Mt. Tom - January 22, 2011

On Mt. Tom, near the summit

After hiking Mt. Tecumseh the day before, the plan for Saturday was to hike Mt. Tom, Field, and Willey. However, the hike from yesterday took a toll on each of us, and we did not wake up according to plan. That cut a few hours off, resulting in us only going for Mt. Tom when we reached Crawford Depot. Although we got a late start, we were apparently the first on the Avalon trail. The guys at the lodge registration said the trail was nicely packed out, but that wasn’t the case, not sure what they were thinking. There were no footprints or tracks leading to the trailhead from the parking lot either. We were packing the trail from the get-go making it harder. That was until the speedy regulars came out and passed us when we were about half way up, and as they did, they all thanked us for packing it out.

Mt. Tom is a pretty steep hike. Once you walk about 100 yards in from the depot station, it’s all uphill from there. The trail is very pretty, and I imagine it would be a great summer hike too. The trail passed over several snow bridges and small streams that were all frozen over. In some spots, there were steep banks where a slip on the snowshoe could send your left or right leg sliding towards the depths, so that was interesting. The powder was very deep, especially as we ascended higher.

Incredible view towards Mt. Field and beyond

All of the highlights on this hike came at the summit. However, I still want to share a couple of photos here that display how perfect of a day it was for a winter hike. One thing that made this a better hike, and another hiker coming down brought it to our attention, was how deep the snow was, especially on Mt. Tom. You can see that there is a lot of snow, but when we reached the summit, there was significantly more snow. He said the view was better than normal, and he seemed extremely excited about it, as he mentioned it and continued on. We continued on, and were pleased when we reached the summit.

Our friend that just appeared

The view was spectacular, it was the best, and the first view I've had out of my first 4 mountains. Just a short distance from the actual summit, we had views of Mt. Washington and the Presidentials. The best views were to the west, looking at the other mountains I will climb this year. A very pretty and friendly Gray Jay greeted us just after we reached the summit look out. It was absolutely hilarious how it happened because he was just right there all of sudden, like he was watching us congratulate each other, saying you fools or something. He was a fat guy, likely because he stalks every hiker for food. It's common, and we were also treated to that, and you can see it by viewing the video below.

Below, is the panoramic view from the summit. The blue sky, ice, and total whiteness was an amazing sight.

Me, Sean, and Bill on Mt. Tom, 4th 4K of the year. (2nd for Sean)

Be sure to check out the slideshow below for some more good pictures from this hike. To see them bigger, click on the slideshow to be taken to the album.

Hike Stats
Trails: Avalon Trail, A-Z Trail, Mt. Tom Spur
Miles: 5.8
Elevation: 2150 ft