David Metsky
Well-known member
I was planning on doing some backcountry skiing during the Gathering 7.5 but the weather gods had other things in mind. On Thursday I posted a little note about wanting to do Madison or Adams on Saturday and I got quite a few responses, so we planned a 7:30 meeting at Appalachia and wished for good weather.
At the trailhead I met up with Kris (Little Bear), Teejay, Aaron, and my group of Spencer, Joanna, and Alex. An AMC group arrived and we said hi to Bob Kitteredge. There was another group in the parking lot headed up Adams that included a few more VftT'ers Packnuts61 and Julie(?). We started hiking around 8:00 in bareboots, no problems with the traction. The AMC group kept playing leapfrog with us. About 2/3 of the way up John Loomis and Mery caught up to us, hiked with us a bit, then passed us and headed up to the summit. Teejay headed back down after a bit, having had enough for the day.
We cramponed up about 10 minutes below the hut and made it there around 11:45. It was a fine day, clear and fairly warm, with little wind. The AMC group headed for Adams, we headed for Madison. Crampons on the rock/ice mix was a little hairy, perhaps that would have been better without 'pons but we all made it to the top without incident. It was a bit chillier up there, so we took our leave fairly quickly at around 12:40.
Back at the hut we briefly discussed going for Adams but we decided that we'd had a fine day. As we waited there Hikerfast joined us and more introductions were in order. Aaron headed over to the Airline for the descent, the rest of us went down Valley Way. Most of us kept our crampons on for the majority of the way down, removing them once we had crossed the last stream crossing.
A great hike, just under 8 hours for just over 8 miles. Everyone had fun and we had a great time. We met up with Aaron at the bottom, who was headed back home. The rest of us went back to the cabin and warmed up and changed before heading out to Barnes Field. More on that later.
Photos are HERE.
-dave-
At the trailhead I met up with Kris (Little Bear), Teejay, Aaron, and my group of Spencer, Joanna, and Alex. An AMC group arrived and we said hi to Bob Kitteredge. There was another group in the parking lot headed up Adams that included a few more VftT'ers Packnuts61 and Julie(?). We started hiking around 8:00 in bareboots, no problems with the traction. The AMC group kept playing leapfrog with us. About 2/3 of the way up John Loomis and Mery caught up to us, hiked with us a bit, then passed us and headed up to the summit. Teejay headed back down after a bit, having had enough for the day.
We cramponed up about 10 minutes below the hut and made it there around 11:45. It was a fine day, clear and fairly warm, with little wind. The AMC group headed for Adams, we headed for Madison. Crampons on the rock/ice mix was a little hairy, perhaps that would have been better without 'pons but we all made it to the top without incident. It was a bit chillier up there, so we took our leave fairly quickly at around 12:40.
Back at the hut we briefly discussed going for Adams but we decided that we'd had a fine day. As we waited there Hikerfast joined us and more introductions were in order. Aaron headed over to the Airline for the descent, the rest of us went down Valley Way. Most of us kept our crampons on for the majority of the way down, removing them once we had crossed the last stream crossing.
A great hike, just under 8 hours for just over 8 miles. Everyone had fun and we had a great time. We met up with Aaron at the bottom, who was headed back home. The rest of us went back to the cabin and warmed up and changed before heading out to Barnes Field. More on that later.
Photos are HERE.
-dave-
