Mt. Pemigewasset. It's about practice.

Just because you hiked last winter does not mean you will be ready for this winter.  Sometimes you have to train a bit to get ready for the big boys.  You can forget how hard it is to maneuver with snowshoes.  You can forget how cold your fingertips get.  And pack weight.  Boy, do you forget about that.  We're talking about practice (yes, a little NBA humor).  I knew it was going to get cold.  I knew it was late.  I knew I was probably not going to make it to the summit, but I did it anyway.  I also knew that any hike started in Franconia Notch near 2pm has never equaled a summit.  At least for me.

Once I was on my way, it was gorgeous.  We just had snow the night before and it left the most beautiful scenery.  Suddenly, I realized how much I love winter hiking.  And how out of practice I was.  Adjusted pack and off I went.  Forgot my poles, so had to run back to car.  Once I was a chilled mess, I properly adjust my snowshoes and off I went, under 3 and 93.  The tunnels had no snow.  But between the tunnels was probably the most beautiful scenery.  Loved it.  Yeah, I got winded, but it gave me a better chance to take it all in.  Being slow has some advantages.  Snowshoeing is just awesome.  The trail is so different.  The snow even changes with elevation.  You can have crusty snow at the trailhead, mashed potato halfway up, and fluffy deep powder at the top.  

I was enjoying myself, even as the trail went up and up.  It was a gentle up.  A turn here, a turn there.  A few easily crossed water crossings.  A few plank bridges, which are fun in snowshoes.  Not many views going up, still nice though.  But the wind was blowing and I knew I had decisions to make.  So I took stock of the situation and decided to turn back.  Once thing I need to work on is maneuvering with gloves on.  After I took off my gloves, my fingers got cold and began to hurt.  It took some time to get them back to normal, but I was checking to make sure it was not frostbite. If fingers feel like Swedish Fish, it is frostnip. If they feel like Tootsie Rolls, it is frostbite. It is probably a good idea to start thost handwarmers before you set out.  Again, refreshing the memory.  As I got closer to the car, it got colder and colder.  My nose must have looked like Rudolph’s.  Winter camping?  Yeah, not in this lifetime.

Little tree says "You Shall Not Pass."

But snowshoeing can be hard.  The snowshoes change your stride.  It is harder to get around little obstacles like a blowdown.  It tires you out quicker and you might need some summit Vitamin I.   The trail is often narrower than usual.  Rocks and branches can be lurching just ahead if the snow is not deep enough.  And let us not mention the possibility that you may have to break trail after a heavy snow.  God forbid you be a female and need to pee.  There are options to prevent you from suffering butt frost, but again PRACTICE.  There is nothing worse than an incident at 4300ft.  And don’t wait too long.  Again, don’t be that hiker in the group. That is how some people have gotten their trailnames (I got mine from where I live and teach).  There is a reason they say bring extra clothes.

Believe me, it is fun despite the challenges.   

 

Now, my car is over 300K.  She is not happy with this cold.  However, she obliges and starts.  I was at Black Mountain Burger before she got to normal temp.  Changed into a dry shirt, had a Bacon Brie burger (Sorry brie, but you are a cracker cheese, not a burger cheese).  Put on the large down jacket and headed home.  The lady at the Sanbornton rest area said the temp may have dropped 20 degrees in 2 hours.  Only 20?  I love the people at the rest areas.  They are friendly, helpful, and have some good stories to share.  Hint: driving like a jackass and crowding the plows during an ice storm is bad enough, but then don’t go in and complain about it.  Karma has a way of catching up to you.  It’s people like that who scare me more than the weather.  Great day.  Cold, didn’t summit, but I will be back.  More snow this weekend.  More adventures to come.

Cool sunset.

Revenge Hi-Cannon Style and some meteors

8/10/13  - Lonesome Lake, Hi-Cannon, Kinsman Ridge

Wet trail, dry trail, granite slabs, slick slabs, bouldering, ladder, mud, erosion

Hello. My name is Karen Washington.  You killed my pride.  Prepare to be summited.

One month ago, I thought I bagged Cannon.  Yeah, not so much.  Between the fog and roping off so I don’t touch the precious ski trails, I never made it to the true summit.  I did make it to a false cairn. Why is it there?  Who knows.  

I am convinced that Cannon is the spawn of the Devil.  No trail I have taken has been nice.  Heck, I had an easier time on Lafayette with foggy goggles and being blown into snow drifts by gusts up to 70mph.  I would do that again in a second.  Cannon, never again.  And I mean it.  

This was a Meetup with the Fellowship of the Tortoise, but true to it’s evil nature, I missed them, parked in the wrong lot, had a minor anxiety attack and started 30 minutes later than usual.  BUT, I found out there are showers at Lafayette Place.  Four quarter for a glorious 5 minute shower.  Two minutes more than Joe Dodge.  Mike parked in front of me, he was doing the Kinsmans.

So I make my way up Lonesome Lake trail.  It’s OK.  There is a cool tree with exposed roots. Several of us took our picture in it.  Then on to Hi-Cannon.  It has a well defined trail sign.  Not too bad, but steep, few views in the beginning, but there are plenty later on.  There are a few tricky areas and others by the ladder that are, well, they require way too much thinking.  Part of the problem is the erosion.  I have to admit hiking does cause erosion.  And this side of Franconia Notch has lots of erosion.  It has the exfoliating granite.  Not just are part of it flaking off, but the resulting gravel becomes BBs when dry.  One careless move and you’re on your butt.  It is better when wet.  

Cool tree

What I think of getting to Cannon Mountain

I talked to another hiker, Jay, and we heard some kids yelling. A group of kids from Paris were also climbing Cannon.  They were a nice group of kids, but they were not well prepared for this hike.  I am sure it was a language barrier issue, but I felt bad for some of them.  It has made me realize that I should have taken French instead of Spanish in school.  One girl got a bee sting, another had her shoes fall apart.  Their shouts helped me know I was going the right way.  One girl gave me a butt boost.  Welcome to America.  Please push my big butt up.  They even cheered me when I FINALLY made it to the true summit.  They camped at Lafayette Place (very fitting for French kids) and were off to Boston and the Cape afterward.

Hi-Cannon gets interesting.  There are some weird water crossings.  Weird in that there was nothing preventing you from going down a little decline.  Doable, but you need to have faith in your skills.  There is a slab further up like that.  You become a true tree hugger on this trail.  The trail turns and offers awesome views of Franconia Ridge.  It is confusing because you are going over boulders.  Jay called it an old school trail.  Finally I saw some blazes and felt a bit better.  Trail is steep, and then you get to the infamous ladder.  Yes, it is a bit stetchy.  It is easier to climb up than descend, but it is not that bad.  I would have prefered a scramble.  After the ladder, there is a little wooden plank at the bottom of a slab to prevent you from falling.  People make it seem like the hard part is over after the ladder.  WRONG.  You have slabs, some steep and wet.  Being a tree hugger is important.  Everytime you think you are at the Kinsman Ridge Trail, nope, still Hi-Cannon.  Woods and slabs.  Woods and slabs.  Slabs and woods.  I started to doubt myself.  Then finally, Kinsman Ridge.  This section is much nicer than the other section leading up to Cannon.  

Victory is mine

Finally, I made it to the summit.  The windy summit.  I guess there are nice views, but I got my picture and left.  I met up with the rest of the Tortoises.  We ate at the top of the Tramway.  There was beer, but no pizza.  I longed for a good scotch.  I was rewarded later with a taste of Highland Park.  Magnificent.  We all comments on how we thought the mileage was off and it was much harder than people claimed.  There was lots of butt surfing and watching what other people were doing.  If they survived, so could we.  We had lunch at a nice look out.  Slowly, but steadily, we made it out.  Alive.  I danced for everyone.  I am glad I met up with them.  We had some great discussions.  I will see some on Saturday as we do the Moose.  

Junction of the Dodge Cutoff

Junction sign

NOTE:  If you want Elvio’s, call before you take your shower or when you are still on the trail.  It was an hour for a small pizza.  Wednesday is kids night.  It is better in the winter and spring.  

For some, this is just another hike in NH, for me, it was not.  It was harder than I expected.  It took longer than I expected.  One of the guys I hiked with was a surveyor.  Of course, I asked if he know a better way to calculate mileage.  I mean they have laser and all.  

After that, I went up to Dolly Copp to spend my first night in a tent.  We stayed up and watched the Leonids.  We saw some great meteors before we finally went to sleep.  Dolly Copp is a really nice campground.  Real nice.  I would camp there again.  We may not have been the oldest group, but we stayed up the latest.  It was a great group of people having a great time.  And several trailheads are on the property.  Who could ask for anything more?

Lafayette Part Deux and Lincoln

8/17/13 - Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf, Franconia Ridge, Falling Water

Mostly dry, some mud, rocky, steep, scrambles, wet rocks, waterfalls and cascades

I took the "heathen" route - Old Bridal up, Falling Waters down

This will be out of order, but I just wanted to share the absolute joy I felt as I grab #15 and #16 of my NH48 quest.  In one day no less.  It was a gorgeous day to go up to Franconia Ridge.  FANTASTIC.  AWESOME.  INCREDIBLE.  I did this back on St. Patty’s Day, but the luck of the Irish was not upon us.  Or maybe it was because it was rather windy, cold, etc.  We dropped like flies and no one made it to the summit.  Oh well.

Decided to be lazy and sleep in, so boots were not on the trail until 11.  I missed a moose, darn laziness.  A wonderful park employee took my picture to mark the contrast from 5 months ago.

March 17, 2013

August 17, 2013

I knew this trail was hard.  I knew it was steep.  However, the views are awesome, even when there are blinding snow squalls.  The destination would make the agony worth it.  I took some breaks, stripped to a sports bra, and kept going.  Then I hit the part I hated in the snow, Agony Ridge. Sorry no pictures.  It is a very steep part that involves some scrambling.  I take a drink and just go.  I really wasn’t that bad, but it is tiring.  I kept going.  Saw a no camping sign, but still thought I had some time before I hit Greenleaf Hut and the BOOOMMM.  There it was.

No really, it came out of nowhere. 

Visited the rest room, got water and enjoyed some Triscuits and cheese.   A Boy Scout leader offered me some pizza.  A group of mature hikers I had chatted with asked if I found the llama (I said I needed one, possibly a Lama as well).  If I was in a witty mood, I should have said I wanted a unicorn instead.  Oh well.  I sunned for a bit and pondered the massive undertaking that was ahead.  About 1000ft in 1.1 miles.  

Obese?  I think not.  Take that BMI.

Yeah, I'm coming for you

I should say that Lafayette is one sneaky peak.  Once you get above treeline, it looks pretty close and not that bad.  You go about your way, telling people that you got further than you did in March, describing how awesome and terrifying it was.  You think about what you will do when you get to the summit.  You think a clown car has been emptied as a congo line of people come down.  Not many people were behind me.  You can’t wait to get rid of the pound of grapes you packed to be given to thru hikers.  You are excited.  And then the switchback of reality hits you.  You are much further than you thought.  It get windy, a shiver of doubt passed me, then I remembered my shirt.  Because I can. 

Lahouts Ski Shop in Lincoln

So I did.  It was hard, but I knew the reward was AMAZING.  So I pushed on. I met Craig, the Alpine Steward, and we chatted for a bit.  Then my reward.  

Cool thru hikers

WHAT A VIEW

   It was better than I could have imagined.  At least in my mind, the best view in the Whites.  Up to now anyway.  And it seemed full of thru hikers on their way to the Garfield Shelter.  I met some guys from the Thru Project.  They were just a fun group of guys who really like grapes (yeah, 1 lb down). They are creating a photojournal of their journey.  I thought I met happy hikers Thursday, these guys put those kids to shame.  They were so happy to be there on such a FABULOUS day.  They pointed to Washington and talked about being excited about Katahdin.  I took their picture with a heavy camera.  So much for lightweight backpacking. 

To Lincoln and beyond

Now, a sensible person would head back down Greenleaf.  It was about 4 miles.  I remember the last time I did that and the intense leg and knee pain I experienced.  I thought about the joy of the thru hikers.  I thought about getting ⅓ done.  So, at 4:05, I booked it on Franconia Ridge on my way to bag Lincoln.  I flew.  Ridges are not that bad.  Ups and downs, but this ridge is awesome.  Made it to Lincoln a hair ahead of book time and to Little Haystack behind book time...you know, I needed pictures and well, I had to, um heed the call of nature.  

Lincoln

See, awesome ridge

When I got there I met a group of guys who tried to give me stuff.  They brought way too much stuff with them, including a liter of Johnnie Walker Black.  Of course, they complained about the price.  I laughed inside.  One, I remembered the kids drinking Natty Light on OBP.  Two, I discovered something much better than JW.  Anyway, they planned to camp there that night (someone will have to fill me in on the legality of that, I just started camping, but I know it was wrong).  Why, I have no idea.  Maybe cause they had so much stuff, it took them 6 hours to get up Falling Waters and they still had to stash stuff to pick up later.  Liberty Springs campground was only 1.8 miles away and they have water.  I went on my way down FW.  It was about 5:30 with all the chatting, picture taking, etc.  

Falling Water is a nice trail and not as horrible as I thought it might be.  Very dry until you get to the waterfalls and cascades which are nice.  Even then, it was not that bad.  But I was descending.  The opposite of what everyone else does.  That’s just how I roll.  It was getting dark, but I hurried when I could.  Luckily the trail lends itself to that between the steep and wet sections.  A few places were confusing and could have used some new blazes going down, but still an awesome trail.  All of them were.  A bit after 8, I hit the junction with OBP and let out a happy shout.  In no time, I was back at the parking lot and YAY, my car was still there (I created my own spot).  

I changed, went to Subway.  Elvio’s has a wait, sometimes up to an hour, and I had that fabulous pizza two days in a row already.  YUM.  I made a mess of a Veggie Delite and realized that I would need to go back home unless I wanted to sleep in my car.  I didn’t have a tent yet.  

It was probably the best hike I have done.  The west side of Franconia Notch is by far my favorite.  And even though Lafayette is 1100ft higher than Cannon, the trip was far better, dare I say easier.  I met a family in the lot who said they took the Tram up and hiked down Kinsman Ridge.  We commiserated about the experience.   I am going to finish the ridge this week and bag a few more to boot.  Then I am done with Franconia Notch.  OH, I will be back to the west side, possibly exploring some new trails.  

And yes, I danced.  Not as much as usual, I didn’t want to scare the kids.

Mt. Washington pictorial highlights

In case Picasa is being a Google, here are some highlights of the journey up Mt. Washington.