Whiteface & Passaconaway Loop, 1/22/2011

[BIGEarl]

January 22, 2011: Whiteface & Passaconaway Loop

Trails: Blueberry Ledge Trail, Rollins Trail, Dicey’s Mill Trail

Summits: Whiteface and Passaconaway

Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me



I need to work on my drive time estimating skills. Again, a little later than planned we arrived to the trailhead for our hike and actually got moving; but it wasn’t entirely my fault. The temperature was 2 degrees, there was no wind at all, and the sky was completely clear; pretty hard to find fault with that picture. As we were preparing to hike another pair of hikers pulled in, grabbed their things, and set off roughly ten minutes ahead of us. We started out of the trailhead and another hiker arrived. This solo hiker would also hike the same route as the rest of us. That’s five sets of snowshoes opening up the loop.

We completed the short road walk to the trails and started the climb. It appeared the two hikers that set off ahead of us were in fact breaking out the trail. All of the snow that was received during the past week was waiting for some snowshoe traffic. Consequently, Sue and I had a broken trail but the surface was generally several inches of loose snow. The poor footing made the steep sections a little more work due to the slipping and sliding back down after taking a step forward. This was only a preview of what was coming.

A short distance below the upper Blueberry Ledge – Blueberry Ledge Cutoff junction, the hiker that pulled in as we were leaving the trailhead caught us, stopped to visit for a few minutes, and continued ahead. We never again saw him or the other pair that was ahead of us. The added set of snowshoes ahead of us made little difference in the trail condition.

We stopped at the trail junction to enjoy the views but the temperature kept the break short. Soon we were back into the hike and staying warm. From the Blueberry Ledge trail junction to the Tom Wiggin trail junction there are a couple steep pitches that generated some heat. Roughly half-way up the second pitch I realized it was my turn. I was having a very tough time with the hike; low energy, only able to make progress in small bites, and frequent stops were necessary. It’s going to be a long day. Sue was patient and kept pulling me through the hike plan. I knew once we reached Whiteface south summit the hike would ease up and I should be okay.

Soon after leaving the area of the Tom Wiggin trail junction we were starting into the climb of the ledges. The first ledge section is one of the more difficult ones (at least for me). There was over a foot of loose snow on the ledge offering no support for the snowshoes and no traction. The broken route didn’t hug the left side as the usual trail route goes but simply went straight up. We started to follow and decided the lack of traction might not end well. We headed left toward the normal trail route and made the climb. This first ledge indicated what we had ahead of us on the remaining climb to the top of the ledges.

Slowly we were able to get past each ledge section. Earlier, I noticed the hikers ahead of us – all three, had axes with them. Those probably got some use on this climb. At each ledge I needed to really dig in for the energy to make the climb. And, at the top of each ledge I immediately stopped to re-group. The conditions were great, the views at each stop were great, and I have a terrific hiking partner. All of this worked together to keep me climbing. Sue just smiled and climbed and had unlimited patience with me. We have both had tough days in the past and will most likely have more.

After one of the many brief stops along the climb I raised my head to look around and realized the top of Whiteface ledges was twenty yards ahead. We made it. The day was about to get a little easier. I did some quick checks and found we were roughly an hour over plan. At this rate we were going to finish the hike really late, which for us isn’t a big deal.

There were no tracks from the others ahead of us going out to the ledges for the views. Sue led the way and I followed to the top of one of the ledges to enjoy the views. How could we not go there on such a bright and clear day? It was still cold but we had virtually no wind. The predictions for northwest winds of ~40 mph didn’t materialize. It isn’t unusual for the weather forecasts to be wrong – and it’s particularly nice when they’re wrong in the right direction.

At the top of Whiteface ledges we found ourselves beyond the point of no return. Neither of us was interested in even considering descending the ledges under the current conditions – ascending was difficult, descending would be very dangerous. From here we set off on the Rollins Trail to the actual summit of Whiteface. After starting into the trail it was clear the place would soon be a little unpleasant. After another foot of snow base the tree branches that are usually well above the trail surface in summer will be right at head level for the rest of winter. This means 2.5 miles of hat-snatchers. Plowing through head level branches is also a little unpleasant if they’re loaded with fresh snow. For anybody thinking about this hike, now might be a good time to do it.

The short hike to the summit of Whiteface was enough for me to know things would be better but still not good. I started to pile in the fuel; packages of crackers, gel packs, shot blocks, granola bars, Gatorade, and anything else I could find. In the course of making our way from Blueberry Ledge Trail to Dicey’s Mill Trail I was able to make some progress. Sue just smiled and hiked and kept encouraging me through the day. Sue also told me we didn’t need to visit Passaconaway and could just head out when we reached the Dicey’s Mill Trail junction. I knew once we reached the summit of Passaconaway the exit hike wouldn’t be that bad (it’s generally all downhill or flat). There was no way I was interested in considering cutting Passaconaway from the hike. From the trail junction to the summit is only .9 miles and 750 feet. I could come up with that, somehow.

We hit the trail junction; I had a gel pack, half-quart of Gatorade, and a package of crackers. We turned and set off for Passaconaway. The climb to the left turn at the Dicey’s Mill – East Loop split wasn’t bad. From there we would hike around a hundred yards and stop, and then repeat. We made good progress to and through the switchbacks. Finally we were into the steep climbs to the summit. At the bottom of the first steep pitch the televators came up. They really saved me on this climb. Each steep sections required two or three short stops on the climb. It was slow but we made it through each one. We reached the area near the viewpoint on Passaconaway, the televators were retracted, and we stepped onto the viewpoint ledge. I happened to look toward Waterville Valley and noticed a bright flash in the sky over the area and the there appeared to be some sort of flare falling. I assumed there was a fireworks display underway but have no idea if that was the case.

We made a visit to the summit for the usual pictures. I finished off my Gatorade, pulled out another quart of water for the hike out, and we were off. As expected, the exit hike went reasonably well. We made very few stops along the way. Based on reports I had read, I expected Dicey’s Mill Trail to be in pretty good shape. There was no difference compared to the rest of the hike. It looked like the trail was just broken with limited traffic. This loop needs snowshoe traffic, lots of snowshoe traffic to pack the trail and smooth it out.

After leaving Whiteface south summit we were able to regain some time and we actually made it back to the trailhead a little ahead of our plan. That was a pleasant surprise.

Thanks, Sue, for pulling me through the day, for sharing your vacation, and for another terrific hike. Now it’s time to rest up and heal up, the next one will be here soon.


I’ve posted some pictures from the day.


BIGEarl's Pictures


Straight to the slideshow

 

[ksearl]

Hey Earl,

Wonderful TR. Looks like this was tough winter hike. I must admit, if I was up there on the ledges with the loose powder as you describe it. I would have been very intimidated! I'm glad you guys pressed on to Passaconaway too.

The pictures are fantastic. Love the one toward the north at Mt. Washington. What time did you guys make it out of the woods? Looks like you had headlamps on at the end. It must be tough making these longer loops with the shorter days. I've never really considered that because all my longer hikes have been during the summer time.

Again, fantastic report and pics!

Karl

 

[RollingRock]

Great trip report! I did the same route a week earlier [except I skipped Passaconaway] and it sounds like the trail is still not packed down much.

I know the ledge you are talking about that went straight up. I had a real tough time with that one. I had to really kick in with my snowshoes. I did not have an ice axe either and agree that it would have helped.

The stretch from South Whiteface to Dicey Mill seemed endless to me and more tiring that I thought it would be.

Work blocks access to photo-based websites so I'll them out tonight.

 

[BIGEarl]

Hey Earl,

Wonderful TR. Looks like this was tough winter hike. I must admit, if I was up there on the ledges with the loose powder as you describe it. I would have been very intimidated! I'm glad you guys pressed on to Passaconaway too.

The pictures are fantastic. Love the one toward the north at Mt. Washington. What time did you guys make it out of the woods? Looks like you had headlamps on at the end. It must be tough making these longer loops with the shorter days. I've never really considered that because all my longer hikes have been during the summer time.

Again, fantastic report and pics!

Karl

Thanks Karl,

Once we were past the ledges we never considered turning around. Neither of us wanted to try descending the ledges under the current conditions. At that point, our exit route was Rollins and Dicey’s Mill.

With the longer hikes, or the ones we expect will take a longer period of time due to conditions, I’ll usually select a target exit time and work back from there to a required meet time, which can be pretty early. In most cases this works very well. This approach means we often spend the final couple hours hiking with headlights. On this particular hike we had the headlights out on the ascent to Passaconaway. But, on this particular hike we got started a couple hours later than planned.

As the length of daylight decreases, our use of headlights increases. Both of us are comfortable hiking after dark and really enjoy snowshoeing after dark, especially if we’re on a good snowshoe track and there is a light snow falling. It’s a very pleasant end to a long day in the mountains. Saturday we had completely clear sky and “a billion stars all around” (borrowed from The Eagles). We couldn’t complain about our exit conditions on this hike.

Even though we were significantly behind plan when we reached Whiteface south summit, we made up that time and more, actually finishing a little ahead of plan.

Great trip report! I did the same route a week earlier [except I skipped Passaconaway] and it sounds like the trail is still not packed down much.

I know the ledge you are talking about that went straight up. I had a real tough time with that one. I had to really kick in with my snowshoes. I did not have an ice axe either and agree that it would have helped.

The stretch from South Whiteface to Dicey Mill seemed endless to me and more tiring that I thought it would be.

Work blocks access to photo-based websites so I'll them out tonight.

Thanks.

From the weather reports it seems the Wonalancet area received roughly six to eight inches of snow mid-week (perhaps Thursday). The trail was gone by Saturday. The guys in front of us were taking care of breaking it out and we were following with a grooming operation. But, there’s only so much five sets of snowshoes can accomplish. The place needs some additional snowshoe traffic. The place could also use a thaw and refreeze to consolidate the snow.

Rollins Trail gets a little more difficult in winter. I think hiking Rollins from Blueberry Ledge Trail to Dicey’s Mill Trail is the easier direction. I’ve hiked the loop in both directions, clockwise and counterclockwise, both summer and winter. My preference is clockwise. Under the current conditions I wouldn’t even consider counterclockwise.

The reports I saw indicated there was a very large number of people including an AMC or MeetUp group that hiked Dicey’s Mill last week to Passaconaway. Based on those reports I expected Dicey’s Mill Trail to be in pretty good shape. It seemed to be the same as the rest of the loop.

 

[coldfeet]

Nice pics...I probably would have kept sliding back down those ledges and get fustrated.

 

[BIGEarl]

Nice pics...I probably would have kept sliding back down those ledges and get fustrated.

Thanks.

For me, the first one is the toughest. After clearing the first ledge we still had a difficult time with the footing (traction) but were able to more easily make progress. We took our time, were careful with our foot placement, and eventually made it to the south summit.

We knew descending the ledges would be a string of uncontrolled slides. That didn't seem like a good idea.

 

[erugs]

Thanks.

We knew descending the ledges would be a string of uncontrolled slides. That didn't seem like a good idea.

Agreed, and that's just what happened to us when we went down them last year. It took about 7 months for my tailbone to not hurt when I sat on rocks without a pad.

It's comforting to read that others struggle from time to time, too.

 

[BIGEarl]

Agreed, and that's just what happened to us when we went down them last year. It took about 7 months for my tailbone to not hurt when I sat on rocks without a pad.

It's comforting to read that others struggle from time to time, too.

Ouch! Intentional or unintentional, the sliding on those ledges can be rough. I hope everything is okay again.

I descended the Blueberry Ledge Trail once previously in winter with difficult trail conditions. I managed to stay upright but it was not a fun trip. After that hike I decided clockwise was probably the best direction, at least for me. I enjoy climbing the ledges, even with difficult conditions. I’ll leave descending the Whiteface ledges to others.

Even in summer with dry conditions I probably prefer clockwise. The final ~700 feet in elevation on Blueberry Ledge Trail between Tom Wiggin Trail and Whiteface south summit is a fun climb with terrific views all along the way.

 

[erugs]

Ouch! Intentional or unintentional, the sliding on those ledges can be rough. I hope everything is okay again.

Pretty much okay now.

I wonder if consecutive butt falls make the tailbone heal slower? I have had three memorable occasions now; once off an off-road motorcycle, once (the worst one, with bruising) when a lawn chair collapsed on my balcony when I reached forward to pat my cat, then the seemingly benign slide on Blueberry a year ago. Although having them happen over a period of 35 years doesn't really make them consecutive, does it?

 

[Jimmy Legs and Little D]

Trail Reports

Earl, I am always impressed with the detail of your reports. Do you keep notes as you hike or do you just have a good memory. One time when we were hiking the 19 Mile Brook Trail we spoke to a hiker who had a digital recorder on which he kept his information.

Mike

 

[BIGEarl]

Earl, I am always impressed with the detail of your reports. Do you keep notes as you hike or do you just have a good memory. One time when we were hiking the 19 Mile Brook Trail we spoke to a hiker who had a digital recorder on which he kept his information.

Mike

Hey Mike,

Thanks.

There are probably a couple factors working together.

First, I take a lot of pictures. Typically, I’ll take over 150 pictures on a hike. They include milestones along the way (trail signs, etc.), things I want to remember, and scenery. The pictures help me remember details and the trail signs break the hike into smaller pieces.

The other factor is my hearing. It’s very bad. Normally I wear hearing aids but they don’t get along very well with perspiration and once they get wet they’re out of service until I can dry them – usually at least a 24 hour period. The last thing before starting a hike is to pack away the hearing aid. Because of this I tend to rely on visual more than anything else. I assume my attention to some details on a hike might be greater because of this.

That’s it; the camera and my memory.

I wish my memory for names and faces was as good as it is for trail details.