bryan
New member
date: 3/1/13
trails: york pond trail, kilkenny ridge trail
conditions: york pond road had a couple inches of snow in the morning, but plowed off by afternoon. a bit icy in places, but not a problem. the often talked about gate at the hatchery is plowed in for the winter. the small parking area at the trailhead was unplowed in the morning so i parked in the larger lot back up the road. was plowed later on. york pond trail had a snowshoe track for the first couple tenths which then turned up towards bunnell notch. broke trail in 8-12 inches of heavy snow with a slight crust down low and some increasing depth higher up to willard notch. could see the trace of an old trough in places along the way. the trail corridor was quite clear and well marked becoming a bit more obscure around the notch. once on the kilkenny ridge trail heading towards north weeks i can't say if anyone had been through there this winter. i generally sunk in 12-18 inches, deeper in places and following the trail was difficult though it is surprisingly well marked. i was able to follow the trail most of the way to north weeks with some minor exception. some big harder packed drifts around the summit. again stayed on the trail much of the way down to the col with middle at which point i lost the trail in the col. bushwacked up towards the summit eventually getting back on the trail and following it on and off to the summit. much the same to south weeks following the trail to the col then bushwacking a bit before following the trail to the summit area the highpoint being a raised bump on the western side of the summit. a remnant of the canister days still remains on the highpoint if you look closely. some fresh moose sign on the ridge. a few minor spruce traps along the way and one chest deep plunge that i was thankfully able to extract myself from without much difficulty. a few minor blowdowns. pretty sure i floated over the top of a few others as well. descended mostly in my tracks with a few minor divergences. the brook crossings early on york pond trail were snowbridged.
equipment: i wore snowshoes the whole hike. extension tails on the msrs were helpful.
comments: today seemed as good as any to take a shot at the weeks. toughest hike of the winter for me so far. the heavy snow made for exhausting trail breaking in both directions. on occasion over the years i have had the snow on unbroken trail settle underneath me while snowshoeing, but today it must have happened a couple dozen times especially on north weeks and though i could barely feel it the sound startled me every time. a few times it would thump and then rumble down the hill with little perceptible actual movement. i had actually expected to have to do more bushwacking, but found myself able to follow the route of the trail for the most part. i found the new amc map to be pretty darn accurate as to the location of the trail which was helpful as i had only been on this section once a number of years ago. snowed lightly most of the day with no real accumulation. i can't remember the last time i was so immediately sore after a hike. great to be out.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: york pond trail, kilkenny ridge trail
conditions: york pond road had a couple inches of snow in the morning, but plowed off by afternoon. a bit icy in places, but not a problem. the often talked about gate at the hatchery is plowed in for the winter. the small parking area at the trailhead was unplowed in the morning so i parked in the larger lot back up the road. was plowed later on. york pond trail had a snowshoe track for the first couple tenths which then turned up towards bunnell notch. broke trail in 8-12 inches of heavy snow with a slight crust down low and some increasing depth higher up to willard notch. could see the trace of an old trough in places along the way. the trail corridor was quite clear and well marked becoming a bit more obscure around the notch. once on the kilkenny ridge trail heading towards north weeks i can't say if anyone had been through there this winter. i generally sunk in 12-18 inches, deeper in places and following the trail was difficult though it is surprisingly well marked. i was able to follow the trail most of the way to north weeks with some minor exception. some big harder packed drifts around the summit. again stayed on the trail much of the way down to the col with middle at which point i lost the trail in the col. bushwacked up towards the summit eventually getting back on the trail and following it on and off to the summit. much the same to south weeks following the trail to the col then bushwacking a bit before following the trail to the summit area the highpoint being a raised bump on the western side of the summit. a remnant of the canister days still remains on the highpoint if you look closely. some fresh moose sign on the ridge. a few minor spruce traps along the way and one chest deep plunge that i was thankfully able to extract myself from without much difficulty. a few minor blowdowns. pretty sure i floated over the top of a few others as well. descended mostly in my tracks with a few minor divergences. the brook crossings early on york pond trail were snowbridged.
equipment: i wore snowshoes the whole hike. extension tails on the msrs were helpful.
comments: today seemed as good as any to take a shot at the weeks. toughest hike of the winter for me so far. the heavy snow made for exhausting trail breaking in both directions. on occasion over the years i have had the snow on unbroken trail settle underneath me while snowshoeing, but today it must have happened a couple dozen times especially on north weeks and though i could barely feel it the sound startled me every time. a few times it would thump and then rumble down the hill with little perceptible actual movement. i had actually expected to have to do more bushwacking, but found myself able to follow the route of the trail for the most part. i found the new amc map to be pretty darn accurate as to the location of the trail which was helpful as i had only been on this section once a number of years ago. snowed lightly most of the day with no real accumulation. i can't remember the last time i was so immediately sore after a hike. great to be out.
bryan
[email protected]
