Tim Seaver
Well-known member
Another cherry-pickin' festival, this time in the man-eating High Peaks of the ADK. (In light of the current rainfall, this report has really no value, but what the heck...)
The mantra for the day was: "It's NOTHING like your wimpy Presidential Range, bucko!", which I would repeat to myself whenever the illusion of enjoying a winter hike on a beautiful day in the Northeast infected my mind.
The trail from the Loj is (or WAS) hardpacked, with lots of trees and rocks still visible. Bareboots, ski tracks, crampons, and even the mark of the law-abiding snowshoer all graced the trail. The jaunt up to Wright was a first for me. The summit approach is steep and covered with a variety of snow and ice. I had put on Kahtoolas just to negotiate the steep yellow icefall just after the red-and-white "warning, proper gear, etc." sign before the Wright jct., but took them off for the rocky/icy summit, which was more suited to screwboots. ( Note - the icefall can be bypassed without crampons if you stick to the right side and use the tree roots for clambering)
After snapping a few pix, I was off to Algonquin. The steep chutes below the summit are a little crusty, but not necessarily crampon material, depending on your comfort level. I found most of the water ice to be bypassable if I took my time. The near dead calm slowly was giving way to rising winds, but the air temperatures were delightful throughout the day.
The descent to the Iroquois Path was more of the same - large expanses of open rock with patches of powder, crusty snow, and water ice. The Iroquois Path hadn't been touched in awhile, so I finally broke out the snowshoes and tromped over. Not being a grizzled veteran of this particular route, I carved out a route through what looked least likely to swallow me whole, and ended up only visiting a few spruce traps enroute. More interesting icy chutes near the summit - some of these were crusty and steep enough that I found them easiest to descend facing in and backing down.
A few more photos and I was back on the path, and returned to the jct at around noon. I wanted to get a few snappies of Colden, which was hiding in the shade when I first came over, so I decide to return over Al rather than returning via Avalanche Lake ( that looked to be well broken, BTW).
Back down by 3 after yet more pixel-grabbing, then back to VT for suppah.
Great high overcast for photography, but we sure could use some more snow in the North Country to brighten everything up.
More pix HERE
The mantra for the day was: "It's NOTHING like your wimpy Presidential Range, bucko!", which I would repeat to myself whenever the illusion of enjoying a winter hike on a beautiful day in the Northeast infected my mind.
The trail from the Loj is (or WAS) hardpacked, with lots of trees and rocks still visible. Bareboots, ski tracks, crampons, and even the mark of the law-abiding snowshoer all graced the trail. The jaunt up to Wright was a first for me. The summit approach is steep and covered with a variety of snow and ice. I had put on Kahtoolas just to negotiate the steep yellow icefall just after the red-and-white "warning, proper gear, etc." sign before the Wright jct., but took them off for the rocky/icy summit, which was more suited to screwboots. ( Note - the icefall can be bypassed without crampons if you stick to the right side and use the tree roots for clambering)
After snapping a few pix, I was off to Algonquin. The steep chutes below the summit are a little crusty, but not necessarily crampon material, depending on your comfort level. I found most of the water ice to be bypassable if I took my time. The near dead calm slowly was giving way to rising winds, but the air temperatures were delightful throughout the day.
The descent to the Iroquois Path was more of the same - large expanses of open rock with patches of powder, crusty snow, and water ice. The Iroquois Path hadn't been touched in awhile, so I finally broke out the snowshoes and tromped over. Not being a grizzled veteran of this particular route, I carved out a route through what looked least likely to swallow me whole, and ended up only visiting a few spruce traps enroute. More interesting icy chutes near the summit - some of these were crusty and steep enough that I found them easiest to descend facing in and backing down.
A few more photos and I was back on the path, and returned to the jct at around noon. I wanted to get a few snappies of Colden, which was hiding in the shade when I first came over, so I decide to return over Al rather than returning via Avalanche Lake ( that looked to be well broken, BTW).
Back down by 3 after yet more pixel-grabbing, then back to VT for suppah.
Great high overcast for photography, but we sure could use some more snow in the North Country to brighten everything up.
More pix HERE
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