Monadnock 2/16 & 2/17

[MonadnockVol]

Saturday was sunny and cold, Sunday was cloudy, warmer and windy. See my report for 2/16 under trail conditions. Both days saw lots of hikers flocking to one of the most climbed mountains in the U.S. Sunday there were more accidents on Poole Road (the access road) than on the mountain as people without all-wheel drive and snow tires slipped sideways into banks on the icy pavement. The photos give you an idea of the conditions high on the mountain. The hiker shown is VFTT member DaveSunRa. We figured that out without either one of us having to say "alligator egg" (for those who remember that thread).

- Monadnock Volunteer (sjc)

 

[Early Bird]

Wow! Great pictures. All of that ice had melted off on Monday with the warm temps and rain. Traction was still a must. I went with Stabilicers to start and switched to crampons near the Smith Connecting Trail. Slush was everywhere, in many places there was ice under the slush, but much of the summit was bare rock again. Lots of water on the descent of White Cross.
I hiked White Dot to Smith Connecting east to Red Spot to Pumpelly and down White Cross.

 

[DaveSunRa]

Too bad the ice melted off. Saturday was a blast playing on the ice. Had some good entertainment watching people in sneaker type of boots without traction trying to climb on the ice. It was like watching the TV show ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’.

Steve, it was nice running into on the Monadnock.

Dave

 

[MonadnockVol]

Thanks

Wow! Great pictures. All of that ice had melted off on Monday with the warm temps and rain. Traction was still a must. I went with Stabilicers to start and switched to crampons near the Smith Connecting Trail. Slush was everywhere, in many places there was ice under the slush, but much of the summit was bare rock again. Lots of water on the descent of White Cross.

I'm glad you like the pictures. I went up Thursday afternoon and was shocked at how much snow cover had been washed away in the rain (see my trail conditions report for 2/21). Of course, we're in the middle of a big storm right now so who knows what it will be like for Saturday.

Which reminds me, I had better head out and shovel the driveway.

- Steve

 

[leaf]

Thanks for posting, I'm going up this weekend.

 

[kerry13]

The pictures are beautiful. We were up there last saturday also and it was beautiful. There have been some beautiful weekends on the ole Grand Dame this year. It is ashame that all the ice is gone. It was a lot of fun. Some places the ice had to be 3 inches thick. One guy we met described it like hiking on a big glazed donut. I guess it doesn't take long when the warm air and rain hits. We witnessed several groups trying to negotiate the summit cone with bareboots and even trail runners. We tried to dissuade those who obviously were unprepared. Most just blew us off, a few of the smart ones hit Paradise Valley, saw what lay ahead and turned around.

For those who were up there after the rain, what was the condition of Poole Road this week? Is the ice gone and has the road been widened at all? I'm heading up sunday but may opt for another trailhead if the road in has not improved much. Thanks.

 

[MonadnockVol]

Poole Road is fine

I just got back from the Mountain and the roads are fine (also see my trail conditions report for 2/23). Happy hiking.

 

[WinterWarlock]

Those second two pictures don't even look real - like something from another planet...really nicely captured! Thanks for sharing those - wicked cool.