Tom Rankin
Well-known member
We got a late start, leaving McKinley Hollow PA at 9:45. It's only a 5 mile round trip, so we were not concerned about the time. What we were concerned about was the weather. It was below freezing when we left. The forecast for the lowlands was for a little freezing rain, turning to all rain. Up high, I figured this would be different. I was correct!
The recent snows seems to have added up to about a foot of snow up high, and slightly less down at the trail head.
As soon as we got on the trail, we could see that several people had bare-booted it a few days ago.
We also noticed a set of tracks go right up the hogback, presumably heading for Eagle, as the sign-in register indicated. One of the hikers was 'doodles', was that you George?
After the first (non-bridged) stream crossing, we both put our snowshoes on and immediately felt like we were making better progress. This helped to smooth out the bare-booter's post holes, which were not hardened up yet, but were making progress towards that direction.
After about an hour of hiking, it started to sleet. It was very light at first, almost a frozen mist. But after a while, it was snowing for sure. There were large gusts of wind that would roar by for a few seconds, and leave us in relative calm. But the higher we climbed, the more it was snowin' and blowin'! It was what I would call 'near-blizzard' when we turned at the junction for the final push to the summit, and if anything, it got slightly worse as we pressed on to reach the top.
When we got to the top, the few Balsam trees allowed us to have a brief respite from the storm. No views today! We ate and geared up for the return trip.
Not too surprisingly, some of our tracks had been covered up in less than an hour. It was still snowing as we turned back down towards McKinley Hollow. But soon, we noticed that the snow was turning back to rain. Even before this, the snow was melting when it hit our jackets. After a while, we were walking thru a slushy mess, and we were getting soaked. (Hopefully the trail stays in pretty good condition, as we kept our snowshoes on almost the entire way, up and down). Fortunately, the car was not too far away, and we fired up the heater when we got back in.
The ride home was mostly on treacherous roads. A few people didn't quite seem to be able to stay on! It turned out we had sleet for most of the storm at our house as well. I hope it warms up tomorrow and melts it all away, at least here at my house!
The recent snows seems to have added up to about a foot of snow up high, and slightly less down at the trail head.
As soon as we got on the trail, we could see that several people had bare-booted it a few days ago.
We also noticed a set of tracks go right up the hogback, presumably heading for Eagle, as the sign-in register indicated. One of the hikers was 'doodles', was that you George? After the first (non-bridged) stream crossing, we both put our snowshoes on and immediately felt like we were making better progress. This helped to smooth out the bare-booter's post holes, which were not hardened up yet, but were making progress towards that direction.
After about an hour of hiking, it started to sleet. It was very light at first, almost a frozen mist. But after a while, it was snowing for sure. There were large gusts of wind that would roar by for a few seconds, and leave us in relative calm. But the higher we climbed, the more it was snowin' and blowin'! It was what I would call 'near-blizzard' when we turned at the junction for the final push to the summit, and if anything, it got slightly worse as we pressed on to reach the top.
When we got to the top, the few Balsam trees allowed us to have a brief respite from the storm. No views today! We ate and geared up for the return trip.
Not too surprisingly, some of our tracks had been covered up in less than an hour. It was still snowing as we turned back down towards McKinley Hollow. But soon, we noticed that the snow was turning back to rain. Even before this, the snow was melting when it hit our jackets. After a while, we were walking thru a slushy mess, and we were getting soaked. (Hopefully the trail stays in pretty good condition, as we kept our snowshoes on almost the entire way, up and down). Fortunately, the car was not too far away, and we fired up the heater when we got back in.
The ride home was mostly on treacherous roads. A few people didn't quite seem to be able to stay on!
It turned out we had sleet for most of the storm at our house as well. I hope it warms up tomorrow and melts it all away, at least here at my house! 
