NH 48 4000 footer in winter: Tecumseh

Saturday, March 17th, 2018
New England 48 4000 footers in winter: Tecumseh
Miles: 4.7 miles (total, out and back hike)
Elevation gained: 2022'
MapMyHike recording

After yesterday's exhausting adventure, I decided to revamp my plans and go with a hike that was guaranteed to be packed out. I checked trail reports and found that Tecumseh's trail was fully packed down, so I packed up and headed out. I got to the trailhead parking right around 7:50am; I managed to snag the last parking spot in the row near the trailhead, as everyone arrived for Waterville Valley's 8am opening. I strapped on my microspikes and headed up the trail.

It was pleasantly packed down, and I made good time up the mountain, passing two people and arriving at the top after about 1.5 hours. It was a very windy day (gusts up to 60 MPH) so snow had been blown across the trail at different points, needing further packing down.

Based on footprints, I was the first person that day to summit. I took pictures and scampered down the mountain, passing ~25 people, and arrived at my car 50 minutes later.

NE Hundred Highest: Sandwich (attempt)

Friday, March 16th, 2018
New England Hundred Highest attempted: Sandwich Dome
Miles: 5.7 miles (total, loop hike)
Elevation gained: 1906'

I started out from the trailhead parking lot around 3:15pm. I ascended Noon Peak via the Sandwich Mountain Trail (~2.8mi). For the first mile or so, the trail was broken out and packed down. 

For the last 1.8 miles, the knee deep snow was untouched. Sandwich Mountain Trail has some sections that hit a 45% grade that were incredibly challenging to climb while breaking trail. It slowed me to less than a mile an hour. 

It took me almost three hours to get to the trail intersection with Drakes Brook Trail (3.2mi). I had an hour of daylight left and still had 1.3 miles of unbroken trail to get to Sandwich Dome. I was cold and utterly exhausted from breaking trail, so I decided to call it a day.

It took me another two hours to get back to my car. I descended to my car by way of Drakes Brook Trail, though I later thought that it might have been a better idea to descend back the way I'd come, since Drakes Brook Trail was not broken out either. Additionally, half a mile from the parking lot, Drakes Brook Trail crosses over the brook. This ~20 foot wide brook was still running strong in the middle, with no snow bridges of any kind. No one had crossed it since the snow storm dumped 2-3 feet of snow the week before. It was a very treacherous crossing, made that much worse because I had to navigate it after full dark with a headlight. The far bank was a good 2-3 feet higher than where I was coming from, meaning I had to climb up onto an unstable snow shelf over running water. As I was crossing, one of the spots I put my left foot collapsed as I was crossing, dunking the toe of my boot in the icy water (this almost immediately froze, making my toes that much more numb). 

After I got back to my car and drove the half an hour to The Notch Hostel where I was staying, I still couldn't feel the toes of my left foot. It took a few minutes in a hot shower for the feeling to fully come back to my left foot. There were no lasting effects, but it was disconcerting. The numbness and exhaustion from breaking trail made me reassess my hike for the next day, and change its location.     

NH 48 4000 footers: Cabot

Saturday, December 30, 2017
NH 4000 footers climbed: Mt. Cabot
Miles: 9.6 (total, out and back hike)
Elevation gained: 2884'
MapMyRun recording

I woke up at 6am and left the hostel at 6:45am. There was something wrong with the hostel's heat so it was 83 degrees in my room when I woke up soaked in sweat. It was -20 when I went outside to my car (for a 100+ degree difference) and it had warmed up to -18 by the time I started my hike at 8am.

I'd planned ahead and bought hand and body warmers. I tried putting some hand warmers in plastic bags and adding them to my water bottles to prevent freezing but it turns out they only work if in contact with air. So my water bottles froze solid while I hiked. But the hand warmers were a great idea. They helped me defrost after I took my hand out of the glove to take a picture or check my GPS location.

I followed York Pond Trail from the parking lot to the intersection of Bunnell Notch Trail.

I then took Bunnell Notch Trail until it intersected with Kilkenny Ridge Trail, at which point I took a right and followed it up past Bunnell Rock and the Cabot Cabin.

After going through a clearing with a beautiful view and then up a short climb, I found myself at the summit of Cabot.

There wasn't enough snow to cover the sign, but there was at least 2.5 feet of snow along the trail and at the summit, there were drifts up to 4 feet deep. 

Once getting to the summit, I'd hoped to continue forward to make a loop hike, summitted the Bulge and the Horn before heading down Unknown Pond Trail but it wasn't packed down. Everyone else had hiked to the summit of Cabot and then turned around and returned the way they came. 

Using GPS, with a downloaded track of the trail, with no detectable path, I flailed around in the snow for half an hour, trying to find the trail. After getting turned around many times and the only blaze I managed to find being at ankle level, I decided to call it quits and come back in summer when I can see the trail. So I headed back the way I'd come, to return to my car.

NH 48 4000 footers: Hancock & South Hancock

Sunday, November 26, 2017
NH 4000 footers climbed: Mt. Hancock and Mt. South Hancock
Miles: 9.3  (total, out and back hike)
Elevation gained: 2547'
MapMyRun recording

I was up and out of the motel room by 7am, and started hiking by 7:45am. It was snowing quite fiercely and continued on for most of my hike, until around 12pm. I wore my microspikes after the first few miles of gentle walking through the forest alongside a brook.

After another mile or so, I came to the loop trail split. I went to the left and did the loop in a clockwise direction. I don't know that going in the anti clockwise direction  up to the peaks would have been better; they were both very steep. I made it to the peak of Hancock first, and the lookout had no visibility due to the snow storm.

I then hiked up to the peak of South Hancock. Once I got there, I put on my shell, dry gloves, and started hiking back down.

Along the way back down, I did get a few momentary glances of Hancock through the swirling snow.

I descended back to the original trail separation, took off my microspikes, and hoofed it back to my car, arriving by 12:45pm!

NH 48 4000 footers: Isolation

Saturday, November 11, 2017
4000 footers climbed: Mt. Isolation
Miles: 12.0 (total, out and back hike) (went beyond the summit and added ~1 mi to the hike)
Elevation gained: 4967'
MapMyRun recording

I was up at 6am and out of Rattle River hostel by 6:30am. I headed towards the trailhead, stopping off at Pinkham Notch AMC/Joe Dodge Lodge to pick up a few things. They let me know the trail I'd selected for my hike involved many stream crossings, none of which are frozen fully yet. I decided to change my trailhead destination and went with the Glen Ellis parking area, arriving by 7:30am and heading up the Glen Boulder Trail.

It was bitterly cold. With wind chill, it was -3 degrees with gusts of up to 30 MPH. I managed to forget my traction devices, but I made it work. The one place I really wished I'd had them was for the spot below. The route I took was steep and relentless, climbing from below 1000' to well over 5000' at Boott Spur before dropping down to hike over to Mt Isolation.

It was beautiful while also being brutally cold and steep. On the rocks, there was some snow and ice accumulated but the wind was the worst.

This is the boulder of Glen Boulder. It's kinda huge. It offered me a good wind break to put on more layers, since the wind was whipping above treeline.

Snow accumulated between the patches of trees on the way up the ridge. It was maybe 3-4 inches, but I was so glad for the wind break I didn't care one bit.

I finally made it to the intersection of Glend Boulder Trail and Davis Path and then headed down Davis Path.

View from Boott Spur; lots of blue sky (and ice)

At the intersection of Isolation Trail and Davis Path, I took a short break, ate a snack, and then kept moving. It was cold enough that if I stopped moving, I quickly became chilled and couldn't feel my toes or fingers.

From here, I hiked onward, dealing with a lot of blowdowns. With the snow, wind, cold, and blowdowns, I managed to miss the unmarked spur trail for the summit. In my defense, the spur trail went upward on a rock face, so it just looked like more trees and snowy rock, rather than a trail. I overshot by a mile and it wasn't until the trail descended for a bit that I realized it wasn't a dip before the summit but I was actually descending the mountain. After going back up and then over some of the blow downs, I finally found the spur trail and got a spectacular view to pay me for my trouble.

I then turned around and hiked back. It took me until 4pm to return to my car, maybe half an hour before sunset. As it was, the mountains were limiting the light and it was starting to get towards dusk.

NH 48 4000 footers: Waumek

Friday, November 10, 2017
4000 footers climbed: Mt. Waumbek
Miles: 7.2 (total, out and back hike)
Elevation gained: 2805'
MapMyRun recording

After working remotely until 2pm from Rattle River Hostel, I headed out and got to the trailhead by 2:30pm. The directions I'd received online were sound, as they specifically mentioned the road to the trailhead was very rough and might be challenging for cars without a lot of ground clearance. It had snowed in the night, dropping a few inches of snow, and was very cold (high of maybe 20 degrees); it was 8 degrees by the time I finished my hike. I headed out from the trailhead by 2:45pm.

This mountain was quite easy. It was a few miles out and a few miles back, with relatively smooth elevation gain.

The trail goes across Mount Starr King before heading to Mt Waumbek. Near the peak, there's an old chimney/fireplace. The sun was starting to go down by the time I arrived at that peak.

I quickly hiked to the peak of Mt Waumbek and then hiked maybe 50 yards beyond the summit for a better view.

From here, I turned around and headed back the way I'd come. I returns to my car around 6:15pm, long after the sun had set. I spent the last our hiking by headlamp. It was also cold enough my water bottles froze completely shut by the time I was done.

NH 48 4000 footers: Osceola & East Osceola

Friday, September 1, 2017
4000 footers climbed: Mt. Osceola and East Osceola
Miles: 8.4 (total, out and back hike)
Elevation gained: 2591'
MapMyRun recording

I worked remotely from the hostel until 2pm and then gathered my things and headed out. I arrived at the trailhead around 3:15pm, after figuring out that the original Google map pin wasn't in quite the right place.

The beginning of the hike was a steady but manageable incline. It was a cold day but so long as I kept moving, I was warm enough.

It was a crisp day, with some clouds but a lot of blue sky as well. I saw one other person while I was out hiking, right at the peak of Osceola.

The view from the top was beautiful. After enjoying the view, I headed towards East Osceola.

Along the way to East Osceola, there was a tall rock chimney, where the trail technically ran. Thankfully, people had made an obvious trail around the steep rock climb, which was manageable.

The peak of East Osceola is fully under tree cover so there weren't any spectacular views. From there, I turned around and began my trip back towards my car at the trailhead.

The setting sun provided beautiful lighting as I descended the trail. I made it back to my car after the sun set but before any kind of artificial light was needed.