A late afternoon decision Sunday had me packing for a no pressure adventure to Waterville Valley.
Like a lot of folks my eyes were on the White Mountain forecast. Cold temps and wind chills well below zero seem to have a solid grip with no sign of letting up. NOAA said for Monday the summit of Tecumseh would have temps around 19 and wind chills at the -23 mark.
The northbound traffic was very light and at the usual stop, Einstein’s in Concord, I was thinking that either everyone was working or they were sleeping in preparation for the big night.
When I arrived (9AM) the ski area lot was already quite packed and the attendants were directing cars to take spots in the lower areas. I took a shot and drove up higher and grabbed an end spot one lane below the trailhead. A quick suit up in the back seat and I was on my way with mostly clear skies and a temp of 24 degrees.
Full ski area lot with clear skies to start
Aside from the small stream crossing at the start and another at 2500’ it was clear sailing on a packed powder snowshoe track all the way to the split just below the summit.
Just before trail drops down to cross Tecumseh Brook at 2500’
Above the left turn that goes to the viewpoint the snow boarders have done a fine job of smoothing out the entire trail. On and off from this point, when they were needed, I took advantage of the heal lifts.
Heading up the Tecumseh trail above the viewpoint
Above the Sosman Trail
Around 3,000’ a short blast of cold air came rushing through but only lasted a minute and that was basically the only wind of the day. Even on the summit it was only minor. Nothing that warranted either of the two facemasks, heavy weight hat or extra fleece layers I had brought along. Only at the summit, while eating lunch and snapping some pictures, did I pull on my mitten shells.
At the summit split both sides were broken out. When I was here in July I went left so today I chose to go right. I would find out shortly that the same guy had broken both sides out.
As I rounded the last corner and started up the last pitch to the summit I ran into a brick wall. The guy who broke out both sides of this loop u-turned here and decided he’d try the other way instead. As I started to finish breaking out this short stretch to the summit I realized how lucky I was when I aborted my Osceola hike the day before due to a sore back. It’s highly doubtful I would have pulled that one off.
Knee deep blown in area just below the summit
After 8 grueling minutes of trail breaking I reached the summit, had a quick lunch and 90 minutes after that I was back at the car, packing up and heading for home, arriving just in time to get ready for all the New Years Eve Festivities! In other words, as usual, I was fast asleep by 10:30PM. ;-)
Winter #19 is in the books
GPS Track
Like a lot of folks my eyes were on the White Mountain forecast. Cold temps and wind chills well below zero seem to have a solid grip with no sign of letting up. NOAA said for Monday the summit of Tecumseh would have temps around 19 and wind chills at the -23 mark.
The northbound traffic was very light and at the usual stop, Einstein’s in Concord, I was thinking that either everyone was working or they were sleeping in preparation for the big night.
When I arrived (9AM) the ski area lot was already quite packed and the attendants were directing cars to take spots in the lower areas. I took a shot and drove up higher and grabbed an end spot one lane below the trailhead. A quick suit up in the back seat and I was on my way with mostly clear skies and a temp of 24 degrees.
Full ski area lot with clear skies to start
Aside from the small stream crossing at the start and another at 2500’ it was clear sailing on a packed powder snowshoe track all the way to the split just below the summit.
Just before trail drops down to cross Tecumseh Brook at 2500’
Above the left turn that goes to the viewpoint the snow boarders have done a fine job of smoothing out the entire trail. On and off from this point, when they were needed, I took advantage of the heal lifts.
Heading up the Tecumseh trail above the viewpoint
Above the Sosman Trail
Around 3,000’ a short blast of cold air came rushing through but only lasted a minute and that was basically the only wind of the day. Even on the summit it was only minor. Nothing that warranted either of the two facemasks, heavy weight hat or extra fleece layers I had brought along. Only at the summit, while eating lunch and snapping some pictures, did I pull on my mitten shells.
At the summit split both sides were broken out. When I was here in July I went left so today I chose to go right. I would find out shortly that the same guy had broken both sides out.
As I rounded the last corner and started up the last pitch to the summit I ran into a brick wall. The guy who broke out both sides of this loop u-turned here and decided he’d try the other way instead. As I started to finish breaking out this short stretch to the summit I realized how lucky I was when I aborted my Osceola hike the day before due to a sore back. It’s highly doubtful I would have pulled that one off.
Knee deep blown in area just below the summit
After 8 grueling minutes of trail breaking I reached the summit, had a quick lunch and 90 minutes after that I was back at the car, packing up and heading for home, arriving just in time to get ready for all the New Years Eve Festivities! In other words, as usual, I was fast asleep by 10:30PM. ;-)
Winter #19 is in the books
GPS Track
