Places to hike in next week's weather

[--M.]

So tonight's little dusting will bring a half-a-foot to the Whites, but it seems next weekend -- when I'll be up there -- will have both precip and subsequent low temperatures.

Obvious no-gos (for my narcissistic little purposes) will include anywhere along the northern Presi ridgeline, or Franconia Ridge, but where are your favorite bad-weather hikes?

I sacrificed the new skis for the forty-below bag..., and we'll have the opportunity.

So where would you go?

==Carter Notch? Front-side or back?
==Another Hut? Zealand, Lonesome Lake?
==Hancocks?
==Wild River? Is the Wild River Road closed (it sometimes sneaks open)?
==Lower Crawford Path (Nauman)?

What are your tough-weather alternatives?

I've also noticed that it's not always a no-brainer to find lean-to sites; got any favorites there? Already done Hermit Lake (about a billion times)....

Love to hear 'em,

--M.

 

[Bob]

Hancocks have always been my favorite easy hike camping area, or near Owl's Head.

 

[MadRiver]

With the high winds predicted for Saturday and Sunday I will do the Willey Range on Saturday and maybe the Tripyramids on Sunday. Monday is undecided as of yet.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I am interested in the Hancocks on Saturday. If you are too, please PM me and let me know what the plan is.

Tim

 

[dug]

Backside of Carter Notch is on my "to-do" list in the winter. It gets almost no traffic in the summer, so you might be breaking some trail in the winter. However, the area looks like it would be GREAT skiing from what I've been able to see.

 

[weatherman]

Thinking 4-walled shelters, given the wind...
Carter, Zealand, Lonesome Lake... Carter my favorite. The backside is indeed awesome, and though I haven't skied it, I've snowshoed it a couple times. I agree skiing would really be good. Think deep and unbroken snow (at least unbroken, not sure about deep). MIght be full but I bet there will be no-shows given the temps.

Cabot Cabin? That's a nice one though it might be pretty chilly this weekend.
Harvard Cabin... been there but never overnight. It struck me as a very dark place.

Lots of 3-wall options if you are good with putting up tarps or snow walls.

Sheltered day hikes to non-peaks... any ponds (Greeley), perhaps a waterfall (Bridalveil Falls in Franconia, though it's a dead-end trail).
Enjoy.
Weatherman

 

[--M.]

I knew this thread would wake up eventually.

The criteria for this outing haven't stopped changing, almost from the beginning.

The inbound storm (and home-front demands) now recommend a Saturday drive...,

And the snow looks to be secondary to the scary-cold temperatures being bandied about on these very pages. I'm not naive enough to test out my brand new forty-below bag on actual 20-below temps. And if it's that cold, I'm as worried for my car's battery as I am for my own warmth. But it's not going to be that cold. Is it?

And then my buddy had to bail, so now it's a solo effort, even further shrinking the envelope. Goodbye Perkins Notch.

I'd be open to meeting new folks (and I hear the "Winter Gathering" is happening up Dolly Copp's way), but that's a karmic we'll-see and is allowed either to happen or not as events dictate (maybe this should move to Trips & Events).

And then there's the football. Right in the middle of hiking time. What the heck is that? I've never been one for a tape-delayed viewing of a live sports event. So that may require a mid-outing jaunt to a place with a tv.

So maybe it's skiing to Ethan Pond and Thoreau Falls, and a day-trip to Hale or the Willey Range. With a Patriot's stop in-between. MAN, that's an inconvenient game schedule!

Well, I guess these are good problems to have, so, as Pinpin Junior would say,

" your cafe is ready, I print the maps and full your water bottles."

Lash 'em up, one way or the other! And keep those cards & letters coming.

--M.