percious
Well-known member
Better late than never, right?
A few of my friends and I decided on a nice wet peakbagging trip for this weekend. Fortunately for us, all the bagging was done on Friday, which was spectacular.
After dropping a car at the AT intersection of RT. 302 we drove up to the Crawford Notch parking area, paid our parking fees and headed off to the visitor center. After finally inquiring about the where-abouts of the Avalon trail, we were directed to behind the train depot. Soon enough, we were greeted by stream crossings and cascades as we ascended with our gear laiden packs.
Arriving at Avalon was a pleasant surprise. The views were spectacular, and a pleasant couple shared the "summit" with us as we ate our lunch. It was after 12 at this point. After some photo-ops and some lounging around, we made our way towards Field.
We finally arrived at the intersection near field at about 2:30 pm, and made the short jaunt up Field. We were greeted by a Gray Jay, who obviously wanted some of our food. At this point 3 of our members decided to head towards Tom, and I, being the obsessed peak bagger that I am, headed off to nab willey. I would have to make up 3 miles on the others.
The trail to willey is well designed, as it descends very little, and almost avoids the false summit altogether. I arrived at the summit after running in my snowshoes for about 35 minutes. It was nice to have the heavy pack off. I searched in vain for the actual summit plot, but did not find it as the forest is thick at the point where the trail starts to head back down.
Heading back I re-ascended Field, and grabbed my pack on the other side. At the junction of A-Z/Tom I found one of my mates, on the look out for moose. The other two were out on Tom, and I would soon cross their paths while they descended. Tom's summit was beautiful, and the view of the Bonds was impressive. I am still new to the whites, so I still cannot pick out most of the peaks...
I descended back to the junction, to find my lonely pack, and man-handled it onto my back as I started down the long descent to Zealand ponds. Within a mile I had caught up with the clan, and we all descended together after I stopped for a much needed water break. My steripen came in handy at this point.
I was pretty shagged at this point, and the numerous dangerous water crossings were diffucult, as we were forced to remove and re-apply our snowshoes numerous times. I was however, proud about making up 3 miles and 1 1/2 hours of hiking time on my teamates. In their defense, they had slowed their progress so that I may catch them.
We arrived at the zealand ponds area, and could see the pond and the hut in the distance. The beaver's work was aparent in this area, and we did get a peak at one.
(cont.)
A few of my friends and I decided on a nice wet peakbagging trip for this weekend. Fortunately for us, all the bagging was done on Friday, which was spectacular.
After dropping a car at the AT intersection of RT. 302 we drove up to the Crawford Notch parking area, paid our parking fees and headed off to the visitor center. After finally inquiring about the where-abouts of the Avalon trail, we were directed to behind the train depot. Soon enough, we were greeted by stream crossings and cascades as we ascended with our gear laiden packs.
Arriving at Avalon was a pleasant surprise. The views were spectacular, and a pleasant couple shared the "summit" with us as we ate our lunch. It was after 12 at this point. After some photo-ops and some lounging around, we made our way towards Field.
We finally arrived at the intersection near field at about 2:30 pm, and made the short jaunt up Field. We were greeted by a Gray Jay, who obviously wanted some of our food. At this point 3 of our members decided to head towards Tom, and I, being the obsessed peak bagger that I am, headed off to nab willey. I would have to make up 3 miles on the others.
The trail to willey is well designed, as it descends very little, and almost avoids the false summit altogether. I arrived at the summit after running in my snowshoes for about 35 minutes. It was nice to have the heavy pack off. I searched in vain for the actual summit plot, but did not find it as the forest is thick at the point where the trail starts to head back down.
Heading back I re-ascended Field, and grabbed my pack on the other side. At the junction of A-Z/Tom I found one of my mates, on the look out for moose. The other two were out on Tom, and I would soon cross their paths while they descended. Tom's summit was beautiful, and the view of the Bonds was impressive. I am still new to the whites, so I still cannot pick out most of the peaks...
I descended back to the junction, to find my lonely pack, and man-handled it onto my back as I started down the long descent to Zealand ponds. Within a mile I had caught up with the clan, and we all descended together after I stopped for a much needed water break. My steripen came in handy at this point.
I was pretty shagged at this point, and the numerous dangerous water crossings were diffucult, as we were forced to remove and re-apply our snowshoes numerous times. I was however, proud about making up 3 miles and 1 1/2 hours of hiking time on my teamates. In their defense, they had slowed their progress so that I may catch them.
We arrived at the zealand ponds area, and could see the pond and the hut in the distance. The beaver's work was aparent in this area, and we did get a peak at one.
(cont.)
