Lion’s Head, CT, Overnighter - plowing away at the AT

[yam]

Started our trip on the AT at the junction of Highway 7 & 112 in Connecticut on Friday morning. It was beautiful but crisp weather. This part of the hike (we were hiking north) included Great Falls, and boy was that waterfall just gushing!! It was incredible and the snow around it and the hoar on the river trees were beautiful. We plowed along, hitting Rand’s View. Rand’s View was such a surprise to me…I wasn’t expecting such an opening on the trail -- we stood on the edge of a field of snow and saw the mountains to the north of us. It was breathtaking. There was some snow on the trail, making it a bit slippery, but not too bad. We stayed at Plateau Campsite that night, but no fires were allowed. It was 16* at 9 pm….not sure how cold it ended up dropping to that night.

We awoke to snow falling, which was quite a surprise since the forecast had called for 0 precipitation. Got our tents and backpacks together by 9:30 am (it was tough to get out of our warm sleeping bags!) and hit the trail. Went up Lion’s Head but weren’t able to see anything due to the snow and being so socked in. After hiking past Giant’s Thumb (that was pretty cool) we hit some crazy trail conditions. The laurels were hanging over the trail, heavy w/ snow and the trail itself had about 6 inches of snow on it. It almost looked as though no one had been through there in weeks….it was a winter wonderland but very exhausting, I was glad I wasn‘t the trail blazer.

We finished our hike up by heading off the AT on the Undermountain Trail. That trail was well used so we almost sprinted the last 2 miles since it seemed so easy.

Great first overnight winter trip! Can’t wait to hit Bear Mountain next (trying to section hike the northeastern AT).
Pics (wished I'd gotten more):
Lion's Head/AT pics

 

[LenDawg]

Awesome pics... sounds like a great Winterland adventure. Enjoy Bear Mountain... I'm sure that is beautiful this time of the year!

 

[Artex]

Great trip report and pics! I think I've told you before, but I used to live right next to Bear Mountain. Right across the river in Peekskill to be exact.

Glad you had fun.

 

[poison ivy]

Neat to see Lion's Head with snow on top of it! Rand's view is a magical place -- I got there (on my first trip) early in the morning and surprised a flock of turkey vultures who scattered racing all along that field.

Enjoy Bear Mountain!

- Ivy

 

[Pennsy]

Sweet pics and nice trip report Yammy. I had a lot of fun and looking forward to the Bear Mt installment.
Here's my few pics from the trip

 

[bobandgeri]

Wow - kewl photos! Didn't expect to see those conditions in CT for some reason.

 

[EarthNsky]

Great pics Yam and Pennsy and awesome TR Yam!

This was the first cold trip for many of us. It's been a warm fall in PA this year and the temps in the teens felt extra cold. THe first winter trip always feels colder than the rest though. None the less, it was a great trip. The views that we had were awesome, with Rand's view being the best. Bear Mountain really dominates the view, but Greylock stands out in the distant background. The snowwy winterscapes were awesome. I loved hiking through the hemlock forests where the snow was resting on the tree limbs. The snow gave off a bluish hue, which made the scenery really colorful.

I had a great time!

Here are my pics from the trip.

 

[cbcbd]

Awesome TR!
Reading your report kind of completes my weekend

Saturday my girl and I headed over to Bear Mtn. We went up the Undermountain and after checking out Laurel Ridge (in MA) we decided to sleep at Sages Ravine. That morning I saw the AT going South from the Undermountain trail and it was blowdown city with tons of snow. I went south a bit to check it out and turned back... maybe you saw my prints

Looks like you guys had an awesome time. It was beautiful in Northern CT this past weekend. A Winter wonderland indeed!!

 

[alpinista]

Beautiful shots, everyone! I love that section of the AT! It was awesome to see it snowing on Thanksgiving, though around the Hartford area, it was mostly gone by the next day with that bright sun.

 

[yam]

Wow - kewl photos! Didn't expect to see those conditions in CT for some reason.

B&G - i felt the same way!! not sure why, either...



cbcbd --
could you see any views on bear mountain saturday?

 

[MEB]

Yam, way to go on your first winter overnight trip!! Looks like you all had a real fun time...I can't believe all the snow!


-MEB

 

[sapblatt]

Congrats on your first winter overnight - it is even snowing in the south (CT)!

 

[cbcbd]

cbcbd --
could you see any views on bear mountain saturday?

Yep! We were at the top at around 11:30am. We could see the Twin Lakes, Mount Everett to the North, Prospect/Lion's Head to the South... It was a little bit chilly at the top but really not bad at all. The snow that morning was a real treat.

Sunday morning Cave Dog left from the Undermountain trailhead to do his CT section for his 50km in 50 states... it would've been cool to meet him and join him, but I was cozy and a little far in my sleeping bag

 

[Chip]

Started our trip on the AT at the junction of Highway 7 & 112 in Connecticut on Friday morning. It was beautiful but crisp weather. This part of the hike (we were hiking north) included Great Falls, and boy was that waterfall just gushing!! It was incredible and the snow around it and the hoar on the river trees were beautiful. We plowed along, hitting Rand’s View. Rand’s View was such a surprise to me…I wasn’t expecting such an opening on the trail -- we stood on the edge of a field of snow and saw the mountains to the north of us. It was breathtaking. There was some snow on the trail, making it a bit slippery, but not too bad. We stayed at Plateau Campsite that night, but no fires were allowed. It was 16* at 9 pm….not sure how cold it ended up dropping to that night.

We awoke to snow falling, which was quite a surprise since the forecast had called for 0 precipitation. Got our tents and backpacks together by 9:30 am (it was tough to get out of our warm sleeping bags!) and hit the trail. Went up Lion’s Head but weren’t able to see anything due to the snow and being so socked in. After hiking past Giant’s Thumb (that was pretty cool) we hit some crazy trail conditions. The laurels were hanging over the trail, heavy w/ snow and the trail itself had about 6 inches of snow on it. It almost looked as though no one had been through there in weeks….it was a winter wonderland but very exhausting, I was glad I wasn‘t the trail blazer.

We finished our hike up by heading off the AT on the Undermountain Trail. That trail was well used so we almost sprinted the last 2 miles since it seemed so easy.

Great first overnight winter trip! Can’t wait to hit Bear Mountain next (trying to section hike the northeastern AT).
Pics (wished I'd gotten more):
Lion's Head/AT pics

Yam and company; I posted this invitation for an early March outing planned in the area; http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10266
If you are interested, just let me know.

 

[jjo]

That seems early for snow for Conn. Seems you had fun...Great report and good pics! Thanks

 

[the starchild]

lucky y'all!

daaaaang!!!!! you come to my state and get to enjoy all that snow and here in hartford all i get is a thanksgiving morning walk along the river with the sun out!!!!
the sun and snow was cool, but then too much of the too little snow that fell melted

glad it was a fun trip, nice photos too!!