Last weekend (9-10 Nov. 2013) I hiked in the Northern Presidentials, starting and ending at Appalachia and spending the night in Gray Knob. Similar to last November, with similar results, summiting Adams and Madison but not Jefferson.
I took the Amphibrach last year, so this year I took the Short Line to Randolph Path, which I took to Edmands Col. There was a little snow on the ground, pretty much from the start, and a fair amount of rime above the tree line, but it was never enough to justify putting on the microspikes. I was mostly walking on rock, even up high, and I didn't want to ruin my spikes like I did last year. However, there were enough slippery patches to make me be careful, and therefore slow, in my walking. I was in and out of the clouds that day, with less clouds late in the day than early.
When I got to Edmands Col I decided to turn around, even though I was less than a mile from the summit of Jefferson at that point. I figured if I summited Jefferson I'd still be above the tree line when it got dark. I was having a little trouble with trail finding as it was (although nothing compared to Sunday) and I didn't want to do it in the dark. On the way back I saw a prominent sun pillar and some sun dogs.
I spent the night in Gray Knob. Last year I had been at Crag Camp. Gray Knob was crowded, even though I hadn't seen a single person on the trail all day since leaving the trailhead area.
It was snowing when I got up (and continued most of the morning). I think we got a total of an inch or two. I was the first one on the trail that morning from GK, and didn't see anyone else on the trail until the afternoon when I was past the hut. This meant that I didn't have any tracks to follow. This was important because the trails were hard to follow much of the time. Up there you're going from cairn to cairn, but in the rime and snow cairns look like boulders and boulders look like cairns. It didn't help that most of the day, especially early, I was in a cloud. There were a lot of times where I got to a cairn and spent a lot of time carefully looking around for the next one. There were a few times where I thought I saw the next cairn but when I got to it discovered it wasn't one. Luckily it wasn't terribly cold; I never put on all of the layers I'd brought.
I took Lowe's Path up and over Abigail Adams. I tagged what I think is the AA summit as I passed it, but since I was in a cloud I couldn't be sure it was the high point. A little after Abigail the trail was actually visible on the ground for a little while. Past Thunderstorm Junction I again played Where's My Cairn until close to the summit I lost the trail. I probably could have found it, but I knew that at that point all I had to do was head uphill and I'd find the summit. I rejoined the trail just before the summit.
I then took the Air Line down. At this point it became snowy enough to finally put on the microspikes, which went off and on several times for the rest of the day. Around then it cleared a bit and I could see all of Madison for a while. After passing the hut I met my first other hikers of the day, a Francophone couple. If I understood them correctly they had turned back shy of the summit. However, I followed tracks all the way up. My trail finding problems were pretty much gone by then, not only because I was following tracks, but because the cairns are more prominent on Osgood Trail.
After the summit I went down Watson Path, still following somebody's tracks. A little after crossing Pine Link I met two men and a boy going up. They weren't sure it they'd have time to summit, but decided to try it. They later passed me on the way down; they were a speedy bunch. I took Brookside Trail on the way out, since I'd never been there before. It's a nice trail, but at one point, after it had gotten dark and I as hiking by headlamp, I couldn't figure out where the trail went for long enough I was starting to wonder if I should backtrack or bushwhack over to Valley Way. Then I saw a little "path" sign across the brook. I had to cross the brook twice, being careful of slippery rocks, and then it was an easy stroll down Valley Way to Appalachia. The day's hike took a total of 11.5 hours.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2); Cat35: 23/39; WNH4K: 29/48; NEFF: 34/50
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
I took the Amphibrach last year, so this year I took the Short Line to Randolph Path, which I took to Edmands Col. There was a little snow on the ground, pretty much from the start, and a fair amount of rime above the tree line, but it was never enough to justify putting on the microspikes. I was mostly walking on rock, even up high, and I didn't want to ruin my spikes like I did last year. However, there were enough slippery patches to make me be careful, and therefore slow, in my walking. I was in and out of the clouds that day, with less clouds late in the day than early.
When I got to Edmands Col I decided to turn around, even though I was less than a mile from the summit of Jefferson at that point. I figured if I summited Jefferson I'd still be above the tree line when it got dark. I was having a little trouble with trail finding as it was (although nothing compared to Sunday) and I didn't want to do it in the dark. On the way back I saw a prominent sun pillar and some sun dogs.
I spent the night in Gray Knob. Last year I had been at Crag Camp. Gray Knob was crowded, even though I hadn't seen a single person on the trail all day since leaving the trailhead area.
It was snowing when I got up (and continued most of the morning). I think we got a total of an inch or two. I was the first one on the trail that morning from GK, and didn't see anyone else on the trail until the afternoon when I was past the hut. This meant that I didn't have any tracks to follow. This was important because the trails were hard to follow much of the time. Up there you're going from cairn to cairn, but in the rime and snow cairns look like boulders and boulders look like cairns. It didn't help that most of the day, especially early, I was in a cloud. There were a lot of times where I got to a cairn and spent a lot of time carefully looking around for the next one. There were a few times where I thought I saw the next cairn but when I got to it discovered it wasn't one. Luckily it wasn't terribly cold; I never put on all of the layers I'd brought.
I took Lowe's Path up and over Abigail Adams. I tagged what I think is the AA summit as I passed it, but since I was in a cloud I couldn't be sure it was the high point. A little after Abigail the trail was actually visible on the ground for a little while. Past Thunderstorm Junction I again played Where's My Cairn until close to the summit I lost the trail. I probably could have found it, but I knew that at that point all I had to do was head uphill and I'd find the summit. I rejoined the trail just before the summit.
I then took the Air Line down. At this point it became snowy enough to finally put on the microspikes, which went off and on several times for the rest of the day. Around then it cleared a bit and I could see all of Madison for a while. After passing the hut I met my first other hikers of the day, a Francophone couple. If I understood them correctly they had turned back shy of the summit. However, I followed tracks all the way up. My trail finding problems were pretty much gone by then, not only because I was following tracks, but because the cairns are more prominent on Osgood Trail.
After the summit I went down Watson Path, still following somebody's tracks. A little after crossing Pine Link I met two men and a boy going up. They weren't sure it they'd have time to summit, but decided to try it. They later passed me on the way down; they were a speedy bunch. I took Brookside Trail on the way out, since I'd never been there before. It's a nice trail, but at one point, after it had gotten dark and I as hiking by headlamp, I couldn't figure out where the trail went for long enough I was starting to wonder if I should backtrack or bushwhack over to Valley Way. Then I saw a little "path" sign across the brook. I had to cross the brook twice, being careful of slippery rocks, and then it was an easy stroll down Valley Way to Appalachia. The day's hike took a total of 11.5 hours.
Here are the pictures.
--
Cumulus
NE111: 115/115 (67/67, 46/46, 2/2); Cat35: 23/39; WNH4K: 29/48; NEFF: 34/50
LT NB 2009
"I don't much care where [I get to] --" said Alice, "-- so long as I get somewhere," ...
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll
