North and South Hancock 3/19/08

[MarkL]

Forecast was for snow degenerating into rain, sleet, and freezing rain after noon. I thought with an early start, I could be on my way down before the changeover, so I decided to go for it. I almost didn't bring snowshoes, based on the previous day's climb of Mt. Jefferson. Then I thought, the 1.4 miles between the peaks might need them, and also, as the day warms and rain falls, the trail might get soft, so I'll want the shoes to preserve the trail. About 200 yards after starting, I wanted to ditch the snowshoes, but remembered my reasons for carrying them. It was so warm that I took off my fleece and hiked almost to the summit of NH with only a light wicking undershirt and a very light rain jacket. I barebooted to the base of the Hancock loop, where I put on the shoes, hoping their aggressive cleats would make unnecessary a change over to crampons. I went up NH first with no problem. Nearing the summit, I put the fleece back on and put on an ear warmer under my snow hat. (Lots of snow clinging very lightly to the branches.) This was a no-visibility day, snowing from beginning almost to end, so I spent only a minute at the top. From here to SH was the most adventurous and anxiety ridden part of the hike. I followed the yellow blazes, but frequently lost them and had to backtrack and cast around. This was taking time, and with the snow level as high as an inch above the bottom of the blaze, I wondered if I'd eventually lose the trail entirely. Could I just take a bearing and bushwhack? Too thick and snowy for that. would I have to go back the way I came and climb SH from the bottom? Oh noooo! Making things worse was the high snow level which forced this tall hiker to duck a lot, and to crawl occasionally. Helping matters was the freshness of the yellow paint at elevation. Not helping was the apparent policy(or depraved sense of humor) that frequently placed the infrequent blazes just AFTER a slight change in direction! Unlike AT double blazes which say "hey buddy, I'm about to turn", these blazes seemed to say "Oh, you found me this time? Just wait til next turn! " It took 1:50 from NH to SH!
SNOWSHOES Required. Crampons carried but not used. Even if I'd stayed on the trail every foot between N and S, there was enough drifting and new snow to require them.
The descent from SH was fast and easy, with snowshoes enabling knee-sparing glissades. HOwever, again the yellow blazes weren't quite as frequent as I needed, and maybe 200-300 feet above the loop jct, I lost it. Here the woods were open, so I looked at the map and decided I could just wing it. I didn't wing it to the left enough, so I hit my NH bound tracks well below the loop jct. Be aware of that if you're planning to go up N and down S.
About a mile before getting back to the car, the precip consisted of mixed snow, refrozen something, and tiny straight ice crystals, but nothing wet. Soon after getting into Lincoln, it became wet. The sleet, rain, freezing rain situation that the alarmist forecasters warned us about didn't happen to any significant degree.
A great way to end the winter! 20/48W