After Christmas Eve and Day, I climbed Old Speck and the Saddlebacks on December 26th. Old Speck was easy and pretty, except I fell and banged my knee so hard, I felt occasional pain all winter long in the knee from it. Not to mention, I fell forward on the fall, and nearly hit my head. For the Saddleback hike, I was delayed because of ski patrol making me descend a quarter mile to obtain a pass (after a person at the desk told me nothing, have a nice hike when I asked), and then had a rougher time than expected finding the trail back to the ski area in the pitch dark and blowing snow. An exciting ordeal to start for sure! I was a little nervous, but I pushed it out quickly.
After a successful Katahdin climb, this next weekend would be a big challenge, taking on the "Carrabasset Valley 6" with bushwhacking on both hikes. After all of this mileage, I was starting to develop some sort of soreness and swelling in the tendon on the top of my left ankle. It came on sometime after VT, then I felt it after finishing Katahdin, but after a week, it would fade away. I battled fierce gusts on the summit of Sugarloaf that nearly blew me off it, but easy going on the AT over to Spaulding and out to Abraham. I even saw some Moose right on the AT - amazing being the only one in this whole area, and coming up to moose. On the way out, I faced a tougher than expected bushwhack from the Abraham Trail and AT junction to the Caribou Valley Road. After the long road walk and bushwhacking back to the Sugarloaf Golf Club, I made it back to my car. This was the longest duration hike of the season yet. I literally limped the entire road walk out, and my ankle was swollen like a balloon. I went to the store to get some pizza, more snacks, and an ace bandage for my ankle.
January 26, 2014 / Crockers & Redington / GPS / Photo Album
That night, I car camped in the Sugarloaf Hotel parking lot, after a cop shooed me out the Golf Club parking lot in the evening. The next morning, tough to get going as usual. I wrapped my ankle in the ace bandage, and limped off. After a while, the pain goes away. I re-did the golf club bushwhack from last night, and took on the Crockers and Redington on an absolutely frigid day. It was dicey going up the steeps on South Crocker, coldest on North Crocker, and somewhere in between there and going back to South Crocker, I split my head open on a low blow down. I knew I hit my head very hard, so I stopped for a few minutes to collect myself. It didn't really hurt after the initial blow, I wasn't seeing stars, and I didn't fell anything going on beneath my hat...yet, but little did I know, I did the rest of the hike with a split-open head. Next, I totally took a hard Redington bushwhack route off South Crocker for a while, but finally made it to familiar territory. After getting the canister open on the Redington summit, there was no pencil. It was so cold, I couldn't have my hands out of the glove any longer, so I put the cap on, took a picture and was out of there. This was another epic hike, very difficult, especially since every step with my left leg was in severe shooting ankle pain. When I got back to the car several hours later, that is when I could feel the frozen blood on my head. It thawed, and I realized when I got home how good
I spit it open. Despite my open wound, I was feeling excellent, and that was because I had only one more Maine peak to go to finish my winter 67.
February 1, 2014 / Tom, Field, & Willey and Mt. Carrigain / TFW GPS / Carrigain GPS / Photo Album
The following weekend, I was looking forward to starting the second phase of my winter's goal, a Single Season Winter 67 (SSW67) attempt, giving it my best shot back in the White Mountains. At this moment, my thoughts were as if, let's see what I can do, and if I'll have a shot at this. Either way, as long as I got North Brother, I'd accomplish my first goal of finishing my W67. I had an absolute blast on Tom, Field, and Willey on packed out conditions. I
sled down nearly 100% of the way from the summit of Field. Everyone I passed that day was sharing smiles. This hike was like an extreme shock to me after breaking trail and seeing almost no one on the trails so far this winter. I needed to get down quick though, because I had Carrigain on the schedule for the afternoon. Without much hesitation, I was there, and off up the Sawyer River Road. Now that there are people around, I got some crazy looks as I head up Carrigain after 2pm. It got dark as approached Signal Ridge, it was very cold. I arrived at the summit in darkness, but it was a triumphant night-time summit. I was feeling good. After the hike, I stopped at a store, and then drove to the Fish Hatchery in Berlin to car camp. It snowed most of the night.
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The next morning, I had to force myself to get going, as I was planning to meet my brother for Waumbek. I had attempted North Brother with my brother earlier on in December, and even here, at this point, I had no intentions of completing anything solo. My morning Cabot hike was nice. I broke a light trail all the way to the summit. It was an enjoyable snowshoe hike to complete my first solo winter round of the White Mountain 48. Now that I am done with winter (and other WM solos done after Cabot), all I have to do is hike Cabot next winter to complete my 2nd solo winter round of the White Mountain 48. I have climbed solo to a New England 4000-footer in winter over 120 times, something that I never imagined myself capable of. From Cabot, I made it one hour behind schedule to meet my brother for Waumbek. It was night by the time we were descending via sled, but he and I had a blast, as it was my brother's first 4000-foot sled descent. In terms of my single-season, this sort-of counted, but I would consider re-hiking Waumbek later in the winter to make it all solo.
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February 8-9, 2014 / Super Extended Pemi Loop Overnight / Flume, Liberty Lincoln, Lafayette, Garfield, Galehead, South Twin, North Twin, Hale, Zealand, West Bond, Bond, & Bondcliff / GPS / Photo Album / Full Trip Report
This epic hike was the plan for my winter all along. From day one, I was attempting this hike. Some sort of successful winter Pemi Loop was on my list to do. By planning a light-weight overnight, and getting mostly good trail conditions, I could do it. I had good beta on the abandoned Firewarden's Trail to Hale, so I knew I was set-up as long as everything else worked out. The early morning Franconia Ridge Traverse, starting with unbroken snow from the top of the Osseo Trail was the coldest and most difficult of many times across that ridge in the early morning. It was cold, and I was getting battered by gusts that made me desperate to want to reach treeline, but then there is that mile or so beyond Lafayette still...it was rough. I found the Garfield Ridge Trail easily, but I then broke trail all of the way to Garfield, as expected. Besides losing the trail once, I busted through it since it was manageable powdery snow. It was broken out the rest of the way to Galehead, and all the way out over the Twins. To make this the super extended version, I descended the steep North Twin Trail to link with the abandoned Firewarden's Trail to Hale. It was now dark as I continued to the start of the Firewarden's Trail, at the "tree". This was my first time on this popular route, and it just happened to be a bright full moon on a clear and freezing night. I exhaustively climbed the easy trail under the moon and stars, as I could see all around and out to the town of Twin Mountain without my headlamp. I arrived at the completely lit-up, open summit of Hale. These moments are the things that keep me going after 20 miles and hours of hiking in the dark. Next, I peered beyond the sign of the Lend-A-Hand trail and saw that I'd be breaking trail for almost the next 3 miles in the middle of the night. That was expected, therefore I had no problem with, its just that it would have been nice to not break any more trail that night. It was unbelievable though cruising through there in the deep snow without a headlamp. When I got to the end, it was a given that I wouldn't make Guyot Shelter, so I crashed the Zealand Falls Hut, and was up and out before breakfast was served or bothered anyone.
The next day, I broke the trail all of the way from above the Hut to the summit of Zealand in an exhausting, but beautiful morning in the White Mountains. Fueled on the fact that I would be successful on this epic hike, I had increasing energy as I traversed Guyot, West Bond, Bond, and Bondcliff under bluebird conditions, and incredible views. It was great to be back here in winter after my first SSW48 last year. All in all, this was an insanely fun hike with lots of trail breaking.
February 15, 2014 / The Hancock's & Osceola's / Hancocks GPS / Osceola's GPS / Photo Album
The following weekend, it wouldn't get any easier for me when I looked at the plan and the remaining hiking days left for me. Before setting off this weekend, I had 23 peaks left, and only 10 more hiking days, including this weekend's two hiking days. I needed to get this weekend done as planned. With intel that the Osceola's would be hiked that day, I opted to start with the Hancocks. I broke trail ALL of the way from the start of this hike to halfway down North Hancock after going up South Hancock first. The descent in the deep, deep powder was the most fun ever. If you have ever wanted to leap off a mountainside, that is what I was doing, leaping as if taking a giant's steps down the mountain in the deep snow. Lots of fun. After that, it was a nice cruise out on the packed trail. After that, the parking lot for Greeley Ponds Trail was jammed, so I had to park on the road, at the ski trail start. Because of that, I had to break out about a mile of unbroken ski trail until I made it to the hiking trail. After that it was broken out as expected, and smooth sailing. Even running into the dark hours, I did the Osceola's in a swift 4:45.
February 17, 2014 / Cannon & the Kinsman's and Moosilauke / Cannon-Kinsmans GPS / Moose GPS / Photo Album
This President's Day holiday weekend was a family weekend at our camp in NH, so Sunday was spent with family. On President's Day (Monday), I had another two hikes planned. The first was one, on Saturday, I've done a couple of times, but is always tough, the Cannon, Kinsmans loop. The Hi-Cannon is a nice trail, and the morning was beautiful. I almost went astray following ski tracks off the back of Cannon, but caught myself, and from that point on, broke trail all the way over the Cannonballs. This is an easy area to get lost. I thought maybe I wouldn't get Moosilauke in later when I started facing face-high drifts in front of me. Finally, I made it to broken trail, but I was pretty drained. It was a beautiful day, and I busted this one out as early as I could. After the hike, I was a bit undecided about going for the Moose, as it was getting late. As I drove south on 93, I made the decision, I was going to get it done. I could sense my parents were a little nervous about that, I think I was a little too, but I'm glad I did it. That's because I enjoyed a beautiful sunset to about 3,500 feet, and then after that, I summited Moosiluake under a beautiful, clear starlit night, something on my bucket-list sort of. As the wind tried to blow me over (its Moosilauke, that's what it always tries to do!), I happily descended with my eyes to the stars, wondering how the hell I climbed all these peaks this weekend.
February 22, 2014 / Sandwich Range Traverse / Tripyramid's, Whiteface, & Passaconaway / GPS / Photo Album
The following weekend, it was the dreaded Sandwich Range Traverse. This hike is always rough and tough. The snow was waterlogged, and between South Tripyramid and Whiteface, my socks had become totally drenched. It was a cold day, and as afternoon came, the temperature dropped drastically. I broke trail from South Tripyramid all the way to the Drakes Brook Trail, which did my socks in. Just before Passaconaway, it was so cold, but I had to change my socks. I kept myself moving by firing up the Esbit stove to make some hot chocolate while I changed socks. It was a relief, but my feet did not really warm up again. I just hoped they weren't going to be purple at the end of this one. I hit the summit of Passaconaway, taking in a beautiful orange sunset glow from the viewpoint. The summit of Passaconway was my 48th peak on my 4th Round of the WM48, and the 48th of 48 in the month of February. Crazy that February is the first month I've gridded. It was another dark and windy hike out on the Dicey's Mill Trail, but it was clear, and quite possibly the most stars I've seen in one spot, as I crossed the fields back to my car. After getting back to my car, I stopped for some food, and I drove straight to Lincoln Woods to car camp before getting an early as possible start to Owl's Head.
February 23, 2014 / Owl's Head & Tecumseh / Owl's Head GPS / Tecumseh GPS / Photo Album
Every time I car camped, I ended up starting an hour or two later than planned because it was so hard to get myself going. The Black Pond and Brutus bushwhacks were nicely broken out (I was aware they would be), so I enjoyed a nice winter hike to Owl's Head. It was extremely cold that day, and I ran into some others on the trail.
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| A view from the Brutus Bushwhack to Owl's Head |
After Owl's Head, I drove to Mt. Tecumseh, and fitted my smaller pack with my trusty sled. I hit the summit of Tecumseh right at sunset, and I have to say it was my favorite summit of Tecumseh ever to date. Next, I sled down from the summit in an
epic night time sled ride, my 3rd time descending Tecumseh on sled. I hit a top speed of 20mph! It was a great way to end another six peak weekend.
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| The Tripyramids from Tecumseh Trail |
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| Sunset on Mt. Tecumseh summit |
March 1, 2014 / Presidential Traverse / Pierce, Eisenhower, Monroe, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, & Madison / GPS / Photo Album
Originally, I didn't plan for this crazy back-to-back of the Presidential and Wildcat-Carter-Moriah Range, but it fell into place, and either way, once again, I needed to try and get as many of these peaks as I could. It was extremely cold, but I had excellent trail conditions on both hikes. I battled single digit temperatures with minus 30 wind chills on the Presidential Traverse. I had a spectacular morning view from Pierce and Eisenhower, reached the summit of Mt. Washington for the 16th time and 6th time in winter, and raced ahead of impending weather on the Northern Presidentials. I met my Dad in perfectly planned time for the car spot ride back to my car. That night, me and my Dad enjoyed a great dinner at Horsefeather's in Conway. Right after dinner, I drove to the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, where I once again car camped.
March 2, 2014 / Moriah-Carters-Wildcats Traverse / Moriah, Middle Carter, South Carter, Carter Dome, Wildcat A, Wildcat D / GPS / Photo Album
The next morning, I awoke to large snowflakes falling, and battled myself as I tried to get myself prepared and going. I changed my gear, switched to my smaller pack, and drove up to Bangor Road in Gorham. How I would get back to Gorham from Pinkahm was a mystery to me all day, but important matters first, I had to hike 20 miles over another battering mountain range to get this done. By setting myself in this direction, at least I'd have the PNVC to stay warm after the hike if I couldn't grab a ride quickly. As I went to leave my car, I noticed that I had left my trekking poles in my Dad's car from the car spot. What to do? Well, I guess hike the Moriah-Carters-Wildcats Traverse without poles and just get it done. I don't always use poles, especially in the summer, but either way, this was going to suck probably! A couple of miles in, I found a good stick, and that was my long hiking pole until I lost it sliding down Wildcat Ridge Trail. Anyone who saw me that day probably thought I was whacked hiking with a little stick in my hand. The first half of the hike the heavy wet snow started to chill me out as my gear got damp fast, and I was breaking the trail out over some minor post holes and a few inches of fresh snow. It was like this almost all of the way to Zeta Pass, and from there, the trail conditions were perfect. It was a nice day, and eventually as I approached Carter Dome the weather broke, and it was a beautiful afternoon with sun and clouds. However, after taking a break in Carter Notch, the temperature dropped almost instantly, and it left me shivering as I put on my jacket after the break, and as I started up the Wildcats. The view of Carter Dome and the ridge behind me from Wildcat A was fantastic. I enjoyed some short butt-slides the rest of the way out, and a safe descent of the steep Wildcat Ridge Trail (except for the uncontrolled slide that made me lose the hiking stick I carried for 15+ miles). There were awesome views of sun and cloud play on the mighty Presidentials across the street. As I looked up at the striking view, and made my way to the hikers room, there were more thoughts of how the heck did I just do this? With this hike done, I now had only one left to complete the W67, and just two left to finish a SSW67....well maybe 3 peaks????
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March 8-9, 2014 / North Brother / GPS / Photo Album
With my goal of finishing the W67 this season, and any possible single-season attempt now on the ropes, my hopes were set on getting North Brother this time...whatever it took. The last week of February, I put in a reservation for one night to bag North Brother. Most hikers take up to 3 days to attempt it, since its often not broken out, but either way, I'd take my chances and being solo, I could cover ground quickly broken out or not. I had no idea what I would get for trail conditions, but when I arrived, I was pleased to find a nice snowmobile track leading into Baxter on Williams Pond Road. How relieved I was! I ran into two familiar hikers on the way in so just a few minutes in, I already knew that the entire route was broken out. This gave me instant confidence. I cruised into my reserved tent site, the Slide Dam picnic area, and set up my tent. It was about 1:00pm when I had my tent up. It was getting colder, and I didn't really have any way to see what the afternoon weather had in store, so I decided that I would go for the summit in the morning, instead of the late afternoon. I ate very well, napped a couple of hours, woke again, did a little gear packing, and then tried to get some more sleep before another long day. There was no wind, but it was very cold overnight. While I was nice and toasty inside my sleeping bag, it was so cold in the morning, that I had to do runs up and down the tote road and jumping jacks in place to get my body warmed up and to be able to pack the rest of my bag.
Once I was finally ready to go, I approached the hiking register at the start of the Martson Trail. All winter long, only six people attempted and likely reached North Brother all winter to this point. This is a mind-blowing realization of the difficulty to complete the New England 4000-footers in winter, never mind solo in a single winter. Would I be the 7th to summit this winter? As I made my way up the trail, my feet ever so slowly warmed up. The sun was coming out, and eventually the chill in my bones wore off, and I was finally regulated. I didn't need much on this hike, so it was nice having a light pack. The hike up the Marston Trail (as opposed to down) was pleasant. It was great having the trail broken out, but their tracks were frozen, which required me to watch every step to avoid ankle-busters. With the snow so deep, the trail corridor was almost a bushwhack. I made it to the intersection with the Coe Trail, and the trail sign was buried. The sun was shining brightly now, and it was nice blue sky above, some clouds, but it was interesting. I peered through the trees and could see Katahdin, and then I looked ahead and could see the summit of North Brother in white against the blue sky. I was halfway up the trees compared to when I stood here for my all-season 67 finish last June. In fact, in the hike register, our June entry was only on the backside of my winter entry today, which tells you how hard it is to get North Brother. My regular Winter 67 was not a quick journey. It went back to my first ever snow shoe in 2011, and my first winter 4000-footer, Osceola's. My first solo winter 4000-footer was Mt. Lafayette. Here I was over a 100 solo winter 4Ks later about to finish the NE 4000 Footers in winter, and all solo at least once. Many of my first winter 48 were hiked with my brother and a few others, and every one of those hikes were awesome for important reasons, and although solo, I thought back to those moments as I was about to summit.
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After some really closed in trail, I broke tree line to amazing views. It was freezing, but not frigid like Mansfield or the Crockers, but either way it wasn't really phasing me at this moment. I approached slowly taking my time thinking about the journey it took to get here. How is that I've been able to experience so much, and cover so much ground on snow over these last few years? With Katahdin on my right, and views to match a 14ker, the North Brother sign was so appealing, about 100 feet away. At about 11:30am, I reached the summit and sat up on the highest spot in the steady wind. The view, indescribable. North Brother is arguably the most challenging of the New England 4000-footers in winter to climb. It felt really good to accomplish this summit, although I know I was lucky. I'm sure next time it will be a different story, and I will be ready, like I was this time.
The hike down was not as happy as the first part of this hike. It was so cold in the morning, that I used foot warmers in my boots for the hike. It was on the way down that I noticed it struck something awkwardly and my calf started to zing and my ankle then started to flare up from the extra effort and/or different movement. I signed out, and started to break down the tent. I cooked a noodle soup lunch on my stove while I did so, it was still cold. The area by the stream and tote road is like a wind tunnel. It was 3:15pm when I walked away from Slide Dam. Every step with my left leg was pain, and my pack was probably 40lbs. I had 9 miles to go. I had to stop frequently, and a couple of times did for about 20 minutes. Sometimes just 30 seconds to ease the pain, but it was rough. In the end, and despite the pain, I walked off into the sunset on this one. I made the car at twilight. All was good, and I thought to myself, that the hardest part of my winter was over. Only Isolation to go...and maybe Waumbek if I decided I wanted to hike them all solo.
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March 15, 2014 / Waumbek (to re-hike it solo) / GPS / Photo Album
