The Call Of The High Peaks

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Ed'n Lauky

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
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Location
Blairsville GA ......... Avatar-- On top of S
The initial plan for Saturday's hike was quite simple. Two friends who hadn't been hiking much wanted me to go with them--not too fast, not too far, simply something to get the legs back. So Duffy and I agreed to go up Pierce with them. At the last minute both of them bailed. Work had been so hectic I hadn't had much time to think about hiking or alternatives. So Saturday morning Duffy and I simply headed out to Crawford notch to do Pierce. I honestly hadn't thought much beyond that.

The snowline started within a 200 yards of the trailhead and grew increasingly deep as we went up. The Crawford trail is a fairly easy trail and the snow was well consolidated. There was no postholing at all and I never put on the snowshoes. As we reached the Alpine zone the snow was deep enough that the Alpine zone sign was at my feet. However, once above the trees the snow simply disappeared. The north face of Pierce was completely bare. It was windy but absolutely beautiful on the top.

I sat there on the summit for a few minutes sharing a small bag of natchos with Duffy. I was perplexed. The plan had been to simply climb Pierce. The note I had left on the kitchen table had said "Mt. Pierce from Crawford notch." However, sitting out over there was Eisenhower. I could hear it calling to me. I said to myself, "No, a solo hiker doesn't abandon his hiking plan." Nevertheless, Ike kept calling and finally I yielded. It was too gorgeous a day to let the opportunity slip away. Off we went.

The trail over to Ike was not quite as clear of snow as it appeared from Pierce, maybe 60% clear, nevertheless it was very easily negotiated. The views going up Eisenhower were spectacular. As I stood on the top of Eisenhower, what appeared to be an airliner coming from the south flew around Washington and headed back south--curious! :confused: As I started out from Pierce towards Eisenhower I had no thought but to go out and back. On the way the idea of doing a loop fixed itself in my mind and so once on Eisenhower Duffy and I simply continued on down the other side and picked up the Edmunds path. It was a strange feeling. We had gone from spring at Crawford notch to winter just below the treeline and back to spring on the top of Eisenhower where there was no snow at all. However, winter was just around the corner.

The upper end of the Edmunds trail passes diagonally over a steep slope for a considerable distance. There is a massive amount of snow on that upper end to the extent that there is no trail at all. It's not that you don't know where to go, but you simply have to work your way diagonally across a very steep and somewhat dicey snowfield. Had there been no trees below to grab hold of in the event of a slide, it would have been really dicey. Snowshoes, at least aluminum frame shoes, were out of the question. A couple of steps with them and it would have been -- tally hoe!

At one point along the slope I stepped into a spruce trap and went in up to my arm pits. Had I had snowshoes on I no doubt would still be there. Once past the steep slope, which seemed to go on forever, the grade lessened the the rest of the trail was fairly easy. It was obvious from the increased amount tracks lower down that many people coming up had turned around when confronted with the difficulty of the snowfield. When we finally reached the Edmunds trailhead we simply hoofed it back to the AMC center. Since the road is now open to traffic I put the leash on Duffy and he gently pulled me along. We made pretty good time along the road but it still took 40 minutes or so. What a great day! :) What a great hike! :)

We broke a few rules about hiking alone, but we made it back to report on it so I guess that makes it the best of all. ;)
 
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Sounds like a fun day to me!! I'm trying to imagine you in the spruce trap... I'd guess that Duffy was next to your face giving you a couple licks with a "let's get going" look in his eyes. tail wagging!! (That would be Cooper in any case!)
 
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