MikeOneill
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- Jul 4, 2005
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With temperatures in the 30s and a cloudless sky, Saturday was a
perfect day for a winter hike. Ken Huber had assembled a crowd of 12,
including himself, for a group assault on these two trailess summits.
After stationing three cars at the Devil's Path trailhead on Spruceton
Road, we started out from the parking area at the intersection of
Shaft Road (where do they get these names?) and Route 42.
We got started at around 9:45. About ten minutes into the hike, one
of the hikers was feeling under the weather and turned back.
Unfortunately, he was one of the drivers who had shuttled his car to
the trailhead on Spruceton Road, but he assured us he could get there
on his own. Even so, that meant that the rest of us would have to
squeeze into two cars, but heck, that's what hiking is all about,
isn't it?
With all the warm weather lately, none of us were sure what to bring.
It had snowed Wednesday, but how much? Snowshoes? Crampons?
Stabilicers? Tennis Shoes? I decided that I would bring either
crampons or stabilicers, but not both.
Going up Sherrill we had 4 to 8 inches of powder show, and everybody
was barebooted except Brian, who was wearing his yaktrax. The
stabilicers would have come in handy. We reached the summit at about
noon. One of our group, Scott, had already bagged North Dome, and he
turned back. We all signed the register, took a short break, and then
headed off towards North Dome.
Shortly after leaving the summit of Sherrill the snow got deeper and
most of the group put on snowshoes. The col between Sherrill and
North Dome sits a steep 500 feet below the Sherrill summit. Ken
expertly led us away from the cliffs which lie to the East. The
easiest way down was by glissading, which is a fancy way of saying we
slid down on our behinds.
We regrouped at the bottom of the col and started up toward North
Col. North Dome is almost 100 feet higher than Sherrill, and the
climb starts fairly steeply and levels out at a plateau about 80 feet
below the actual summit, densely populated with Balsam Pine. This
plateau is almost as long as the climb from the col to the plateau,
eventually reaching the final summit rise.
The North Dome summit represented the completion of the winter 35 for
Noel, and he dutifully broke out a bottle of champagne that he brought
for the occasion. We toasted, signed the register, took a few
pictures and generally it seemed like we had all known each other for
years, which of course was not so. Then it was time for the final push
to the trailhead. It was now about 2:30.
There were tracks from another group that had summitted earlier in the
day. We had seen their cars parked on Spruceton Road about a mile
from the trailhead. Surely it made sense to follow their tracks to
avoid the cliffs and reach the ridge that would take us to the devil's
path. So we started off the way that the others had come. These
tracks took us generally to the North, and we needed to go East before
going North. After descending about 200 vertical feet it became clear
that the others' tracks were not going to make the break to the ridge,
so we traversed for about 1/2 hour to where we wanted to be.
Again we regrouped and started downhill in earnest. The way was even
steeper than the west slope of Sherrill, and the snow was not as
deep. I had taken off my showshoes on North Dome, and I should have
put on crampons, but I was too lazy to get them out from my pack. As
we were descending Ken spotted a large black bear rapidly climbing
down a tree. I tried to get a picture but the bear was too fast and I
was too slow. I did manage to get a shot of the back of someone's
head and the tree that the bear had climbed.
Ken guided us directly to the point where the Devil's Path runs
alongside the Mink Hollow Creek. From here it's pretty much a level
hike to the cars. Ken and I waited for Harry from
Canada, who was valiantly performing sweep duty and bringing up a
straggling hiker.
By the time everyone was off the trail it was about 6 pm and we were
using headlamps for the last stretch back to the cars. We all agreed
it was a great hike and promised to all get together again for future
hikes. And we will.
perfect day for a winter hike. Ken Huber had assembled a crowd of 12,
including himself, for a group assault on these two trailess summits.
After stationing three cars at the Devil's Path trailhead on Spruceton
Road, we started out from the parking area at the intersection of
Shaft Road (where do they get these names?) and Route 42.
We got started at around 9:45. About ten minutes into the hike, one
of the hikers was feeling under the weather and turned back.
Unfortunately, he was one of the drivers who had shuttled his car to
the trailhead on Spruceton Road, but he assured us he could get there
on his own. Even so, that meant that the rest of us would have to
squeeze into two cars, but heck, that's what hiking is all about,
isn't it?
With all the warm weather lately, none of us were sure what to bring.
It had snowed Wednesday, but how much? Snowshoes? Crampons?
Stabilicers? Tennis Shoes? I decided that I would bring either
crampons or stabilicers, but not both.
Going up Sherrill we had 4 to 8 inches of powder show, and everybody
was barebooted except Brian, who was wearing his yaktrax. The
stabilicers would have come in handy. We reached the summit at about
noon. One of our group, Scott, had already bagged North Dome, and he
turned back. We all signed the register, took a short break, and then
headed off towards North Dome.
Shortly after leaving the summit of Sherrill the snow got deeper and
most of the group put on snowshoes. The col between Sherrill and
North Dome sits a steep 500 feet below the Sherrill summit. Ken
expertly led us away from the cliffs which lie to the East. The
easiest way down was by glissading, which is a fancy way of saying we
slid down on our behinds.
We regrouped at the bottom of the col and started up toward North
Col. North Dome is almost 100 feet higher than Sherrill, and the
climb starts fairly steeply and levels out at a plateau about 80 feet
below the actual summit, densely populated with Balsam Pine. This
plateau is almost as long as the climb from the col to the plateau,
eventually reaching the final summit rise.
The North Dome summit represented the completion of the winter 35 for
Noel, and he dutifully broke out a bottle of champagne that he brought
for the occasion. We toasted, signed the register, took a few
pictures and generally it seemed like we had all known each other for
years, which of course was not so. Then it was time for the final push
to the trailhead. It was now about 2:30.
There were tracks from another group that had summitted earlier in the
day. We had seen their cars parked on Spruceton Road about a mile
from the trailhead. Surely it made sense to follow their tracks to
avoid the cliffs and reach the ridge that would take us to the devil's
path. So we started off the way that the others had come. These
tracks took us generally to the North, and we needed to go East before
going North. After descending about 200 vertical feet it became clear
that the others' tracks were not going to make the break to the ridge,
so we traversed for about 1/2 hour to where we wanted to be.
Again we regrouped and started downhill in earnest. The way was even
steeper than the west slope of Sherrill, and the snow was not as
deep. I had taken off my showshoes on North Dome, and I should have
put on crampons, but I was too lazy to get them out from my pack. As
we were descending Ken spotted a large black bear rapidly climbing
down a tree. I tried to get a picture but the bear was too fast and I
was too slow. I did manage to get a shot of the back of someone's
head and the tree that the bear had climbed.
Ken guided us directly to the point where the Devil's Path runs
alongside the Mink Hollow Creek. From here it's pretty much a level
hike to the cars. Ken and I waited for Harry from
Canada, who was valiantly performing sweep duty and bringing up a
straggling hiker.
By the time everyone was off the trail it was about 6 pm and we were
using headlamps for the last stretch back to the cars. We all agreed
it was a great hike and promised to all get together again for future
hikes. And we will.
