Tim Seaver
Well-known member
A stellar day for this ridge! I found the first part of the trail decorated by two distinct tracks - one gigantic set of firm snowshoe prints, and next to them, one set of cavernous bare-boot tracks, obviously made during a thaw. The snowshoe tracks were run-of-the-mill, but the bare-boot prints were something special - approximately 5 feet apart, and almost as deep, sporting a jaunty forward lean. I was picturing someone who looks roughly like Lil' Abner.
Ranger Sketch of Bareboot Suspect
In any case, I didn't need snowshoes. The river crossing was a piece of cake, with a fat tongue of snow making it an easy hop.
The "crux" of the hike is usually the short but steep pitch up the side of the first castle - this was in good shape, with only a smidgen of ice at the base, but otherwise easy. Once above tree line, the surface was generally pretty firm, so I never did break out the snowshoes. The trick is to look for the surfaces that look like 3 day old lasagna.
At the summit I found a group of peakbaggers who had come up the Jewell Trail, celebrating two 48 finishers. They were very nice, and even gave me a massive sugar cookie, so I guess I can't engage in my usual good-natured mockery of peakbraggery in this one instance. Damn it.
Luckily for them, they had a spare cookie.
Moving on towards Edmands Col ( Kahtoolas on now), I found some shallow break-away wind slab on the first part of the descent coming off Jeff, but this improved as I approached the junction for the summit bypass. About 75 yards from the sign, I headed left to cross the top of the chute to avoid the sometimes spooky crossing a bit south of Dingmaul Rock. The snow fields here are quite different from what I have usually seen here, with some huge broad ribs of snow in places that I haven't seen them before - and there are now some pretty steep, short snowfields right below Dingmaul where there is usually a serpentine trench of boulder-squeezes.
Snow Ribs - YUMMM!
The walk over to Adams from Edmands Col was magnificent - windless, sunny, shirtless, walking right on top of a perfectly firm surface. It got a bit softer at the base of Adams' cone, but firm surfaces were still to be found here and there.
Atop Adams I was grilled in a friendly fashion by an adventurous man and woman, on route possibilities for completing their day - they had come up Valley Way and wanted to do something different for their descent, not being averse to a hitchhike scenario to get back to their car. After hearing the 5 star review I gave this mornings' hike (with the appropriate caveats), they ended up choosing the Castle Trail from the menu, so I am sure they had a great finish to their day (which considering it was 2 pm, was probably in the dark).
Scampering down Lowe's Path, I paused on Adams 4 for some photos, when a group of 3 young men popped onto it's stubby sub-summit. Up from Boston on Spring Break, they were full of vigor and eagerness, running willy-nilly 'bout the Northern Prezzies on a 3 day hike-o-rama. Each summit and col was greeted with new, if somewhat stoned, eyes. And to think they could have been chasing bikinis on Miami Beach instead (not that there is anything wrong with that).
They too, were looking for ideas on this ridiculously nice day. As we Pondered the Presidential Possibilities, it dawned on me that they were not peak bagging, but simply wanting to go new places, and that was where their interest lay. How delightful! And here I had thought there was no corner of the Earth that The Enumerators had not fouled with their noxious spreadsheets and patches, Twitter-synchronized route-vulturing, and 30 person forced marches. Numbers meant nothing here - how high, or how many (or how fast, even!). Here was true Hiking Innocence!
They had already done all the sub-peaks of Adams (without knowing the names - they were simply "this" one and "that" one and "the one over there"), and they looked well equipped and fit, so I suggested scooting up Adams and checking out the Star Lake trail, which may or may not have been in good shape. Happy with their new goal, they said farewell and slid down the trail to the snowfield below, chasing each other around like squirrels as they bounded towards Adams.
Off They Go!
Lowe's Path was in great shape, but the upper part wasn't quite soft enough for a boot glissade, which was a shame - one of the only things I could have possibly complained about on such a great bluebird day!
Ranger Sketch of Bareboot Suspect
In any case, I didn't need snowshoes. The river crossing was a piece of cake, with a fat tongue of snow making it an easy hop.
The "crux" of the hike is usually the short but steep pitch up the side of the first castle - this was in good shape, with only a smidgen of ice at the base, but otherwise easy. Once above tree line, the surface was generally pretty firm, so I never did break out the snowshoes. The trick is to look for the surfaces that look like 3 day old lasagna.
At the summit I found a group of peakbaggers who had come up the Jewell Trail, celebrating two 48 finishers. They were very nice, and even gave me a massive sugar cookie, so I guess I can't engage in my usual good-natured mockery of peakbraggery in this one instance. Damn it.
Luckily for them, they had a spare cookie.
Moving on towards Edmands Col ( Kahtoolas on now), I found some shallow break-away wind slab on the first part of the descent coming off Jeff, but this improved as I approached the junction for the summit bypass. About 75 yards from the sign, I headed left to cross the top of the chute to avoid the sometimes spooky crossing a bit south of Dingmaul Rock. The snow fields here are quite different from what I have usually seen here, with some huge broad ribs of snow in places that I haven't seen them before - and there are now some pretty steep, short snowfields right below Dingmaul where there is usually a serpentine trench of boulder-squeezes.
Snow Ribs - YUMMM!
The walk over to Adams from Edmands Col was magnificent - windless, sunny, shirtless, walking right on top of a perfectly firm surface. It got a bit softer at the base of Adams' cone, but firm surfaces were still to be found here and there.
Atop Adams I was grilled in a friendly fashion by an adventurous man and woman, on route possibilities for completing their day - they had come up Valley Way and wanted to do something different for their descent, not being averse to a hitchhike scenario to get back to their car. After hearing the 5 star review I gave this mornings' hike (with the appropriate caveats), they ended up choosing the Castle Trail from the menu, so I am sure they had a great finish to their day (which considering it was 2 pm, was probably in the dark).
Scampering down Lowe's Path, I paused on Adams 4 for some photos, when a group of 3 young men popped onto it's stubby sub-summit. Up from Boston on Spring Break, they were full of vigor and eagerness, running willy-nilly 'bout the Northern Prezzies on a 3 day hike-o-rama. Each summit and col was greeted with new, if somewhat stoned, eyes. And to think they could have been chasing bikinis on Miami Beach instead (not that there is anything wrong with that).
They too, were looking for ideas on this ridiculously nice day. As we Pondered the Presidential Possibilities, it dawned on me that they were not peak bagging, but simply wanting to go new places, and that was where their interest lay. How delightful! And here I had thought there was no corner of the Earth that The Enumerators had not fouled with their noxious spreadsheets and patches, Twitter-synchronized route-vulturing, and 30 person forced marches. Numbers meant nothing here - how high, or how many (or how fast, even!). Here was true Hiking Innocence!
They had already done all the sub-peaks of Adams (without knowing the names - they were simply "this" one and "that" one and "the one over there"), and they looked well equipped and fit, so I suggested scooting up Adams and checking out the Star Lake trail, which may or may not have been in good shape. Happy with their new goal, they said farewell and slid down the trail to the snowfield below, chasing each other around like squirrels as they bounded towards Adams.
Off They Go!
Lowe's Path was in great shape, but the upper part wasn't quite soft enough for a boot glissade, which was a shame - one of the only things I could have possibly complained about on such a great bluebird day!
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