sapblatt
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- Oct 22, 2004
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After all of my hiking on snow and/or ice in spring and fall it finally became time to put my self doubts away and get out there and actually bag a 4000 footer in winter. In fact, since my 48th on 10/8 I had only summited one 4k (Garfield) and had only hiked a total of six days. I was determined to get out this Saturday and had a few ideas but after e-mailing with LittleBear (Kris) we decided to give Pierce and Ike a try. Interestingly, Pierce was my first 48, way back in 1999. LittleBear had already hit Pierce on her winter list, but needed Ike for her number 22 (I think that is the right total!)
We met at the Park, Shuttle and Hike
lot in Portsmouth at 4:30AM to head up to Crawford Notch. Nine degrees, light snow here and there – why are we doing this?? A quick stop and Dunkin’ Donuts in Ossipee had us at the Highland Center just after 7AM. Furthering the difficulty in getting going was being in the Highland Center near the roaring fire getting suited up. Finally, the love of hiking and being outdoors got us outside and ready to roll on the trail at 7:45. We also said hello to Katie (bunchberry) and a friend who were getting ready to go for Carrigain – Greg (roadtripper) was also around but we did not see him.
LittleBear set the pace and I loved it – it was that pace I never seem to be able to do if I am leading – the slow, methodical pace that gets you were you are going in good time. I have a real bad tendency to go faster than I should then need to stop to catch my breath for 90 seconds way too frequently. This great pace did not stop us from needing to adjust our temperature, clothes and comfort level every five minutes – this part of winter hiking will take some getting used to for me. Eventually I settled in with a light hat and no gloves and I was fine for forested part of the Crawford Path. Kris has issues with cold fingers and did a lot of adjusting and after awhile she had her fingers comfortable for the day with the right combination of hand warmers and gloves and mittens. We made good time throughout the day and reached the Mizpah Cutoff junction in about 1:45 – we continued along the Crawford Path towards Pierce.
We started to break out of the trees to spectacular views of Ike, Monroe, Washington and especially Jefferson’s Ridge of the Caps. Occasional low clouds obscured the distant peaks, but in general it was quite clear. As we left the protection of the trees we were introduced to the wind – this was probably a very reasonable day for winter, but it was the fastest, coldest wind I have ever been in on the Whites. As we turned up the Webster Cliff Trail for the final hundred yards to Pierce I was glad the wind was at my back as I had yet to put on my goggles and face mask. We made it quickly to the summit cairn, which was quite protected. We took a quick break and decided we were doing well time wise (I think it was still before 11AM) and that we would at least try to get over to Eisenhower. We put facemasks on, goggles and crampons; I had been wearing Stabilicers until this point and LittleBear had bear (bare) booted! The crust of snow and ice going up the summit of Pierce made us think the extra traction would be a good idea heading over the exposed ridge to Ike.
The section between the two peaks along the Crawford Path really looked to be from another world. I had never seen anything like it in all of my hikes. Scrub trees were so frozen with snow and ice on them that they did not even move in the strong 25-35 mph winds. The comfort level (or lack of comfort) totally depended upon where you were standing – some spots were quite nice and some were so windy that even with all of the gear on you had to look away. My biggest issue, and something I will just have to get used to in winter is the facemask. I think it hindered my breathing (not getting enough oxygen), but if you took it off for any length of time your face would go numb. The other tough one was the goggles. For the first 45 minutes on the way to Ike they were great. As we started ascending the loop trail our goggles were fogging up – at times I was only following LittleBear’s blurry parka twenty feet in front of me.
We followed the wrong footprints a couple of times, but they all ended up together on the trail. This trail runs up quickly and reasonably and levels off gently at the summit. This was total exposure today. Very quickly Kris and I snapped off a couple of summit shots and began the trek back. We made very good time on the way back and were able to eliminate some of the heavier gear after passing by Pierce. By the time we passed the Mizpah Cutoff I was actually quite warm and even got rid of the hat and gloves – totally different world outside of the wind. We got back to the lot just before 4PM in good spirits and a little sore from the heavy packs.
All in all a great trip and a great time. I felt real good about my first winter 4ks and my first real cold, snowy, icy experience. The confidence that my crampons gave me, my winter boots (minus 40 Sorels) all worked real well together and I managed to keep my temperature pretty under control. Always nice to hike with LittleBear and she will be posting pictures soon!
2/48 Winter…NEXT!!
We met at the Park, Shuttle and Hike
lot in Portsmouth at 4:30AM to head up to Crawford Notch. Nine degrees, light snow here and there – why are we doing this?? A quick stop and Dunkin’ Donuts in Ossipee had us at the Highland Center just after 7AM. Furthering the difficulty in getting going was being in the Highland Center near the roaring fire getting suited up. Finally, the love of hiking and being outdoors got us outside and ready to roll on the trail at 7:45. We also said hello to Katie (bunchberry) and a friend who were getting ready to go for Carrigain – Greg (roadtripper) was also around but we did not see him.LittleBear set the pace and I loved it – it was that pace I never seem to be able to do if I am leading – the slow, methodical pace that gets you were you are going in good time. I have a real bad tendency to go faster than I should then need to stop to catch my breath for 90 seconds way too frequently. This great pace did not stop us from needing to adjust our temperature, clothes and comfort level every five minutes – this part of winter hiking will take some getting used to for me. Eventually I settled in with a light hat and no gloves and I was fine for forested part of the Crawford Path. Kris has issues with cold fingers and did a lot of adjusting and after awhile she had her fingers comfortable for the day with the right combination of hand warmers and gloves and mittens. We made good time throughout the day and reached the Mizpah Cutoff junction in about 1:45 – we continued along the Crawford Path towards Pierce.
We started to break out of the trees to spectacular views of Ike, Monroe, Washington and especially Jefferson’s Ridge of the Caps. Occasional low clouds obscured the distant peaks, but in general it was quite clear. As we left the protection of the trees we were introduced to the wind – this was probably a very reasonable day for winter, but it was the fastest, coldest wind I have ever been in on the Whites. As we turned up the Webster Cliff Trail for the final hundred yards to Pierce I was glad the wind was at my back as I had yet to put on my goggles and face mask. We made it quickly to the summit cairn, which was quite protected. We took a quick break and decided we were doing well time wise (I think it was still before 11AM) and that we would at least try to get over to Eisenhower. We put facemasks on, goggles and crampons; I had been wearing Stabilicers until this point and LittleBear had bear (bare) booted! The crust of snow and ice going up the summit of Pierce made us think the extra traction would be a good idea heading over the exposed ridge to Ike.
The section between the two peaks along the Crawford Path really looked to be from another world. I had never seen anything like it in all of my hikes. Scrub trees were so frozen with snow and ice on them that they did not even move in the strong 25-35 mph winds. The comfort level (or lack of comfort) totally depended upon where you were standing – some spots were quite nice and some were so windy that even with all of the gear on you had to look away. My biggest issue, and something I will just have to get used to in winter is the facemask. I think it hindered my breathing (not getting enough oxygen), but if you took it off for any length of time your face would go numb. The other tough one was the goggles. For the first 45 minutes on the way to Ike they were great. As we started ascending the loop trail our goggles were fogging up – at times I was only following LittleBear’s blurry parka twenty feet in front of me.
We followed the wrong footprints a couple of times, but they all ended up together on the trail. This trail runs up quickly and reasonably and levels off gently at the summit. This was total exposure today. Very quickly Kris and I snapped off a couple of summit shots and began the trek back. We made very good time on the way back and were able to eliminate some of the heavier gear after passing by Pierce. By the time we passed the Mizpah Cutoff I was actually quite warm and even got rid of the hat and gloves – totally different world outside of the wind. We got back to the lot just before 4PM in good spirits and a little sore from the heavy packs.
All in all a great trip and a great time. I felt real good about my first winter 4ks and my first real cold, snowy, icy experience. The confidence that my crampons gave me, my winter boots (minus 40 Sorels) all worked real well together and I managed to keep my temperature pretty under control. Always nice to hike with LittleBear and she will be posting pictures soon!
2/48 Winter…NEXT!!
