Ammonoosuc Ravine morning of 10-29

[Chip]

My nephew and I attempted Mt Washington Saturday morning. We had been planning this for a while and weren't going to be discouraged by the snow.
We got to the parking lot at 7am and were on the trail by 7:20. There was a little snow in the woods, nothing to worry about. Getting above the station the snow started to get deeper, branches and some trees were down. The wind had blown snow against the trees so the markers were hard to spot and the trail was increasingly difficult to recognize. Further on there were more trees down. As we were breaking the trail we got the full pleasure of the spruce traps and snow bridges over the rocks for the water crossings. I'm not sure, but I'd say there was an additional 2" of snow for every 100' of elevation.

The image below is looking up the trail below Gem Pool;

So you get the idea. Every step after Gem Pool was through knee to waste deep powder, no telling where to step, hoping for some footing. Two steps forward and one slipping back. We had a great hike, a perfect winter warm-up, but turned around at yet another downed tree covered deeply with snow a bit below the Hut. There were several solo hikers coming up the trail soon after us and I hope they appreciated the work we did for them. We were back to the truck by noon and enjoyed a good lunch, well earned at Mooseland. Here's a few more pictures;

 

[post'r boy]

my gosh!!

that's alot of snow!! i wonder if it'll melt off before real winter sets in.

 

[hikerfast]

i got there around noon. i heard ammo was all downed trees, so i started up jewell. i got about 40 feet and it was blocked by a million trees. i went back over to ammo, and went for 45 minutes, didnt make it to gem pool. just a logjam of downed trees. i drove home and ran 7 miles around the block to make sure i got a workout. i must have been in the lot when you were back down. you musta been doing some serious work to make it that far.
ps
i cant see the links to your pictures?

 

[yvon]

I cant see the pictures me either

 

[Chip]

We were working are arses off for 3 hours, but we had fun. I couldn't let my nephew show me up and he wasn't going to quit until the old man did.

Try this link to the album at Image Station, just click "View Album", you don't need to sign in or join;

http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2118299382

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2118299382&idx=1

 

[Chip]

Chip -

Looks like you were carrying your snowshoes - is there a reason you weren't wearing them?

Kevin

We both had snowshoes and crampons but didn't use either. I really felt the pitch above Gem Pool was too steep and the snow too powdery for the shoes, like we'd be shoveling the snow uphill. Also, there were so many trees and branches to climb over or under, anything on our feet would have gotten hung up.

 

[el-bagr]

Olivia and I skied Ammo Ravine on Sunday. Bluebird skies, constant winds up top in the 50s gusting into the 60s. Many awkward blowdowns below Gem Pool. Significant melting during the afternoon; the snow in the trees caught the sun, melted, and rained down onto the snowpack, making it gloppy. Set up after sunset, making ice. 6" at the trailhead, 36" by Gem Pool.

My brief TR with pics is here.

 

[DougPaul]

We both had snowshoes and crampons but didn't use either. I really felt the pitch above Gem Pool was too steep and the snow too powdery for the shoes, like we'd be shoveling the snow uphill.

There is a technique known as step kicking...
Much better than barebooting/postholing in deep snow.

Doug