Double Bow
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- Apr 29, 2005
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After banging out 25 of the 48 in my first winter, I though that I might finish in my second one but getting into ice climbing and some other factors had me only knocking off an additional 13 last winter. It was obvious though that this winter would be the one.
After that first winter, I looked at what I had left and decided that it would be great to finish on Lafayette. It was a big mountain that would provide a good hearty climb and where both the weather and the views have the potential to be incredible. I also wanted to do it on Super Bowl Sunday so I could make a really cool play on that with my trail name ans so I could have a party celebrating both the Pats and my W48 completion. Obviously, this would take some planning to make it all work and I'd want to have some friends with me. I invited a lot of folks but it seemed many had deemed Super Bow Sunday a rest day. Still, I recieved many warm wishes.
In the end, I wound having my buddy Jeff come up with me and we were to meet up with HikerDoc, Pamola, and whichway at Lincoln Place and Marchowes on the ridge. We also expected to run into Jason Berard on our way. At the TH, Mats Roing was there waiting for us to shake my hand and wish me well before heading off to keep his plans. That was really nice. We waited around for a little while and just as we were about to give up and start our hike, whichway showed up. She told us that Pamola had a change of plans and wouldn't be joining us and so we waited for her to get ready. Additionally, both Mats and some people in the parking lot told us that Paradox had been looking for us and had headed up. Despite our starting 45min later than expected, we hoped to catch him and Jason.
I had a lot of enthusiasm and energy when we did hit the trail and so I was moving at a pretty quick pace. All of the difficult, sometimes icy sections on Falling Waters were loaded up with snow so they were quite easy. One thing that was challenging was walking on the trail in our snowshoes as the track was too narrow for our MSRs. It seemed that everyone else had used crampons. We climbed stong and steadily, passing a "9:30" note in the snow at 10:15. Eventually, our pace coupled with a difficult hike the day before and not enough rest caught up with whichway and she opted to turn back and meet us at Woodstock Station posthike. We were sad to see her go, but we knew she had to do what was right for her.
15-20min later, we reached the spur for Shining Rock. Shortly after that we stopped to layer up and I donned my Tom Brady jersey and Patriots hat over my winter garb. On Little Haystack, we spilled some red Poweraid on the snow so Marchowes would know we had been there and we wrote "VFTT" in the snow. It had only taken us 2hr 45min to get there so I was feeling really good about making up some of the lost time. It was a little windy so we didn't want to hang out so on we went. There were no views to be had but visability wa good enough to see our route plainly.
Eventually, we made our way up Lincoln and the wind picked up further. HikerDoc said he got shoved around a little there. Dipping into the col, it was a little better. An hour after hitting Little Haystack we topped out on Lafayette and took some pictures. Again, we didn't want to hang out too long so we headed down toward Greenleaf where we intended to take a long break. Going down, we passed a group we had seen at the trailhead that were climbing up still. They were amused by my attire.
As we neared the hut, I saw a couple people there and I tried waving to them in case they were waiting for us but they were gone by the time we got there. At the hut, I broke out a few bottles of my private label "Double Bow" beer. HikerDoc and Jeff were both very grateful. We snacked and hung out for a good long while telling stories and trying to guess where people were.
As we continued down after our break, we got some views so that was nice and we ran into some other folks. Back at the cars, we wondered were Marc was and tried calling whichway (no service) to find out if she knew. Just as we had formed a plan, I saw a note under my windsheild wiper. It was from Marc letting us know that climbing Flume Slide had drained him so he had decended Liberty and so didn't need us to drive him back to his car. Knowing he was all set, we headed off to Woodstock Station for a couple rounds.
There we met up with whichway and Marc and told them all about the rest of the hike and heard about how their's had been. We hung out for a little while enjoying Oatmeal Stouts before heading home. That night we had a potluck party and more of my hiking friends showed up to congratulate me. It was a fantastic end to a great journey. If only the game had gone as well...
Super thanks to Mats, Jeff, HikerDoc, whichway, Marchowes, Paradox, and Jason for coming out to see me on the trail. Another thanks to Eric Savage and jmegillon149 for seeing me later that night, to mtnmama and mtnpa for their hospitality, to Bruno for being Bruno, to Bob H and WHS croo for all, Winter Gathering folks for nuthin' but a good time. Finally a GINORMOUS thanks to Chickpea, Gator, BobandGeri, Giggy, Mike P, Abster, Poison Ivy, WSC, Dr Wu, MEB, Barbarossa, Sleeping Bear, Jessbee, Sapblatt, Tuco, Rols, Marty, Mad Townie, Early Bird, Drewski, Brewster, Spencer, Artex, Jim Lombard, Youngblood, Gaiagirl, Yellowdog, J&J, and anyone else I shared the trail with along the way. YOU are a big part of what made it so much fun!!
Here are some pics!
After that first winter, I looked at what I had left and decided that it would be great to finish on Lafayette. It was a big mountain that would provide a good hearty climb and where both the weather and the views have the potential to be incredible. I also wanted to do it on Super Bowl Sunday so I could make a really cool play on that with my trail name ans so I could have a party celebrating both the Pats and my W48 completion. Obviously, this would take some planning to make it all work and I'd want to have some friends with me. I invited a lot of folks but it seemed many had deemed Super Bow Sunday a rest day. Still, I recieved many warm wishes.
In the end, I wound having my buddy Jeff come up with me and we were to meet up with HikerDoc, Pamola, and whichway at Lincoln Place and Marchowes on the ridge. We also expected to run into Jason Berard on our way. At the TH, Mats Roing was there waiting for us to shake my hand and wish me well before heading off to keep his plans. That was really nice. We waited around for a little while and just as we were about to give up and start our hike, whichway showed up. She told us that Pamola had a change of plans and wouldn't be joining us and so we waited for her to get ready. Additionally, both Mats and some people in the parking lot told us that Paradox had been looking for us and had headed up. Despite our starting 45min later than expected, we hoped to catch him and Jason.
I had a lot of enthusiasm and energy when we did hit the trail and so I was moving at a pretty quick pace. All of the difficult, sometimes icy sections on Falling Waters were loaded up with snow so they were quite easy. One thing that was challenging was walking on the trail in our snowshoes as the track was too narrow for our MSRs. It seemed that everyone else had used crampons. We climbed stong and steadily, passing a "9:30" note in the snow at 10:15. Eventually, our pace coupled with a difficult hike the day before and not enough rest caught up with whichway and she opted to turn back and meet us at Woodstock Station posthike. We were sad to see her go, but we knew she had to do what was right for her.
15-20min later, we reached the spur for Shining Rock. Shortly after that we stopped to layer up and I donned my Tom Brady jersey and Patriots hat over my winter garb. On Little Haystack, we spilled some red Poweraid on the snow so Marchowes would know we had been there and we wrote "VFTT" in the snow. It had only taken us 2hr 45min to get there so I was feeling really good about making up some of the lost time. It was a little windy so we didn't want to hang out so on we went. There were no views to be had but visability wa good enough to see our route plainly.
Eventually, we made our way up Lincoln and the wind picked up further. HikerDoc said he got shoved around a little there. Dipping into the col, it was a little better. An hour after hitting Little Haystack we topped out on Lafayette and took some pictures. Again, we didn't want to hang out too long so we headed down toward Greenleaf where we intended to take a long break. Going down, we passed a group we had seen at the trailhead that were climbing up still. They were amused by my attire.
As we neared the hut, I saw a couple people there and I tried waving to them in case they were waiting for us but they were gone by the time we got there. At the hut, I broke out a few bottles of my private label "Double Bow" beer. HikerDoc and Jeff were both very grateful. We snacked and hung out for a good long while telling stories and trying to guess where people were.
As we continued down after our break, we got some views so that was nice and we ran into some other folks. Back at the cars, we wondered were Marc was and tried calling whichway (no service) to find out if she knew. Just as we had formed a plan, I saw a note under my windsheild wiper. It was from Marc letting us know that climbing Flume Slide had drained him so he had decended Liberty and so didn't need us to drive him back to his car. Knowing he was all set, we headed off to Woodstock Station for a couple rounds.
There we met up with whichway and Marc and told them all about the rest of the hike and heard about how their's had been. We hung out for a little while enjoying Oatmeal Stouts before heading home. That night we had a potluck party and more of my hiking friends showed up to congratulate me. It was a fantastic end to a great journey. If only the game had gone as well...
Super thanks to Mats, Jeff, HikerDoc, whichway, Marchowes, Paradox, and Jason for coming out to see me on the trail. Another thanks to Eric Savage and jmegillon149 for seeing me later that night, to mtnmama and mtnpa for their hospitality, to Bruno for being Bruno, to Bob H and WHS croo for all, Winter Gathering folks for nuthin' but a good time. Finally a GINORMOUS thanks to Chickpea, Gator, BobandGeri, Giggy, Mike P, Abster, Poison Ivy, WSC, Dr Wu, MEB, Barbarossa, Sleeping Bear, Jessbee, Sapblatt, Tuco, Rols, Marty, Mad Townie, Early Bird, Drewski, Brewster, Spencer, Artex, Jim Lombard, Youngblood, Gaiagirl, Yellowdog, J&J, and anyone else I shared the trail with along the way. YOU are a big part of what made it so much fun!!
Here are some pics!
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