peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
Sometimes, the condtions are where nothing seems to work.
I joined Earl and Sue for a Wildcat and Carters hike on Saturday 4/30. As usual Earl and Sue were their usual chipper selves when I met them in the morning at 19 mile brook trailhead. From there we discussed the option of going up the ski slopes rather than the AT and fairly quickly reached Wildcat D, barebooting with some traction at the end all the way. After leaving the summit and heading north, we switched over to snowshoes when the "rail" started to become rotten with plenty of deep snow on either side to posthole through. In general the snowpack was a lot less firm than expected which I attribute to a warmer than expected overnight weather. We made it to Wildcat A in good time and the views opened up.
I think we all feeling good and I expected the rest of the hike would be long but not bad. After a quick break, we headed down Wildcat A and very quickly things went bad for me (and not so bad for Earl and Sue). The snow condtions were now a rotten "rail" with little or no width with 4 to 5 feet of snow on either side with 1 to 2 inches of bordeline slush on top. The loose stuff completely negated any downward traction of my trusty Tubbs 30" snowshoes making ever step a potentially uncontrolled slide down or off to the side into the trees. After a few exciting rides and more than a few abrupt stops, I switched back to bareboot with traction and then promptly started postholling about every 5th step. The snow was deeper than my legs were long with still enough crust to make things interesting. Meawhile Sue and Earl seemed not to have a problems as they had a MSR Denalis and Lightnings, which had enough overall traction that they had control.
After switching back and forth between bareboot and snowshoes a couple of times, I hit the steep sidehill sections, where every step with a snowshoe was a potential ride down the hill and at a minimum an ankle twister. Earl and Sue were trying to establish a sidehill track but the wider Tubbs and the loose snow made if just a bit too skinny to help, but I did appreciate the effort . After one or two good slides including one where I tried to pop a shoulder out of joint, I finally switched back to barebooting and the requisite postholling down to the Notch.
We eventually managed to make it to the trail junction with 19 mile brook trail and after a break, I elected to cut the day short while Earl and Sue headed off to do the Carters. Unfortunately whatever time we gained going up Wildcat D was lost by me heading down from A. Their gear was working for them and they still had the option of bailing via North Carter Trail, but I had enough and didnt relish another stretch of steep sidehilling that one normally encounters on North Carter trail.
On my way down 19 mile brook , the rail was in miserable shape in spots and I switched back to snowshoes, which worked well until I started to encounter spots where the deep snow on either side of the trail wouldnt support a snowshoe leading to occasional postholes. It was like this most of the way down to the junction with North Carter trail. After that it was time to switch back to traction for a short stretch and then bareboot. I was not really feeling that beat when I got to the trailhead, so I walked back to my car at Wildcat and had a chance to determine that Bud light is the preferred product for morons that like to throw beer cans out of their cars.
Beyond buying a new pair of short spring snowshoes, there wasnt much I could do. the Tubbs tend to be great shoes for breaking trail in the winter and are pretty good at sliding down slopes by leaning on the tail but this time all those benefits became liabilies. I expect had we climbed up Wildcat D via the AT from Pinkham we would have encountered the marginal conditions going up which would have slowed our progress anyhow.
A good reminder why I used to take late April/early May off to paddle !.
I joined Earl and Sue for a Wildcat and Carters hike on Saturday 4/30. As usual Earl and Sue were their usual chipper selves when I met them in the morning at 19 mile brook trailhead. From there we discussed the option of going up the ski slopes rather than the AT and fairly quickly reached Wildcat D, barebooting with some traction at the end all the way. After leaving the summit and heading north, we switched over to snowshoes when the "rail" started to become rotten with plenty of deep snow on either side to posthole through. In general the snowpack was a lot less firm than expected which I attribute to a warmer than expected overnight weather. We made it to Wildcat A in good time and the views opened up.
I think we all feeling good and I expected the rest of the hike would be long but not bad. After a quick break, we headed down Wildcat A and very quickly things went bad for me (and not so bad for Earl and Sue). The snow condtions were now a rotten "rail" with little or no width with 4 to 5 feet of snow on either side with 1 to 2 inches of bordeline slush on top. The loose stuff completely negated any downward traction of my trusty Tubbs 30" snowshoes making ever step a potentially uncontrolled slide down or off to the side into the trees. After a few exciting rides and more than a few abrupt stops, I switched back to bareboot with traction and then promptly started postholling about every 5th step. The snow was deeper than my legs were long with still enough crust to make things interesting. Meawhile Sue and Earl seemed not to have a problems as they had a MSR Denalis and Lightnings, which had enough overall traction that they had control.
After switching back and forth between bareboot and snowshoes a couple of times, I hit the steep sidehill sections, where every step with a snowshoe was a potential ride down the hill and at a minimum an ankle twister. Earl and Sue were trying to establish a sidehill track but the wider Tubbs and the loose snow made if just a bit too skinny to help, but I did appreciate the effort . After one or two good slides including one where I tried to pop a shoulder out of joint, I finally switched back to barebooting and the requisite postholling down to the Notch.
We eventually managed to make it to the trail junction with 19 mile brook trail and after a break, I elected to cut the day short while Earl and Sue headed off to do the Carters. Unfortunately whatever time we gained going up Wildcat D was lost by me heading down from A. Their gear was working for them and they still had the option of bailing via North Carter Trail, but I had enough and didnt relish another stretch of steep sidehilling that one normally encounters on North Carter trail.
On my way down 19 mile brook , the rail was in miserable shape in spots and I switched back to snowshoes, which worked well until I started to encounter spots where the deep snow on either side of the trail wouldnt support a snowshoe leading to occasional postholes. It was like this most of the way down to the junction with North Carter trail. After that it was time to switch back to traction for a short stretch and then bareboot. I was not really feeling that beat when I got to the trailhead, so I walked back to my car at Wildcat and had a chance to determine that Bud light is the preferred product for morons that like to throw beer cans out of their cars.
Beyond buying a new pair of short spring snowshoes, there wasnt much I could do. the Tubbs tend to be great shoes for breaking trail in the winter and are pretty good at sliding down slopes by leaning on the tail but this time all those benefits became liabilies. I expect had we climbed up Wildcat D via the AT from Pinkham we would have encountered the marginal conditions going up which would have slowed our progress anyhow.
A good reminder why I used to take late April/early May off to paddle !.
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