BIGEarl
Well-known member
January 20, 2011: Moosilauke
Trails: Glencliff Trail, Carriage Road
Summits: Moosilauke
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
In case there are others out there that have never checked; driving from the south to the Glencliff trailhead is 16 miles shorter if Route 25 from Plymouth is used instead of Routes 112/118 from Lincoln. Also, Route 118 is really rough in winter.
The drive to Glencliff was generally great (except for Route 118). All of the way north after Plymouth we were treated to views of exposed summits. Franconia Ridge and Kinsman Ridge were in the clear. We were both pretty happy to see the conditions we had. After a couple side trips along the way we arrived to the trailhead lot a little later than planned for a hike to Moosilauke. Again, this trailhead lot was completely empty and the trail obscured by fresh snow. We grabbed our things and set off. As we made our way between the fields that are at the start of the hike I noticed a developing condition that had me concerned.
We were aware of the predicted weather conditions for the area and it looked like we might have a problem. The top couple hundred feet of Moosilauke had become obscured by the clouds and judging by their movement the wind was coming across the summit very strong. We considered bailing in favor of a Plan B – but to go with an alternate that late in the day would have been difficult. We decided to continue with the hike knowing we might need to turn back before reaching the summit. Twice in one week would have been tough to take.
The trail was covered in roughly two inches of powder at the start. The trail passing through the field had a very weak base and there was little support for our snowshoes. When we reached the edge of the second field where Glencliff Trail heads into the hardwoods the trail was much firmer and making progress was easier. Sue led the way for the first third of the hike. The trail was covered with fresh snow but its route was obvious and we had no trouble staying on-trail. As we climbed the sky slowly became clouded and finally completely overcast. Our concerns for the conditions above grew but we still had no wind on the trail and thought everything would work out.
Roughly a third of the way into the hike Sue needed to take a break and I stepped out in front to lead. The trail has very little ice and the traction was pretty good to this point. Eventually, the depth of new snow increased to a point where it was almost necessary to kick each step in order to set our snowshoes for a bite on the trail. Traction became very difficult. Roughly two-thirds of the way to the junction with Carriage Road, Sue stepped back out in front to show me how it’s done.
We were a short distance below the steep climb leading to the junction and the new snow was generally at ~six inches. In a couple sections there was drifting that ran one to two feet. Slowly we both sometimes used all four to make progress to the ridge. Each time we rounded a turn in the trail we were looking at another steep section. Finally, the trees got smaller, the trail steepness moderated, and we past the spur to South Peak arriving at the junction with Carriage Road.
By this point it was clear the conditions leading to the summit were not going to be pleasant. We both layered up, added head gear, and warmer mittens. Loaded with everything we had for such an occasion we set off for the treeline and then the summit.
Hiking Carriage Road through the scrub leading to the treeline involved a number of pretty good sized drifts. Most were very supportive but a couple only hid spruce traps and were soft enough to make me pay attention to where I stepped. Along the way I managed to mark several spruce traps. This wasn’t a very enjoyable part of the hike.
We hit the treeline and the wind hit us. According to weather history it looks like the conditions we had were roughly zero degrees and a westerly wind of ~35 mph. Almost everything was covered and the combined wind and cold wasn’t a problem. Eventually I realized a painful area on the left side of my forehead was developing. I called to Sue and let her know I was stopping for my goggles. Sue continued to the next cairn, hid behind it to be sheltered from the wind, and dug her goggles out as well.
Well, boys and girls – as we all know, windchill applies to exposed skin and now we didn’t have any.
Back to the task at hand. We needed to keep track of cairns. The summit area was generally clouded in with very limited visibility. The good news was we could always see a couple cairns, occasionally more. We had no real problem in reaching the summit. A short distance below the actual summit Sue stopped and told me we were only going to use one camera for summit shots; get a set of pictures and get out. We were both comfortable but it wouldn’t be hard to become uncomfortable. We made the summit, got our pictures, and got moving back out the way we came in.
As we made our exit hike the conditions became very interesting. The cloud cover was still blowing through at a very high rate but the combination of low sun and thinner clouds made for an interesting environment. I managed to get a few interesting pictures on our exit from the summit.
We made it back to the treeline and found some shelter in the scrub. Regrouped, we continued to the Glencliff – Carriage Road trails junction. There, we stopped for quick refreshment, to delayer, grab our headlights since they would be needed before we reached the trailhead, and generally get ready for a fun snowshoe descent from Moosilauke.
The trip back down the steep section that was very difficult to climb was real fun. We enjoyed a lot of snowshoe sliding along the way. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and this was no different. We reached the bottom of the steep section and were left with a couple miles for an after-dark snowshoe hike on a terrific trail covered in loose powder with no wind and comfortable temperature. That was easy to take. We made our way back to the trailhead, loaded our things into the truck and prepared to hit the highway south. Before we started to drive away Sue made a comment about how much more enjoyable the end of a hike is if you don’t freeze your hands while packing to go.
We backed around and were on our way.
Thanks Sue, another one is in the books and it was a good one. Still having a good vacation?
Pictures will follow.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Glencliff Trail, Carriage Road
Summits: Moosilauke
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
In case there are others out there that have never checked; driving from the south to the Glencliff trailhead is 16 miles shorter if Route 25 from Plymouth is used instead of Routes 112/118 from Lincoln. Also, Route 118 is really rough in winter.
The drive to Glencliff was generally great (except for Route 118). All of the way north after Plymouth we were treated to views of exposed summits. Franconia Ridge and Kinsman Ridge were in the clear. We were both pretty happy to see the conditions we had. After a couple side trips along the way we arrived to the trailhead lot a little later than planned for a hike to Moosilauke. Again, this trailhead lot was completely empty and the trail obscured by fresh snow. We grabbed our things and set off. As we made our way between the fields that are at the start of the hike I noticed a developing condition that had me concerned.
We were aware of the predicted weather conditions for the area and it looked like we might have a problem. The top couple hundred feet of Moosilauke had become obscured by the clouds and judging by their movement the wind was coming across the summit very strong. We considered bailing in favor of a Plan B – but to go with an alternate that late in the day would have been difficult. We decided to continue with the hike knowing we might need to turn back before reaching the summit. Twice in one week would have been tough to take.
The trail was covered in roughly two inches of powder at the start. The trail passing through the field had a very weak base and there was little support for our snowshoes. When we reached the edge of the second field where Glencliff Trail heads into the hardwoods the trail was much firmer and making progress was easier. Sue led the way for the first third of the hike. The trail was covered with fresh snow but its route was obvious and we had no trouble staying on-trail. As we climbed the sky slowly became clouded and finally completely overcast. Our concerns for the conditions above grew but we still had no wind on the trail and thought everything would work out.
Roughly a third of the way into the hike Sue needed to take a break and I stepped out in front to lead. The trail has very little ice and the traction was pretty good to this point. Eventually, the depth of new snow increased to a point where it was almost necessary to kick each step in order to set our snowshoes for a bite on the trail. Traction became very difficult. Roughly two-thirds of the way to the junction with Carriage Road, Sue stepped back out in front to show me how it’s done.
We were a short distance below the steep climb leading to the junction and the new snow was generally at ~six inches. In a couple sections there was drifting that ran one to two feet. Slowly we both sometimes used all four to make progress to the ridge. Each time we rounded a turn in the trail we were looking at another steep section. Finally, the trees got smaller, the trail steepness moderated, and we past the spur to South Peak arriving at the junction with Carriage Road.
By this point it was clear the conditions leading to the summit were not going to be pleasant. We both layered up, added head gear, and warmer mittens. Loaded with everything we had for such an occasion we set off for the treeline and then the summit.
Hiking Carriage Road through the scrub leading to the treeline involved a number of pretty good sized drifts. Most were very supportive but a couple only hid spruce traps and were soft enough to make me pay attention to where I stepped. Along the way I managed to mark several spruce traps. This wasn’t a very enjoyable part of the hike.
We hit the treeline and the wind hit us. According to weather history it looks like the conditions we had were roughly zero degrees and a westerly wind of ~35 mph. Almost everything was covered and the combined wind and cold wasn’t a problem. Eventually I realized a painful area on the left side of my forehead was developing. I called to Sue and let her know I was stopping for my goggles. Sue continued to the next cairn, hid behind it to be sheltered from the wind, and dug her goggles out as well.
Well, boys and girls – as we all know, windchill applies to exposed skin and now we didn’t have any.
Back to the task at hand. We needed to keep track of cairns. The summit area was generally clouded in with very limited visibility. The good news was we could always see a couple cairns, occasionally more. We had no real problem in reaching the summit. A short distance below the actual summit Sue stopped and told me we were only going to use one camera for summit shots; get a set of pictures and get out. We were both comfortable but it wouldn’t be hard to become uncomfortable. We made the summit, got our pictures, and got moving back out the way we came in.
As we made our exit hike the conditions became very interesting. The cloud cover was still blowing through at a very high rate but the combination of low sun and thinner clouds made for an interesting environment. I managed to get a few interesting pictures on our exit from the summit.
We made it back to the treeline and found some shelter in the scrub. Regrouped, we continued to the Glencliff – Carriage Road trails junction. There, we stopped for quick refreshment, to delayer, grab our headlights since they would be needed before we reached the trailhead, and generally get ready for a fun snowshoe descent from Moosilauke.
The trip back down the steep section that was very difficult to climb was real fun. We enjoyed a lot of snowshoe sliding along the way. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and this was no different. We reached the bottom of the steep section and were left with a couple miles for an after-dark snowshoe hike on a terrific trail covered in loose powder with no wind and comfortable temperature. That was easy to take. We made our way back to the trailhead, loaded our things into the truck and prepared to hit the highway south. Before we started to drive away Sue made a comment about how much more enjoyable the end of a hike is if you don’t freeze your hands while packing to go.
We backed around and were on our way.
Thanks Sue, another one is in the books and it was a good one. Still having a good vacation?
Pictures will follow.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
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