Darl58
Active member
A group of us met at Pinkham Sat morning to decide on which hike sounded good. Frodo, Suebiscuit, Leaf, Nif & Darl58. It was cold but clear blue skies with not much wind. Frodo suggested Madison via Great Gulf and Osgood Trail. It sounded good to all of us so off we went.
The great Gulf trail was firm, snowshoes were plenty to cruise all the way to Osgood trail where the work began.
We took turns breaking trail with very little problems...I did manage to drop into a slush hole and had a little problem getting my leg lifted with a few extra pounds of ice...Sue thanks for helping me clear the shoe off..felt like herman monster for a while!
The snow was deep in sections but lots of fun to be plowing through after all the ice we've had! Blue clear skies didn't hurt the day. Amazing day to be out in the Presi's!
Once above treeline it became ice/rock mix and snowshoes came off as we scampered over the rocks and hit our first winds. The winds were fairly mild but the air was raw and layers were added for the ridge traverse.
Once on top of Madison we had views in all directions that couldn't be beat! Let my pics show you...
Then down we went to the hut for water/snacks. Crampons were put on for our descent down the Madison Gulf trail.
As we got to the trail, the ice was looking like a waterfall and a drop off to neverland...we opted to hug the shrubs and rocks to start the steep pitch down. It didn't take minutes til we were all in deep snow over our knees..a little spreading out a couple times to keep on track and down we went into the powder! It was a blast slipping , sliding down in such deep powder. A few times the ice appeared and we got to actually down climb using the crampons that we still had on.
Once down onto a less steep grade we switched to our snowshoes and had a fun hike out in the fresh snow..
Sue tried the snowshoe under the tree move (didn't work) and Jen tried the snowbridge that failed move and the rest of us managed to fall on ice/rocks/snowsnakes. Our ski skills on snowshoes weren't always pretty
but we had fun.
A really fun group and a sweet hike with two new trails for me! Thanks Bob for the suggestions!!
Pics:http://picasaweb.google.com/hikerdd13/MtMadison11009?feat=directlink
The great Gulf trail was firm, snowshoes were plenty to cruise all the way to Osgood trail where the work began.
We took turns breaking trail with very little problems...I did manage to drop into a slush hole and had a little problem getting my leg lifted with a few extra pounds of ice...Sue thanks for helping me clear the shoe off..felt like herman monster for a while!
The snow was deep in sections but lots of fun to be plowing through after all the ice we've had! Blue clear skies didn't hurt the day. Amazing day to be out in the Presi's!
Once above treeline it became ice/rock mix and snowshoes came off as we scampered over the rocks and hit our first winds. The winds were fairly mild but the air was raw and layers were added for the ridge traverse.
Once on top of Madison we had views in all directions that couldn't be beat! Let my pics show you...
Then down we went to the hut for water/snacks. Crampons were put on for our descent down the Madison Gulf trail.
As we got to the trail, the ice was looking like a waterfall and a drop off to neverland...we opted to hug the shrubs and rocks to start the steep pitch down. It didn't take minutes til we were all in deep snow over our knees..a little spreading out a couple times to keep on track and down we went into the powder! It was a blast slipping , sliding down in such deep powder. A few times the ice appeared and we got to actually down climb using the crampons that we still had on.
Once down onto a less steep grade we switched to our snowshoes and had a fun hike out in the fresh snow..
Sue tried the snowshoe under the tree move (didn't work) and Jen tried the snowbridge that failed move and the rest of us managed to fall on ice/rocks/snowsnakes. Our ski skills on snowshoes weren't always pretty
but we had fun. A really fun group and a sweet hike with two new trails for me! Thanks Bob for the suggestions!!
Pics:http://picasaweb.google.com/hikerdd13/MtMadison11009?feat=directlink
