Tom Rankin
Well-known member
We started from the Crawford Center at 7:45. It was about 15F with overcast skies. We could almost see the summit of Tom. The winds were almost dead calm today, even up high. Snow flurries were predicted, but never showed up.
The trail up to the Avalon turn off was packed down pretty well. At the junction, we debated our choices. Was the trail broken above Avalon? (The answer revealed later). We chose to head to Tom. Only 1 mile to the col! But after 3 days of peakbagging, as Laurie put it, 'that was the longest mile I've ever hiked!'
I agreed!
We arrived at the col around 10:00 and took a break before heading to the summit. The spur trail is really pretty mellow, only gaining 300' or so in .5 miles. Limited views towards Jackson and into the lower Pemi were had.
Back down we walked and butt slid to the junction and then over to the Willey Range Trail. At this point no one has gone towards the hut for quite a while. But the tracks continued towards Field. We followed them all the way to the top, not remembering the false summit. At the top, we fed 2 Gray Jays, and watched at they chased a third away! The trail to Willey was not broken out, but I could see and feel that it was not too heavily snowed under. But, given that we had done 9,000' of elevation gain in the last 3 days, and the visibility was quite limited, and the trail markers almost non-existent, we made the decision to turn back. Did we take the trail back down to Avalon? No! It had not been broken out! We had made the right decision!
The descent back to the A-Z trail was quick. The drop off from the col to the Avalon junction was even quicker! The Rankin Butt-Slide Index was about an 8 out of 10!
Back to the car by 1:45 and after a cold one and hot fire and some shopping at the lodge, we headed back at the Motel, where I now type. I think this will be the end of our peakbagging foray for this trip. Tomorrow portends snow, and we have a 6 hour drive.
Pics to follow...
The trail up to the Avalon turn off was packed down pretty well. At the junction, we debated our choices. Was the trail broken above Avalon? (The answer revealed later). We chose to head to Tom. Only 1 mile to the col! But after 3 days of peakbagging, as Laurie put it, 'that was the longest mile I've ever hiked!'
I agreed! We arrived at the col around 10:00 and took a break before heading to the summit. The spur trail is really pretty mellow, only gaining 300' or so in .5 miles. Limited views towards Jackson and into the lower Pemi were had.
Back down we walked and butt slid to the junction and then over to the Willey Range Trail. At this point no one has gone towards the hut for quite a while. But the tracks continued towards Field. We followed them all the way to the top, not remembering the false summit. At the top, we fed 2 Gray Jays, and watched at they chased a third away! The trail to Willey was not broken out, but I could see and feel that it was not too heavily snowed under. But, given that we had done 9,000' of elevation gain in the last 3 days, and the visibility was quite limited, and the trail markers almost non-existent, we made the decision to turn back. Did we take the trail back down to Avalon? No! It had not been broken out! We had made the right decision!
The descent back to the A-Z trail was quick. The drop off from the col to the Avalon junction was even quicker! The Rankin Butt-Slide Index was about an 8 out of 10!
Back to the car by 1:45 and after a cold one and hot fire and some shopping at the lodge, we headed back at the Motel, where I now type. I think this will be the end of our peakbagging foray for this trip. Tomorrow portends snow, and we have a 6 hour drive.
Pics to follow...
