Jazzbo
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 1,199
- Reaction score
- 171
January 15, 2006
Participated in AMC Winter Hike led by Doug and Bob. Bob was leader, but had to catch a plane the next day to attend a funeral and had to bow out. Trip was supposed to be up East Osceola and Mt Osceola, but weather was foul so we opted for trail more sheltered from the winds. Weather forecast was poor so many who originally signed up didn’t show. I started from Waltham MA at 4:30AM for 8:00AM meeting time. My drive was touch and go with the sleet and snow. I saw two jack knifed trailer trucks in Concord. The night before Doug kindly offered to meet me at Exit 23 Meredith NH as his 4-wheel drive pickup was better snow car than mine. We made it to the trailhead at about 8:20 where Bruce and Ross were waiting for us in their minivan. They’d been waiting about 15 minutes. Bruce was in process of taking the Winter Mountaineering program offered by AMC NH Chapter. Apparently Bob leads that program.
Doug thought wind would be a problem doing the Osceolas so we discussed alternate routes. We considered doing Cannon, but figured it would be really windy up there so we settled on Mt Tecumseh as it was sheltered most of the way up and was only bit over 4.5 milers RT.
We managed to park near the trailhead and started off at about 9:30AM wearing crampons for traction. Doug didn’t think we’d really need them to start with, but he knew the trail well enough to know it would be icy later. He was correct. Crampons were the way to go. There was maybe 3 inches of new snow on top of maybe 3 inches of old wet packed snow left over from warm weather of last week. During first mile of the 2.2-mile ascent snowballing was problem, but not bad enough where we couldn’t knock snowballs out of our crampons by rapping against a tree or rock. Trail leading to the ridge was steep with ice under new snow. Crampons made descending a breeze. Lot of Waterville's ski trails were closed. Lots of rocks showing and snow looked like white sludge.
About ¾ of way up to ridge top, we started getting blasted by pretty serious wind gusts. We saw many spruce trees broken off by similar gusts, not today but previously. We layered up. We encountered a few blow downs that were easily gotten around or over. As we approached the ridge top the wind got worse. On the ridge we found a sheltered spot to have a bite to eat and layer up some more. We proceeded to the summit where wind was really blowing at we guessed 50 mph. Fortunately we were in stunted spruces so we were spared the worst of it. We encountered a freak 18-24 inches deep snowdrift that went on for about 50 yards. It was overcast, but ceiling was high enough that all summits in Sandwich range were visible with only occasional minor clouds obscuring the views.
I have a bunch of new gear like a brand new pack, jacket, and new gloves and mittens that I haven’t gotten accustomed to yet. All in all this turned out to be a good low-risk opportunity to test out my gear in difficult weather. I still need to work out system for packing so I can put my hands on gear I need when I need it. I would have been a lot happier if I could have located my shell mittens to make the run for the summit. Looking forward to maybe doing Cannon with Doug and Mike next weekend to refine my system so I can go after more challenging stuff later in winter.
Participated in AMC Winter Hike led by Doug and Bob. Bob was leader, but had to catch a plane the next day to attend a funeral and had to bow out. Trip was supposed to be up East Osceola and Mt Osceola, but weather was foul so we opted for trail more sheltered from the winds. Weather forecast was poor so many who originally signed up didn’t show. I started from Waltham MA at 4:30AM for 8:00AM meeting time. My drive was touch and go with the sleet and snow. I saw two jack knifed trailer trucks in Concord. The night before Doug kindly offered to meet me at Exit 23 Meredith NH as his 4-wheel drive pickup was better snow car than mine. We made it to the trailhead at about 8:20 where Bruce and Ross were waiting for us in their minivan. They’d been waiting about 15 minutes. Bruce was in process of taking the Winter Mountaineering program offered by AMC NH Chapter. Apparently Bob leads that program.
Doug thought wind would be a problem doing the Osceolas so we discussed alternate routes. We considered doing Cannon, but figured it would be really windy up there so we settled on Mt Tecumseh as it was sheltered most of the way up and was only bit over 4.5 milers RT.
We managed to park near the trailhead and started off at about 9:30AM wearing crampons for traction. Doug didn’t think we’d really need them to start with, but he knew the trail well enough to know it would be icy later. He was correct. Crampons were the way to go. There was maybe 3 inches of new snow on top of maybe 3 inches of old wet packed snow left over from warm weather of last week. During first mile of the 2.2-mile ascent snowballing was problem, but not bad enough where we couldn’t knock snowballs out of our crampons by rapping against a tree or rock. Trail leading to the ridge was steep with ice under new snow. Crampons made descending a breeze. Lot of Waterville's ski trails were closed. Lots of rocks showing and snow looked like white sludge.
About ¾ of way up to ridge top, we started getting blasted by pretty serious wind gusts. We saw many spruce trees broken off by similar gusts, not today but previously. We layered up. We encountered a few blow downs that were easily gotten around or over. As we approached the ridge top the wind got worse. On the ridge we found a sheltered spot to have a bite to eat and layer up some more. We proceeded to the summit where wind was really blowing at we guessed 50 mph. Fortunately we were in stunted spruces so we were spared the worst of it. We encountered a freak 18-24 inches deep snowdrift that went on for about 50 yards. It was overcast, but ceiling was high enough that all summits in Sandwich range were visible with only occasional minor clouds obscuring the views.
I have a bunch of new gear like a brand new pack, jacket, and new gloves and mittens that I haven’t gotten accustomed to yet. All in all this turned out to be a good low-risk opportunity to test out my gear in difficult weather. I still need to work out system for packing so I can put my hands on gear I need when I need it. I would have been a lot happier if I could have located my shell mittens to make the run for the summit. Looking forward to maybe doing Cannon with Doug and Mike next weekend to refine my system so I can go after more challenging stuff later in winter.
![Yellowstone National Park [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kGuJ72qjL._SL500_.jpg)
![Grand Teton Day Hikes and National Park Map [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DB0jvRnbL._SL500_.jpg)
