Craig
New member
Backpacking, that is. 
Objective: None
Plan: Spend some time roaming the range.
I scheduled a vacation week a month ago with no real itinerary. I wanted to do some camping, climbing, hiking or something but I decided to play it by ear.
Being a somewhat goal oriented individual; I tend to plan ahead and have a clear objective. This certainly doesn’t mean that I’m rigid in my execution of the plan but to set off on a meandering trek, with no destination and timetable is unusual for me. This trek was a lot of fun under great conditions.
Checking the forecast last weekend it looked like Monday/Tuesday was going to be OK on the range, then Wednesday/Thursday looked iffy. I decided to pack the winter gear and head up the Ammo for some exploring. When I left the house Monday morning the only thing I knew for sure was I was going up the Ammo, the rest would be ad hoc.
I got off to a leisurely 10:00am start from a packed Cog parking lot. The snow was firm and the trail well packed. The cloud cover was low and I didn’t expect many views on this day. A little bit past the Gem Pool a hiker coming down reported Monroe was in the clear as was Washington. Things were starting to look up.
As I broke treeline I got my first glimps that perhaps the summits would be clear. From here I made the Hut in short order breaking out of the clouds that would continuously make an appearance and vanish again.
I briefly chatted with a fella adjusting his gear before summiting Monroe. I continued on deciding to find a campsite. Snow fields on the back side of Monroe are somewhat lacking, but after some searching I found a spot that afforded an adequate base and shelter from the westerly winds. I set up camp, cooked a meal and melted snow to replenish my water supply. By this time it was about 3:30 with plenty of time to explore the area.
Hugging the slopes of Monroe and then Jackson I found the climbing to be exceptionable on the windpacked surface. I fooled around on these mini-slopes for awhile and then headed for Monroe’s summit for some sunset photos.
On the summit, there was only a hint of wind with fairly clear skies. It was very quite and I could hear the sound of running water in the distance. At the time it seemed quite out of place and I couldn’t determine its source. I could also hear the conversation of 3 folks heading down from Washington. They stopped at the Lake for quite some time and moved on towards the Hut.
To the east the undercast was breaking up but overcast was still present. To the northeast the clouds were still swirling giving glimpses into an unusual world of light and shadows. To the southwest the sun slowly went down into the undercast creating some nice effects on the northern presi’s.
This picture shows the undercast falling off the east side of the Southern Presidentials like a waterfall.
After downclimbing the east snow slope I headed back to camp for some dinner and early evening.
I awoke Tuesday morning to 20 degrees in the vestibule.
I quickly put the stove on and made a nice hot cup of cocoa. Why sipping my cocoa I turned on the NOAA radio to get an weather update. They indicated the weather was going to stay consistent with the day before, with light winds. The clouds were still blowing through and visibility was about 50-75 yds.
After having breakfast and melting enough water for the day, I decided to break camp and move to the summit of Washington in hopes of climbing out of the clouds. This would give me a view of the Northern Presi’s and I could decide on my next move. My casual attitude for the day got me leaving camp at about 10:00am. It’s nice not having an agenda.
To my delight, half way up the summit cone I broke from the clouds to blue skies and light winds. By 11:30 I was sitting on the summit eating my leftover breakfast. There was a half dozen folks on top including one dude doing his first winter presi traverse, congrats. He was pretty stoked and described a sunlit northern range despite what my eyes were telling me. With this encouragement I decide to head north and see what happens.
It was obvious while approaching clay that I would soon be in the clouds again. I continued on, passing the jewel trail and heading toward Jefferson. Just north of the Sphinx col I saw a nice snow field that was perfectly situated with adequate shelter. I decided to get an update on the weather for Wednesday before getting to far from the Jewell trail (car was at the cog). At this point they were still anticipating nasty condition starting around noon on Wednesday. If I set up camp here I would be close enough to the jewell to bail if weather came in sooner. If I awoke on Wednesday to a fair weather forecast I would make the decision whether to continue north.
While setting up camp, a couple of folks passed by. One fellow was packing the range and was heading north to the perch for a quick bail in the morning. The second fellow was doing an out and back to Jefferson via the Jewell. He was working on his solo 48 round this winter and only 5 left. Good go dude.
Once I set up camp and cooked some food the summits were once again in the clear. This left me with plenty of time to head over to Jefferson (the long way). As I found with most of the terrain I had cover so far, the off trail climbing around Jefferson was hard and fast.
There weren’t many snow fields to be found but the rhythmic crunch of the crampons biting into crust was entrancing.
From the summit of Jefferson It was obvious the west side of the range was still covered in a blanket of undercast while the Carters and east side was clear. After a sunset photo from Jefferson, I headed back to camp for some supper and a read before hitting the bag.
I awoke early Wednesday morning to 20 degree temperatures. By the tracks around the tent I had some visitors during the evening. I was hoping to get some sunrise photos and I wouldn’t be disappointed. The sky was perfectly clear and the quarter moon still shown brite over Washington. I quickly melted some snow and made a cup of hot cocoa to go. I put on my crampons and headed for higher ground, hot cocoa in hand. Looking West, there was blue sky as far as the eye could see with no hint that weather was on its way. Sweet, I thought, I’m heading north….
I headed back to camp stoke at the prospect of another nice day/night on the range. While making breakfast I turned on the radio anticipating that the high pressure had stalled over night. To my amazement they were still forecasting weather was on its way and sometime after lunch it would get nasty. This certainly didn’t jibe with what I was seeing. Sure the wind had picked up a bit, but it was a gorgeous day. After having thought about it over breakfast I decided to believe NOAA and disregard what I was seeing.
I reluctantly packed up and headed toward the Jewell. While descending the Jewell toward treeline it struck me how counterintuitive it seemed heading down at 10:00am on such a gorgeous day.
I had taken enough food and fuel for 5 days of feasting. I was a little disappointed I couldn’t have spent more time enjoying this kind of beautiful weather on the range in February. I am, however, grateful for the fine weather I had. Good times.
Full Album
Objective: None
Plan: Spend some time roaming the range.
I scheduled a vacation week a month ago with no real itinerary. I wanted to do some camping, climbing, hiking or something but I decided to play it by ear.
Being a somewhat goal oriented individual; I tend to plan ahead and have a clear objective. This certainly doesn’t mean that I’m rigid in my execution of the plan but to set off on a meandering trek, with no destination and timetable is unusual for me. This trek was a lot of fun under great conditions.
Checking the forecast last weekend it looked like Monday/Tuesday was going to be OK on the range, then Wednesday/Thursday looked iffy. I decided to pack the winter gear and head up the Ammo for some exploring. When I left the house Monday morning the only thing I knew for sure was I was going up the Ammo, the rest would be ad hoc.
I got off to a leisurely 10:00am start from a packed Cog parking lot. The snow was firm and the trail well packed. The cloud cover was low and I didn’t expect many views on this day. A little bit past the Gem Pool a hiker coming down reported Monroe was in the clear as was Washington. Things were starting to look up.
As I broke treeline I got my first glimps that perhaps the summits would be clear. From here I made the Hut in short order breaking out of the clouds that would continuously make an appearance and vanish again.
I briefly chatted with a fella adjusting his gear before summiting Monroe. I continued on deciding to find a campsite. Snow fields on the back side of Monroe are somewhat lacking, but after some searching I found a spot that afforded an adequate base and shelter from the westerly winds. I set up camp, cooked a meal and melted snow to replenish my water supply. By this time it was about 3:30 with plenty of time to explore the area.
Hugging the slopes of Monroe and then Jackson I found the climbing to be exceptionable on the windpacked surface. I fooled around on these mini-slopes for awhile and then headed for Monroe’s summit for some sunset photos.
On the summit, there was only a hint of wind with fairly clear skies. It was very quite and I could hear the sound of running water in the distance. At the time it seemed quite out of place and I couldn’t determine its source. I could also hear the conversation of 3 folks heading down from Washington. They stopped at the Lake for quite some time and moved on towards the Hut.
To the east the undercast was breaking up but overcast was still present. To the northeast the clouds were still swirling giving glimpses into an unusual world of light and shadows. To the southwest the sun slowly went down into the undercast creating some nice effects on the northern presi’s.
This picture shows the undercast falling off the east side of the Southern Presidentials like a waterfall.
After downclimbing the east snow slope I headed back to camp for some dinner and early evening.
I awoke Tuesday morning to 20 degrees in the vestibule.
I quickly put the stove on and made a nice hot cup of cocoa. Why sipping my cocoa I turned on the NOAA radio to get an weather update. They indicated the weather was going to stay consistent with the day before, with light winds. The clouds were still blowing through and visibility was about 50-75 yds.
After having breakfast and melting enough water for the day, I decided to break camp and move to the summit of Washington in hopes of climbing out of the clouds. This would give me a view of the Northern Presi’s and I could decide on my next move. My casual attitude for the day got me leaving camp at about 10:00am. It’s nice not having an agenda.
To my delight, half way up the summit cone I broke from the clouds to blue skies and light winds. By 11:30 I was sitting on the summit eating my leftover breakfast. There was a half dozen folks on top including one dude doing his first winter presi traverse, congrats. He was pretty stoked and described a sunlit northern range despite what my eyes were telling me. With this encouragement I decide to head north and see what happens.
It was obvious while approaching clay that I would soon be in the clouds again. I continued on, passing the jewel trail and heading toward Jefferson. Just north of the Sphinx col I saw a nice snow field that was perfectly situated with adequate shelter. I decided to get an update on the weather for Wednesday before getting to far from the Jewell trail (car was at the cog). At this point they were still anticipating nasty condition starting around noon on Wednesday. If I set up camp here I would be close enough to the jewell to bail if weather came in sooner. If I awoke on Wednesday to a fair weather forecast I would make the decision whether to continue north.
While setting up camp, a couple of folks passed by. One fellow was packing the range and was heading north to the perch for a quick bail in the morning. The second fellow was doing an out and back to Jefferson via the Jewell. He was working on his solo 48 round this winter and only 5 left. Good go dude.
Once I set up camp and cooked some food the summits were once again in the clear. This left me with plenty of time to head over to Jefferson (the long way). As I found with most of the terrain I had cover so far, the off trail climbing around Jefferson was hard and fast.
There weren’t many snow fields to be found but the rhythmic crunch of the crampons biting into crust was entrancing.
From the summit of Jefferson It was obvious the west side of the range was still covered in a blanket of undercast while the Carters and east side was clear. After a sunset photo from Jefferson, I headed back to camp for some supper and a read before hitting the bag.
I awoke early Wednesday morning to 20 degree temperatures. By the tracks around the tent I had some visitors during the evening. I was hoping to get some sunrise photos and I wouldn’t be disappointed. The sky was perfectly clear and the quarter moon still shown brite over Washington. I quickly
melted some snow and made a cup of hot cocoa to go. I put on my crampons and headed for higher ground, hot cocoa in hand. Looking West, there was blue sky as far as the eye could see with no hint that weather was on its way. Sweet, I thought, I’m heading north….I headed back to camp stoke at the prospect of another nice day/night on the range. While making breakfast I turned on the radio anticipating that the high pressure had stalled over night. To my amazement they were still forecasting weather was on its way and sometime after lunch it would get nasty. This certainly didn’t jibe with what I was seeing. Sure the wind had picked up a bit, but it was a gorgeous day. After having thought about it over breakfast I decided to believe NOAA and disregard what I was seeing.
I reluctantly packed up and headed toward the Jewell. While descending the Jewell toward treeline it struck me how counterintuitive it seemed heading down at 10:00am on such a gorgeous day.
I had taken enough food and fuel for 5 days of feasting. I was a little disappointed I couldn’t have spent more time enjoying this kind of beautiful weather on the range in February. I am, however, grateful for the fine weather I had. Good times.
Full Album
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