BIGEarl
Well-known member
April 11, 2014: Willey Range Loop + Avalon
Trails: Avalon Trail, Avalon Spur, Willey Range Trail, Mt. Tom Spur, A-Z Trail
Summits: Mount Avalon, Mount Field, Mount Willey, Mount Tom
Hikers: Jessica Davis, Katie Kirby, Sue Turner Moore, and me
We met at The Highland Center in Crawford Notch for the hike. The forecast predicted mild but cloudy conditions to start but clearing by mid-morning. A little later than planned we grabbed our things and set off.
Our planned route started with Avalon Trail. The early two stream crossings were both bridged solid and almost hard to tell there were streams underneath. After the second crossing we continued roughly half way to the A-Z Trail junction where we decided it was time for adding some light traction. The warm conditions had softened the surface snow making for questionable footing. The light traction did the job.
We made it to the A-Z junction, went left, and started the steep climb to Avalon. By now the clouds had started to break and we were being treated to sun and blue sky. The trail was solid and light traction was all we needed to make the climb. Soon we reached the junction with Avalon Spur, made the turn, and climbed to the summit. I haven’t been there for a while and with the conditions we were enjoying it was definitely worth the short side-trip.
The stop at Avalon was our first real break of the morning. We enjoyed the views, got a few pictures, but before anybody got chilled we took off for the rest of our hike. The climb to the Willey Range Trail was more steep terrain. There are several steep pitches along the way to the ridge trail. We worked our way along the climb eventually reaching the junction with Willey Range Trail. We stopped for a brief period to re-group and almost immediately a Grey Jay arrived for snacks. He wasn’t disappointed. I think everybody took a turn providing a snack to the bird.
We finished playing with the bird and set off south on Willey Range Trail; first target was Mount Field a very short distance away. In a few minutes we were on Field getting summit and view pictures and then continuing south to Willey.
By the time we arrived to Field the sun had really warmed things up and the exposure on the southern slope of Field made for very soft snow conditions. We changed to snowshoes for the remainder of the hike. Once we reached the ridge, even with our leisurely pace, there wasn’t a great amount of time between targets. We made our way to Mount Willey, getting some nice views and pictures along the way, made the u-turn, and set off north heading back over Field to Mount Tom.
By mid-afternoon we were at the summit of Tom, enjoying the westerly views, collecting a few pictures, and preparing for the exit hike to the trailhead. The trail down from the ridge is steep, just as the climb to Avalon. I was hoping the daytime sun hadn’t hit the area hard enough to soften the snow very much. I wanted an easy snowshoe hike back to the trailhead.
We left Mount Tom on our descent to the trailhead. The walk back to the ridge was easy and fairly quick. We made the turn and continued our descent via A-Z Trail. The snow was a little soft but still offered good traction. We were able to carefully snowshoe our way down from the ridge with little difficulty. We re-grouped at the stream crossing at the bottom of the steep descent and continued our exit walk. There was one more short, but very steep section to get through.
A short distance before reaching the junction with Avalon Trail we arrived to this final test. Still on snowshoes I led the way down the slope. It’s very steep and the traction wasn’t good. We all needed to move carefully. Under the soft surface snow the trail was solid but the soft snow was enough to make the snowshoe traction less effective. We all took our time and nearly made it. Near the bottom of this section Sue had a small slip but made a terrific save. A couple minutes later we were off the steep descent and on our way to the trail junction and final 1.3 miles to the trailhead.
This final section had no tests or surprises. We enjoyed an easy cruise back to the trailhead for a late afternoon finish. We stayed with snowshoes all the way to Crawford Depot.
Once we made our way back to The Highland Center it didn’t take long to pack and prepare to leave. We all headed off in different directions to different destinations. Thanks to Jessica, Katie, and Sue for a fun day looping the Willey Range. I really enjoyed the day and hope you did too.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Avalon Trail, Avalon Spur, Willey Range Trail, Mt. Tom Spur, A-Z Trail
Summits: Mount Avalon, Mount Field, Mount Willey, Mount Tom
Hikers: Jessica Davis, Katie Kirby, Sue Turner Moore, and me
We met at The Highland Center in Crawford Notch for the hike. The forecast predicted mild but cloudy conditions to start but clearing by mid-morning. A little later than planned we grabbed our things and set off.
Our planned route started with Avalon Trail. The early two stream crossings were both bridged solid and almost hard to tell there were streams underneath. After the second crossing we continued roughly half way to the A-Z Trail junction where we decided it was time for adding some light traction. The warm conditions had softened the surface snow making for questionable footing. The light traction did the job.
We made it to the A-Z junction, went left, and started the steep climb to Avalon. By now the clouds had started to break and we were being treated to sun and blue sky. The trail was solid and light traction was all we needed to make the climb. Soon we reached the junction with Avalon Spur, made the turn, and climbed to the summit. I haven’t been there for a while and with the conditions we were enjoying it was definitely worth the short side-trip.
The stop at Avalon was our first real break of the morning. We enjoyed the views, got a few pictures, but before anybody got chilled we took off for the rest of our hike. The climb to the Willey Range Trail was more steep terrain. There are several steep pitches along the way to the ridge trail. We worked our way along the climb eventually reaching the junction with Willey Range Trail. We stopped for a brief period to re-group and almost immediately a Grey Jay arrived for snacks. He wasn’t disappointed. I think everybody took a turn providing a snack to the bird.
We finished playing with the bird and set off south on Willey Range Trail; first target was Mount Field a very short distance away. In a few minutes we were on Field getting summit and view pictures and then continuing south to Willey.
By the time we arrived to Field the sun had really warmed things up and the exposure on the southern slope of Field made for very soft snow conditions. We changed to snowshoes for the remainder of the hike. Once we reached the ridge, even with our leisurely pace, there wasn’t a great amount of time between targets. We made our way to Mount Willey, getting some nice views and pictures along the way, made the u-turn, and set off north heading back over Field to Mount Tom.
By mid-afternoon we were at the summit of Tom, enjoying the westerly views, collecting a few pictures, and preparing for the exit hike to the trailhead. The trail down from the ridge is steep, just as the climb to Avalon. I was hoping the daytime sun hadn’t hit the area hard enough to soften the snow very much. I wanted an easy snowshoe hike back to the trailhead.
We left Mount Tom on our descent to the trailhead. The walk back to the ridge was easy and fairly quick. We made the turn and continued our descent via A-Z Trail. The snow was a little soft but still offered good traction. We were able to carefully snowshoe our way down from the ridge with little difficulty. We re-grouped at the stream crossing at the bottom of the steep descent and continued our exit walk. There was one more short, but very steep section to get through.
A short distance before reaching the junction with Avalon Trail we arrived to this final test. Still on snowshoes I led the way down the slope. It’s very steep and the traction wasn’t good. We all needed to move carefully. Under the soft surface snow the trail was solid but the soft snow was enough to make the snowshoe traction less effective. We all took our time and nearly made it. Near the bottom of this section Sue had a small slip but made a terrific save. A couple minutes later we were off the steep descent and on our way to the trail junction and final 1.3 miles to the trailhead.
This final section had no tests or surprises. We enjoyed an easy cruise back to the trailhead for a late afternoon finish. We stayed with snowshoes all the way to Crawford Depot.
Once we made our way back to The Highland Center it didn’t take long to pack and prepare to leave. We all headed off in different directions to different destinations. Thanks to Jessica, Katie, and Sue for a fun day looping the Willey Range. I really enjoyed the day and hope you did too.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Last edited:
