Tom Rankin
Well-known member
We got to the parking lot at 6:30, hoping to have met a few people, but no one else was there, so we started out at 6:40. Got to the gate and were amazed to be the first people to sign in for the new year! 
The first mile was down the road, it was about 15 degrees, and the wind was dead calm. A light snow fell for much of the day, and the views were largely obscured, but we got glimpses of peaks here and there.
We started up the Leach trail at 7:20. It was hard packed, but we wore snowshoes the rest of the day for traction. We got up and over the shoulder of Noonmark around 9:00 and continued down the new trail to the saddle between Noonmark and Bearden.
Does anyone know when they re-routed this trail, it was still the 'old' trail last winter in February.
We slogged up and over Bear Den and on to Dial by 11:00. There is a *LOT* of blowdown in this section!! There were a few views from here and the wind blew over the summit rock, as it always seems to do. From here, the trail was not broken (we found out why on AdkHighPeaks), but we decided to continue on to Nippletop. The trail was fairly hard packed under the new snow, but we still fell into the soft snow once in a while. There is a good amount of blowdown here too! We got to the Elk Pass Junction about 12:45, dropped our packs, and headed up to the Nipple. We were up and back by 1:00, (without any views), had a snack, put on more clothes, and headed down the trail to the 2 ponds below.
From here, it was a long walk down to the road, and then back to the car, arriving around 4:45. It turns out this route is 4800' of elevation gain!, a lot more than I expected! We should have done something easier, like Marcy!
The first mile was down the road, it was about 15 degrees, and the wind was dead calm. A light snow fell for much of the day, and the views were largely obscured, but we got glimpses of peaks here and there.
We started up the Leach trail at 7:20. It was hard packed, but we wore snowshoes the rest of the day for traction. We got up and over the shoulder of Noonmark around 9:00 and continued down the new trail to the saddle between Noonmark and Bearden.
Does anyone know when they re-routed this trail, it was still the 'old' trail last winter in February.
We slogged up and over Bear Den and on to Dial by 11:00. There is a *LOT* of blowdown in this section!!
There were a few views from here and the wind blew over the summit rock, as it always seems to do. From here, the trail was not broken (we found out why on AdkHighPeaks), but we decided to continue on to Nippletop. The trail was fairly hard packed under the new snow, but we still fell into the soft snow once in a while. There is a good amount of blowdown here too! We got to the Elk Pass Junction about 12:45, dropped our packs, and headed up to the Nipple. We were up and back by 1:00, (without any views), had a snack, put on more clothes, and headed down the trail to the 2 ponds below. From here, it was a long walk down to the road, and then back to the car, arriving around 4:45. It turns out this route is 4800' of elevation gain!
, a lot more than I expected! We should have done something easier, like Marcy! 
