hikersinger
Member
Route: Glencliff trail to Carriage Road, very nearly up to Moosilauke summit; also took the spur path and summited South Peak
Conditions: mostly powder from trailhead to summit, unbroken; 6-8" powder down low, snow drifts up to 4 feet especially just under the Carriage Road junction
Equipment used: snowshoes, all the way
Time: started shortly after 8am, returned by 1:40pm
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/248680610
When the higher summit forecasts call for conditions like they did today (negative single digit temps, wind chills in the -20s, winds of 80-95 mph with gusts over 100), I usually don't hesitate to pick a lower summit with little or no above-treeline travel. But the opportunity presented itself to join a colleague of mine on a hike up Moosilauke, a peak he's done over 100 times, and several times the past several months.
I had little or no expectation of summiting, but merely wanted to try it and see how far we could get.
As expected, Glencliff was unbroken, with 6-8" powder at the lower elevations. Thankfully my colleague knew the route well, as the trail was a little hard to follow at times. The strong winds howled above nearly from the beginning, so we knew we were in for interesting conditions up higher.
The going was labored but straightforward up to the steeper stretch before the ridge crest at the Carriage Road junction. That final stretch threw snow drifts of 3-4 feet at us, making for slower going. Once up to the junction, we added layers and fueled/hydrated before the summit push.
Carriage Road had its own drifts, though nothing like the stretch before - maybe up to 2 feet, usually less. Along the road, saw some interesting, relatively fresh tracks which eventually led off the trail to the left -- three distinct holes to each print, two in front and one in back, each hole about 2-3" in diameter; just a single print every 3-4 feet. Ideas? There was no sign of any human traffic, as we were breaking trail the whole time.
As we reached treeline, we began to feel the full force of the wind; very strong sustained winds, easily causing you to lose balance. Had to lean quite forcefully into the wind to stay upright.
The summit with its sign post lay ahead no more than 100 yards (couldn't quite tell for sure but the sign itself didn't appear to be attached). At this point, with just a couple cairns ahead before the summit, we encountered even stronger winds, pushing us off our feet. We knew it would be worse just steps away as the summit lay in the path of sustained winds coming from the west; a frightening possibility. We made the easy (tough) decision to turn around since we didn't want to chance being lifted up off our feet and falling and breaking bones, heads, etc. (My colleague experienced being lifted up off his feet on this very peak, at about this very point, in the past.)
Back down to the junction, met up with four guys who just came up Glencliff (thanks for further packing the trail!). We related our experience above treeline and suggested they be very careful. They opted to summit the South Peak. A group of two guys who were behind us at the beginning of the day decided to descend before the steep stretch.
While the 4802' summit eluded us this time, it was a good day for learning and experiencing the best a New England 4K summit has to offer in winter.
Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10153062361343724
Conditions: mostly powder from trailhead to summit, unbroken; 6-8" powder down low, snow drifts up to 4 feet especially just under the Carriage Road junction
Equipment used: snowshoes, all the way
Time: started shortly after 8am, returned by 1:40pm
Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/248680610
When the higher summit forecasts call for conditions like they did today (negative single digit temps, wind chills in the -20s, winds of 80-95 mph with gusts over 100), I usually don't hesitate to pick a lower summit with little or no above-treeline travel. But the opportunity presented itself to join a colleague of mine on a hike up Moosilauke, a peak he's done over 100 times, and several times the past several months.
I had little or no expectation of summiting, but merely wanted to try it and see how far we could get.
As expected, Glencliff was unbroken, with 6-8" powder at the lower elevations. Thankfully my colleague knew the route well, as the trail was a little hard to follow at times. The strong winds howled above nearly from the beginning, so we knew we were in for interesting conditions up higher.
The going was labored but straightforward up to the steeper stretch before the ridge crest at the Carriage Road junction. That final stretch threw snow drifts of 3-4 feet at us, making for slower going. Once up to the junction, we added layers and fueled/hydrated before the summit push.
Carriage Road had its own drifts, though nothing like the stretch before - maybe up to 2 feet, usually less. Along the road, saw some interesting, relatively fresh tracks which eventually led off the trail to the left -- three distinct holes to each print, two in front and one in back, each hole about 2-3" in diameter; just a single print every 3-4 feet. Ideas? There was no sign of any human traffic, as we were breaking trail the whole time.
As we reached treeline, we began to feel the full force of the wind; very strong sustained winds, easily causing you to lose balance. Had to lean quite forcefully into the wind to stay upright.
The summit with its sign post lay ahead no more than 100 yards (couldn't quite tell for sure but the sign itself didn't appear to be attached). At this point, with just a couple cairns ahead before the summit, we encountered even stronger winds, pushing us off our feet. We knew it would be worse just steps away as the summit lay in the path of sustained winds coming from the west; a frightening possibility. We made the easy (tough) decision to turn around since we didn't want to chance being lifted up off our feet and falling and breaking bones, heads, etc. (My colleague experienced being lifted up off his feet on this very peak, at about this very point, in the past.)
Back down to the junction, met up with four guys who just came up Glencliff (thanks for further packing the trail!). We related our experience above treeline and suggested they be very careful. They opted to summit the South Peak. A group of two guys who were behind us at the beginning of the day decided to descend before the steep stretch.
While the 4802' summit eluded us this time, it was a good day for learning and experiencing the best a New England 4K summit has to offer in winter.
Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10153062361343724
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