Mount Lafayette (Failed Attempt) via Skookumchuck January 19th

[ImYourHuckleberry]

Sunday was an amazing day in the Whites, but unfortunately I got spanked on the Skook. The forecast was for warm temps, but it was even warmer than expected - mid 30s at the parking lot in the morning, and 15 on the ridgeline where the Skook meets Garfield Ridge Trail. (My turn back point.) The lower couple of miles up to the thigh master had just a couple of inches of fresh snow, but the higher I went the deeper the snow got. At first I thought perhaps Saturday night had dumped more than expected at elevation, but now I think the trail just hadn't been broken out in a bit. Anyway, nobody was ahead of me and I didn't see anybody else all day, so I broke trail myself to the ridge. I ran behind schedule due to filming, breaking trail, and some small route finding difficulties that consumed some time up high where the trail was very difficult to follow in a few spots. Apologies if you follow my tracks and find yourself off trail for short bits.

It's really a shame that I couldn't make the summit, because it was relatively mild (15 at the treeline) and calm, with an amazing overcast and undercast. But it was a bit too late when I made it up to treeline, and frankly, I was running out of gas. There is always next time I suppose. I've been on Lafayette at least 20 times as well, which takes a bit of the sting out of it.

 

[NHChris]

I think winter hiking, esp breaking trail, is at lease 50% more strenuous than summer hiking.

I assume you were on snowshoes. It’s a different world above 3k feet.

Check out Steve Smith’s weekly walk get an idea of snow depths at various altitudes and exposures,

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

I think winter hiking, esp breaking trail, is at lease 50% more strenuous than summer hiking.

I assume you were on snowshoes. It’s a different world above 3k feet.

Check out Steve Smith’s weekly walk get an idea of snow depths at various altitudes and exposures,

I started without snowshoes, which I think was the right decision. But I finally put them on probably a bit later than I should have, which for some reason I always do. And despite what Seth says to the contrary, filming adds not insignificantly to the workload imo.

 

[Rhody Seth]

And despite what Seth says to the contrary, filming adds not insignificantly to the workload imo.

Hehe, it's like anything. You become more efficient with practice.

 

[NHChris]

I think Seth has an invisible companion who takes those sequences of him walking toward or away from the camera. Amazing!

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

I think Seth has an invisible companion who takes those sequences of him walking toward or away from the camera. Amazing!

Despite his claiming otherwise, it's pure grunt work. I'm sure the setting up and breaking down gets more efficient over time, but I don't see any way around going back and forth over the same ground. Even a follow drone can't create quite the same shot imo. And of course, they can't be used in much of the areas people want to film these activities.

On my Lafayette hike, I had to film the footage climbing to the ridge 2x because I forgot to hit record the first time I descended down out of sight to film the scene. I also broke my selfie stick/monopod base relatively early in the hike, and spent some time trying to fix it before wondering if the gimbal base uses the same size screw - which it did! Combine that with filming several other scenes that required covering the same ground multiple times, breaking trail myself which included encountering some route finding issues, and just general time spent futzing around to set up easier shots, and I ran out of time and energy.

So yeah, better efficiency will help. Maybe better planning and filming less down low and more up high where the payoff is, but also - getting really really fit instead of just decently fit. I think that is Seth's secret - the man is a beast as far as I can tell.

 

[Rhody Seth]

I'm no beast, just a simple man. Probably found the sweet spot in terms of efficiency. Watching your video, you walked pretty far from the camera. No wonder you're tired! That shot at 07:11 - you went up a ways!

Also here's one of my tricks - sometimes the footage of me coming back to get the camera ends up being used later in the video.

 

[maineguy]

Sunday was an amazing day in the Whites, but unfortunately I got spanked on the Skook. The forecast was for warm temps, but it was even warmer than expected - mid 30s at the parking lot in the morning, and 15 on the ridgeline where the Skook meets Garfield Ridge Trail. (My turn back point.) The lower couple of miles up to the thigh master had just a couple of inches of fresh snow, but the higher I went the deeper the snow got. At first I thought perhaps Saturday night had dumped more than expected at elevation, but now I think the trail just hadn't been broken out in a bit. Anyway, nobody was ahead of me and I didn't see anybody else all day, so I broke trail myself to the ridge. I ran behind schedule due to filming, breaking trail, and some small route finding difficulties that consumed some time up high where the trail was very difficult to follow in a few spots. Apologies if you follow my tracks and find yourself off trail for short bits.

It's really a shame that I couldn't make the summit, because it was relatively mild (15 at the treeline) and calm, with an amazing overcast and undercast. But it was a bit too late when I made it up to treeline, and frankly, I was running out of gas. There is always next time I suppose. I've been on Lafayette at least 20 times as well, which takes a bit of the sting out of it.

Great report and pics. The Skook was one of my favorite trails. I would often use it to reach the ridge and then ascend to North Lafayette, forgoing Lafayette entirely. The view is pretty similar and I would have the place to myself for as long as I wanted.