peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
I wasnt sure of the weekend weather forecast, as usual partly sunny predicted early in the week gradually switching to clouds and drizzle both days with Sunday being the better of the two. Saturday turned out pleasant with the summits in blue sky in the afternoon but the valleys pretty gloomy. Sunday AM I went to the obs website and the summit cams showed bright blue skies even though it was dense fog and drizzle at my place. It looked like another day for undercast and temperature inversion plus given the forecast for temps it was time for a hike. I headed down the road to the winter Starr King Parking lot. I actually gave it a short run up the summer trailhead with my truck but figured folks might follow me and get stuck.
I was on the trail early and there was some crust from overnight plus a well packed trail. The trailw as stillint he clouds but hints of blue sky were directly above. I barebooted with microspikes up to the end of the hardwoods, but as I climbed the weather warmed up and the sun started softening up the snow. I did sink in once or twice so switched to my MSR's for the rest of the day. It was a nice walk up to Starr King with great views at the fireplace. There was definitely an undercast to the west and to the south all the summits and ridges were out with plenty of the valleys socked in. It was definitely a day where I started with a empty pack and it got fuller all day as I took off gear. The run over to Waumbek was pleasant but it was obivous that the snow pack was starting to break down and postholes from the prior day were causing some odd foot falls even with snowshoes on. I met Stephen from Jaffrey on the way and expect I will be submitting a new member request as soon as I get his desired screen name. He just finished his 115 and like many had issues in the past getting on as a member.
As I headed up the last rise to Waumbek the wind was picking up, but it was a warm wind and the view at the new Waumbek viewpoint was excellent, although high clouds were more visible. While leaving the summit I met a father (grandfather) out with his sons (grandsons) barebooting up. He may have been 6 feet but the children were more like four feet and they were punching through the snow frequently, they decidely looked a bit less thrilled. I expect their hike down would have been slower as the snow path was definitely breaking down.
I headed down the ridge at a good clip occasionally dropping into a posthole with my snowshoes and one occasion getting a good ankle roll from a posthole. All I can say is the metphorical body count of "dead kittens" was plenty high along the downward route. I did encounter folks from Random group meetup group and stopped to chat a bit, they were all equipped with snowshoes. I met a few other small groups and they had a mix of bareboot and snowshoes. After break at the fireplace to talk to some Random Group folks who werent summiting, the sky looked quite gray to the west and it even was spitting precip while the summits were in blue sky. I headed down as fast as I could but the postholes were more prevalent and if I hit them wrong the snow was collapsing. It was bit obvious that the narrow width of the MSRs, does have a downsides as its a lot easier to roll sidewards when hitting a posthole than with a wider shoe. I never encountered any signifciant balling or sticking on the entire trip which was unexpected given the conditions.
Once I hit the hardwoods it was quite warm so I switched to a short sleeve summer shirt and headed down the trail. The snow pack was definitely taking a hit so I ran through the woods in the uncompacted snow when I could. It did start to cool down as I descended but not enough to put more gear on as the sun was out. I was down at the parking lot at 1:30. The starr king winter lot by that time was a wet skating rink in some spots and the exit onto route 2 as usual required 4wd on my truck as there is just enough upslope out of the lot that with a bit of ice its always interesting.
All in all a nice way to spend a warm Sunday in January.
I was on the trail early and there was some crust from overnight plus a well packed trail. The trailw as stillint he clouds but hints of blue sky were directly above. I barebooted with microspikes up to the end of the hardwoods, but as I climbed the weather warmed up and the sun started softening up the snow. I did sink in once or twice so switched to my MSR's for the rest of the day. It was a nice walk up to Starr King with great views at the fireplace. There was definitely an undercast to the west and to the south all the summits and ridges were out with plenty of the valleys socked in. It was definitely a day where I started with a empty pack and it got fuller all day as I took off gear. The run over to Waumbek was pleasant but it was obivous that the snow pack was starting to break down and postholes from the prior day were causing some odd foot falls even with snowshoes on. I met Stephen from Jaffrey on the way and expect I will be submitting a new member request as soon as I get his desired screen name. He just finished his 115 and like many had issues in the past getting on as a member.
As I headed up the last rise to Waumbek the wind was picking up, but it was a warm wind and the view at the new Waumbek viewpoint was excellent, although high clouds were more visible. While leaving the summit I met a father (grandfather) out with his sons (grandsons) barebooting up. He may have been 6 feet but the children were more like four feet and they were punching through the snow frequently, they decidely looked a bit less thrilled. I expect their hike down would have been slower as the snow path was definitely breaking down.
I headed down the ridge at a good clip occasionally dropping into a posthole with my snowshoes and one occasion getting a good ankle roll from a posthole. All I can say is the metphorical body count of "dead kittens" was plenty high along the downward route. I did encounter folks from Random group meetup group and stopped to chat a bit, they were all equipped with snowshoes. I met a few other small groups and they had a mix of bareboot and snowshoes. After break at the fireplace to talk to some Random Group folks who werent summiting, the sky looked quite gray to the west and it even was spitting precip while the summits were in blue sky. I headed down as fast as I could but the postholes were more prevalent and if I hit them wrong the snow was collapsing. It was bit obvious that the narrow width of the MSRs, does have a downsides as its a lot easier to roll sidewards when hitting a posthole than with a wider shoe. I never encountered any signifciant balling or sticking on the entire trip which was unexpected given the conditions.
Once I hit the hardwoods it was quite warm so I switched to a short sleeve summer shirt and headed down the trail. The snow pack was definitely taking a hit so I ran through the woods in the uncompacted snow when I could. It did start to cool down as I descended but not enough to put more gear on as the sun was out. I was down at the parking lot at 1:30. The starr king winter lot by that time was a wet skating rink in some spots and the exit onto route 2 as usual required 4wd on my truck as there is just enough upslope out of the lot that with a bit of ice its always interesting.
All in all a nice way to spend a warm Sunday in January.
Last edited:
