Jazzbo
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 1,199
- Reaction score
- 171
My apologies to the Thomas Starr King author of the 1859 book The White hills: Their Legends, Landscape, and Poetry, but I couldn’t resist the pun.
Bob K and I joined a NH Chapter hike to Starr King and Waumbek led by Anne G and Trudi J. We stayed at Lyons Hospitality in Twin Mountain. Lyons is a good deal and hugely convenient. It was refreshing change to boot up in comfort of your room and have just 20-minute drive to the trail head.
One wouldn’t naturally think a party of 12 would be great fun, but it was. We had 8 women and 4 men which is great odds in my book. Many were new to winter hiking. For one fellow named Paul from Portsmouth RI, this was his very first 4000 footer. He was equipped with the top quality gear so I was taken back when he told us this was his first 4000 footer ever. It turns out he has a buddy who hikes and loaned him most of the gear he had on. We had a great time with great people.
We had excellent conditions for this snowshoe trip. Deep snow on the order of 2 feet or so at the trailhead and a well-packed trail made for easy traveling. Thanks to p2piper and all who packed out the trails so nicely!
Everyone was drinking the requisite water necessitating frequent breaks. But the day was sunny and crisp no one really cared. We started at 8:50 and returned to the TH at 3:30 or so. Someone reported it was –4 F when we started off, but the bright sun and negligible winds made it seem much warmer. I didn’t walk too far beyond Waumbek summit, but it did look like the trail beyond Waumbek was packed out as well.
We gained altitude and entered the spruce fir zone at approx 2900’. The spruce and fir was thickly draped in snow of all different shapes making it impossible to tell how deep the snow might really be. The summit sign at Waumbek being at knee level was pretty good indicator. Starr King would be a prime candidate for a bit of pruning to enhance the views. The way the land drops off from the fireplace summit area on Starr King, it really wouldn’t require cutting more than 20 small pole diameter spruces to open up a splendid view of northern Presidentials . The ravines really show up well in the bright sun looking like they were carved out by some cosmic hand.
It was really cool sharing some in the party’s first experiences with winter travel at 4000’. I recall fondly one of our companions remarking “Wow … this is like walking on the moon!!!” We also encountered VFTT folks Marchowes and Pamola doing something easy after their rematch with Vose Spur the day before.
Pics are here!
Bob K and I joined a NH Chapter hike to Starr King and Waumbek led by Anne G and Trudi J. We stayed at Lyons Hospitality in Twin Mountain. Lyons is a good deal and hugely convenient. It was refreshing change to boot up in comfort of your room and have just 20-minute drive to the trail head.
One wouldn’t naturally think a party of 12 would be great fun, but it was. We had 8 women and 4 men which is great odds in my book. Many were new to winter hiking. For one fellow named Paul from Portsmouth RI, this was his very first 4000 footer. He was equipped with the top quality gear so I was taken back when he told us this was his first 4000 footer ever. It turns out he has a buddy who hikes and loaned him most of the gear he had on. We had a great time with great people.
We had excellent conditions for this snowshoe trip. Deep snow on the order of 2 feet or so at the trailhead and a well-packed trail made for easy traveling. Thanks to p2piper and all who packed out the trails so nicely!
Everyone was drinking the requisite water necessitating frequent breaks. But the day was sunny and crisp no one really cared. We started at 8:50 and returned to the TH at 3:30 or so. Someone reported it was –4 F when we started off, but the bright sun and negligible winds made it seem much warmer. I didn’t walk too far beyond Waumbek summit, but it did look like the trail beyond Waumbek was packed out as well.
We gained altitude and entered the spruce fir zone at approx 2900’. The spruce and fir was thickly draped in snow of all different shapes making it impossible to tell how deep the snow might really be. The summit sign at Waumbek being at knee level was pretty good indicator. Starr King would be a prime candidate for a bit of pruning to enhance the views. The way the land drops off from the fireplace summit area on Starr King, it really wouldn’t require cutting more than 20 small pole diameter spruces to open up a splendid view of northern Presidentials . The ravines really show up well in the bright sun looking like they were carved out by some cosmic hand.
It was really cool sharing some in the party’s first experiences with winter travel at 4000’. I recall fondly one of our companions remarking “Wow … this is like walking on the moon!!!” We also encountered VFTT folks Marchowes and Pamola doing something easy after their rematch with Vose Spur the day before.
Pics are here!
