Kicking off the New Year!

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alpinista

Active member
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
Messages
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Location
Boise, Idaho
What better way to kick off the new year than with a hike?! :D

Sure, the weather, to put it bluntly, sucked! Some wine and bubbly the night before made a few of us a bit dehydrated! And yes, waking up early in the morning made us groggy and grouchy.

But what the heck. It was a day off from work, the mountains were beckoning, and we had a peak to bag! It just wasn't the peak we originally planned.

At first, the plan was to hike Mt. Waumbek. But the freezing rain prompted us to switch gears at the last minute: Mt. Tecumseh would instead be our destination.

Frankly, I was thinking that the only sensible plan was to bag it all and not venture outdoors. But AMSTony and Bobby were voting in favor of getting out and simply scaling back the plan, and I'm a sucker for seeing those guys slog up the trail in nasty weather, so I went along for sh**s and giggles. ;)

We hit the trailhead at Waterville Valley ski area at 10:30 a.m., being greeted by Bobby who was getting his gear in order. Soon, BigEarl and Jennifer showed up, Jennifer sporting some stylish new boots with pink trim! Nicely done! :D

It was raining, albeit not that hard. Basically, it was a steady drizzle/mist. The gang used stabilicers, while I donned my plastics and crampons (mostly so my toesies would be toasty).

We took off up the trail that was coated with some snow and some ice. About 5 minutes into the hike, AMSTony asked if I'd brought my camera. But I opted to keep it in the car _ so he ran back to the car to grab his camera to record the hike. Glad he did since it was a lovely walk in the woods and a great way to ring in the new year!

It didn't take long for my left crampon to come loose. I put it back on, remembering yet again how even the simplest of tasks can be complicated in the winter. About 10 minutes later, it came loose again _ so I took it off and put it on my pack, and plodded along with just one crampon. It was more than sufficient, particularly since the plastic boots excel at crunching through thin layers of ice. :D

I'm the slow poke in the group, so I brought up the rear _ a nice treat since that meant most everyone else was breaking trail. :D :eek:

Occasionally, we could hear the sounds of skiers and snowboarders maneuvering down the adjacent slopes _ though surely, they were having less fun on what has so far been an awful ski season than we were in these peaceful woods.

It took us about three hours to reach the summit. I barely had a view the last time I was here (March of 2001), and we certainly didn't have any views this time either. We were socked in. But we enjoyed a little respite on the summit, munching on gorp, and chocolate and Fig Newtons, and refueling with water before heading back down.

The top third of the hike is quite steep _ but much nicer on the way down! What took about three hours to hike up, took about 90 minutes to get down.

It may not have been the most beautiful of days, but the company was perfect. It was great to get out, get a workout in, and to kick off the New Year in style! :D A big thank you to Tony for arranging the hike _ and to everyone else for joining in!

Pics will be posted later this evening.
 
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Excellent trip report!

What a great way to start the New Year. Despite the crummy weather, which I actually enjoyed, it was way better than lounging in front of the TV and watching football, drinking beer, hanging out and being soft......... :confused: .....at least I think it was! :eek:

We had a super time on the trail, the company was great, and it was really nice treat to break trail to a summit no one had yet visited in 2007, MT. Tecumseh!!!

The ride back was much better than the ride up, roads were clean and traffic moved well. Alpinista and I stopped at the Common man in Plymouth, one of those places we passed for years and said we need to eat there, so it was a great opportunity to refuel there.

Thanks to BigEarl, Jenn, Bobby, and Alpinista for a fun New Years Day, 2007!!! :)
 
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Excellent report Alpinista. Don't forget the ride north, in my case on Rte. 93. There was one rollover near Derry, and several of us passersby were able to get the driver out of the car, and a little further north, an SUV went into the woods backwards. In both cases, the occupants of the cars were OK. The ride to the trailhead sometimes really is more dangerous than the hike!

Jennifer was styling with the pink trimmed boots! It was a pleasure to meet and to hike with her and Big Earl. Alpinista set a new fashion trend, one crampon hiking. Check out the trails near you, see if it has caught on :D . Jennifer, Big Earl and AMSTony set a decent pace going up, I found that Alpinista's pace works for me! The rain did dampen the day, but it was fun to get out.

This was my first winter hike, making Tecumseh my first winter 4K. It was a good day, and a great hike with everyone.
 
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Lisa - great report, as usual. As you may know I bailed out on Waumbeck Sunday afternoon. When I found out you changed the hike to Tecumseh on Monday morning, it was too late for me to consider. I figured you were at the trailhead by then...

Hope I get a chance to hike with y'all soon!!

Marty
 
Lisa, Great job on the report. Can’t wait to see the pictures.

As bad as it started, yesterday turned out to be a real fun day. The weather wasn’t all that bad. Essentially having the place to ourselves was nice. In our small group of five there were three hiking their first winter 4K. Well done and congratulations to Tony, Bobby, and Jennifer. (aka Jen-san on VFTT as of today).

Thanks to Tony for organizing the hike and then coming up with a suitable alternative hike. Everything worked out fine.

I’m looking forward to the next time we can get together for a hike.

Earl
 
alpinista - which peak did you end up doing? SOunds like near a ski area - Cannon? Tecumseh? Maybe you mentioned it and I skipped right over it?!
 
Kevin Rooney said:
alpinista - which peak did you end up doing? SOunds like near a ski area - Cannon? Tecumseh? Maybe you mentioned it and I skipped right over it?!

Yup, Tecumseh. Nice catch. Edited it to make that clear, though TR did mention Waterville Valley! :D Guess even editors need editors from time to time!
 
Sounds like you all had a great time. Sorry I missed it, but I was not that excited about driving over the Kanc, given the conditions. Bobby, congrats on your 1st Winter 4k! Hope to get a chance to hike with some/all of you in the future.
 
Here are the pix. All of them were taken by AMSTony -- except for the one featuring him on the summit!

Thanks again to Bobby, AMSTony, BigEarl and Jen-San for joining in as we rang in the new year!
 
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Fun TR! There's nothing quite like hiking in the rain with a hangover, and uh, you did it!
:)
 
Lisa, Nice editorial on the hike and great pixs of the winter adventure. I was disappointed that I could not share the New Year's cheer with all of you. I was looking forward to sharing the trails and meeting new faces, but there is next time and I look forward to that. Thanks again for posting the TR and pix.

Regards,

Ridgewalker
 
This was a great trip, it was nice to finally experience winter hiking, especially since my hiking for summer '07 may be infrequent due to another little hiker due in April, #4 on the list. :)
 
Congrats on the upcoming new arrival, Bobby! One more little one to help you carry your pack, right??? ;)
 
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