DSettahr
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- Apr 23, 2005
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Climbed McKenzie Mountain this morning from the Ray Brook trail head. Arrived at the trail head at about 2:30 am to find about an inch to an inch and a half of snow. Most of the muddy spots on the trail were pretty well frozen over. Snow depth at the junction with the Jackrabbit Trail was about 2-3 inches. The trail immediately above the junction had some wet spots that had not frozen over yet, but they ended as soon as the steep climb began. Some icy spots, but we were able to get up (and down) them fine without using crampons.
With all of the recent snow, the trail past the 1st summit was somewhat hard to follow- all of the trees were bent over from the weight. The snow depth at the 5th summit, the true peak, was about 5-6 inches. The climb down from the 4th summit was somewhat icy, but nothing too difficult. We made it to the summit right as the sun was rising, but the view was somewhat obscured by clouds. On the way back down, however, the sun broke through and provided some nice views from the lookouts on the lower peaks. A nice change from last friday when I went up McKenzie in the pouring rain- we had about 15 feet of visibility from the top.
Got back to the car around 11:00- the hike took us eight and a half hours, a little bit longer than expected. Would've been quicker to do it from the Whiteface Inn, but my friend had never been up the trail from Ray Brook.
With all of the recent snow, the trail past the 1st summit was somewhat hard to follow- all of the trees were bent over from the weight. The snow depth at the 5th summit, the true peak, was about 5-6 inches. The climb down from the 4th summit was somewhat icy, but nothing too difficult. We made it to the summit right as the sun was rising, but the view was somewhat obscured by clouds. On the way back down, however, the sun broke through and provided some nice views from the lookouts on the lower peaks. A nice change from last friday when I went up McKenzie in the pouring rain- we had about 15 feet of visibility from the top.
Got back to the car around 11:00- the hike took us eight and a half hours, a little bit longer than expected. Would've been quicker to do it from the Whiteface Inn, but my friend had never been up the trail from Ray Brook.
