Presidential Traverse

7-20-2015 to 7-21-2015 Presidential Traverse

Gear:

·                     ULA Ohm 2.0 pack

·                     Mountain Laurel Designs Spirit 48 Quilt

·                     Thermalrest x-lite sleep pad

·                     Hiking Poles

·                     Down Jacket Mont-Bel Ex-light

·                     Tarp and Bivy

·                     Rain Gear

Day 1

Drive North to Appalachia Trailhead:

1:00 am. Head out the door.

1:02 am. Turn around because I forgot to grab my shoes.

1:08 am. Turn around again to drive back to the house to grab my mp3 player that I left right by the keys.

(All I’m thinking about when I leave the house is saying goodbye to the dogs, lol)

The lightning storms started out to my North West as I drove up 93. These were the most intense lightning storms I had seen in a long time. Constant strikes of bolts lighting up the sky. I would try to catch a glimpse to my left through the tree openings on the highway.

I made it to the trailhead sometime around 3:30 am. The rain had stopped completely and the storms had passed on by the White Mountains. I was very thankful for this. Forecast for the rest of the day was supposed to be clear.

The trek up the popular Valley Way trail in the pitch dark was exciting yet uneventful.

 I walked alongside a strong flowing river roaring loudly to my left. The camera could not see anything. As I walked through the woods I started to remember this trail from the first time I hiked it a few years ago. Every hike is different even if on the same terrain. The first time I hiked this trail it was below freezing and icy snow crystals lining the trees.

Quite magical. This time, it is pitch black because it’s 4 in the morning. . I was making great time as I made it to the Watson Path junction but I could tell I may have started too late to catch the sunrise as planned. It was still dark as I continued on the Watson Path up to Mt Madison. I remembered that I took the Watson Path last time but I did not remember how it was. I took Watson this time because it was slightly shorter of a trek to the summit and I could loop over the summit and continue the traverse without backtracking.

*Alternative is to go straight up Valley Way to the Madison Hut. Take a left and climb steeply up to the summit of Madison. Turn around and return to the hut following the same path you came up.

I did not, however, remember how difficult of a climb this trail was. By the time I got to tree line, I was huffing and puffing. The sun was not out and we were still a little bit clouded in. The low rising sun could be seen peeking through the clouds.

Despite the lack of sun the conditions up here were not too bad. The temperature was pleasant and I was complacent with shorts, light long sleeve shirt, and a rain jacket for wind protection. I made it to each “false summit” and then to the actual Madison summit amid scouring winds coming from the west.

The jaunt down to Madison Hut was my first descending of the trip. Are my knees up to the task? “Sure, of course they are!” I also had my first slip of the day where I lodged my shin against some rock. That frickin hurt a lot but the thought of having such a pitiful accident hindering my traverse had me continue on forgetting about any pain. I encountered the first people of the hike on the descent down Madison. They had no packs or anything. “Must be from the hut.” As I walked up to the front of the hut porch area, hordes of tourists were stepping outside to witness the view being obstructed by the last of the clouds. "Is it worth it?"

*Madison Hut is one of many AMC Huts built in the White Mountains. People can shell out ~$100 per person to spend the night tucked away sometimes 5000’ up away from the elements. These are by no means 5 star accommodations. You get breakfast and dinner, toilets, water, and a place to sleep among a few other amenities. Very popular though!

As there was no view and I had been there before anyways. I grabbed a honey waffle snack and moved onto the Star Lake trail.

This is probably my favorite section of the hike. The clouds had opened up and the warm sun was beating down on me while the fierce wind continued to keep me at a cool yet comfortable temperate. This trail brings you right by Star Lake and skirts the top of the Great Gulf as you make your way up and around to the towering summit of Mt Adams. As I followed this trail I couldn’t help but think of how the conditions must have been when Kate Matrosova attempted her traverse this past President’s Day. Terrifying!

The climb up to the summit of Adams was fun and challenging. The weather was fantastic and I had amazing views into the Great Gulf Wilderness and of Mount Washington in the distance to my back.

From Adams it was on to Mt Jefferson. I have also climbed Jefferson previously. The trail system in this area is quite extensive so it is important to be paying attention to when the summit loops intersect as I need to make sure I follow all of those side trails. This section was difficult at times when the wind gusts started up but the path was easy to follow. In fact, the entire trail is really easy to follow as long as you are paying attention to the intersections. Well blazed, large cairns, and frequent sign posts.

Mt Clay follows Jefferson and this would be my first new ascent this trip and first new 4k for this trip as well (even if it technically doesn’t count). The views continued to be spectacular. From here and along the ridge you can see west to VT, east to the Great Gulf Wilderness, North, and South to the looming Mt Washington.

The trek from Clay to Washington was not difficult at all. The hike was long and tedious with all the rocks but the summit was getting closer and closer. Once I made it to the top of Washington, I stood in line to take a quick picture of the sign.

Once again, the crowds on the top of Mt Washington were less than pleasant. It was a nice change of pace but there are too many people unaware of their surroundings packed into a small location. I quickly found a seat in the cafeteria and refilled my water. It was nice having the huts and the Summit cafeteria as I did not have to carry much water and therefore, less weight. I made myself a delicious wrap sandwich using a sourdough wrap with peanut butter slathered on and then topped with mint m&m trail mix. Mm mmm! I relaxed for about an hour before I put on my wind/rain pants and sweatshirt to head out into the cold and now view less summit.

My time at the top was up and it was now time to head off on the rest of my trip. The remaining peaks are all lower and theoretically all the hard stuff has already been hiked. The views heading down the Crawford path were outstanding! The sun opened up again now that we were away from the Mt Washington weather clouds. Very picturesque and reminiscent of a post card photo.

This is also true when coming down to Lake of the Clouds hut. This hut is one of the larger ones and has views looking west I believe into the Mount Washington Valley to the Mount Washington Hotel and Bretton Woods ski area.

I also stopped by here for a little bit and took advantage of the restroom facilities. I also enjoyed the company of several other hikers.

Since the summit of Washington, I have seen more and more hikers. It was now a reasonable hour that normal people could get out of bed and start their day. I do enjoy the company of others at times and appreciate talking after a bit of solitude. Still though, I would rather have solitude than be with groups of people all day.

Mt Monroe stands directly to the south of the hut and that is where I was off to. The path up is very direct, wide, and steep. It is so pronounced that it can actually be seen from miles away. The climb up Monroe was fun with views now extending to the mountains south of Washington to Crawford Notch and beyond.

This is where I noticed my phone battery was now in the yellow (10% remaining?). Something was acting up with the phone and some app was constantly trying to reopen and mess with the GPS. This apparently was severely draining the battery. I had to try to save as much battery as I could because I needed to wake up at a certain time to catch the shuttle. I would not take any more pictures from here on out. I had 4.4 miles and three more peaks to the next hut, Mitzpah Hut.

Mitzpah hut was also fairly crowded as the afternoon was getting along. I started conversation and soon learned of several camp spots between the next two peaks if needed. This was helpful but I intended to do the full traverse ending with the summit of Mt Webster which happened to be another 3 miles away. I stopped inside to grab some more water and then headed out around mid to late afternoon.

As I hiked I continued to look off into the sides of the trails for camp spots. Some sites have already been established off the trail and would be a better idea than setting up and disturbing a new spot. The problem is these are often very difficult to find unless you have an idea of where they could be. Sometimes they are also obvious and even have established mini trails leading to them. I did take notice of a couple as I marched forward. My legs and feet were starting to get sore and I could feel a hot spot or blister forming on the bottom of my right foot. I knew about this all day and could have prevented if I bothered to air out my feet at the huts or the top of Washington.

As I approached the summit of Mt Webster I kept my eyes on the lookout for anything resembling a footpath or clearing off the trail. I had spoken with a through hiker and another group who mentioned established spots by the cliffs. One or two with actual semi fire pits already there. I made it to the top of the summit and the cliffs. There was still plenty of daylight so I had awesome views down into Crawford notch and of Franconia notch in the distance. This area was very open to the elements but thankfully the weather was still beautiful and not too windy. I made notice of two small locations nearby. I chose one and setup my tarp in the very confined space. This took me longer than expected because I had to get creative with the guy lines.

Once I had my camp setup and everything out of my pack, I gathered up my cooking supplies and walked 10 seconds to the cliffs. I had a heck of a time trying to light my esbit tablet with mini bic because of the wind but once I got that situated, I was heating up water and then drinking coffee in no time! By now, the sun was on its way down. When my meal of penne pasta with marinara sauce was ready, I sat down on the rocks and ate dinner peacefully as the sun lit up the sky with magnificent vivid colors of purples, blues, reds, oranges, etc… The scene was surreal and my most enjoyable part of the hike. Great way to end a Presidential Traverse!

Day 2

The night went by uneventfully and I woke up just around the time as I thought I would. At this point I couldn’t even turn my phone on. I realized I could use my mp3 player for a clock and along with my internal alarm clock, I knew I had a setup I could rely on. I packed up my supplies and went over by the cliff to grab my bear bag. I once again lit an esbit tab to heat a little bit of water for coffee. I sipped on my coffee as the sun rose to the right of Washington. Not quite as nice as the sun setting the night before but still something to witness.

Not before long I was all packed up and heading down the trail over to the Highland Center to catch the 9 am shuttle back to my car. The trail down was fun with many viewing opportunities with several small side trails. There was also a lot of water with waterfalls and rivers. As I waited for the shuttle, I basked in the sun sitting in a lawn chair overlooking Crawford Notch. Very pleasant morning as the sun began to heat up. When the shuttle came, myself along with another couple, were lucky enough to have access to the last few seats for walk on’s as there were several reservations. By 10 am I was back at my car! I was thankful my car was there and just as I left it. I had previously read about vandalism and break-ins at this particular trailhead.

The trip is not over yet! I take off my shoes and pack and get all relaxed. I am exhausted. I go to start the car and nothing. Nothing. The car will not start. Ha! “That’s alright.” I came prepared with jumper cables in the back. I was able to also juice up my phone a little bit to get enough battery to make some phone calls if need be. I was very thankful for a croo member of Lake of the Clouds hut. He happened to be down at the trailhead with several other friends/croo members and assisted me with jumping my car. We tried once and it didn’t work but then waited for a while longer and everything was peachy.

Overall, another very successful and fun trip!

Thanks for reading!

Additional Pictures:

Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway

6-26-2015 to 6-28-2015 Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway

Gear:

·                     ULA Ohm 2.0 pack

·                     Mountain Laurel Designs Spirit 48 Quilt

·                     Thermalrest x-lite sleep pad

·                     Hiking Poles

·                     Down Jacket Mont-Bel Ex-light

·                     Tarp and Bivy - did not use

·                     Rain Gear

The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway is a 48 mile long trail going from the summit of Mt. Monadnock in Jaffrey, NH to the summit of Mt. Sunapee in Newbury, NH. The trail travels along hills, mountains, old backcountry roads, and beautiful wooded trails along southern New Hampshire. The trail has primitive three sided shelters and one tent platform approximately every 6 miles. Due to most of the land being privately owned, it is ask that hikers stay at the shelters.

Day 1

My first day on the trail started at the ever popular Monadnock State Park Headquarters. After I was finally able to get the attendant to understand what I was doing (hiking the trail and keeping car at parking lot) I started on my journey around 5:00pm. My plan was to leisurely stroll into the first shelter sometime before dark. This is exactly what I did. I have previously hiked this portion of the trail numerous times before so it was more of a workout rather than a trail experience. The summit was fantastic as usual thanks to the sunny weather and I enjoyed my two slices of spinach and feta pizza. J Thanks Babe!

Arriving at the shelter is one of the best experiences on the trail at the end of the day (8:00 after getting water at reservoir). After a long and hard day of stomping the ground you can finally plop everything down and relax. And what else!??! You get to eat food!! Everyone should eat well and hearty on the trail. You will be working at a caloric deficit every day. This means you’re body will need and appreciate every calorie you can give it.

For my first nights meal I wanted to sample a new brand of lightweight dehydrated meals. Good-To-Go brand Classic Marinara with Penne. I must say, this tasted pretty darned good! Just like if made at home. Make sure you boil the water and let sit for long enough though. After eating my food and studying the maps and guide book for a while, I went off to sleep. Anxious for a long day ahead.

Spiltoir Shelter

Day 2

I woke up several times during the night just as I always do. It was finally 4:45 am. The sun was about to rise. Time to start getting my ish together. I fired up my titanium Caldera Cone with Gramcracker esbit stove while I stay snuggled up in all my insulation and wrapped up in my quilt. Once I had the coffee good to go, I was quick to pack up and start on the trail.

There are always struggles to get past when it comes to backpacking. I will tell you about two of those. The first, is the struggle to finally get out of bed on those cold mornings. The toughest part is needing to remove your sleeping bag/quilt as that is what needs to (usually) be first packed down into the bottom of the cave you call a backpack. It takes a lot of will power to do this but once you do, the rest of the process is pie. The second struggle is for those of us who prefer dreamy air mattress called inflatable sleeping pads. I love my Thermalrest x-lite but I absolutely hate having to deal with it. Blowing it up at the end of a long day is tiresome and not something I look forward to doing and in the morning, the deflate and roll up process is even more tedious. Inflatable sleeping pads are a pain in my ass and I hate jumping right out of bed but those are just things one has to handle when out in the backcountry.

My day was off to an awesome and early, bright, sunny start around 5:30am. I passed by several bodies of water that had the early morning sun glaring down with the mist rising up.

After walking along some roads and some trail for a while I happened upon Nelson Center.

Very picturesque small town where Emmett greeted me with howling constant barks which reminded me of Dexter. I had no idea who this dog belonged to as I was the only one around. The dog was just wondering around barking at everything. He kept looking back at me to see what I was doing. Anyways, I had a lot of miles to cover. As I continued down the road and back onto wooded trail, Emmett continued to follow me. Actually, Emmett was LEADING me to the trail and stayed ahead 10-50 yards. He would look back every minute or so to make sure I was still following him.

After a couple miles of hiking I started thinking about how we were going to find the owners. I called Emmett over to me by kneeling down and enthusiastically calling for Emmett to “come over here.” There had his name along with a phone number sewn into his collar. I took my phone out, turned it off of airplane mode and into normal mode to kill some battery. Luckily I had a bar or two or service. I phoned the number several times but got no answer so I left a brief message explaining that I was hiking north and had Emmett with me. From there, I left my phone on normal mode and continued on. After a good period of time I checked my phone to make sure the volume was on and up. Not 2 minutes later, I got a call from Sandy the owner and we arranged a pick up at a road crossing not far up the trail.

I met up with Kip (or Kit) and we briefly chatted. He thanked me a lot as did Sandy and they offered a home to stay if I pass by at another time. It turns out they lived right in Nelson Center, where Emmett originally found me. In fact, several years ago Emmett tagged along with some other hikers and traveled all the way to the General Washington Shelter, some 14+ miles out (my intended destination for the day). Before we parted ways, I kindly asked for a picture of myself with Emmett <insert picture>.  EDIT: http://www.easternslopes.com/2010/07/16/monadnock-sunapee-greenway-the-long-march-part-2/ As found in the comments section of this trip report, it looks like these were the people who Emmett hiked with before. Haha what a coincidence!

If you do not care about talking about roads, please skip over the next paragraph.

After that, I had a lot of miles to cover through some beautiful terrain. These next many miles went through more road walking. I think I did learn something about roads on this trip. I walked on many different types of roads in old southern New Hampshire. First there are paved roads. These are obvious. Next, we have dirt roads and this is where is can get tricky. There are old town roads which could consist of old dirt roads varying in overall structure and levelness. There are also old woods roads. From what I understand, these are sometimes old roads from many years ago that were eventually abandoned and are now grown in. These were typically found in the woods in forest sections. Aside from the paved and dirt varieties of roads, there are also forest service and logging roads. These roads are in the middle of the woods and are often no longer marked or not marked at all on maps. Logging roads are sometimes active with logging operations (clearing trees) or more often than not, dormant or abandoned.

Continue here.

Aside from the many road walks, the miles covered on Saturday trekked through absolutely stunning open hill and mountain tops, countless viewpoints, cascade waterfalls, acres and acres of blueberry patches, ponds, beaver dams, and many more features to see that make hiking such an incredible experience. One of my favorite sections to hike here is the Andorra Forest. I’ll let the pictures take over: 

I ended my day around 3:30pm at the General Washington Shelter in Washington, NH. Apparently, this town was one of the first town to be incorporated in honor of the late General George Washington in the year 1776. This shelter was special. The caretakers of the shelter and part of the trail lived about 300 yards from the shelter in their own home. They allowed guests of the shelter to fill up with water at the spigot on the side of their house. Thank you so much Mr. Barker and family for all your support of the trail and it’s hikers at the General Washington Shelter! I had a wonderful Saturday night away from the torrential rain and wind. <insert picture>

I also made a scrumptious Steak Mac and Cheese meal for dinner. Yummy!

Day 3

Sunday morning was a tough one. I had to endure another one of those unavoidable struggles when backpacking. The weather. I had hoped the weather would stay clear throughout the weekend. Fortunately, I had been blessed with ideal and nearly perfect hiking weather the previous two days. Today I woke up to pouring rain and high winds. The weather sucked. I was cold and knew I would be cold and wet all day. I felt bad for my feet which, up to this point, had not had a single blister or sore.

Throughout the night when I woke up to rain and wind I had contemplated calling out to be picked up (by the best gf in the world) in the morning and I would return another day to complete the trail in better weather. Earlier in the day I had also thought about calling to have her come and maybe spend the night with me at the shelter since it was so close to a road. All of this was moot as I had zero cell reception at the shelter. Oh well!

My day started out dry around 6:45am for a few miles of road walking in the cold windy rain. I eventually got to some off road trail and between the overgrown bushes and grass and puddles/ponds in the trail, my rain pants and jacket were practically soaked through. They could both use a recoating of DWR as they are several years old. That’s fine. “As long as I continue walking at a brisk pace, I will maintain high enough body temperatures to be comfortable.” And that is what I did for the rest of the day. I stopped once to make a trail mix and peanut butter wrap and dry out for a good 20 minutes. This is also when I coordinated the logistics of my pick up and return home. For the remainder of the day I cranked out miles while skipping through the forest trying to avoid the streams running through the trail. That was all I could do. The trails were flooded. There were literally streams on the trail flowing just as much water as the actual stream ten feet to the left. The worst part was that because of the terrible weather there were no views at all. I actually stumbled upon Lake Solitude. I didn’t realize it was there until it was only 5 feet in front of me because I couldn’t see it. Once I realized it was there it was like a creepy horror movie with fog rising over the water eliminating any visibility from 20 feet on…

I made it to the top of Mount Sunapee around 1:15pm to experience some of the strongest winds in my life. The noise was frightening. The summit lodge was locked closed so I hurried on before my body temperature came back down. The summit of Sunapee is the end of the Greenway. I took one of the ski trails down the mountain and was at the bottom a number of hours before I had planned on being picked up. I looked around each building to see if any of them were open to get some shelter from the elements. Once again, I was blessed. Someone had been at the main lodge picking up some supplies. They had propped one of the doors open so I nudged my way in and sat between each set of doors. I eventually spoke with them and confirmed it was alright to stay there. I had a carpet floor, heat, and four sides to protect me until my ride arrived. I was safe, I had no blisters, and I was done. Another trail completed. Another adventure experienced. Another one to come.

I highly Recommend the Greenway. I had a blast!

Thanks for reading!

Classic Overnight in the White Mountains

4-18-2015 Mt Chocorua to Jim Liberty Cabin

Gear:

• Insulated Winter Hiking Boots
• ULA Ohm 2.0 pack
• Montbell 30* sleeping bag
• Thermalrest x-lite sleep pad
• Hiking Poles
• Down pants/booties/jacket
• Two person tent - did not use

Starting temps Saturday morning were lingering around maybe 45-50* and sunny. I had heard/read a forecast of possible rain coming in the afternoon and then stopping by nightfall. Temps should drop to around freezing.

This was my first hike with my friend, Joe, back from school. I was to meet him at the trailhead in the morning and we would hike the mountain and spend the night somewhere (two different shelters up there).

Let me tell you, this day started off very well. The weather was perfectly sunny and temps were rising. I contemplated using snowshoes but there was absolutely no snow near the bottom. I also contemplated wearing just low top gore-tex hiking shoes. I forgot to pack my shoes so the decision on which footwear to lace up was made simple. I would wear my heavy boots. Good choice!

We quickly made it to the junction where the first shelter was, Camp Penacook. This junction lead to a spur that goes up a ways on a steep incline to finally make it to the three-sided shelter. There were also a few tent platforms behind the shelter. The view was decent and we decided that it was good enough that we may return to this shelter. We made our way back to the junction and continued up the mountain.

As we gained elevation, the snow started to appear. There is still a significant amount of the white stuff remaining. Towards the top of the mountain the snow was starting to become very soft and mushy as the sun shined down upon us. We would fall through several feet if we divulged from the path even a foot or two.

The summit was absolutely beautiful. There were a handful of others along with a cute and energetic doggy who went ahead of it's owner and followed Joe and I for the final 5 minutes of climbing. We spent a good 30 minutes up on top soaking up the sun and splendid 360* views. You could see the snow capped Presidentials along with the Franconia ridge line off in the distance to the north.

Our plan from here was to trek down the other side of the mountain for .5 miles where we would end up at the Jim Liberty Cabin. We were to check it out and decide if we wanted to stay there for the night or head back up to the summit and hike all the way back to the first shelter at Camp Penacook. As we started down, we passed by this one girl who had fallen into the snow and was stuck. It took her a good 5 minutes of struggling to get her leg out of the hole it fell through. The warm sun was definitely turning the trail into a bit of a mess.

We continued on to the next junction where we read the sign and followed the path... This trail was a lot more difficult because of the incline angle, the soft snow, and the ice still remaining on the rock surfaces. Ten minutes later both Joe and I were wondering if we were actually still on the trail. We found a yellow blaze a couple hundred feet further and continued. By now, both Joe and I were a little bit perplexed. The Cabin was only .3 miles from the previous junction and we had been traveling for quite some time. I checked the map and was thinking we were possibly on the incorrect trail. We confirmed this with a compass reading as we were even heading in the wrong direction altogether.

Our backtrack uphill was actually far easier than descending and we made it back to the first junction in a couple minutes. The two trails were very obvious. I don't know how we missed the correct trail but that tends to happen when I go hiking...

We trudged through soft melting snow and made it to the Jim Liberty Cabin around 1:00 pm. We were the only ones there and hoped it would stay that way the entire night. The cabin was nice and having four sides was a welcome benefit compared to the previous shelter. We would stay here tonight.

The next few hours are almost a blur. We relaxed, emptied our packs, got our bedding situated, and started the coffee. The weather was near perfect when we arrived and gradually turned for the worst. The clouds moved in and light rain fell from the sky. That's alright as we had shelter and warmth. The light rain turned into a torrential downpour that started with 5 minutes of HAIL! These BB sized pellets must have wrecked havoc with everyone still on the mountain unsheltered. The thunder and lightning arrived. This was awesome! We were witnessing an intense thunderstorm right above us from 3000ft up.

This is when the chaos started. We heard a few voices from the woods and soon saw one individual, Brian. Brian came into the shelter where Joe and I both greeted him. Now, I'm not 100% on the order of events here. More people started showing up so I decided to move my bedding over to near Joe so we could make more room. It was mass confusion as others started pouring in seeking shelter and warmth from the weather.

I overhear people asking to get out their med kit. I'm thinking "hmm did someone fall or something?" I turn around and see this one girl come into the cabin with her legs completely soaked in blood from the knees down. "Omg this is kinda serious, huh?" While everyone was fumbling about looking for ways to help this young girl, I calmly went into my pack and grabbed a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide to help sterilize the wounds. One of the girls from another party was helping bandage her up. The conversations during and after all this commotion was mind boggling. We had several people who were clearly unprepared for the weather up on the mountains.

For a bit more on lessons in preparedness, visit Joe's blog over at joejarvisexplainsitall.com

After a little bit of time, the weather was starting to break again and people were discussing their exit plans, as most were just doing day hikes. Brian and his family of 4 total were staying the night. The girl from earlier who was stuck in the snow showed up a midst the commotion and she as well was going to stay the night at the Cabin. That makes seven of us combined staying at the shelter.

Soon after, everyone else was gone.

The rest of the afternoon involved a lot of small talk and laughter between all of us. We all did our own camp chores like setting up camp, refilling water, cooking dinner, etc. Our nightcap involved going outside and admiring the night sky. The North Star was very bright!

It was a frigid night getting to below freezing. Most of us were comfortable enough. I slept well minus the pee break at 2:30 and not having a pillow. I did not even use my down pants or jacket in the bag this night. Brian had mentioned that he had a rough cold night but he seemed the type who can simply deal with it.

My morning started as my alarm went off for 5:30am. I was startled and fumbled around looking for my phone so I could shut off that evil buzzing of the alarm. I think I woke everyone up...

Anyways, I was up at that time to catch the sunrise from the top of the mountain. There is a nice clearing only a few yards from the Cabin where you can see out into the horizon looking southeast. I have seen only a handful of sunrises but everyone I see I am simply amazed. The beauty is tantalizing and surreal. Everyone should witness a sunrise from the top of a mountain. It is worth getting up at the crack of dawn with sub freezing temperatures to see a sunrise. The pictures will NEVER do it justice. A sunrise is one of those things that truly needs to be witnessed.

We slowly packed up after everyone else had left and took our last photos of the summit. The hike down was very nice and calm. We slowed our pace but still made excellent timing and were below snow line within an hour or so. One river crossing made the hike a little interesting but was no problem, at all. We made it to the parking lot in no time. We ended our trip with a nice breakfast at a cozy old school breakfast diner right off the main road.

Unknown Pond

3-21-2015 Unknown Pond Hike

Gear:

• Lightheartgear Solo
• Ohm 2.0
• MSR EVO Ascent snowshoes
• Hiking Poles
• Black Diamond Mountaineering Axe
• EMS Mountain Light 15* bag
• MLD Spirit 48 quilt
• Down pants/booties/jacket

Starting temps Saturday around 2pm were up around 40* and sunny. The sun quickly turned into partly sunny with the clouds moving in.

I parked my car at the end of the long fish hatchery road hiking lot and walked to the trail head. Snow was a few inches deep and sloppy because of the high temps. Snowshoes would be worth it. Along the relatively flat trail were all kinds of foot prints presumably from moose and various small critters. I soon realized the significant lack of blazes...anywhere! I thought this trail was more traveled than it shows.

The trail slowly became less visible as the clouds rolled in and the wind started to pick up. I knew I needed to follow the stream all the way to the end and then go up and over the ridge. I'm glad I knew this because the trail was no longer visible. No blazes and no trail markings. Great! I slowly trudged my way up to the ridge while breaking trail in my snowshoes. I continued to check my map more and more as I kept thinking to myself “just a little bit further!” Once I made it to the top I found a really nice opening of land with a decent view into the little valley. I almost stopped to pitch my tent there but was determined to find my destination of Unknown Pond. I made my way through the trees and saw the pond straight ahead. I made it around the waters edge and found the sign posts indicating tent sites, the toilet, and water. 2 hrs and 30 min. from car to camp.

I made my way to a decent spot up the hill and started to pack down the snow by stomping on it with my snowshoes. Once I was satisfied, I opened my pack and started setting up my tent. This was a huge pain in the ass. The polycryo ground sheet was blowing around and the snow was so loose and powdery, I couldn't really get the stakes to bite into anything. With a little bit of ingenuity, I got the tent pitched using snowshoes, my ice axe, and dead tree branches as anchors and stakes. The temps were around freezing and getting colder. The winds were starting to howl. I did not have a view but I did have a pitched tent in the snow that is ready for me to enter and warm up.

I got my sleeping quarters set up, put on my sleeping/warm clothing, and took my boots off. This is when I decided I needed to re-stake some of the guylines. I put my down bootie covers on top of my sleeping socks, zipped open the tent, and stepped out of the tent and into the cold wind and snow. While rummaging around for sticks to use, my left bootie cover slipped right off exposing my warm and dry sleeping sock to the cold and wet snow. I quickly finished up and got back into the tent where I took both socks off and slipped my down booties over my naked feet. This turned out to work fine as my feet stayed warm and did not sweat at all.

Throughout the night I had to hit the tent walls to try to help the snow slide off. After I eventually fell asleep and snow built up and I had a caved in tent in the morning with maybe ½ the usable space inside. That was not ideal but still worked for me as the LightheartGear Solo is massive in interior space. The wind blew very hard and loud gusts throughout the night but I eventually was satisfied that my tent was not going to collapse from the wind. The snow was more of a concern to me at this point.

Partial view in the morning.

Yikes! At least it is still standing.

I made it to morning still warm bundled up in my sleep system. I made some hot oatmeal and checked the thermometer. Reading 6* with a min of -3* for the morning/night. I dreaded packing up and walking out but knew I had to get going early. Once I finally stepped out of the tent I realized I was not going to be able to follow my tracks back out because most of them were snowed in. Must have been at least 8 inches of new snow. I started my trek back to the car at around 6:30am and managed to break trail once again all the way back. I made it to the stream in no time and followed it all the way back out to the car. I saw maybe 4 total blazes the entire time out and back. 1 hr and 30 min back.