grouseking
Well-known member
I will call this trip report 'Microblizzard' because there was a small scale blizzard going on in very isolated locations in the Whites Saturday....not to mention the summit. This was my first winter 4K and my 14th overall and it lived up to almost all my expectations...minus the view. I can deal with that...I'll just go for the views on a pleasant day.
The day started out with a few flurries down in Plymouth and it transitioned into a steady snow with gusty winds by the time we (mattlacroix and I) hit Franc. Notch. It looked like there was almost a foot of snow on the ground but we wern't sure because of the drifting. By the time we made it to US 302, the snow was easily falling at 1-2 inches per hour and there was at least 12 inches on the ground. All of this before the hike....
My gear for the day...three layers...and a heavy duty winter jacket to go along with a hat and gloves. Latt let me use one of his face masks before we hit treeline. Temps were in the lower teens at the start of the hike so I expected lower single numbers by the time we hit the summit. I brought along my camera, 4 bottles of water, some trailmix and other small snacks to keep me going. I almost brought my new crampons, but there was so much snow, I decided against it and made the correct choice. My snowshoes did the trick. Thankfully the trail was broken out already so that made it easier.
There were two major highlights in this trip. Number one....the snow! It was draped gracefully on trees and drifted in every conceivable direction whenever there was an area of opening for the wind. I was completely in awe of the snow everywhere...which made me stroll up the trail at a very leisurely pace. It took almost 3 hours to summit Pierce, but I can imagine that it would have been quicker in more boring conditions. I was taking pictures left and right. I figured that I might as well take pics of the snow since there would be no view
.
The second highlight.....the taste of above treeline magic! As we emerged from the scrub the wind picked up drastically to 35 mph sustained with higher gusts and we were suddenly wading thru occasionally deep drifts...up to 5 feet. After struggling thru a mix of deep snow and occasional ice, we stumbled upon the junction of the Crawford Path and where we would turn to tag the summit of Pierce. Only problem is, we couldn't see the trail. We knew the summit had to be just up the little hill, but the snow had whipped across the summit area and obscured anything that resemled a trail. Thankfully it isnt a large area, and its not too hard to get lost there...at least yesterday. We just walked up the hill a little bit and happened upon the trail just before the summit cairn. At the summit, the wind died down thanks to a little bit of shelter so I got a good pic of myself tagging number 14, first in winter. Then the fun part began....walking back into the wind. I'd say winds were approaching 60 mph and the rime was forming on my eyebrows and eyelashes. That made it extraordinarily difficult to see but thankfully we followed the trail down easily down to the Crawford Path this time. Then it took a few minutes to find the correct way to go to get back into protection. I blame not having goggles, cause I just couldnt see! Looks like I'll be getting some of those soon.
Anyways, soon we treked back under treeline and took a quick break for a high five. It was by far some of the worst, yet most awesome weather I have ever experienced in such a short time...and I loved every minute of it, despite the near frost bite around my eyes. I now know the limits to 5 degree weather and 40+ mph sustained winds with snow and ice pellets pelting my face. It is amazing how the adrenalin kicks in when that crazy weather is battering you....I didn't feel cold or tired...and I was worried about both before the hike. I didn't actually feel cold until I made it back down to the junction with the Mizpah cutoff. So I just ate a few nibbles, drank some water, and continued down the mountain.
We started at 10:25 took many little breaks going up (oooing and awwwing the snow), summited at around 1:15, spent no more than one minute at the summit and then was back under treeline by 1:25, took at 15 minute break at the Mizpah cutoff junction and was at the bottom by 2:40pm for a total of 4 hr 15 minutes.
I can't think of much else to say right now. It was an awesome hike...but an easy one up to the summit...probably the easiest 4K I've ever hiked, even in rough conditions above treeline. I took pictures...tons of snow pics. If anyone is interested here they are!
Mt Pierce
grouseking
The day started out with a few flurries down in Plymouth and it transitioned into a steady snow with gusty winds by the time we (mattlacroix and I) hit Franc. Notch. It looked like there was almost a foot of snow on the ground but we wern't sure because of the drifting. By the time we made it to US 302, the snow was easily falling at 1-2 inches per hour and there was at least 12 inches on the ground. All of this before the hike....
My gear for the day...three layers...and a heavy duty winter jacket to go along with a hat and gloves. Latt let me use one of his face masks before we hit treeline. Temps were in the lower teens at the start of the hike so I expected lower single numbers by the time we hit the summit. I brought along my camera, 4 bottles of water, some trailmix and other small snacks to keep me going. I almost brought my new crampons, but there was so much snow, I decided against it and made the correct choice. My snowshoes did the trick. Thankfully the trail was broken out already so that made it easier.
There were two major highlights in this trip. Number one....the snow! It was draped gracefully on trees and drifted in every conceivable direction whenever there was an area of opening for the wind. I was completely in awe of the snow everywhere...which made me stroll up the trail at a very leisurely pace. It took almost 3 hours to summit Pierce, but I can imagine that it would have been quicker in more boring conditions. I was taking pictures left and right. I figured that I might as well take pics of the snow since there would be no view
.The second highlight.....the taste of above treeline magic! As we emerged from the scrub the wind picked up drastically to 35 mph sustained with higher gusts and we were suddenly wading thru occasionally deep drifts...up to 5 feet. After struggling thru a mix of deep snow and occasional ice, we stumbled upon the junction of the Crawford Path and where we would turn to tag the summit of Pierce. Only problem is, we couldn't see the trail. We knew the summit had to be just up the little hill, but the snow had whipped across the summit area and obscured anything that resemled a trail. Thankfully it isnt a large area, and its not too hard to get lost there...at least yesterday. We just walked up the hill a little bit and happened upon the trail just before the summit cairn. At the summit, the wind died down thanks to a little bit of shelter so I got a good pic of myself tagging number 14, first in winter. Then the fun part began....walking back into the wind. I'd say winds were approaching 60 mph and the rime was forming on my eyebrows and eyelashes. That made it extraordinarily difficult to see but thankfully we followed the trail down easily down to the Crawford Path this time. Then it took a few minutes to find the correct way to go to get back into protection. I blame not having goggles, cause I just couldnt see! Looks like I'll be getting some of those soon.
Anyways, soon we treked back under treeline and took a quick break for a high five. It was by far some of the worst, yet most awesome weather I have ever experienced in such a short time...and I loved every minute of it, despite the near frost bite around my eyes. I now know the limits to 5 degree weather and 40+ mph sustained winds with snow and ice pellets pelting my face. It is amazing how the adrenalin kicks in when that crazy weather is battering you....I didn't feel cold or tired...and I was worried about both before the hike. I didn't actually feel cold until I made it back down to the junction with the Mizpah cutoff. So I just ate a few nibbles, drank some water, and continued down the mountain.
We started at 10:25 took many little breaks going up (oooing and awwwing the snow), summited at around 1:15, spent no more than one minute at the summit and then was back under treeline by 1:25, took at 15 minute break at the Mizpah cutoff junction and was at the bottom by 2:40pm for a total of 4 hr 15 minutes.
I can't think of much else to say right now. It was an awesome hike...but an easy one up to the summit...probably the easiest 4K I've ever hiked, even in rough conditions above treeline. I took pictures...tons of snow pics. If anyone is interested here they are!
Mt Pierce
grouseking
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