U
Unregistered
Guest
North and South Baldface attempt & Mount Eastman
Random Group of Hikers, party of 6.
We ascended the Baldface Circle Trail going clockwise as far as the junction with Baldface Knob Trail thence diverting to Mt. Eastman & down Slippery Brook Trail. Parking lot off Rt. 113 was a sheet of solid ice but plowed out. Restrooms closed. Baldface Circle to lollipop junction was hardpacked but narrow with knee to crotch deep postholed snow waiting on either side. Beyond that it was less packed out and we used snowshoes to a point beyond the lean-to about 1/2 of the way up the slabs before the ridge. Lower slabs were deeply drifted in with styrofoam consistency snow, weak in places with a few ice patches and bare ledge, gradually giving way to bare ledge with little snow or ice on the ridge. Exact trail on slabs was difficult to parse--pick your route. Above the slabs, wind and cold were worse than predicted with sustained gusts of 45mph confirmed by instrumentation. Several people also hiking at the same time as us turned around. We checked in at the junction with Baldface Knob Trail, did not have group consensus to continue to Baldface & decided to do Eastman instead. Put snowshoes back on. Baldface Knob Trail was minimally broken out, bare rock on the knob, styrofoam snow everywhere else. Eastman Trail had one set of old tracks to the summit. Slippery Brook Trail was a hateful mess-- styrofoam snow, unpredictably weak in places and covered with hard, ankle-twisting concretions left by old ski, snowshoe and bare boot tracks. All water crossings were open, none of them problematic despite flood warnings for the day. Most were leap-over or ankle deep fords on stones, no ice. Temps near or below freezing all day.
Shoeless Paul
[email protected]
Photos pending: https://www.meetup.com/rndmhkrs/events/237873317/
Random Group of Hikers, party of 6.
We ascended the Baldface Circle Trail going clockwise as far as the junction with Baldface Knob Trail thence diverting to Mt. Eastman & down Slippery Brook Trail. Parking lot off Rt. 113 was a sheet of solid ice but plowed out. Restrooms closed. Baldface Circle to lollipop junction was hardpacked but narrow with knee to crotch deep postholed snow waiting on either side. Beyond that it was less packed out and we used snowshoes to a point beyond the lean-to about 1/2 of the way up the slabs before the ridge. Lower slabs were deeply drifted in with styrofoam consistency snow, weak in places with a few ice patches and bare ledge, gradually giving way to bare ledge with little snow or ice on the ridge. Exact trail on slabs was difficult to parse--pick your route. Above the slabs, wind and cold were worse than predicted with sustained gusts of 45mph confirmed by instrumentation. Several people also hiking at the same time as us turned around. We checked in at the junction with Baldface Knob Trail, did not have group consensus to continue to Baldface & decided to do Eastman instead. Put snowshoes back on. Baldface Knob Trail was minimally broken out, bare rock on the knob, styrofoam snow everywhere else. Eastman Trail had one set of old tracks to the summit. Slippery Brook Trail was a hateful mess-- styrofoam snow, unpredictably weak in places and covered with hard, ankle-twisting concretions left by old ski, snowshoe and bare boot tracks. All water crossings were open, none of them problematic despite flood warnings for the day. Most were leap-over or ankle deep fords on stones, no ice. Temps near or below freezing all day.
Shoeless Paul
[email protected]
Photos pending: https://www.meetup.com/rndmhkrs/events/237873317/
