Scotzman
New member
Hikers: Scotzman +5
Trails: Out and back from Rt 73 trailhead
Equipment: Microspikes, sunglasses, wind-gear
I was looking to take advantage of the beautiful day and get out and work on my winter 46 by tackling these two popular mountains. When we started out from the trailhead at 9, there was only one other person on the trails and by days end we passed only one more party so by C & P standards it was a quiet day!
We all threw on microspikes right at the cars and never took them off. I had heard from recent hikers that there wasn't enough snow to bother with snowshoes and that was accurate, the trail was one hard packed runway, with a number of ice flows thrown in. We did see some snowshoes tracks, and crampons could definitely have been helpful on the ice, but we managed fine with caution with our spikes.
It was pretty sad, at least in my mind, that Keene Valley/Keene has zero snow on the ground in the middle of February.
As we climbed elevation the snow gradually increased but never were we thinking about snowshoes. Hopefully we get some late season snow, not just for snowshoeing but also for the water-tables for this summer.
When we got to the junction we dropped our packs and headed over to Porter. The trail was icy on the decent into the col but nothing too intense. The trip over to the summit treated us to some of the best winter landscapes we saw on our hike, and if you weren't standing in the wind the temperatures were pleasant enough to stand and enjoy the views.
The climb up to Cascade was quick and easy, most of the rock was windblown and not much ice to be had. We snapped a few photos, but with the wind howling we decided to drop back down to the junction to have lunch. The hike back down went smooth with some ice but sliding and only one tumble, no injuries. Overall it was a great day to be hiking and we had a great time! Two more winters down...
Rest of the pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/110641657393510920540/292012?authkey=Gv1sRgCICUpa_h5e6Z7AE#
Trails: Out and back from Rt 73 trailhead
Equipment: Microspikes, sunglasses, wind-gear
I was looking to take advantage of the beautiful day and get out and work on my winter 46 by tackling these two popular mountains. When we started out from the trailhead at 9, there was only one other person on the trails and by days end we passed only one more party so by C & P standards it was a quiet day!
We all threw on microspikes right at the cars and never took them off. I had heard from recent hikers that there wasn't enough snow to bother with snowshoes and that was accurate, the trail was one hard packed runway, with a number of ice flows thrown in. We did see some snowshoes tracks, and crampons could definitely have been helpful on the ice, but we managed fine with caution with our spikes.
It was pretty sad, at least in my mind, that Keene Valley/Keene has zero snow on the ground in the middle of February.
As we climbed elevation the snow gradually increased but never were we thinking about snowshoes. Hopefully we get some late season snow, not just for snowshoeing but also for the water-tables for this summer.
When we got to the junction we dropped our packs and headed over to Porter. The trail was icy on the decent into the col but nothing too intense. The trip over to the summit treated us to some of the best winter landscapes we saw on our hike, and if you weren't standing in the wind the temperatures were pleasant enough to stand and enjoy the views.
The climb up to Cascade was quick and easy, most of the rock was windblown and not much ice to be had. We snapped a few photos, but with the wind howling we decided to drop back down to the junction to have lunch. The hike back down went smooth with some ice but sliding and only one tumble, no injuries.
Overall it was a great day to be hiking and we had a great time! Two more winters down...
Rest of the pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/110641657393510920540/292012?authkey=Gv1sRgCICUpa_h5e6Z7AE#
