rocksnrolls
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- Mar 6, 2005
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Oh. My. God! Could this weekend have had better weather? I think not!
Jade was spending a work-related weekend at Pinkham and was kind enough to invite me up for a couple days of hiking. All week before the hike we emailed back and forth about gear, routes, etc - and the excitement built and built. Usually when I anticipate an event this highly, the actual event is a bit of a let down. But not this time! The combination of blue skies, moderate temps, strenuous hike, gorgeous scenary and a great hiking partner made up for one of my all-time-favorite hikes.
Starting from home at 4:30 am, I hardly noticed the 3 hour drive to Pinkham. A couple 90 minute mix tapes (last song playing as I entered the Pinkham parking lot
) had my blood pumping as I enjoyed the views from the bottom of the Whites that I had never before seen in winter.
I dropped my extra clothes in her room (meeting her roommate Nancy who was in the area for an AMC newbie weekend climb of Washington) and we headed off to do our car spot. My car was the only one at the southern Imp TH, but there were a bunch of cars already at 19 Mile Brook. We knew this was a good sign, since there'd be no danger of having trouble following the trail heading up.
At the edge of the parking lot we could see the trail was heavily iced, so out came the crampons. I had just bought my Black Diamond 10 pt strap-ons the weekend before and was really looking forward to giving them a workout - and did they ever get a workout! Up the 19 Mile Brook Tr and Carter Dome Tr was breathtaking in more ways than one. Neither of us had had much elevation change to contend with in recent hikes, so we stopped frequently to rest and enjoy the wintery woods around us. Jade and I both like to take our time and get the most out of a hike, so the pace we set was quite agreeable to us both.
My boots were a tad loose, and I felt my heels starting to heat up, so I tightened them up and had no more problems from them. I was really enjoying the feel of the crampons biting into the icy trail and as we continued my confidence grew. I had been really enjoying my many snowshoe hikes of this, my first winter hiking season, and was glad to have taken the step to the next level of gear use. Hopefully I'll get a few more uses out them before the thaw fully sets in.
We almost had the trail to ourselves all the way to Carter Dome, except for a group of around 10 canadiens that we leapfrogged a few times. They took the trail to Mt Hight (misspelled Height on the trail sign) while Jade and I headed straight to the Dome. That section of the trail was covered with very deep, hard-packed snow with a serious tilt to it. I adjusted my poles to different lengths and tried to avoid stepping off the trail. Some very deep postholes provided evidence of just how far above the trail we were travelling. I'm looking forward to checking it out some summer or fall.
At the summit, we rested a bit and I took some photos from the outlook to the north. The winds were very reasonable. A bit brisk, but not bad at all! We could see that the Presis where clearing up and figured Nancy was having a great time over there too. We chatted with the canadiens for a bit and then headed back the way we had come. I decided to switch to my MSR snowshoes and used them for the rest of the Carter-Moriah Tr. It was truely excellent conditions for them and I had a blast.
After making it back to Zeta Pass, we were surprised to see only two sets of tracks heading north. I'm not sure when the last snowfall had been, but I had expected this to be a more well-travelled path. I guess most of the people from the cars at the trailhead had headed up to Carter Notch.
As we climbed toward South Carter, at one of our rest stops, I commented that we must be almost to the summit, and sure enough, we came to it a minute or two later. That may be the first time I had made that statement with any accuracy ! Not having much of a view from this summit, we soon headed off to get Middle Carter. On one of the icier parts of the downslope I had a little trouble with my snowshoes - should have switched to crampons I guess - and Jade got down below me and got my snowshoes off (as I clung to the side ) so that I could glissade down.
Eventually we made it to Middle Carter and enjoyed the incredible views from this mighty peak, surely the best of the day! This one's got to rank among my favorite viewpoints of all the Whites.
At this point we felt we had had a full and satisfying day, so opted to leave North Carter for another day. We headed down the North Carter Tr and encountered a couple (our first people seen since leaving the canadiens behind on the Dome) on their way to the Imp Shelter. We exchanged pleasentries and they informed us they had seen a bunch of people doing the Imp Tr loop. Getting down to the very icy Imp Tr I decided it was time to switch back to the crampons and I'm glad I did. The trail had many large ice flows and we were surprised at the tracks we saw. It didn't look like anyone else had been wearing traction assistance up there, not even stabiliicers or yaktrax Must have been a little nerve-wracking for them! I know I wouldn't have been having too much fun without my Black Diamonds.
As we got about halfway down the southern branch of the Imp, the sun had set and we continued on in the glow of the 3/4+ full moon. The trail had very few blazes, but following the tracks of the barebooters was fairly easy - except across some of the larger icy sections. In the lower section of the trail, there was less ice and we found ourselves walking across dirt and rocks much of the time. We dug out our headlamps then since it was harder to see the trail without the high-contrast of the snow and ice to show us where the rocks were. I had a few ankle-twisting moments that had Jade commenting on how my ankles would bend at a right angle. I guess I'm lucky I didn't injure myself. Walking on crampons on top of rocks takes another level of skill that I haven't fully mastered yet. Shortly before reaching the trailhead I did a nice faceplant that pulled one of my calf muscles pretty bad. I messaged it a bit, wiped myself off and we soon made it back to my car.
We got back to Pinkham just in time to catch the end of dinner. Or so Jade thought . Turned out we were late and the staff said there was no food left! Jade doesn't take no for an answer and after pleading our case with the Chef, we sat down to a delicious feast of fresh bread, salad, and for me, roast pork with potatoes and squash, and for Jade a steaming hot pile of veggies! I'm sure this would have been a great meal at any time, but in our condition, it was like mana from heaven! We were extremely grateful to the kitchen staff for taking care of us. I really can't thank them enough!!! As we feasted, Nancy stopped by and was relieved to see us back from our hike. We had been gone 11 hours and she was starting to get worried. It was sweet of her to be so concerned.
After checking in for my bunk, a luke warm shower and changing into fresh clothes, we chatted for a while in the library and tried to make plans for the next day. I also enjoyed chatting with my two roommates, Adam, a fellow VFTTer, and Josh (I hope I got his name right) who had come up from Rhode Island for the AMC newbie trip that Nancy was on. Nice guys! Anyways, Jade and I had decided to wait until morning to see what condition we would be in before trying to decide what to do for day two.
Jade was spending a work-related weekend at Pinkham and was kind enough to invite me up for a couple days of hiking. All week before the hike we emailed back and forth about gear, routes, etc - and the excitement built and built. Usually when I anticipate an event this highly, the actual event is a bit of a let down. But not this time! The combination of blue skies, moderate temps, strenuous hike, gorgeous scenary and a great hiking partner made up for one of my all-time-favorite hikes.
Starting from home at 4:30 am, I hardly noticed the 3 hour drive to Pinkham. A couple 90 minute mix tapes (last song playing as I entered the Pinkham parking lot
) had my blood pumping as I enjoyed the views from the bottom of the Whites that I had never before seen in winter.I dropped my extra clothes in her room (meeting her roommate Nancy who was in the area for an AMC newbie weekend climb of Washington) and we headed off to do our car spot. My car was the only one at the southern Imp TH, but there were a bunch of cars already at 19 Mile Brook. We knew this was a good sign, since there'd be no danger of having trouble following the trail heading up.
At the edge of the parking lot we could see the trail was heavily iced, so out came the crampons. I had just bought my Black Diamond 10 pt strap-ons the weekend before and was really looking forward to giving them a workout - and did they ever get a workout! Up the 19 Mile Brook Tr and Carter Dome Tr was breathtaking in more ways than one. Neither of us had had much elevation change to contend with in recent hikes, so we stopped frequently to rest and enjoy the wintery woods around us. Jade and I both like to take our time and get the most out of a hike, so the pace we set was quite agreeable to us both.
My boots were a tad loose, and I felt my heels starting to heat up, so I tightened them up and had no more problems from them. I was really enjoying the feel of the crampons biting into the icy trail and as we continued my confidence grew. I had been really enjoying my many snowshoe hikes of this, my first winter hiking season, and was glad to have taken the step to the next level of gear use. Hopefully I'll get a few more uses out them before the thaw fully sets in.
We almost had the trail to ourselves all the way to Carter Dome, except for a group of around 10 canadiens that we leapfrogged a few times. They took the trail to Mt Hight (misspelled Height on the trail sign) while Jade and I headed straight to the Dome. That section of the trail was covered with very deep, hard-packed snow with a serious tilt to it. I adjusted my poles to different lengths and tried to avoid stepping off the trail. Some very deep postholes provided evidence of just how far above the trail we were travelling. I'm looking forward to checking it out some summer or fall.
At the summit, we rested a bit and I took some photos from the outlook to the north. The winds were very reasonable. A bit brisk, but not bad at all! We could see that the Presis where clearing up and figured Nancy was having a great time over there too. We chatted with the canadiens for a bit and then headed back the way we had come. I decided to switch to my MSR snowshoes and used them for the rest of the Carter-Moriah Tr. It was truely excellent conditions for them and I had a blast.
After making it back to Zeta Pass, we were surprised to see only two sets of tracks heading north. I'm not sure when the last snowfall had been, but I had expected this to be a more well-travelled path. I guess most of the people from the cars at the trailhead had headed up to Carter Notch.
As we climbed toward South Carter, at one of our rest stops, I commented that we must be almost to the summit, and sure enough, we came to it a minute or two later. That may be the first time I had made that statement with any accuracy
! Not having much of a view from this summit, we soon headed off to get Middle Carter. On one of the icier parts of the downslope I had a little trouble with my snowshoes - should have switched to crampons I guess - and Jade got down below me and got my snowshoes off (as I clung to the side ) so that I could glissade down. Eventually we made it to Middle Carter and enjoyed the incredible views from this mighty peak, surely the best of the day! This one's got to rank among my favorite viewpoints of all the Whites.
At this point we felt we had had a full and satisfying day, so opted to leave North Carter for another day. We headed down the North Carter Tr and encountered a couple (our first people seen since leaving the canadiens behind on the Dome) on their way to the Imp Shelter. We exchanged pleasentries and they informed us they had seen a bunch of people doing the Imp Tr loop. Getting down to the very icy Imp Tr I decided it was time to switch back to the crampons and I'm glad I did. The trail had many large ice flows and we were surprised at the tracks we saw. It didn't look like anyone else had been wearing traction assistance up there, not even stabiliicers or yaktrax
Must have been a little nerve-wracking for them! I know I wouldn't have been having too much fun without my Black Diamonds.As we got about halfway down the southern branch of the Imp, the sun had set and we continued on in the glow of the 3/4+ full moon. The trail had very few blazes, but following the tracks of the barebooters was fairly easy - except across some of the larger icy sections. In the lower section of the trail, there was less ice and we found ourselves walking across dirt and rocks much of the time. We dug out our headlamps then since it was harder to see the trail without the high-contrast of the snow and ice to show us where the rocks were. I had a few ankle-twisting moments that had Jade commenting on how my ankles would bend at a right angle. I guess I'm lucky I didn't injure myself. Walking on crampons on top of rocks takes another level of skill that I haven't fully mastered yet.
Shortly before reaching the trailhead I did a nice faceplant that pulled one of my calf muscles pretty bad. I messaged it a bit, wiped myself off and we soon made it back to my car.We got back to Pinkham just in time to catch the end of dinner. Or so Jade thought
. Turned out we were late and the staff said there was no food left! Jade doesn't take no for an answer and after pleading our case with the Chef, we sat down to a delicious feast of fresh bread, salad, and for me, roast pork with potatoes and squash, and for Jade a steaming hot pile of veggies! I'm sure this would have been a great meal at any time, but in our condition, it was like mana from heaven! We were extremely grateful to the kitchen staff for taking care of us. I really can't thank them enough!!! As we feasted, Nancy stopped by and was relieved to see us back from our hike. We had been gone 11 hours and she was starting to get worried. It was sweet of her to be so concerned.After checking in for my bunk, a luke warm shower and changing into fresh clothes, we chatted for a while in the library and tried to make plans for the next day. I also enjoyed chatting with my two roommates, Adam, a fellow VFTTer, and Josh (I hope I got his name right) who had come up from Rhode Island for the AMC newbie trip that Nancy was on. Nice guys! Anyways, Jade and I had decided to wait until morning to see what condition we would be in before trying to decide what to do for day two.
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