Double Bow
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- Apr 29, 2005
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On Saturday, a plan that had more changes to it's location and personnel than Menudo, came to fruition. Tuco, Rols, and I met and then spotted a car at Appalachia before driving over to Lowe's and heading up the Lowe's Path. The rough plan was to head up, cheaking out RMC facilities on the way and if the conditions were bad to hang out at Crag Camp. If conditions were OK, we would summit. Tuco and I both wanted to get in something really good to help train for the "Pound the Presis" traverse next month.
I really enjoyed this trail as it was never too steep, though it had a couple sections that gave you a little bit more of a challenge. Even though it was predictably wet, my boots stayed pretty dry. As we made our way up, we stopped at The Log Cabin for a snack and accidentally woke up the people who had spent the night there. Hey, it was after 9am! Quiet hours were over! I was shocked to see them light up their stove with high flames a-blazin' inside the cabin. A little while after our break, we reached and took the short spur to Gray Knob. We stopped in there and talked to the caretaker for a little bit. That was really cool. I definitely think that I'd like to stay up there sometime. it's a really nice place. We discussed the idea of heading directly over to Crag Camp and while the idea of visiting there was appealing, I wanted to continue on Lowe's for the duration and I wanted to hit Adams 4 since it's on Trailwright's so, we continued on up that way.
Soon after leaving Gray Knob, we were above treeline and we had some killer views of the Castles and Jefferson. Up there, we reached snow and were met with some fairly strong wind. Mt Washington Obs. reported average wind speeds of 45mph that day. Up high, the visability was very poor at times and we could only see the next two or three cairns. As we passed Adams 4, I climbed the rocks to make sure I tagged the top and I thought about what a cool little peak that is. I definitely give it a "thumbs up"!
We descended and were met with less wind and kind of a wet slushy area. Once we reached Thunderstorm Junction, we had a parting of ways. Rols said his knee was bothering him a little so he decided to head along Gulfside and descend down Airline. Tuco and I both felt that with the summit of Adams only being .2mi away, we couldn't NOT hit it. So, on we went. The snow was a little deep there and we enjoyed the last of winter conditions despite not needing any winter gear except gloves, hats, and wind protection. On the summit though, there really wasn't much wind. While up there, we met and talked to a couple guys who had spent the previous night at Gray Knob.
Heading down the north face, we found much deeper snow and at times the trail was a little tricky to follow. Once off the steeper part of the rock pile, the going got a little better though also a little wetter. Still, the weather was holding. We were completely socked in, but the clouds were not dark. Shortly after we reached Gulfside, we reached Airline and Tuco said he was going to go down and try to catch Rols. I told him that I still had some gas left in my tank and so I was going to go over and get Madison. I told him that I would head down Valley Way afterward and would meet him at Appalachia. And that what I intended to do too...
Heading down towards the hut (which I knew was closed), things opened a little and I was able to get a good pic of the summit area of Madison. At the hut, I took a quick break. I had thought about dropping my pack, scooting up & back, and then grabbing my pack and heading down VW. Then I thought that it would be better for training purposes if I kept my pack on and so, that's what I did. When I reached the summit, the idea of heading back and going down VW didn't seem too appealing. Neither did the idea of taking the Airline Cut-off and heading down Airline. I wanted to do something different and so, I headed down Watson Path. Afterall, it's shorter mileage-wise!
I had heard people say that this is a bad trail and that you shouldn't go down this way at the end of a long day, but I needed to find out for myself... and I soon did. As a made my way down, taking one steep knee jarring rock hop after another, I realized why this trail has the reputation that it does. On my way down, I met some Canadians who were coming up and we talked a little. As I continued down the rocks, I found it challenging to follow the trail since there were no blazes and the cairns were small and few. Things weren't much better once I got below treeline either. First, I had to pass though a long section of hard ice and then continue down steeply on this trail where there are very few blazes and at times the trail was completely overgrown. The going was so rough that this 1.5mi trail took me about 1.5hrs to descend! Still, as rough as it was, I got some cool views on the rocks as things started to open up and now I know exactly what this trail is like.
Once on VW, I made as good time as I could with my sore knees and the number of blowdowns on the trail. Down low, I opted to take the slight detour on Fallsway since I knew the falls would be raging and that the terrain and distance wouldn't be much different. This was definately a good decision as the falls were great. I was suprised to learn, back at the car that on Airline, Tuco and Rols had a lot of bugs. I didn't have any my whole way down!
In spite of not having the extensive views, it was a good day out with a great pair of hiking companions and I was actually able to get in a good number of pics.
I really enjoyed this trail as it was never too steep, though it had a couple sections that gave you a little bit more of a challenge. Even though it was predictably wet, my boots stayed pretty dry. As we made our way up, we stopped at The Log Cabin for a snack and accidentally woke up the people who had spent the night there. Hey, it was after 9am! Quiet hours were over! I was shocked to see them light up their stove with high flames a-blazin' inside the cabin. A little while after our break, we reached and took the short spur to Gray Knob. We stopped in there and talked to the caretaker for a little bit. That was really cool. I definitely think that I'd like to stay up there sometime. it's a really nice place. We discussed the idea of heading directly over to Crag Camp and while the idea of visiting there was appealing, I wanted to continue on Lowe's for the duration and I wanted to hit Adams 4 since it's on Trailwright's so, we continued on up that way.
Soon after leaving Gray Knob, we were above treeline and we had some killer views of the Castles and Jefferson. Up there, we reached snow and were met with some fairly strong wind. Mt Washington Obs. reported average wind speeds of 45mph that day. Up high, the visability was very poor at times and we could only see the next two or three cairns. As we passed Adams 4, I climbed the rocks to make sure I tagged the top and I thought about what a cool little peak that is. I definitely give it a "thumbs up"!
We descended and were met with less wind and kind of a wet slushy area. Once we reached Thunderstorm Junction, we had a parting of ways. Rols said his knee was bothering him a little so he decided to head along Gulfside and descend down Airline. Tuco and I both felt that with the summit of Adams only being .2mi away, we couldn't NOT hit it. So, on we went. The snow was a little deep there and we enjoyed the last of winter conditions despite not needing any winter gear except gloves, hats, and wind protection. On the summit though, there really wasn't much wind. While up there, we met and talked to a couple guys who had spent the previous night at Gray Knob.
Heading down the north face, we found much deeper snow and at times the trail was a little tricky to follow. Once off the steeper part of the rock pile, the going got a little better though also a little wetter. Still, the weather was holding. We were completely socked in, but the clouds were not dark. Shortly after we reached Gulfside, we reached Airline and Tuco said he was going to go down and try to catch Rols. I told him that I still had some gas left in my tank and so I was going to go over and get Madison. I told him that I would head down Valley Way afterward and would meet him at Appalachia. And that what I intended to do too...
Heading down towards the hut (which I knew was closed), things opened a little and I was able to get a good pic of the summit area of Madison. At the hut, I took a quick break. I had thought about dropping my pack, scooting up & back, and then grabbing my pack and heading down VW. Then I thought that it would be better for training purposes if I kept my pack on and so, that's what I did. When I reached the summit, the idea of heading back and going down VW didn't seem too appealing. Neither did the idea of taking the Airline Cut-off and heading down Airline. I wanted to do something different and so, I headed down Watson Path. Afterall, it's shorter mileage-wise!
I had heard people say that this is a bad trail and that you shouldn't go down this way at the end of a long day, but I needed to find out for myself... and I soon did. As a made my way down, taking one steep knee jarring rock hop after another, I realized why this trail has the reputation that it does. On my way down, I met some Canadians who were coming up and we talked a little. As I continued down the rocks, I found it challenging to follow the trail since there were no blazes and the cairns were small and few. Things weren't much better once I got below treeline either. First, I had to pass though a long section of hard ice and then continue down steeply on this trail where there are very few blazes and at times the trail was completely overgrown. The going was so rough that this 1.5mi trail took me about 1.5hrs to descend! Still, as rough as it was, I got some cool views on the rocks as things started to open up and now I know exactly what this trail is like.
Once on VW, I made as good time as I could with my sore knees and the number of blowdowns on the trail. Down low, I opted to take the slight detour on Fallsway since I knew the falls would be raging and that the terrain and distance wouldn't be much different. This was definately a good decision as the falls were great. I was suprised to learn, back at the car that on Airline, Tuco and Rols had a lot of bugs. I didn't have any my whole way down!
In spite of not having the extensive views, it was a good day out with a great pair of hiking companions and I was actually able to get in a good number of pics.
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