dom15931
Member
Phelps 2-17 and Street 2-18
My friend Chad accompanied me on these two hikes .
The biggest surprise was how rapidly many of the trails where broken after last week's big storm. There were a high number of folks on ski's due to the snowfall. We were nervous setting out about how adequate our snowshoes would be as they were smaller models. Due to the high trail traffic the snowshoes were not a problem. The weather both days was variable clouds, with the highest peaks in the clouds much of the time. Visibility was not that great for cold weather IMO due to the snow showers.
Phelps was an easy bag. To Marcy Dam and the Phelps trail was cake. Only the last mile has any real elevation gain and about 10 people had already packed the trail in front of us. There were a few slick sections you had to watch here and there. The summit was nice and there were some good views. The summit was not that windy. We ate lunch there and headed down. Frequent small falls and tripping down to the trail junction
Street mountain was a much different hike (Sunday the 18th! not 19). We planned on Whiteface initially and got an early start for it, but abandoned this plan because of an unpacked trail. Again we started around 10, late again as a result of Whiteface's trail from the weather station not being broken. We packed for a long day and took our lamps. Streets path had been broken Saturday and there was a group of two ahead of us according to the trail log. According to the log one of the Saturday groups had 8 members so I figured as long as they made it to the summit the trail would not be too bad. We also planned to get Nye if the trail had been broke or we could easily break it and had adequate time.
The Street experience was A LOT better without the crowds despite a lack of views. Much more of an adventure feeling. We made good time making it down across the frozen stream crossing and up to the 2500' foot mark where it got steeper. Snow was adequately packed. The going was slower after this to the Street/Nye herd path junction. There were belly-crawler downed trees fairly frequently. They were a pain on the way down. With 5 or so feet of snow they were more difficult. The snow packed to about 18 to 24 inch depth underfoot and was relatively solid. The snow was knee to near waist deep on top of the that and still another foot or two in the trees beyond that!
Near the junction we ran into the other group. They decided to abandon their attempt. There was an obvious failed attempt by others to break bag Nye likely the day prior, and I quickly decided not to try it as daylight was thin and chad's lack of conditioning would have been painful as well as our small group size. The was to Nye looked like there would be numerous spruce traps. I would have tried to bag it just under the ridge crest had we had more time rather than run the ridge line as some had tried. It bugged me not to get it but it was a good decision. No one else got it either.
Streets path was less packed from the junction to the summit. About four more inches of snow had fallen since yesterday also. The snow here was incredibly deep and had literally buried the forest. At many points it was like being in a tunnel. The path was likely more snake like than it would have otherwise been. There were a few tight squeezes, but otherwise this section was fun and rewarding. We found the summit sign and ate lunch. A mountain not know for views had even less with all the snow. It was snowing also.
My biggest hiking disaster IMO happened on the way down. I lost my GPS, which was given to me as a gift, somewhere on the decent. (see thread in General Backcountry) and am hoping someone finds it. Because of this it was a sad walk out for the last mile for me. We had about an hour or so in the dark. Overall it was awesome and I have never seen snow like that before!
a few pics
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/557789708WvHoLq
My friend Chad accompanied me on these two hikes .
The biggest surprise was how rapidly many of the trails where broken after last week's big storm. There were a high number of folks on ski's due to the snowfall. We were nervous setting out about how adequate our snowshoes would be as they were smaller models. Due to the high trail traffic the snowshoes were not a problem. The weather both days was variable clouds, with the highest peaks in the clouds much of the time. Visibility was not that great for cold weather IMO due to the snow showers.
Phelps was an easy bag. To Marcy Dam and the Phelps trail was cake. Only the last mile has any real elevation gain and about 10 people had already packed the trail in front of us. There were a few slick sections you had to watch here and there. The summit was nice and there were some good views. The summit was not that windy. We ate lunch there and headed down. Frequent small falls and tripping down to the trail junction
Street mountain was a much different hike (Sunday the 18th! not 19). We planned on Whiteface initially and got an early start for it, but abandoned this plan because of an unpacked trail. Again we started around 10, late again as a result of Whiteface's trail from the weather station not being broken. We packed for a long day and took our lamps. Streets path had been broken Saturday and there was a group of two ahead of us according to the trail log. According to the log one of the Saturday groups had 8 members so I figured as long as they made it to the summit the trail would not be too bad. We also planned to get Nye if the trail had been broke or we could easily break it and had adequate time.
The Street experience was A LOT better without the crowds despite a lack of views. Much more of an adventure feeling. We made good time making it down across the frozen stream crossing and up to the 2500' foot mark where it got steeper. Snow was adequately packed. The going was slower after this to the Street/Nye herd path junction. There were belly-crawler downed trees fairly frequently. They were a pain on the way down. With 5 or so feet of snow they were more difficult. The snow packed to about 18 to 24 inch depth underfoot and was relatively solid. The snow was knee to near waist deep on top of the that and still another foot or two in the trees beyond that!
Near the junction we ran into the other group. They decided to abandon their attempt. There was an obvious failed attempt by others to break bag Nye likely the day prior, and I quickly decided not to try it as daylight was thin and chad's lack of conditioning would have been painful as well as our small group size. The was to Nye looked like there would be numerous spruce traps. I would have tried to bag it just under the ridge crest had we had more time rather than run the ridge line as some had tried. It bugged me not to get it but it was a good decision. No one else got it either.
Streets path was less packed from the junction to the summit. About four more inches of snow had fallen since yesterday also. The snow here was incredibly deep and had literally buried the forest. At many points it was like being in a tunnel. The path was likely more snake like than it would have otherwise been. There were a few tight squeezes, but otherwise this section was fun and rewarding. We found the summit sign and ate lunch. A mountain not know for views had even less with all the snow. It was snowing also.
My biggest hiking disaster IMO happened on the way down. I lost my GPS, which was given to me as a gift, somewhere on the decent. (see thread in General Backcountry) and am hoping someone finds it. Because of this it was a sad walk out for the last mile for me. We had about an hour or so in the dark. Overall it was awesome and I have never seen snow like that before!
a few pics
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/557789708WvHoLq
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