OldMan
New member
I'd been thinking about weekend hiking all week but the forecasted cold weather had me a bit apprehensive. Late Friday night I decided to check the forecast for Saturday and still ...cold... negative numbers. But... the morning was susposed to be sunny. I'm a sucker for sunny weather and cold be dammed. After all, I grew up in the bitter cold Manitoba, Canada prairie so I should be able to handle the cold. So I quickly packed up for an early morning departure for the Hancocks.
I arrived at the trailhead about 8:00. There were 2 other hikers just leaving the parking lot when I pulled in. I geared up and was under way by 8:15. The trail was in incredible shape. A real showshoe super highway!
It was really cold. I started with my usual warm layers and my shell, expecting to remove my shell after I got going and warmed up a bit. After a couple of miles I found the shell and my layers were just right. My camera however didn't like the cold and attempting to power it up resulted in it complaining that my freshly charged battery needed changing. I moved it into an inside pocket and the next time it came out everything worked fine.
I got my first glimpse of North Hancock and South Hancock through the trees along the trail. My next two winter peaks, soon to be conquered.
The final section of trail up to the north peak was steep so I flipped up my MSR ascent televators. I really like these snowshoes! I arrived on the summit at 12:15. The wind was light, no where near what had been forecasted. This was W48 peak #6 for me.
I walked down to the outlook and the two hikers I saw in the parking lot were there enjoying the sun and the view. They started off ahead of me to the south peak while I munched on my frozen peanut butter sandwich and snapped a few photos. Trees were snowy white, and sky was blue.
The trail between north and south peak was a bit windy and several drifts crossed the path. The spruce branches were a real nuisance as they were at exactly face height for me and I was constantly getting smacked. I arrived at South Hancock around 1:15 and met up with the two hikers again as they were starting down the trail. This was W48 peak #7 for me.
The view from the south peak outlook was fantastic.
The trail down South Hancock was steep and well snow covered so butt sliding was in order. What a blast. I stopped near the bottom to clean the snow off and then headed back on snowshoes. The trip out went by fast and I arrived back at my car at 2:00. A really great day to be out hiking in the Whites and the cold really wasn't too bad.
Garmin 60CSx: 9.5 miles, 4348 ft ascent, 5:45, 1.65 MPH average.
I arrived at the trailhead about 8:00. There were 2 other hikers just leaving the parking lot when I pulled in. I geared up and was under way by 8:15. The trail was in incredible shape. A real showshoe super highway!
It was really cold. I started with my usual warm layers and my shell, expecting to remove my shell after I got going and warmed up a bit. After a couple of miles I found the shell and my layers were just right. My camera however didn't like the cold and attempting to power it up resulted in it complaining that my freshly charged battery needed changing. I moved it into an inside pocket and the next time it came out everything worked fine.
I got my first glimpse of North Hancock and South Hancock through the trees along the trail. My next two winter peaks, soon to be conquered.
The final section of trail up to the north peak was steep so I flipped up my MSR ascent televators. I really like these snowshoes! I arrived on the summit at 12:15. The wind was light, no where near what had been forecasted. This was W48 peak #6 for me.
I walked down to the outlook and the two hikers I saw in the parking lot were there enjoying the sun and the view. They started off ahead of me to the south peak while I munched on my frozen peanut butter sandwich and snapped a few photos. Trees were snowy white, and sky was blue.
The trail between north and south peak was a bit windy and several drifts crossed the path. The spruce branches were a real nuisance as they were at exactly face height for me and I was constantly getting smacked. I arrived at South Hancock around 1:15 and met up with the two hikers again as they were starting down the trail. This was W48 peak #7 for me.
The view from the south peak outlook was fantastic.
The trail down South Hancock was steep and well snow covered so butt sliding was in order. What a blast. I stopped near the bottom to clean the snow off and then headed back on snowshoes. The trip out went by fast and I arrived back at my car at 2:00. A really great day to be out hiking in the Whites and the cold really wasn't too bad.
Garmin 60CSx: 9.5 miles, 4348 ft ascent, 5:45, 1.65 MPH average.
