LenDawg
New member
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of Christmas, the Grinch and Scrooge (aka Chinooktrail and LenDawg, respectively) decided to look beyond “traditional means” in search of the “Christmas Spirit”. We decided to hike on Christmas Eve, camp out at the Lonesome Lake Hut, and hike on Christmas Day. The agenda was set to do both Kinsmans on Saturday and Moosilauke on Sunday.
I arrived to Camp Chinook early on Saturday morning where Christine had all the food you could imagine ready to go. It really did look like something from a Dr. Seuss story. We quickly decided to skip the Kinsman hike and focus on a nice leisurely Saturday. After all, it was Christmas Eve!
We arrived at the Lafayette Campground in the early afternoon. Chinook had new Tubbs snowshoes that she was eager to try. I had my MSR’s, ready to give them a second chance after the Hancock frustrations. We also brought a sled to carry everything to the top. So, in the role of the Grinch’s Dawg, I tied the sled’s rope to two carabineers on my pack and started the ascent to Lonesome Lake Hut. The trail was well packed, so we bare booted up. The sky was overcast, there was no wind, and the temperatures were a sultry 34 degrees F.
We met two groups heading down, both on day hikes. One person mentioned that he heard that the hut was expecting around ten people that night. That sounded good, we wouldn’t have to compete too much for the kitchen.
I kept a good pace up the trail with our heavier food supplies in tow. I had stopped a few times on the way up to delayer and try not to sweat. The final approach was basically with one layer on top and bottom and still I was sweating. When we got to the top, Christine turned to me and said, “Oh, we’re here already? Wow, that was easy!” I just looked over to her and started laughing. MUSH LENDAWG, MUSH!!!
The lake was beautiful, both serene and majestic. The Hut in the distance seemed like a castle across the ocean. We were almost there. The short walk around half the lake was exciting. I had never stayed in a hut and was excited with the prospect. We walked the final hill to the side of the hut, took off our packs, and entered the warm hut to check in. We were greeted by Dave; the friendly Hut Keeper who informed us that we were the only two guests expected that night. In fact, we found out later that we were the only two checked in at any of the three winterized huts.
Christine and I unpacked and decided to skip any strenuous hikes and just do a snowshoe around the lake. The air reminded me of the scene from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart when he says he wants to live again, JUST before it begins to snow. The air was calm, and everything was silent. It felt like it was about to start with a little flurry the whole time, but nothing came down.
Following the hike, we returned to the hut for dinner. Christine was dead right when she compared staying at a hut with going on a cruise in that “it is all about the food!” We had turkey, potatoes, broccoli, deserts, cheese and crackers, scones, and a bottle of sparkling Shiraz (Yummy!). I put up the battery operated Christmas lights that Chinook brought with her and Dave put more wood in the stove. The food was incredible, and the company even better. We moved the Christmas lights to the inside of the room and even put the moose hat on lookout for Santa.
The next morning, we got a late start, but Christine was greeted with coffee in bed, courtesy of a friendly reindeer (or me in my moose hat). Dave was up in his Santa Hat helping us with our final cleanup before we left. Dave will be going to Carter Hut next, anyone who sees him, please say hello from his Christmas guests! He was a great host!
So, with the late start, we chose to stay with the Moosilauke plan for Christmas and headed back to Lafayette Campground. Christine, who found the hike up very easy, decided to “take the con” of the sled on the way down… yahoo! Both of us did a little sledding, crashing into snow piles and such all the way down. What a blast!
We realized that we needed one more meal before we would start up for Moosilauke and decided to get something “fast” in Lincoln, but instead, we stopped in to a sit down restaurant for pancakes. We knew then that we would not be reaching any summits this weekend.
We headed down 118 to the start of the Gorge Brook Trail. Unfortunately, we could not make it up the road, so we hiked about a mile and a half to the trailhead. Both of us expected trail to be broken, but that quickly became our job. With the day getting long, we decided to make it a nice day hike and just pounded out some miles until we finally decided to head back.
No, we did not make any winter summits, and really shouldn’t call it climbing, but rather walking around in the woods, camping, and enjoying life. Still, it was one of the most enjoyable Christmases I have ever had, and I think there is something to say about being in nature when you are in search of the Christmas Spirit. Special thanks to Christine for planning this out.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=67t3qkc.11uxeprc&Uy=-lldtch&Ux=0
I arrived to Camp Chinook early on Saturday morning where Christine had all the food you could imagine ready to go. It really did look like something from a Dr. Seuss story. We quickly decided to skip the Kinsman hike and focus on a nice leisurely Saturday. After all, it was Christmas Eve!
We arrived at the Lafayette Campground in the early afternoon. Chinook had new Tubbs snowshoes that she was eager to try. I had my MSR’s, ready to give them a second chance after the Hancock frustrations. We also brought a sled to carry everything to the top. So, in the role of the Grinch’s Dawg, I tied the sled’s rope to two carabineers on my pack and started the ascent to Lonesome Lake Hut. The trail was well packed, so we bare booted up. The sky was overcast, there was no wind, and the temperatures were a sultry 34 degrees F.
We met two groups heading down, both on day hikes. One person mentioned that he heard that the hut was expecting around ten people that night. That sounded good, we wouldn’t have to compete too much for the kitchen.
I kept a good pace up the trail with our heavier food supplies in tow. I had stopped a few times on the way up to delayer and try not to sweat. The final approach was basically with one layer on top and bottom and still I was sweating. When we got to the top, Christine turned to me and said, “Oh, we’re here already? Wow, that was easy!” I just looked over to her and started laughing. MUSH LENDAWG, MUSH!!!
The lake was beautiful, both serene and majestic. The Hut in the distance seemed like a castle across the ocean. We were almost there. The short walk around half the lake was exciting. I had never stayed in a hut and was excited with the prospect. We walked the final hill to the side of the hut, took off our packs, and entered the warm hut to check in. We were greeted by Dave; the friendly Hut Keeper who informed us that we were the only two guests expected that night. In fact, we found out later that we were the only two checked in at any of the three winterized huts.
Christine and I unpacked and decided to skip any strenuous hikes and just do a snowshoe around the lake. The air reminded me of the scene from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart when he says he wants to live again, JUST before it begins to snow. The air was calm, and everything was silent. It felt like it was about to start with a little flurry the whole time, but nothing came down.
Following the hike, we returned to the hut for dinner. Christine was dead right when she compared staying at a hut with going on a cruise in that “it is all about the food!” We had turkey, potatoes, broccoli, deserts, cheese and crackers, scones, and a bottle of sparkling Shiraz (Yummy!). I put up the battery operated Christmas lights that Chinook brought with her and Dave put more wood in the stove. The food was incredible, and the company even better. We moved the Christmas lights to the inside of the room and even put the moose hat on lookout for Santa.
The next morning, we got a late start, but Christine was greeted with coffee in bed, courtesy of a friendly reindeer (or me in my moose hat). Dave was up in his Santa Hat helping us with our final cleanup before we left. Dave will be going to Carter Hut next, anyone who sees him, please say hello from his Christmas guests! He was a great host!
So, with the late start, we chose to stay with the Moosilauke plan for Christmas and headed back to Lafayette Campground. Christine, who found the hike up very easy, decided to “take the con” of the sled on the way down… yahoo! Both of us did a little sledding, crashing into snow piles and such all the way down. What a blast!
We realized that we needed one more meal before we would start up for Moosilauke and decided to get something “fast” in Lincoln, but instead, we stopped in to a sit down restaurant for pancakes. We knew then that we would not be reaching any summits this weekend.
We headed down 118 to the start of the Gorge Brook Trail. Unfortunately, we could not make it up the road, so we hiked about a mile and a half to the trailhead. Both of us expected trail to be broken, but that quickly became our job. With the day getting long, we decided to make it a nice day hike and just pounded out some miles until we finally decided to head back.
No, we did not make any winter summits, and really shouldn’t call it climbing, but rather walking around in the woods, camping, and enjoying life. Still, it was one of the most enjoyable Christmases I have ever had, and I think there is something to say about being in nature when you are in search of the Christmas Spirit. Special thanks to Christine for planning this out.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=67t3qkc.11uxeprc&Uy=-lldtch&Ux=0
