see tons of people heading up the Airline - a group of 4, 3 singles and I passed another guy on my way down who had just come from Madison.
It was 12:20 when I left the Adams summit and decided that I could probably do Madison and come down the Watson before dark. Passed the Madison hut at around 1pm and kept on up
Got to the Madison summit at 1:20 and the day was still gorgeous.
Headed down the long and joint-jarring descent of the Watson path and after the duck falls, opted to take Brookside all the way down to Valley Way... which seemed like forever but had some great views.
It was a great day and I couldn't have asked for better weather!
On the way back I had a Double Whopper with cheese - it was overflowing with messiness and goodness - ooooh yeah
-Doug
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