BIGEarl
Well-known member
March 20, 2014: Tecumseh
Trails: Mount Tecumseh Trail
Summits: Tecumseh
Hikers: Kathleen “Katie” Kirby, and me
As planned, we met at the Dunkin Donuts just off exit 28 (Waterville Valley) from I-93 at ~7:30am. Our target on-trail time was 8:00am. I arrived a little early and used the extra time to make a few final checks for the day. I noticed a Facebook posting that indicated there was a foot of new snow overnight in Rick Kipphut’s driveway. His driveway was between Dunkin Donuts and the trailhead. At that point I realized the day was going to be a little more work than expected.
Right on schedule, Katie pulled in; she had a very early start to her day in Vermont. Soon we were on our way to the trailhead for Mt. Tecumseh Trail. Winter officially ended at 12:57pm (EST) and our objective was to complete the hike before then to give Katie one more winter peak toward her NH4K-W48 completion. The deep sticky snow was a surprise, which would certainly cost extra time, and I was a little concerned we should have planned an earlier start.
We arrived to the trailhead with an unbroken trail waiting for us. Getting ready to go didn’t take long and we were soon starting up Mt. Tecumseh Trail with snowshoes. We went end-to-end on snowshoes for this one. After crossing the small brook at the start it was clear Rick’s estimate of new snow was pretty accurate. We had a foot of new overnight snow and in the upper elevations there were some pretty good sized drifts to get through. When I left home I also left my MSR extension tails behind; they might have been helpful, but I’ll never know. We simply worked to find a good pace and hiked. I was in the lead as we made our way through the early part of the hike.
As usual, we were making regular stops along the way to keep the heart rate down. When we started there was noise from the ski area and heavy machinery clearing snow but we eventually hiked out of range for that noise and enjoyed a very peaceful climb. We passed the upper crossing of Tecumseh Brook heading to the next milestone, which was the viewpoint spur that goes to the ski area. I asked Katie if she heard any skier noises from the ski area and told her about how fresh snow on Mt. Tecumseh Trail usually gets attacked early by skiers and boarders. We arrived to the viewpoint spur and found ski tracks.
I’m not sure the ski tracks helped but they did break the trail, sort of. We started up. I was still in the lead and still in pretty good shape to continue breaking the trail. As we climbed the endless ramp that leads to the ridge I started to feel it. Roughly half-way to the ridge was the location where the skiers entered. From there we were again working with unbroken trail. From there it seemed easier not to have the ski tracks. We kept climbing.
We made it into the final two steep pitches approaching the ridge and I really needed a change. Katie stepped around and took the lead. From there to the summit, Katie was in the lead and did a terrific job of dragging me along. We reached the ridge, made a left at the summit loop split, and did the final climb to the top. Finally, at the summit cairn I got the usual pictures and I was concerned about the time. To a degree we were racing with the arrival of spring, and I wanted to be sure at least Katie won that particular race. We checked the time and everything still looked good. It was going to be close but I was pretty sure we could make it back to the trailhead for this to be a “winter” hike.
We made the u-turn and started our exit hike. Except for one bump at the upper crossing of Tecumseh Brook the exit is all downhill. Our legs took quite a beating while trail breaking on the ascent and a fast descent proved to be a little painful. A new problem showed up along the way. In the course of the morning, the air temperature warmed and we experienced a couple periods of very light rain. The snow became much stickier and I found a constant fight to keep the bottoms of my MSR’s clear of snow. From the viewpoint spur to the trailhead it seemed that I could only go a few paces before it was necessary to clear my snowshoes. I don’t recall ever previously having this problem.
I was getting a little frustrated with the snow loading problem and became very concerned with the time. After the upper crossing of Tecumseh Brook I suggested to Katie that she just go ahead and get to the trailhead in time. She checked the time and said “don’t worry, we have plenty of time”. We continued toward the trailhead trying to move as quickly as we could. Eventually we reached the slope above the mid-crossing of Tecumseh Brook and I asked Katie to take off for the trailhead – I’d be close behind. She did, and I was. We made our way through the final section leading to the trailhead lot non-stop. I was able to see Katie as she crossed the snow bank at the trailhead parking and took a picture. The time was 12:46pm (EST). That’s cutting it close, but I was also able to reach the trailhead parking before spring arrived. Katie got one more winter peak and that was all that mattered.
Thanks Katie, good short day in the mountains, good hike!
Let’s go again soon.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Mount Tecumseh Trail
Summits: Tecumseh
Hikers: Kathleen “Katie” Kirby, and me
As planned, we met at the Dunkin Donuts just off exit 28 (Waterville Valley) from I-93 at ~7:30am. Our target on-trail time was 8:00am. I arrived a little early and used the extra time to make a few final checks for the day. I noticed a Facebook posting that indicated there was a foot of new snow overnight in Rick Kipphut’s driveway. His driveway was between Dunkin Donuts and the trailhead. At that point I realized the day was going to be a little more work than expected.
Right on schedule, Katie pulled in; she had a very early start to her day in Vermont. Soon we were on our way to the trailhead for Mt. Tecumseh Trail. Winter officially ended at 12:57pm (EST) and our objective was to complete the hike before then to give Katie one more winter peak toward her NH4K-W48 completion. The deep sticky snow was a surprise, which would certainly cost extra time, and I was a little concerned we should have planned an earlier start.
We arrived to the trailhead with an unbroken trail waiting for us. Getting ready to go didn’t take long and we were soon starting up Mt. Tecumseh Trail with snowshoes. We went end-to-end on snowshoes for this one. After crossing the small brook at the start it was clear Rick’s estimate of new snow was pretty accurate. We had a foot of new overnight snow and in the upper elevations there were some pretty good sized drifts to get through. When I left home I also left my MSR extension tails behind; they might have been helpful, but I’ll never know. We simply worked to find a good pace and hiked. I was in the lead as we made our way through the early part of the hike.
As usual, we were making regular stops along the way to keep the heart rate down. When we started there was noise from the ski area and heavy machinery clearing snow but we eventually hiked out of range for that noise and enjoyed a very peaceful climb. We passed the upper crossing of Tecumseh Brook heading to the next milestone, which was the viewpoint spur that goes to the ski area. I asked Katie if she heard any skier noises from the ski area and told her about how fresh snow on Mt. Tecumseh Trail usually gets attacked early by skiers and boarders. We arrived to the viewpoint spur and found ski tracks.
I’m not sure the ski tracks helped but they did break the trail, sort of. We started up. I was still in the lead and still in pretty good shape to continue breaking the trail. As we climbed the endless ramp that leads to the ridge I started to feel it. Roughly half-way to the ridge was the location where the skiers entered. From there we were again working with unbroken trail. From there it seemed easier not to have the ski tracks. We kept climbing.
We made it into the final two steep pitches approaching the ridge and I really needed a change. Katie stepped around and took the lead. From there to the summit, Katie was in the lead and did a terrific job of dragging me along. We reached the ridge, made a left at the summit loop split, and did the final climb to the top. Finally, at the summit cairn I got the usual pictures and I was concerned about the time. To a degree we were racing with the arrival of spring, and I wanted to be sure at least Katie won that particular race. We checked the time and everything still looked good. It was going to be close but I was pretty sure we could make it back to the trailhead for this to be a “winter” hike.
We made the u-turn and started our exit hike. Except for one bump at the upper crossing of Tecumseh Brook the exit is all downhill. Our legs took quite a beating while trail breaking on the ascent and a fast descent proved to be a little painful. A new problem showed up along the way. In the course of the morning, the air temperature warmed and we experienced a couple periods of very light rain. The snow became much stickier and I found a constant fight to keep the bottoms of my MSR’s clear of snow. From the viewpoint spur to the trailhead it seemed that I could only go a few paces before it was necessary to clear my snowshoes. I don’t recall ever previously having this problem.
I was getting a little frustrated with the snow loading problem and became very concerned with the time. After the upper crossing of Tecumseh Brook I suggested to Katie that she just go ahead and get to the trailhead in time. She checked the time and said “don’t worry, we have plenty of time”. We continued toward the trailhead trying to move as quickly as we could. Eventually we reached the slope above the mid-crossing of Tecumseh Brook and I asked Katie to take off for the trailhead – I’d be close behind. She did, and I was. We made our way through the final section leading to the trailhead lot non-stop. I was able to see Katie as she crossed the snow bank at the trailhead parking and took a picture. The time was 12:46pm (EST). That’s cutting it close, but I was also able to reach the trailhead parking before spring arrived. Katie got one more winter peak and that was all that mattered.
Thanks Katie, good short day in the mountains, good hike!
Let’s go again soon.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
