E
EasyWalker
Guest
The plan was to do a 10-mile loop to hit 2 - 4000 footers. We got a bit of a late start, and hit snow as we passed into Crawford notch and the parking lot. Car thermometer read 15 degrees at 10am as we left the parking lot into about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground.
We circled the Saco Lake, and acsended the Crawford Path, as it snowed lightly, yet persistantly all day. Weather forecast called for increasing winds and gusts throughout the day. The Crawford Path was icy underneath the snow covering, yet the trees blocked 99% of the wind.
Got up to the intersection Mizpah Cutoff Trail where we met a group of four just coming back from the Hut. We were moving slower than originally planned (Claudia had stabilicers, I did not) so we decided to skip the summit of Mt. Pierce and take the Mizpah Cutoff to the Webster Cliff Trail to the summit of Mt. Jackson. We had to break trail as no one had preceded us on the Webster Cliff Trail.
As we got to the Alpine Meadow around 2pm, where the trail started to climb to the summit of Jackson, the weather and visibility started getting worse. We made the call to turn around as we were concerned of the trail finding near the summit in the worsening weather.
Made it back to the car about 5 minutes before sundown. Overall a great "warm-up" for winter hiking.
Equipment Recommended: Traction (Stabilicers, Microspikes), Hand/Foot warmers, and Poles.
We circled the Saco Lake, and acsended the Crawford Path, as it snowed lightly, yet persistantly all day. Weather forecast called for increasing winds and gusts throughout the day. The Crawford Path was icy underneath the snow covering, yet the trees blocked 99% of the wind.
Got up to the intersection Mizpah Cutoff Trail where we met a group of four just coming back from the Hut. We were moving slower than originally planned (Claudia had stabilicers, I did not) so we decided to skip the summit of Mt. Pierce and take the Mizpah Cutoff to the Webster Cliff Trail to the summit of Mt. Jackson. We had to break trail as no one had preceded us on the Webster Cliff Trail.
As we got to the Alpine Meadow around 2pm, where the trail started to climb to the summit of Jackson, the weather and visibility started getting worse. We made the call to turn around as we were concerned of the trail finding near the summit in the worsening weather.
Made it back to the car about 5 minutes before sundown. Overall a great "warm-up" for winter hiking.
Equipment Recommended: Traction (Stabilicers, Microspikes), Hand/Foot warmers, and Poles.
