RollingRock
Active member
At this time of the year we normally seek snow-free hikes. However it was going to be warm with over a foot of new snow so the Presidentials beckoned us.
We first started on the Crawford Connector and eventually reached the Crawford Path. There were a few blowdowns; some were quite large.
The start was very pleasant, with dry trail, then patchy snow, then a very good solid snowpack. We put on our microspikes.
After the Mitzpah Cut-Off Trail, two hikers and a dog came back down telling us the snowshoe track we were following dead-ended. The actual Crawford Path was probably a ways back hidden by broken limbs and untracked snow. Snowshoes came on and we joined forces to bushwhack and break trail towards Mt. Pierce sometimes encountering snow drifts as high as five feet.
Reaching the Webster-Cliff Trail we saw Mt. Pierce to the north. Webster-Cliff trail was not broken and route-finding was difficult so we ended up bushwhacking again. The snow was soft enough to require snowshoes but the narrow spaces we had to push through made them undesirable. Bushwhacking through krumholz is not fun. Once the spruce/firs got really thick [we have scratched up arms/legs to prove it] the two hikers had enough and decided to try for Mt. Jackson. Ten minutes later we reached the summit of Mt. Pierce at 4,310 feet. We took a nice lunch and continued on our journey.
Reaching the Crawford Path, we followed it towards Mt. Eisenhower breaking trail with our snowshoes. The trail was a bit harder to follow but at least there were cairns. We were on the trail most of the time, though we did lose and refind it a few times. After the Col between Mt. Pierce and Mt. Eisenhower there was more bare rock so we took our snowshoes off and barebooted.
By the time we reached the Mount Eisenhower loop the weather had warmed up considerably. Going up the loop we had a mix of snow, occasionally deep, and bare rocks. Not really snowshoe terrain. In the bare rock sections the trail was a stream from the melting snow. We finally reached the summit of Mt. Eisenhower [4,780'].
We had discussed earlier on going down the Edmands Path instead of doing the bushwhack again so we started going down the other side. Again, a mixture of snow and water running over bare rock.
Dissapointment sunk in when we found the Edmands Path not broken out. The trail curves round the summit cone more or less on contour. This section was extremely unpleasant. A nasty sloping side hill all the way, with lots of snow getting us into the branches of the krummholz. We had a real hard time following the trail and after a half-mile, decided to play it safe and go back the way we came. We lost a couple of hours and it now looked like we would be hiking out in the dark.
We didn't want to go back up and over Mt. Eisenhower again so we used the unbroken Crawford Path to skirt around. It was here that a key rivet holding my boot in the Atlas snowshoes failed. I just had this snowshoe repaired! I'm done with Atlas snowshoes. Word of advice ~ don't buy them. I wasn't far from the southern end of the Mt. Eisenhower Loop where we knew the trail was broken.
The trail was already broken by us so we decided to bareboot it the rest of the way. The snow had soften even more since we last came here. Lots of water, and since it cannot drain through the rock there were many pools, some quite deep.
We were tired upon reaching Mt. Pierce. We retraced our bushwhack and had no problems with postholing in spite of the mid afternoon temps. At the Mitzpah Cutoff we put on our microspikes.
I had to put on my headlamp for the last mile. Quite a bit of snow had melted since we were last here in the morning. We were over mostly bare ground, with once again lots of water.
>>Click Here To View Slide Show [Press F11 for full effects]
We first started on the Crawford Connector and eventually reached the Crawford Path. There were a few blowdowns; some were quite large.
The start was very pleasant, with dry trail, then patchy snow, then a very good solid snowpack. We put on our microspikes.
After the Mitzpah Cut-Off Trail, two hikers and a dog came back down telling us the snowshoe track we were following dead-ended. The actual Crawford Path was probably a ways back hidden by broken limbs and untracked snow. Snowshoes came on and we joined forces to bushwhack and break trail towards Mt. Pierce sometimes encountering snow drifts as high as five feet.
Reaching the Webster-Cliff Trail we saw Mt. Pierce to the north. Webster-Cliff trail was not broken and route-finding was difficult so we ended up bushwhacking again. The snow was soft enough to require snowshoes but the narrow spaces we had to push through made them undesirable. Bushwhacking through krumholz is not fun. Once the spruce/firs got really thick [we have scratched up arms/legs to prove it] the two hikers had enough and decided to try for Mt. Jackson. Ten minutes later we reached the summit of Mt. Pierce at 4,310 feet. We took a nice lunch and continued on our journey.
Reaching the Crawford Path, we followed it towards Mt. Eisenhower breaking trail with our snowshoes. The trail was a bit harder to follow but at least there were cairns. We were on the trail most of the time, though we did lose and refind it a few times. After the Col between Mt. Pierce and Mt. Eisenhower there was more bare rock so we took our snowshoes off and barebooted.
By the time we reached the Mount Eisenhower loop the weather had warmed up considerably. Going up the loop we had a mix of snow, occasionally deep, and bare rocks. Not really snowshoe terrain. In the bare rock sections the trail was a stream from the melting snow. We finally reached the summit of Mt. Eisenhower [4,780'].
We had discussed earlier on going down the Edmands Path instead of doing the bushwhack again so we started going down the other side. Again, a mixture of snow and water running over bare rock.
Dissapointment sunk in when we found the Edmands Path not broken out. The trail curves round the summit cone more or less on contour. This section was extremely unpleasant. A nasty sloping side hill all the way, with lots of snow getting us into the branches of the krummholz. We had a real hard time following the trail and after a half-mile, decided to play it safe and go back the way we came. We lost a couple of hours and it now looked like we would be hiking out in the dark.
We didn't want to go back up and over Mt. Eisenhower again so we used the unbroken Crawford Path to skirt around. It was here that a key rivet holding my boot in the Atlas snowshoes failed. I just had this snowshoe repaired! I'm done with Atlas snowshoes. Word of advice ~ don't buy them. I wasn't far from the southern end of the Mt. Eisenhower Loop where we knew the trail was broken.
The trail was already broken by us so we decided to bareboot it the rest of the way. The snow had soften even more since we last came here. Lots of water, and since it cannot drain through the rock there were many pools, some quite deep.
We were tired upon reaching Mt. Pierce. We retraced our bushwhack and had no problems with postholing in spite of the mid afternoon temps. At the Mitzpah Cutoff we put on our microspikes.
I had to put on my headlamp for the last mile. Quite a bit of snow had melted since we were last here in the morning. We were over mostly bare ground, with once again lots of water.
>>Click Here To View Slide Show [Press F11 for full effects]
