Jazzbo
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- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
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After recent cold snap, forecast predicted temps would moderate on Saturday. We still packed gear for frigid temps just in case making for abnormally heavy packs. We were on trail and hiking by 9:30 a bit late, but it was good to get the extra sleep. The air was relatively still in the normally windy parking lot at Lafayette Lincoln TH. There were maybe 8 cars in the lot, much less than usual.
We met one fellow in the parking lot who was planning to camp out in the old foundation hole on Lafayette. Wow!! We headed up Falling Waters trail planning to tag Lincoln and probably return the way we came, with possibility if conditions were good going on to Lafayette. The two of us traded places back and forth with another party of three. We caught up with the overnight camper just before the summit ridge. Not much traffic for such a popular trail.
We started out with stabilicers and wore them all the way to summit ridge. We encountered couple of tricky spots on brook section of the trail but nothing too difficult. Falling Waters Trail features some nice ice formations. Finally there are ice bridges!!! Snow was still none too deep ranging from 5 to 8”. Snow looked like it had been around awhile with birch seeds etc. Up on summit ridge there was some fresher snow and trees were blanketed but we never needed to knock snow off branches or anything like that. Not a single blowdown. Not even cut ones that were cut. Footing was great whole way above the brook.
Winds were moderate maybe 20-30 mph in most exposed areas of ridge. Temps were cold, but not terrible. We donned our crampons at Haystack summit and kept them on for most of remainder of the hike. I was able to remove gloves and take snapshots with only my liner on with out fear of instantaneous frostbite. I got by with my regular fleece hat and my jacket hood up. My balaclava and goggles stayed in pack although I might just as well have used it too. Some people were wearing them. Some had their goggles on as well. Conditions were just radical enough to make me aware of exposure. We started seeing more hikers up on ridge.
Trip was 8 miles RT with approx. 3500 feet elevation gain. 6.5 hours RT. Not bad time for a couple of old farts. One of my longer walks above tree line in marginal conditions. Good test for my winter gear.
Pics are here.
We met one fellow in the parking lot who was planning to camp out in the old foundation hole on Lafayette. Wow!! We headed up Falling Waters trail planning to tag Lincoln and probably return the way we came, with possibility if conditions were good going on to Lafayette. The two of us traded places back and forth with another party of three. We caught up with the overnight camper just before the summit ridge. Not much traffic for such a popular trail.
We started out with stabilicers and wore them all the way to summit ridge. We encountered couple of tricky spots on brook section of the trail but nothing too difficult. Falling Waters Trail features some nice ice formations. Finally there are ice bridges!!! Snow was still none too deep ranging from 5 to 8”. Snow looked like it had been around awhile with birch seeds etc. Up on summit ridge there was some fresher snow and trees were blanketed but we never needed to knock snow off branches or anything like that. Not a single blowdown. Not even cut ones that were cut. Footing was great whole way above the brook.
Winds were moderate maybe 20-30 mph in most exposed areas of ridge. Temps were cold, but not terrible. We donned our crampons at Haystack summit and kept them on for most of remainder of the hike. I was able to remove gloves and take snapshots with only my liner on with out fear of instantaneous frostbite. I got by with my regular fleece hat and my jacket hood up. My balaclava and goggles stayed in pack although I might just as well have used it too. Some people were wearing them. Some had their goggles on as well. Conditions were just radical enough to make me aware of exposure. We started seeing more hikers up on ridge.
Trip was 8 miles RT with approx. 3500 feet elevation gain. 6.5 hours RT. Not bad time for a couple of old farts. One of my longer walks above tree line in marginal conditions. Good test for my winter gear.
Pics are here.
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