An AMC group was staying in Stratton. On Saturday the Leader (ME) cancelled the official group hike up Saddleback and its Horn (rain forecast all day); all the participants climbed both peaks as an unofficial trip.
On Sunday, in spite of a brutal forecast (cold, winds 25-35 mph) the group trip up Sugarloaf and Spaulding took place as scheduled. We drove to the West Mountain lift parking area; note that there are no road signs pointing to it, we followed the signs to the "Golf Club". From there we hiked up the West Mountain ski trail to Bullwinkles. There we found (on the slopes, not in the hut) a ski patroller, who warned us that conditions were brutal on the summit, and that the trails were icy. Tramper Al, who had skinned up to Bullwinkles, left his skis there.
We then climbed up the TimberlineTrail, which got increasingly icy and windy as we approached the summit. We all had face protection on well before reaching "treeline". I put the word in quotes, since the trees gave us confoundedly little protection
We opted not to visit the unheated hut on the summit area, but instead to run up to the summit, bag it, and descend quickly into the trees. The lightest member of our group got blown to the ground, and had to be helped stay on her feet. I, at 200 lbs with pack, had difficulty staying on my feet, though I did not hit the ground.
Thanks to Tramper Al we quickly found the Sugarloaf Spur Trail (which means that he found it ). The blazes on the upper part of that trail were yellow instead of blue, causing some confusion. But since it went in the right direction we followed it, and eventually found blue blazes.
I had assumed that the 2.7 miles (each way) from Sugarloaf to Spaulding would be largely sheltered in the trees. Mistake ! True, the trail was in the trees almost the entire distance, but the open trees provided essentially no protection from the wind. Not quite as bad as on the summit, but still brutal. Most of the group wisely kept various degrees of face protection on the whole way; I took off my balaclava/facemask combo to prevent fogging of my glasses, and soon felt that my nose was a lump of ice The balaclava/facemask came back on fast, and stayed on.
The climb to the summit of Spaulding was, as expected, hard (500 feet) and steep. No views, again as expected. Quickly down to the "shelter" of the trees for a quick lunch.
The way back was uneventful, until we reached the junction of the AT and he Sugarloaf Spur Trail. Then another 500 feet (roughly) of climbing. We layered up fully just before getting out of the trees, and rushed to the shelter of one of the buildings near the towers as one member reclimbed the summit (he was not sure he had tagged the real top of the rockpile). Then we rushed acros the exposed area to the very relative shelter of the trees and the ski trail.
The descent was much easier than I had feared. It was, let us say, breezy, but certainly not as brutal as I had feared. We reached Bullwinkles at around 3:30, just in time for an overpriced hot cocoa before they closed for the day. Most of us took off face protection for the final descent down the West Mountain ski trail, though at least one kept on balaclava, face mask and goggles. We reached the cars, tired but with as many fingers, toes and noses as we started with, before dark. Tramper Al recovered his skis, and skied down to the cars.
All in all one of the hardest trips in my life. I found the most exhausting part to be the constant wind on the ridge. It was obviously not as brutal as on the summit, but was unrelenting.
No sign of any Gatherers on the trail, but with the wind tracks from the previous day would have disappeared.
We all wore snowshoes (all with good crampons) from start to finish. The slopes had a mixture of almost skiable snow and ice, while on the ridge we met everything: deep snow drifts, good snow, all varieties of ice. Nothing steep, which is why our snowshoes did the job well.
About half the group (excluding me) stayed on to do the Crockers on Monday. I was physically and mentally exhausted, and the forecast was, to say the least, uninviting.
Apparently we were not the only mad hikers on the mountain that day, see Frodo's trip report.
On Sunday, in spite of a brutal forecast (cold, winds 25-35 mph) the group trip up Sugarloaf and Spaulding took place as scheduled. We drove to the West Mountain lift parking area; note that there are no road signs pointing to it, we followed the signs to the "Golf Club". From there we hiked up the West Mountain ski trail to Bullwinkles. There we found (on the slopes, not in the hut) a ski patroller, who warned us that conditions were brutal on the summit, and that the trails were icy. Tramper Al, who had skinned up to Bullwinkles, left his skis there.
We then climbed up the TimberlineTrail, which got increasingly icy and windy as we approached the summit. We all had face protection on well before reaching "treeline". I put the word in quotes, since the trees gave us confoundedly little protection
We opted not to visit the unheated hut on the summit area, but instead to run up to the summit, bag it, and descend quickly into the trees. The lightest member of our group got blown to the ground, and had to be helped stay on her feet. I, at 200 lbs with pack, had difficulty staying on my feet, though I did not hit the ground.
Thanks to Tramper Al we quickly found the Sugarloaf Spur Trail (which means that he found it
). The blazes on the upper part of that trail were yellow instead of blue, causing some confusion. But since it went in the right direction we followed it, and eventually found blue blazes.I had assumed that the 2.7 miles (each way) from Sugarloaf to Spaulding would be largely sheltered in the trees. Mistake
! True, the trail was in the trees almost the entire distance, but the open trees provided essentially no protection from the wind. Not quite as bad as on the summit, but still brutal. Most of the group wisely kept various degrees of face protection on the whole way; I took off my balaclava/facemask combo to prevent fogging of my glasses, and soon felt that my nose was a lump of ice The balaclava/facemask came back on fast, and stayed on.The climb to the summit of Spaulding was, as expected, hard (500 feet) and steep. No views, again as expected. Quickly down to the "shelter" of the trees for a quick lunch.
The way back was uneventful, until we reached the junction of the AT and he Sugarloaf Spur Trail. Then another 500 feet (roughly) of climbing. We layered up fully just before getting out of the trees, and rushed to the shelter of one of the buildings near the towers as one member reclimbed the summit (he was not sure he had tagged the real top of the rockpile). Then we rushed acros the exposed area to the very relative shelter of the trees and the ski trail.
The descent was much easier than I had feared. It was, let us say, breezy, but certainly not as brutal as I had feared. We reached Bullwinkles at around 3:30, just in time for an overpriced hot cocoa before they closed for the day. Most of us took off face protection for the final descent down the West Mountain ski trail, though at least one kept on balaclava, face mask and goggles. We reached the cars, tired but with as many fingers, toes and noses as we started with, before dark. Tramper Al recovered his skis, and skied down to the cars.
All in all one of the hardest trips in my life. I found the most exhausting part to be the constant wind on the ridge. It was obviously not as brutal as on the summit, but was unrelenting.
No sign of any Gatherers on the trail, but with the wind tracks from the previous day would have disappeared.
We all wore snowshoes (all with good crampons) from start to finish. The slopes had a mixture of almost skiable snow and ice, while on the ridge we met everything: deep snow drifts, good snow, all varieties of ice. Nothing steep, which is why our snowshoes did the job well.
About half the group (excluding me) stayed on to do the Crockers on Monday. I was physically and mentally exhausted, and the forecast was, to say the least, uninviting.
Apparently we were not the only mad hikers on the mountain that day, see Frodo's trip report.
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