Redlining Complete!

 

photo taken in Zion National Park, Nov '14, NOT White Mtns!

 



On November 29 I completed "redlining" the White Mountain Guide, 29th edition, which means I have now traversed all 608 trails and 1440.4 miles covered in the guide book.  Punctuated by numerous fits and starts and a 6-year hiatus while living in California, for the past 25 years or so I have been half-heartedly pursuing this list... or "keeping track" at least.  This past May I finally printed off the list and decided to tackle the last ~300 miles and ~200 trails once and for all. My intention was never to finish by year's end (as evidenced by some of the goofy trails that were left for last) but somehow it got down to the last 75 miles, then 50, then 25... such that the miles got too low not to finish!  For me, the joy is always in the journey, so I am kind of sad that it's over now.

Most of the trails were interesting and fun, and I really truly enjoyed every single one of them, even giggling at the absurdity of the hobblebush whack that was Three Ponds Trail and the "blazed bushwhack" that was Middle Mountain Trail in Shelburne. I enjoyed exploring the WMNF beyond the heavily trodden 4000 footers. The only thing I did not enjoy was all the driving which is why I tried to be as efficient as possible when tackling a particular area - for example,  covering 25 miles on Chocorua in one day, 31 miles around Ferncroft on another, and a few overnights in the Evans Notch-Speckled Mountain area.

Once deciding to pursue finishing the list, my first hikes were Peaked Hill Pond, Stinson Mountain, and Rattlesnake Mountain (Rumney) on May 13. Between then and November 29, I covered 309 redlining miles and 196 redlining trails. Total mileage required between May 13 and Nov 29 solely for redlining purposes - not including other, nonredlining hikes- was 566 miles (and countless other trails).

Some highlights of the last 196 trails:

Favorite hike: Bicknell Ridge-Emerald Pool-Baldface Circle-Baldface Knob-Chandler Gorge-Slippery Brook loop on Sept. 30. Spectacular display of foliage in Wild River Valley. One of my all-time favorite hikes anywhere!
Least favorite trail: Cold Brook Trail because it's mostly an unmarked road walk - boo.
Pleasant surprises: (Much more enjoyable than expected) southern Pemi Trail, Red Rock Trail, Mill Brook Trail, Black Cap, lower East Branch Trail.
Most hobblebush: Three Ponds "Trail" (bring navigational aids!)
Most miles hiked for least redline miles: Grafton Loop (west) Trail, 17-18 miles for 0.3 campsite spur redline miles. Also opted for a Mahoosuc Traverse in order to claim Trident Col Campsite Spur, 31 miles for 0.2 redline miles.
Amazing ledges: Iron Mountain and East Knob of Red Rock Mountain!!
Best via ferrata: The Eyebrow
Wildlife sightings: Large bear on Scudder Trail, June 11. Large snapping turtle, a first!, on Bickford Brook Trail, June 19. Very territorial, tail-slapping beaver at Fourth Connecticut Lake, June 29. Mama and baby moose at Mountain Pond, October 30. Many, many crazy grouse that seem to get their kicks by charging me.
Best blueberry pickin': Speckled Mountain on July 17 and Albany Mountain on July 22.
Trails I can't believe I'd never done: Champney Falls, Doublehead Mountain, Cathedral and Whitehorse Ledge trails.

I'd planned to finish on Diamond Peaks Trail in honor of Jadwiga Rosenthal, the first female redliner, since that was the trail she finished on, but due to weather and logistical factors it ended up being third from last. A very good friend of mine has a 35-year-old annual tradition of hiking Mt. Washington the Saturday after Thanksgiving. With imminent winter weather, we wanted to snag The Eyebrow during the last good window (talk about getting lucky last Wed pre-storm!). Since Diamond Peaks and Magalloway River Trails were sort of in the neighborhood, we combined them w/Eyebrow and opted to do Southside Trail with the annual Mt. Washington trip.

The Mt. Washington Observatory's weather forecast for Saturday called for cold temps and some wind in the 20s but also for clear, sunny skies and that made all the difference! As our group of nine reached the Lion Head-Alpine Garden Junction, Chris and I headed for Tuckerman Junction while the others climbed to the summit. Coming off the Lion Head highway, footing on western Alpine Garden, upper Tuckerman and Southside was rather treacherous - an unpredictable combo of styrofoam, soft, and hardpacked snow with frequent postholing onto hidden rocks. Poles were a godsend but we could have also used snowshoes here! As we neared Tuckerman Junction, the wind picked up over the lip, and we headed straight into it, still traversing the ankle-twisting mine field of a trail such that it was. Finally I tagged the sign, laughingly raised my arms for a photo, turned around, and got the heck outa there!

Huge thanks to Chris for indulging me in this endeavor, for selflessly acting as taxi driver so that my out-and-backs were few, and for being such a good sport and trail companion. 

Onto the next thing...!!

Michigan and Ohio - DONE !!

I am a bit tardy in getting this posted but wanted to briefly mention that I was able to successfully run/hike 50 trail miles in both Michigan and Ohio a few weeks back.  This brings my 50 Project total to 47, with only North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Hawaii to go. 

Since we live so far north, it made more sense for us to motor on up to Montreal and from there across Ontario (unfortunately a rather boring ride), crossing back into the US at Port Huron, Michigan.  Toronto broke heat records for the day, September 5, and the day ended with an intense thunderstorm and deluge.  We intended on camping out most nights but opted for a motel room in Flint this night!  Chris is driven a bit batty by my tending towards serendipity (read lack of planning), but the next morning we discovered quite lovely trails at Holly Recreation Area.  We did the Lakeshore and Wilderness trails, then I ran the West Loop mountain bike trail.  Mountain bike trails usually make for very nice running trails, and this was the case with Holly's West Loop.  All told I got in about 15 miles at Holly.

We knew that the Run Woodstock event was going on in Hell, Michigan, and that was our next destination.  We were able to set up our tent amongst the crowd - as far as ultraruns go, this event was a huge party with Woodstock-esque bands ("Jimi Hendrix" playing the Star Spangled Banner, yeah!)  and a very loud, festive vibe - and the next day ran some of the well marked equestrian trails which were also part of the race course.  As the campground cleared out Sunday afternoon, quiet descended upon us and we opted to spend a second night while enjoying another few miles on the trails for a grand total of 17 according to my Suunto.

Our final day in the Wolverine State was spent running the Potawatomi Trail which is mostly a singleterack mountain bike loop.  It was pretty darn tootin'.  Being a Monday, I saw only a handful of bikers.  I also saw one of the funniest bumper stickers stuck to a sign:  "STRAVA:  Outing Cycling Douchebags Since 2008."  Heh, heh!

I have to admit not being too excited about Ohio and unfortunately was of the mindset of "I have only 43 miles to do" having already run a 7-mile leg stretcher in Mohican State Forest while driving home from Hardrock back in '05 or '06.  Serendipitously - that word again - my Smartphone told of a potential gem just outside of Toledo (TOLEDO!!??).  The trails at Oak Openings were awesome, albeit flat, but that made for some fast'ish miles.  Chris and I did the 16-mile Scout Trail on Tuesday followed by the Blue, Red, Grey and Yellow Trails on Wednesday, for a total of 26 miles and no repeated sections!  Toledo.  Who knew?

Next up was a visit - and a rest day - with Chris's cousin who lives just north of Columbus.  I got to see the house where Chris's grandparents lived and where his mother was born and grew up and meet some of his extended family.  Pretty neat... and they are all amazingly, surprisingly normal.  ;p  Along with Chris's cousin and her husband, we did a nice 3.5 mile walk in Highbanks Metropark.  The final Ohio miles were completed in nearby Alum Creek State Park's mountain bike network, about 13.5 miles of pretty sweet singletrack.  The Buckeye State was done!

We made our way back to Vermont via mostly interesting secondary highways, passing through Ohio's Amish Country, staying in a couple of state parks, and crossing the northern Adirondacks which entailed a beautiful ferry boat ride across Lake Champlain before the final couple of hours drive across Vermont.  Road trips with Chris are always a lot of fun but it was good to settle in at home once again.

We have been having some unseasonably warm weather the past 10 days or so, and the foliage is near peak and is just gorgeous.  With all the nice weather, we've been trying to get over to the White Mtns. more and have gotten a lot of trail miles in lately, including Mts. Cabot and Waumbek, Wildcats-Carters-Moriah, Franconia Ridge - Skookumchuck to Osseo, and the Baldfaces this past Wednesday which turned out to be one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever done, anywhere.  Chris has also indulged my trailbagging/redlining obsession and helped immensely with car spotting and his company on sometimes not-so-maintained "trails."  (Three Ponds Trail anyone?)  Ah well, it's all great fun!  After starting with over 300 miles this spring, I am now down to less than 100 but probably won't finish anymore this year.  We'll see.  I'm thinking of throwing in the 162-mile Cohos Trail before I consider myself done.  (It's a TRAIL and it's in Northern New Hampshire, right?)  Of course, part of the beauty is that one is never truly "done."  Until next time...

White Mountain Hut Traverse

Early yesterday morning I headed up 19 Mile Brook Trail with the intent of completing my 5^th Hut Traverse in as many attempts. It had been 9 years since my last Traverse, when I went West to East in 20:10 and 19 years (!) since my first. The previous 3 were in the East-to-West direction (1995 in ~25 hours, 1999 in 18:15, and 2000 in ~21 hours). I have not been doing much ultra-length hiking or running for the past couple of years, but after completing the Mahoosuc Traverse and 30 Wonalancet miles within the past 3 weeks - and feeling like I had something left in the tank at the end of each - decided to give the Hut Traverse another shot.

Interestingly, August 30-31 was also the 81^st anniversary of another Hut Traverse. On August 30-31, 1933, Ralph Batchelder and Evarts Loomis, AMC hutmen both, walked from Carter Notch to Lonesome Lake in just under 24 hours. While they skipped Wildcat Ridge, they did include Pinkham Notch Camp in their route. (See Forest and Crag, pp. 518-19.) Impressive considering depression era footwear and other outdoor gear!

My preferred Hut Traverse route is as follows: [Carter Notch Hut] 19 Mile Brook, Route 16, Great Gulf, Madison Gulf, Parapet, Star Lake, [Madison] Gulfside, Westside, Crawford, [Lakes of the Clouds] Webster Cliff, [Mizpah] Mizpah Cutoff, Crawford, Avalon, A-Z, Zealand, [Zealand] Twinway, [Galehead] Garfield Ridge, Greenleaf, [Greenleaf] Old Bridle Path, Lonesome Lake [Lonesome Lake]. I skip all summits except those which the trails happen to directly cross over: Pierce, South Twin, and Lafayette. Using this configuration of trails, it is about 24.2 miles and 5,600 feet of vertical (add another 3.8 miles and 1900 for the initial climb to Carter Notch Hut) to Crawford Notch, 24.8 miles and 9,200 vertical to Lonesome Lake, for a grand total of 49 miles and 14,800 (54.4 miles and 16,700 feet of vertical including 19 Mile Brook approach and Lonesome Lake descent).

Friday afternoon we spotted Car #2 at Lafayette Place (the finish) before proceeding up to Gorham and dinner at the Chinese buffet. I do not recommend this. At the very least order off the menu! However, my fortune cookie - more advice than fortune - seemed rather prophetic: “It is not the end yet. Let’s stay with it!” I decided that THAT would be my mantra for the day, no matter how sucky things got. Being 4 for 4 as far as attempts/completions, the pressure was on!

We snagged one of 4 remaining campsites at Dolly Copp for a few hours of shut eye. Its being Labor Day Weekend, the Whites were a busy place.

At 3:40 am I tagged Carter Notch Hut and was off. The early miles in the dark always seem to pass quickly, and soon I was back at the Route 16 trailhead drinking fresh hot coffee prepared by my husband Chris, who would crew me here and at Crawford Notch and also get in his own hike of Webster and Jackson in the interim. I ran the short stretch down to Great Gulf Trailhead, polished off the rest of the coffee, and headed up Great Gulf Trail. The lower part of this trail is easy and I should have been running but settled on a purposeful walk instead. Hey, it was gonna be a long day. Madison Gulf Trail had the usual tricky route finding at stream crossings - much thanks to the cairn builders - and the expected steepness, but by 7:42 I was filling my water bladder at Mad Hut as the guests dispersed after breakfast. The morning was a beauty, with both settled valley fog and the higher peaks obscured on and off by cloud. I made my way easily via Gulfside around Adams, Jefferson and Clay, then Westside around Washington and Crawford Path to Lakes of the Clouds by 10:23. Up to this point I had seen maybe a dozen hikers on the trail all morning. That was about to change! By Pierce I’d stopped counting at 100, and they just kept coming, quite a departure from the lightly traveled redlining trails I’ve been mostly doing this summer.

I reached Mizpah at 12:07 and Crawford Notch at exactly 1 pm. What a zoo! Cars and people and noise everywhere, barking dogs, screaming kids, the train blowing its whistle… Chris had snagged a parking spot at the depot and made a pot of ramen and more fresh coffee, so we had a front seat for all the entertainment. I tried to make quick work of this “aid station” but ended up staying almost half an hour. If one were going to stop, this is the logical Quitter Point, and I briefly fantasized about returning home and spending the evening sipping wine on the porch instead of slogging across the Twinway and the evil that is Garfield Ridge Trail in the dark, but there was that nagging mantra, “It is not the end yet. Let‘s stay with it!” Well, okay... LET’s!

The steady stream of humanity continued as far as Mt. Tom Spur, but I encountered just one hiker between Mt. Tom and Zealand Trail. Of note, the western end of A-Z Trail is in great shape and has some really nice new bog bridges. After Zealand Falls Hut at 3:31, the climb up Zeacliff has never been one of my favorites but is just a prelude to what lies ahead. The view from Guyot was lovely and the Twinway rather easy, but it took 3 hours to reach Galehead. Unfortunately I needed to refill my water bladder so had to walk through the front door past a very full dining room midsupper. The croo was very pleasant and accommodating when I asked for some hot water for coffee.

For me, this is where the Hut Traverse gets hard. In 1995 I hit the wall around Garfield Pond and remember curling up under a boulder in an attempt to get some sleep. A few hours later I suffered a meltdown while descending Old Bridle Path, sobbing to my friend Al Sochard "WHY is this trail TAKING so lonnnngggg…???!!!” (One of those things you know you will be laughing about the next day.) I was determined to not hit the wall or have a meltdown! Galehead to Greenleaf took over 4 hours (6:30 to 10:47 pm). The headlamp came out around Franconia Brook Trail (Oh yay, I get to climb the waterfall section in the dark!). Along the Twinway and Garfield Ridge Trail I saw many presumably thru-hikers bootleg camping along the trail. One couple even had a campfire going. Not sure if that was legal but it sure looked inviting. Being solo and in the dark, I was extremely careful on all the scrambly sections. There were a lot of scrambly sections.

At treeline on Lafayette‘s north side things got more interesting. There was a steady breeze blowing but it wasn’t knocking me around and wasn’t too cold, 50 maybe? I wore a hat and gloves but no shell, just long sleeves, and was fine. However, a bit disconcerting was the fact that visibility was barely cairn to cairn. In my depleted state, I knew I had to be very careful about staying on the trail, so this entire 2-mile above treeline section was pretty slow. Old Bridle Path was just freaking endless, but a meltdown was assuaged by the knowledge that it was just 1.6 miles and 1000 feet of climb once I hit the parking lot. I made myself walk right past my car because I knew I'd be tempted to get inside and drive away!

At long last, at 1 am, I reached Lonesome Lake Hut. I was TOAST. There was very little left in the tank. I decided to lie on the floor and put my feet up for a few minutes. Unbeknownst to me there was a thru-hiker sleeping in the communal area. Having been awakened by my light, she flicked on hers asking if I was okay, then wanted to know what I had done. I apologized for waking her and told her I just completed a hut traverse. She replied “Wow, you’re funny!”

The final hut-to-hut time was 21 hours 20 minutes. It wasn’t my fastest but at age 48 with a 19-year Hut Traverse spread and now 5 for 5, I’ll take it.

30 miles Wandering around Wonalancet

 (...although 'Floundering around Ferncroft' may be more accurate.)

Goal: Do a long day and connect the redlining “dots” to complete (almost) Section 8 of White Mountain Guide

Route: Bickford, Bolles, up/down Beeline, Beeline Cutoff, Bolles, Old Paugus, Whitin Brook, Cabin, Lawrence, Oliverian Brook, Square Ledge Branch, Square Ledge, Old Mast Road, Blueberry Ledge, McCrillis Path, Flat Mtn. Pond, McCrillis Trail, Blueberry Ledge, Tom Wiggins, Dicey’s Mill, East Loop, Walden, Wonalancet Range, Wonalancet Shortcut

Start: 0545
End: 1830
Mileage: 31.3 (19.0 redlining miles)
Vertical: 10,000 feet
Total # trails: 22
Weather: Perfect
Bugs: None
Hikers encountered: 0 in first 16 miles, 2 on McCrillis Path, 1 on Flat Mtn. Pond Trail, 7 on Blueberry Ledge, 2 on Tom Wiggins, 1 on Dicey’s Mill

Was looking to do another long day in the Whites but feeling rather uninspired by some of the more commonly done loops and traverses. Needing almost 30 redlining miles in the Chocorua-Eastern Sandwich Range--and disliking the long drive from Vermont--I decided to string together a long day from Ferncroft to mop up most of my remaining miles and trails.

Tuesday afternoon was a warmup of almost 10 miles with some of the shorter Wonalancet Trails -  Gordon, Red, Pasture, and Tilton Spring Paths - and also the White Ledge Loop before dinner. Spent the night at White Ledge Campground.

At 0545 Wednesday I started up Bickford Trail and proceeded to Bolles, then up and down the Paugus Branch of Beeline. Beeline was steep but not nearly as nasty as I’d expected from some trail conditions reports. I took Beeline Cutoff back down to Bolles, then crossed the river and headed up Old Paugus Trail, doing the little 0.3 m. out-and-back before proceeding across Whitin Brook Trail. At Cabin Trail, I took a right, then a left on Lawrence, a right on Oliverian Brook, left on Square Ledge Branch, left on Square Ledge Trail, and finally down Old Mast Road to Ferncroft.   With all these turns (!) and unfamiliarity with this area, I was frequently referring to my map! Upon reaching Ferncroft I was at mile 15‘ish, about halfway. I took a short break and stocked up on water before continuing West on the Blueberry Ledge Trail.

Repeating a bit of trail from the day before, I then continued straight on McCrillis Path, where I met my first two hikers of the day, two pleasant gentlemen who advised me on the relo’d trail conditions ahead. The new section of trail is well blazed in blue, has frequent tiny ups and downs and passes by an impressive flume and some grassy sections near the bottom. Then it was up Flat Mountain Pond Trail, where I encountered a woman walking her two beautiful Newfoundlands who both came over to say hi. Perhaps it was because I was 20 miles into the day at this point, but McCrillis Trail proved not to be one of my favorites. The 3100 foot climb from Whiteface Intervale Road wasn’t that bad, but it went on and on and on, and my altimeter kept disappointing with exasperatingly slow progress! One bit of excitement was a huge pile of fresh looking bear scat which looked to be predominantly raspberries!

Finally I topped out on the south ledges of Whiteface and, with a quick scan of the beautiful view but without pause, continued down Blueberry Ledge Trail. In the next 0.7 mile stretch I would meet 7 hikers, with 2 more on Tom Wiggins. I’d been curious about the Wiggins Trail. Seems a trail signed with etched warnings “NOT RECOMMENDED, STEEP AND LOOSE” might be pretty bad, but I did not find this to be the case. Sure, it was steep but guess I expected a sort of talus slope, and it was really no worse than any other steep White Mtn. trail. Too impatient to look for a dry rock hop across the Wonalancet River, I just splashed through so had wet feet for the final miles. Today’s "quitter trail" was that of a right turn down Dicey’s Mill, but I headed left and back up. I “needed” just 2 short stretches of trail from this point to the end: the 0.2 mile East Loop below Passaconaway and the 0.4 mile shortcut below Wonalancet. But it would take another 6+ miles of hiking to get that 0.6. I don't need to be told just how stupid all of this is! 

Compared to McCrillis Trail, Dicey’s was a lark, and soon I was looping back on the Walden Trail and down the crazy steeps of Mt. Nanamacomuck wondering how in the heck I ascended this trail last winter?? Other than the top parts being steep and rough, Wonalancet Shortcut and remainder of Wonalancet Trail were unremarkable, and I was cleaning off in the stream by 1830 before the long drive home.

I didn’t figure out the total vertical until this morning and was surprised that it came out to 10,000 feet. No wonder it took me as long as the Mahoosuc Traverse! This was an interesting convoluted “loop” and a fun way to connect redlining segments. These trails are beautiful and well taken care of, and I wish I didn’t live so far away so I could hike them more often.

One-Day Mahoosuc Traverse #4

Date:  Sunday, 8/10/14

This was a solo venture across the length of the Mahoosucs from Grafton Notch to Hogan Road in Shelburne. I was going to title this report “Trident Col Campsite Spur via Mahoosuc Trail from Grafton Notch” because in looking over my redlining list I noted with some annoyance that I’d never done this 0.2 mile spur off the Mahoosuc Trail. It had been 3 years since my last Mahoosuc Traverse, and other than a goofy 24-mile redlining day on Chocorua (up-down-up-down-up-down, without ever touching the summit) a few weeks back, it had been some time since I’d done a really long excursion in the White Mtns. Not a lot of planning went into this; the idea popped into my head on Friday afternoon. I love, love, LOVE the Mahoosucs! They are my favorite area of the Whites and it had been too long. Chris agreed to schlep me up to Grafton Notch and was happy to climb his first Maine 4000 footer, followed by a visit to lovely Speck Pond, where he handed out extra candy to some starving thru-hikers.

A more detailed description of the one-day Mahoosuc Traverse can be found with a quick Google search. Suffice it to say the route is very rugged and slow. Although the numbers look comparable to the Pemi Loop -- 30ish miles, 9-10,000 feet elevation gain -- IMO you can plan on adding another 50% to your best Pemi time. This would be my 4th Mahoosuc Traverse in as many attempts. I have also backpacked it twice, once during an AT thru-hike (yes, when going through the Notch especially, 4-5 vs. 30-40 lbs. on the back makes for a much more enjoyable experience), so I knew what I was getting myself into.

The weather forecast for the day looked almost perfect, calling for just a 10 percent chance of showers. My pack contained more food than was needed, a one liter collapsible water container, a light jacket, a long-sleeve lightweight wool shirt, space blanket, phone, one ibuprofen (not taken), a headlamp and a small backup flashlight w/extra batteries (not used), and a SteriPen. I carried a 24 oz. water bottle. At 6:54 am I was off!

The climb up Old Speck went pretty well although I felt sort of groggy, slow, and not yet awake. I took it pretty easy going down to Speck Pond, up Mahoosuc Arm, DOWN Mahoosuc Arm, and through the Notch. I don’t “do” Strava, SPOT, or any of that stuff but did glance at my Timex every now and then and was pleased to make it through the Notch in just over 30 minutes. This included time spent jumping into a hole to retrieve some litter -- a water bottle, a plastic shopping bag, and a pair of disposable contact lenses -- and time spent biting my tongue as a couple of morons attempted to drag their whining, resistant dog through the Notch. (I realize that many dogs have made it through, but this one was clearly distressed.) Grr…!!

Perhaps due to the adrenaline surge resulting from the moron encounter, my body finally seemed to wake up on the climb of Fulling Mill Mtn, and I felt great! Upon reaching Stuffed Goose Shelter, I headed down to the water supply only to discover that my stupid SteriPen seemed to be broken. Time will tell if a bandana suffices as a good enough water filter in an area teeming with oodles of backpackers this time of year…

Over the next stretch to Goose Eye, I met many thru-hikers, probably around 30 for the day (30 times holding my breath as they passed), as well as a few other backpackers but only one other day hiker. Everything was going smoothly and I progressed at a steady pace past the Goose Eyes, Mt. Carlo, Carlo Col, and across the ME/NH state line although I was saddened to see the blue “Welcome to Maine, the Way Life Should Be” sign gone. The climb of Mt. Success was punctuated by the first of two thunderstorms. This first one lasted only 15 minutes and proved to be rather refreshing and cooling. The section of trail down and up and down and up to Gentian Pond took about a hundred years, but I breezed on by the first of the two “quitter trails” that one can use to bail out to North Road, Austin Brook Trail. The fact that the last 10 miles seem to drag on and on is one reason why I actually prefer the south-to-north direction. Sure, the footing gets rougher as you proceed north, but it makes for a more interesting, challenging finish with no easy bailout trails. But I digress.

Somewhere between Gentian Pond and Dream Lake, the rumbling in the sky began again in earnest (10 percent my ass). By Dream Lake -- and Quitter Trail #2, aka Peabody Brook Trail -- it was raining pretty steadily. Bailing was beginning to look pretty good, BUT I still had that pesky Trident Col Campsite Spur to do, soooo... With rain, thunder and a bit of lightning continuing for the next 2 hours, I skittishly motored over Wocket Ledge - I HATE lightning! Of course, it doesn’t take much imagination to realize what the continuous rain was doing to all those slimy and sloping ledges and rocks. Somehow, surprisingly, I didn’t fall once all day! I was experimenting with my Hoka trail runners today and have to say they performed marvelously. They seemed pretty grippy on the rocks, and my feet felt fantastic by the end of the day. No blisters, pain, or any lacing adjustments, etc., required. (DirtyGirl gaiters also helped immensely in keeping crap out of my shoes.)

Finally I reached the much anticipated Trident Col Campsite Spur (yippee). Although there is no shelter here, there IS a nice composting privy where I spent ~5 minutes luxuriating out of the rain while changing into my long-sleeve. The remaining 6+ miles up Cascade Mtn and Mt Hayes were a bit of a slog, and I went into git-r-done mode. For the route off Mt. Hayes, I prefer the Centennial Trail (AT) to the Mahoosuc, mostly just to avoid negotiating the confusing roads and trails at the southern end of the MT.

I didn’t break any records today but was happy: (a) to finish before needing to pull out the headlamp, (b) that I accomplished 100 percent what I’d set out to do, and (c) that I felt pretty good all day, at the finish, and as of this writing the next day. The only question that remains to be answered is: Does a bandana suffice as a water filter? 

Hello again!!

Hard to believe it's been almost  a year and a half since I've posted to this blog.  (Edit:  I predated a couple of posts for chronology.)  Even though I am "retired" and childless, I never seem to be lacking for things to do and keep very, very busy.  Somehow my (day-to-day and life) lists of things to do never seem to get shorter.  But that's a good thing.

For a bit of catchup since my last post in March of 2013....

In late March I joined Chris for a few days back in California, where he co-directed the inaugural ‘Coyote Backbone Trail Ultra’ in the Santa Monica Mtns. The Backbone Trail is a 68-mile point-to-point trail that runs from Will Rogers State Park in LA west to Point Mugu State Park. They had a great turnout for the event, and it was nice to be back in California for a bit if only to gorge myself with great Mexican and Vietnamese food which is difficult to come by in Vermont.

The April and May calendars - both 2013 and 2014 - were filled with gardening (read: lots of weeding) and other springtime household chores as well as scouting out the route for another running event, the Coyote Scramble, this one in a local venue, the Kingdom Trails in East Burke, Vermont. We mapped out a nice 40-mile loop that drew about a dozen local runners for the first test run.  The repeat run this year was over Memorial Day Weekend and drew over twice as many runners.  It's a rather unique event, one in which map reading skills are pretty essential, but it's also a lot of fun running on some incredible Northeast Kingdom trails.

Memorial Day Weekend 2013 surprised everyone with a somewhat freak snowstorm! This was followed only a week later by 90 degree temps on June 1^st and an extremely powerful wind event the next day, one in which our town sustained many, many downed trees and loss of power for over 24 hours.  Crazy weather...

Since moving back to Vermont, I have become something of a bluebird enthusiast, with two hatchings in one birdhouse (and a family of swallows in the other) both this year and last. We were also visited by indigo buntings, purple finches, woodpeckers, blue jays, chickadees, chipping sparrows, and goldfinches… also deer, squirrels, chipmunks, coyotes, lots of turkeys, ducks, geese, a moose, our neighbor’s goats, our other neighbors cows and bull (on our lawn!), and a resident groundhog who likes to sit atop the hot tub cover (but amazingly stays out of the garden). Fillmore and Url, our indoor-only cats, are quite entertained.

The gardens are a lot of work (see “weeding“ above), and I realize how much I enjoy and appreciate farmers markets.  Although I used to help my mom out a tiny bit with her garden when I was a kid, last year's was my first real vegetable garden ever.  The snow peas and carrots were particularly productive. We also had good luck with swiss chard, basil, cilantro, radishes, and butternut squash. The tomatoes and kale were so-so.  This year we ditched the leafy greens because they are so bug prone and I refuse to use poisons, but we planted more varieties of squash and pumpkins.  The 7-foot tall snow peas are once again a HUGE success, and we are being inundated with zucchini at the moment.

The flowers at our new (although not so new anymore after almost two years) house are incredible, and all the colors right now are just gorgeous.  Mostly all we have done is weed and mulch.  The credit goes to the previous owners who went a bit nuts planting.  There are numerous varieties of lilies, irises, hen 'n chicks, bleeding hearts, azalias, glads, echinacea, tulips, crocuses, dutchmen's breeches, lambs ears, bee balm, peonies, a bunch of flowers I don't remember the names of, and we now have the most humongous hostas I've ever seen.  Maybe they need to be separated...??  I really don't have much of a green thumb but am learning.

Last summer flew by way too fast. I joined Chris for a DC work gig in late June and took advantage of the opportunity to get some trail miles in in Delaware as well as to visit my sister and her family in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, that week was typical DC summer weather, with 90+ degree temps and 100% humidity.  Running in those conditions was a challenge, but I completed 50 trail miles in the District if you can believe that.  Most of the miles were in Rock Creek and adjacent parks, also Roosevelt Island and the Mall (hey, it's dirt).  We spent the late summer and early fall doing lots of hikes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and Chris completed the 48 NH 4000 footers atop Mt. Carrigain - wearing snowshoes and a signature Hawaiian shirt (and a few other layers) - on a bitterly cold January 25th.

With 6 states left to go, I am still pursuing my quest to hike or run a minimum of 50 trail miles in each state before I turn 50 in just over a year. To that end, we traveled to Wisconsin and Iowa in September and were pleasantly surprised to find some very nice, well maintained trails in both states: Blue Mound and Gov. Dodge State Parks in Wisconsin, and in Iowa, Pikes Peak and Backbone State Parks, Effigy Mounds National Monument, and trails surrounding the interesting town of Decorah.  In November I completed Alabama and South Carolina (see below) and in April was able to finish up Delaware at lovely White Clay Creek State Park which had some surprisingly great trails.  We then took a little early spring respite in Kentucky and Illinois ("Illitucky") in order to escape Vermont's lingering snow, and I got my 50 trail miles in each state at Land Between the Lakes and Shawnee National Forest, respectively.  Beautiful trails for running, and we saw nary a cornfield in scenic, rolling, forested Southern Illinois.

Chris became a Medicare patient on November 14 and wanted to celebrate, so he invited 35 or so friends to a hiking/running/camping get together in the Grand Canyon and Sedona. We flew back to LA in early November and drove our Honda Element - which had been baking in the California sun at our friend’s house all spring and summer - to Arizona, where we spent 3 days/nights in the Grand Canyon, followed by another week playing in Sedona.  Not your average Medicare birthday party I suppose. We made our way home via mostly off-interstate highways across the southern states (NM, TX, AR, MS, AL, GA, SC, NC, VA, PA, NY). Highlights were visiting the amazing Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and getting my 50 miles completed in Alabama and South Carolina, on the beautiful Pinhoti and Foothills Trails.

Chris had a lot of work in Washington DC this winter, and except for one week in April I manned the home front.  I ended up hiking most of the NH 4000 footers again this winter, this time with a bit of a twist:  the goal was to hike the peaks via a route other than the most commonly used, broken out route.  To that end, I got in some pretty groovy hikes.  (See previous post dated 4/30/14.)

I haven't done an organized ultra in a long time - and don't miss it - but am still running, mountain biking and doing yoga.  My latest "filler activity" has been trailbagging, or redlining, the trails of the White Mountain Guide, all 1,440 miles of them.  This was a goal I had picked away at before moving to California in 2006 and one that I've picked back up just this past May.  At that point I had about 300 miles left and have cut that total in half without really being very aggressive about it.  Looking to finish next summer sometime most likely.

That pretty much catches me up to date.   Thanks for reading.  :)

Perfect Week in Maine, How-To

Day #1
Wake up at home to sound of steady rain. Lie in bed reading and drinking coffee. Leisurely pack up and leave home late morning. Begin hiking up Caribou Mtn Trail (Bethel side) midafternoon, after rain has stopped. Stay dry except for feet. Jump into amazing swimming hole near trailhead post-hike to clean off just as rain starts up again for final brief showers. Drive through Evans Notch and find stellar campsite for the next two nights at Basin Campground.

Day #2
Awake to early morning birdsong after solid 8 hours sleep.  Get dropped off at Cold Brook (not a) Trail. Listen to intuitive, nagging voice inside head and wisely lug entire White Mtn Guide in pack. Negotiate weird logging and skidder roads while swatting at 17,246 +/-1 deer flies and scurrying by creepy hunting camp, all the while looking for anything resembling a TRAIL. Somehow choose all correct, mostly unsigned, turns and finally set foot on real trail. After 0.1 mile of real trail, reach Evergreen Link Trail. Meet Chris on out-and-back of comparatively beautiful ELT and again on ledges of Speckled Mtn. Upper Cold Brook Trail is nice! Lose at least 45 min. on ascent of Speckled stuffing mouths w/luscious blueberries. Do out-and-back on Red Rock Trail as far as Great Brook Trail. RRT quite overgrown but very enjoyable. See no one. Fill water bottle with cold, clear Speckled Mtn Springwater. Pick more blueberries. Continue across Bickford Brook and Spruce Hill Trails. Cross Rt 113 and head up E Royce Trail. Descend Royce Trail. Back at Basin Campground, discover next-door neighbors: a dozen very loud, very shrill 8-12 year old girls from Missouri repeatedly singing “Jesus Loves Me.”

Day #3
Wake up early and climb Basin Trail, including Hermit Loop. Do Blue Brook Tentsite Loop because have never done.  Chris shakes head at hiking 5+ miles and 1000+ feet to “get” 0.3 miles. Admit yes, am a Redlining Fool. Throw away rotting trail runners that smell like blue cheese. Drive to Deer Isle.

Day #4
Spend day hobnobbing with Deer Isle crowd, drinking wine, eating deep fried whole belly clams and other decadent, yummy things. Sleep in friends circa 1972 Airstream. Decide could probably live in one of these. Spend many hours watching slide show and comparing notes with friend who has just finished section hiking AT over 4 years. Bore spouses nearly to death…

Day #5
Drive to West side of Acadia National Park in attempt to finally finish 28 Peaks of Acadia list after first visit 16 years ago. Climb Flying Mtn, Valley Peak, Acadia, and St Saveur. Meet interesting folks, many of whom cannot read a map. Check into Seawall Campground and walk Ship Harbor Loop. Speed shower at lobster pound: $1 for 2 min. (Piece of cake!)

Day #6
Pack up and head to Echo Lake. Climb near vertical ladders (yippee!) on Beech Cliff Trail. Continue on to Mansell, Knight’s Nubble, and Bernard. Shake head in wonder at work of art that is the CCC-built Perpendicular Trail. Wait crazy long time for parking space at Jordan Pond House and negotiate masses of people to procure table. Dine on eye-popping $22 “worth-every-penny” bowl of lobster stew and popovers. Drive crazy winding Maine roads to lovely Crocker Pond Campground back in the Whites.

Day #7
Wake up groggy due to din of 10 lb (gotta be!) bullfrogs croaking throughout night. Rename site CROAKER Pond. Do quick out and back to Round Pond via Albany Brook Trail, easternmost of all White Mtn trails. Meet F&W dude setting up live trap for resident beaver. (Plan is to eradicate “trash fish” and relocate beaver in order to reintroduce trout to Croaker Pond.)  Get dropped off at southern end of Albany Mtn Trail and proceed north while getting dive bombed by 9,237 +/-1 deer flies. Find trail well maintained in lower sections, less so approaching Albany Notch. Meet Chris atop Albany Mtn and spend next hour stuffing mouths with ripe blueberries in hot sun before continuing to north terminus. Drink can of cool, refreshing Coca Cola - first soda in over a year - en route to Wheeler Brook Trail. Lower part of trail has some nice pools; upper part is less traveled. (First Coke in over a year leaves me quite energized.) Happy to be picked up on Little Lary Rd so as to do trail just once. Get dropped off at southern end of Shelburne Trail. After very easy ford of Wild River, immediately lose trail and bushwhack to Highwater Trail. Finish redlining HT, 5+ miles to Rt 113, happy to see trail in better condition than expected with only a few short sections of complete Irene washouts. Meet Chris about a mile before end. Refreshing jump into River afterwards. Dinner at Mr. Pizza, then south to Dolly Copp Campground for the night.

Day #8
Thompson Falls by 6:30 am, then up Crew Cut Trail to George’s Gorge, Liebeskind’s Loop, and Lila’s Ledge. Surprised at punch packed by these short trails. Early morning plunge into Emerald Pool quite invigorating. Breakfast #2 at Water Wheel in Jefferson. Rain begins again. Home.

Winter 2014 Hikes

(Note:  Posted 8/13/14 but pre-dated for chronology)
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Middle and South Carter, Mt. Lethe, Carter Dome, Mt. Hight - 4/07/14
Route:   Rt. 16, Camp Dodge bushwhack, Imp Trail (South), North Carter Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Carter Dome Trail, 19 Mile Brook Trail
Equipment: Microspikes (just on North Carter Trail), Snowshoes from Zeta Pass on out
Conditions:   Frozen hardpack with a slight glazing early on. Snow softening up as day warmed.

Parked at 19 MBT and headed north on Rt. 16. Was able to bareboot until Zeta Pass although wore Microspikes for a bit on North Carter Trail due to glazed surface. Beautiful morning - blue sky and sunny, clouding up after noon. Saw no one else all day but did encounter Carter Hut caretaker’s tracks on Carter Dome. Saw some fresh bear tracks between M and S Carter!!
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Slide Peak, North Isolation, Mt. Isolation - 3/29/14
Route:  Glen Boulder Trail, Davis Path, Isolation Trail, bushwhack, Rocky Branch Trail
Equipment:  Snowshoes car to car
Conditions:  Lower Glen Boulder Trail had an old track to about the Boulder. Then unbroken heavy, dense snow until just before Mt. Isolation. Well broken out to Rocky Branch trailhead.

After spotting a car at Rocky Branch Trailhead, we (Al, Bob, Deb and I) parked on Rt. 16 at the wide pull-off just south of the unplowed Glen Boulder/Glen Ellis Falls Trailhead. (AMC info person at Pinkham Notch said this was okay.) Trail was unbroken until Direttissima junction, where an old track was then evident. Track disappeared around treeline. Above the Boulder and back in the trees, snow was very deep and branches were waist and chest level. We had four strong trail breakers but were happy to get back above treeline where the going was easier and we didn‘t have to walk hunched over. Gorgeous views of Boott Spur, Mts. Monroe and Eisenhower and ridiculously mild temps and winds.

Heading back to treeline, Davis Path wasn’t too hard to find initially, but we were challenged to stay on the trail until almost Mt. Isolation. (After Glen Boulder Trail, I do not think we saw any blazes for the rest of the day.) Fortunately the woods are not too thick so we headed in the general direction of North Isolation. GPS was somewhat helpful in staying on/near the official trail. The snow was deep and heavy, and there were a few minor spruce trap incidents.

Once we hit the broken out route of the Rocky Branchers, it was pretty smooth sailing to Mt. Isolation and back to the car. Thanks to the nine folks ahead of us who consolidated the trail on their way in. As others have stated, the current bushwhack is incredibly beautiful, with birch glade after birch glade after birch glade… the nicest I’ve seen. We must have gone through a dozen separate little glades. It was quite enjoyable.

The Rocky Branch Trail seemed to get sloppier the lower we got, and we were all happy to reach the parking lot! A great day in the mountains with a fun little group.

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Sunday Mtn. and Mt. Cube - 3/26/14
Route: Cross Rivendell Trail - Norris Road to Mt. Cube
Equipment: Snowshoes
Conditions: Mostly unbroken snow - 6 miles worth. Remaining 4 miles (up and down Mt. Cube) was broken but still rather unconsolidated.

The Cross Rivendell Trail is a 36-mile point-to-point trail straddling the Connecticut River in the Upper Valley of VT/NH that traverses from Flagpole Hill in Vershire, VT, to Mt.Cube in Orford, NH. As the map states, “the trail passes over several bald summits and through spectacular forests and bucolic fields, much of the trail on private land.”

This day I decided on the Sunday Mountain to Mt. Cube section, Norris Road to Mt. Cube and back to Baker/Quinttown Road. From the start, the trail was completely unbroken so I donned snowshoes and proceeded to break through a thin crust, sinking in anywhere from 4-8 inches most of the day. There was one stretch early on where the trail was broken for about 1/3 mile. There are many interconnecting old woods roads and other trails that are apparently used by locals. I saw some old ski tracks here and there as well. The climb up and over Sunday Mountain was a beautiful traverse of open hardwoods with many, many critter tracks. I saw six deer just before hitting Dame Hill Road.

The section from Dame Hill Road to Baker Road was, likewise, completely unbroken except for the local wildlife and also passed through lovely hardwoods. The trail was very well marked with plenty of paint; however, being untravelled by humans in open hardwoods, diligence was required in connecting the blue blazes at times.

Chris joined me for the ascent of Mt. Cube. Although the steeper sections have been rerouted with nice, gradual switchbacks, this trail section was the original Appalachian Trail up Mt. Cube before the major ATC/DOC relocation project of the 1980s and 90s. From Baker Road to the summit the trail was finally broken out (yay - my legs were getting a tad bit weary after 6 miles of solo trail breaking), although some folks went just to the fantastic lookout about ¾ of the way up. We could see Killington, Mt. Ascutney, Smarts Mtn., Holts Ledge, and Moose Mtn. among others. The open summit area was pretty nippy since the wind had picked up quite a bit over the course of the day; we didn’t linger. The AT North looked to be broken out from the summit, but the AT South appeared untouched by human traffic recently.

This was a perfect way to spend a special day: my 20th anniversary of starting a thru-hike of the AT. I look forward to completing the rest of the Cross Rivendell Trail soon!
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Monroe, Eisenhower, Pierce - 3/19/14
Route: Ammonoosuc Ravine, Crawford Path, Monroe and Eisenhower Loops, Webster Cliff Trail to Pierce
Equipment: Snowshoes
Conditions:   Mt. Washington Observatory report of 5 mph winds on summit at 8 am quickly escalated to 25-40 by the time I reached treeline. All trails well packed out.

Chris dropped me off at the Cog Railway. Made it to Gem Pool in ½ hour. Televators rocked on the steeps of ART. Winds picked up as I climbed - grr…! Passed one guy just below the hut. Made a beeline for Monroe as others had before me. Winds were very strong on the north sides of all peaks today (Monroe, Franklin, Eisenhower). Decided they weren’t strong enough to turn back so kept going. Strongest winds were going over Franklin and Eisenhower - not really pushing me around too much but had to concentrate to stay upright.  Fortunately, temps weren’t too cold. Finally able to text Chris in the scrub south of Eisenhower and met him right at the junction of Crawford and Webster Cliff Trails. He had come up Crawford Path. Fun descent w/C knocking snow balls off trees.  Wind was really whipping in Crawford Notch. Last full day of winter hike. Storm coming tonight...
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Adams 4, Sam Adams, Adams, Madison - 3/18/14
Route: Lowes Path, cross country, Israel Ridge, Air Line, Osgood, Valley Way
Equipment: Snowshoes, crampons, sunglasses, and sunscreen
Conditions: All trails nicely packed out. No real ice to speak of. Gorgeous sunny day w/slight winds. Class 1 Day.

Chris dropped me off at Lowes and headed over to Appalachia. He went up Valley Way. Wore snowshoes from Rt. 2. Met one guy descending from Gray Knob. Switched to crampons about 1/3 mile above Gray Knob. Route was boney but not too bad. Saw fresh fox tracks near Adams 4. Headed cross country to tag Sam Adams (‘cuz I like that summit), then over to main peak. No one in sight. Descended to Madison Hut, where I met 8 or 9 hikers hanging out in the sun. Waited until 1:30 for Chris, then headed up to Madison. When I got back to the hut, Chris was there.  Was such a beautiful day I didn’t want to leave above treeline. Descended VW together.
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Garfield - 3/16/14
Route: Mt. Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge
Equipment: Snowshoes
Conditions: Fresh snow of 3/12-13 was packed out nicely. Very cold, brisk day.

w/Al, Percy, MEB, Brett, and Chris did the first part. Fast-paced hike - about 5 hours. Lots of others out. Saw Peter Crane at jct. Didn’t stay on top long - it was very cold!
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Cannon Mtn. - 3/11/14
Route: Kinsman Ridge Trail, Rim Trail
Equipment: Snowshoes all the way
Conditions: 2-4” new snow over smooth, solid base

Got a civilized start at 1:15 pm. Wore snowshoes from the bottom due to new snow and for traction and televation. At 40F degrees, snow was very sticky for the first quarter mile or so, then much less so thankfully. Conditions were perfect for climbing in snowshoes. Went to the Outlook for a peek. Upper section of KRT was windblown with deep snowdrifts. No evidence at all of weekend’s foot traffic.  Kind of socked in w/flat light on summit area. Tried to shortcut to the summit from Rim Trail and sank into a deep spruce trap. Stopped trying for a shortcut. Didn’t stay on top for long and did not go inside tram station.

Descent was fast and fun. Did some butt sliding. Met one hiker coming up with a 5-month-old spaniel named Annie. She was adorable and came popping out of a little spruce trap, very playful. 2.5 hours car to car.
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N. Lafayette, Lafayette, Truman, Lincoln, Little Haystack, Liberty, Flume, Liberty - 3/10/14
Route: Skookumchuck, Garfield Ridge, Franconia Ridge, Liberty Spring, bushwhack, Franconia Notch Bike Path
Equipment: I wore snowshoes most of the day
Conditions: Everything broken out

Today was supposed to be Owls Head, but when I got to the Franconia exits, I didn’t feel like driving any farther. Skookumchuck and Franconia Ridge it would be.

All trails were broken out nicely. Upon hitting treeline and Garfield Ridge Trail, visibility was about “three cairns.” Winds were slight and the temps were moderate, so I decided the Ridge was a go. There was enough snow up there that I just kept my snowshoes on for the entire ridge. Things did get boney at times, but it was the right choice for me. On Lafayette visibility went down to “two cairns,” but route finding was never in question.

The tree’d portions of Franconia Ridge could use a trimming. I went to Flume, then back to Liberty and down Liberty Spring Trail. Saw some fresh bootprints but didn’t see another soul all day.

At the left turn just below the junction with Flume Slide Trail, I followed a broken out track straight to the bike path and from there to the northbound Basin parking. (This saved over a mile of bike path.) Took a nice break there before beginning the schlep back up the bike path all the way to Skookumchuck trailhead. It’s a good thing I like to walk because it was a long freaking way. The dozen or so snowmobilers I met and the goofy signs on the bike path provided entertaining diversion.
Glad I did this hike but probably won’t do it again anytime soon!
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Traverse of the Mighty Hale - 3/06/14
Route: Zealand Road, Hale Brook Trail, Firewardens Trail, North Twin Trail, herd path
Equipment: We wore snowshoes for most of the hike. Sunglasses.
Conditions: Everything packed out nicely. Couple of inches of new fluff.

Al and I decided to take advantage of our two vehicles today and opted for a traverse of Hale. We got the Zealand road walk done first and headed up Hale Brook Trail, yakking incessantly. It was an amazing day--bright blue sky, intense sun, and slight winds--one which we really should have spent rock hopping above treeline. OTOH, goofing off in the woods is never a bad way to spend a day.

About halfway up HBT I put on snowshoes to smooth the trail out (and get them off my back) and wore them most of the way down Firewardens. Conditions were so appealing today that a long leisurely break was possible on the summit without freezing to death.

Lend a Hand looked broken out, with those couple of inches of new snow on top.  The trip down Firewardens and out was fast and fun. GREAT view of the Presies at the one viewpoint a ways down from the summit. This was a nice way to do Mt. Hale.
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Cabot Trifecta (Horn, Bulge, Cabot) - 3/05/14
Route: Unknown Pond, Kilkenny Ridge, Bunnell Notch, York Pond Trails
Equipment: Snowshoes car to car
Conditions: Ranged from completely unbroken/unconsolidated to well-packed superhighway. No icy sections.

A beautiful day for the three peaks of Cabot. Parked at plowed Unknown Pond Trail parking lot off York Pond Road. First ~1.5 mile of Unknown Pond Trail was broken out nicely. At that point there was what looked to be a campsite and no further snowshoe tracks. From there I followed faint ski tracks which eventually petered out until it was just me and the moose brigade. Lots of tracks and bedding areas up there. Upper part of Unknown Pond and Kilkenny Ridge Trails to Mt. Cabot were completely unbroken. Trail breaking was enjoyable and not too difficult. I got a good workout, sinking in 4-8 inches.

Having done all but a small portion of Kilkenny Ridge Trail in winter, I knew that staying on the trail would be a challenge. If you need blazes every 50 feet, this is not the hike for you. If you attempt this loop in the snow season, be prepared to bushwhack at some point. Unknown Pond Trail was especially lacking in paint. By a combination of intuition and luck, I did a good job of staying on the trail, losing it just a couple of times.

I took the spur to The Horn today. With all the snow, the summit rock is easier to get onto than in summer. A bunny even made it - tracks went all the way to the top.  Looked like no human traffic in quite some time.

I found the section between The Bulge and Cabot to have the most tricky route finding, mostly due to open woods. Every time I thought I’d lost the trail, I’d go a few more steps, turn around, and there’d be a yellow blaze on a tree just behind me. Lost the trail just below the summit of Cabot but knew it was close so just made a beeline for the top.

The rest of the way down - Kilkenny, Bunnell Notch, York Pond Trails - was well traveled and is well documented elsewhere.
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Mts. Wonalancet, Hibbard, Nanamocomuck, Passaconaway, and Whiteface - 3/03/14
Route: Old Mast Road, Wonalancet Range, Walden, Dicey’s Mill, Rollins, and Blueberry Ledge Trails
Equipment: Microspikes to Mt. Wonalancet, then snowshoes the rest of the way
Conditions: Broken out to Mt. Wonalancet, much less so to Hibbard Mtn. Then completely unbroken until final push up Mt. Passaconaway. Dicey’s, Rollins, and Blueberry Ledge Trails were well packed.

The most challenging part of today’s hike was negotiating the incredible frost heaves on Rts. 113 and 113A. Holy Moly!

Wonalancet Range Trail was broken out nicely to its namesake summit, including the Shortcut (which I did not do). I switched to snowshoes just before the summit because the track became much less consolidated. Someone had continued on to Hibbard Mtn., but the human tracks stopped there. However, there was an incredible array of critter tracks in this area! Although a bit crusty--and consequently very noisy with MSRs (I did not sneak up on any animals today)--the trail breaking was not difficult.

The Walden Trail looked to not have been traveled all winter. The descent to the col before Nanamocomuck was fun albeit slower than I would’ve liked due to the crusty top layer. In the col itself route finding was tricky, but I consulted the excellent WODC map which states “Trail turns left at the col and briefly follows an unreliable stream downhill.” Then, 0.3 miles later, “Trail bears right away from stream, then climbs steeply.” They weren’t kidding. The last time I was on this trail was over 20 years ago, and it was summertime so I did not get full appreciation for this trail’s workout. The very steep section was only 0.4 miles, but it was very steep, and the snow was crusty on top with loose granular underneath. There were probably a half dozen scrambles where I would ask myself HOW I was going to get up THAT. Each time a branch, small tree, or nub would appear enabling me to hoist myself up and over. I would not necessarily recommend this route but would not dissuade its use either: It Was Wicked Fun!!

The Square Ledge Trail was not broken out, but the final climb up Passaconaway was… by what looked to be a batallion of moose and a snowshoer or two. From the summit of Passaconaway, down Dicey’s, and across Rollins was very well packed out. I met a total of 7 Microspikers, but I opted to leave snowshoes on. Careful deliberation was exercised on the descent of Blueberry Ledge. I am always surprised at the dicey-ness of this trail. My intention was to try to descend the Tom Wiggins Trail, but there either was no sign, a buried sign, or I completely missed it. Probably for the better.

Beautiful, sunny blue sky day. A bit cold but never felt too bad. Took the Kanc back to 93. Compared to 113, it was smooth sailing. I love this area of the White Mtns., just wish it wasn’t such a far drive for me.
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Camel’s Hump - 3/02/14
Route: Burrows Trail
Equipment: Barebooted (and forgot poles in car)

Well broken out “highway” all the way. 1.5 hours up, 45 minutes down, including some jogging.
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Mt. Moriah - 2/28/14
Route: Rattle River, Kenduskeag, Carter-Moriah, Stony Brook Trails
Equipment: Snowshoes (car to car)
Conditions: Nicely hardpacked snowshoe track to Rattle River Shelter. Less consolidated but still broken out for the next mile. The upper ~1.5 miles of Rattle River Trail and 1.4 mile distance of Kenduskeag Trail to Mt. Moriah showed evidence of one or two lone snowshoe prints descending, but they were mostly drifted over. From Mt. Moriah to the car via Carter-Moriah and Stony Brook Trails was well packed. No icy areas.

I’ve always enjoyed the longer but relatively mellow jaunt up Mt. Moriah that the Rattle River-Kenduskeag route provides. However, compared to Carter-Moriah and Stony Brook Trails out of Gorham, this route is much less commonly used in winter, so we were prepared for a long morning of trail breaking. We discovered the lower portion of Rattle River Trail to be very well packed out (could easily bareboot this section), and it appeared that Rattle River Shelter was the site of a recent igloo-building class. Some impressive construction there.

Only one of Rattle River’s inviting pools was open (unfrozen) today, all others completely frozen over as were all the crossings and cascades. We did not stop to soak our feet this day.

The track was drifted and less broken out to the Kenduskeag Trail junction, but it appeared that at least one person had used this trail as a descent route from Moriah, probably last weekend. Following their indentations saved us from searching for the trail in a couple of confusing spots on the Kenduskeag. The trail breaking was not difficult and was welcome this cold, blustery day as it helped keep us warmer. The Kenduskeag Trail toward Shelburne Moriah was unbroken. Only 1.3 miles away, this lovely summit was tempting, but we stuck with the plan…

Upon reaching the Carter-Moriah Trail we discovered fresh snowshoe tracks coming in from the south. The CMT going toward Gorham looked drifted in, at least the little bit we could see before the summit of Moriah. From our vantage point at 4049 feet, the Presies looked downright brutal today with angry looking clouds hovering over Washington and the other high peaks. As usual, Moriah’s south ledges were fantastic, and we gazed longingly into the vast Wild River Valley. (Next winter, Moriah Brook Trail or bust.)

On our way down Stony Brook, we encountered the owner of the fresh snowshoe tracks and enjoyed her company on the final couple of miles out. Thanks to Dee we saved a bit of mileage as we opted to take her route straight to Stony Brook Estates. Thanks Dee! Also thanks to Chris, Al and Percy for ‘a pleasant walk’ in the woods today.
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Willey, Field and Tom - 2/25/14
Route: Kedron Flume, Ethan Pond, Willey Range, Mt. Tom Spur, A-Z, Avalon Trails
Equipment: Snowshoes (the whole way), Poles, Ice axe

Kedron Flume Trail was well packed out to just above the flume (which, being completely frozen over, was neither seen nor heard this day). From there to Ethan Pond Trail I broke through a hard, crusty layer covering older granular but sunk in only 4-5 inches. Ethan Pond Trail was well broken out as was, surprisingly, Willey Range Trail all the way up to Mt. Willey. Seems folks have been utilizing the lesser travelled route up Willey this winter. Ethan Pond Trail looked to be packed beyond the junction with Willey Range Trail.

The steep ladder sections required care, but the snow was like Styrofoam and grippy, so my MSRs did fine. However, I did bring an ice axe and did use it on this section. The uppermost ladder I bypassed around to the left as others before me had also done. (Were I to descend this trail given the current conditions, I would probably switch to crampons.)

I shared some gluten-free chocolate chip cookie crumbs with the Chris Christie of gray jays on the summit of Willey.

From Willey to Field there was some drifting, mostly on the Willey side. A-Z looked to be broken out going toward Zealand Falls Hut. From Field to Tom and out to Crawford Depot was a well broken out highway. Probably could’ve barebooted but opted to keep snowshoes on all the way.
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N and S Hancock - 2/23/14
Route: Regular way
Equipment: Barebooted most but snowshoed between the peaks and most of the way out

Well broken out, packed trail. Met a dozen overnighters from a Meetup group coming out. Also met 2 ultra runner guys from Massachusetts coming down N. Peak as I was going up. Otherwise uneventful hike. Briefly considered whacking out to “Juno Peak” (South South Peak) and back, but after 50 or so feet in, encountered thick and potentially dangerous spruce traps so turned around.
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Mt. Waumbek (without Starr King) via Priscilla Brook BW - 2/04/14
Route: Priscilla Brook Trail. Bushwhack.
Equipment: Snowshoes (car to car). Sunglasses.
Conditions: 3-10” powder in beautiful open woods.

This was a nice route up Waumbek. First thing I had to do was shovel out a spot for my car at the old Priscilla Brook Trailhead before I could begin making my way up the abandoned trail. My last time in this area was in the early 90s, when I was working on the NH 100 Highest and did Mt. Pliny with my buddy Creston.

This time I followed the PBT for less than a mile before bushwhacking west to hit an old logging road which runs generally north-south and which brings one up to the ridge running south from Mt. Waumbek. The woods were mostly open hardwoods, and there were many, many critter tracks. The snowshoeing was perfect.  I kept waiting for it to get thick and nasty. Finally it did get a bit thick, but this lasted a whopping 2 minutes. Shortly thereafter, I found myself on the heavily trodden Starr King Trail about 100 feet west of the summit of Waumbek.

I followed some moose tracks - but no humans - a little farther east of the summit so as to catch the views of the Presidentials this fine day while enjoying some goodies. What a gorgeous day - the calm before the storm.

I contemplated continuing on the Kilkenny Ridge Trail for a bit, then dropping down to get Pliny. Then I came to my senses. With no aspirations of the NH 100 Highest in Winter list and because the route up was so good, I followed my footprints back out.

2 ½ hours up, 1 ½ back, maybe 6’ish miles? I will do this one again!
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S, M, N Tripyramid from Livermore - 2/03/14
Route: Livermore Road, Mt. Tripyramid Loop (up South Slide), Pine Bend Brook Trail, Scaur Ridge Trail, Livermore Road
Equipment: Snowshoes, Crampons, Ice axe
Conditions: First (and last) part of Livermore Road is a groomed XC ski trail, so smooth sailing. Mt. Tripyramid Loop up to South Peak had 4-6” new snow over older boot prints. From South to Middle had a few new inches over a packed out base. From Middle to North and onto the Scaur Ridge Trail jct. was a beaten out highway. Scaur Ridge Trail was completely unbroken.

This loop was a lot of fun.  I started off in MSR snowshoes so as to not ding up the beautifully groomed ski trail that is lower Livermore Road… and because I’d rather wear them than carry them. Once I turned on to the South fork of the Mt. Tripyramid Loop, there was 4-6” of new snow over somebody’s older bareboot prints but no real postholing. I did what I could to smooth out the base. Once on the South Slide, I switched to full crampons for the steeps. Oddly, there seemed to be very little ice under the new snow. That made me very happy. I picked my way up carefully, mostly staying to the left as opposed to going right up the middle. Views were fantastic, and for much of the way I followed descending fox prints which was pretty cool - was trying to imagine seeing a fox going down the South Slide.

Once on South Peak, there was a beaten out track with 4-6” of new snow on top. I switched back to snowshoes. On Middle Peak the track was a very firmly packed down super highway all the way to the Scaur Ridge Trail junction. There were a couple of icy sections to navigate.

Scaur Ridge Trail - yippee ki yi yippee yay - was completely unbroken. Although there was about 6-8” of sinkage, the descent was still fast and, aaaah… dreamy-cushy on snowshoes. (Take that, Pine Bend Brook Trail.)  From SRT, there are some wicked impressive views of the North Slide this time of year as there are no leaves to block the view. It looked pretty freaking scary.  All too soon it was back on Livermore Road. On the way out, I met about 10 skiers who were all very friendly; I made sure to stay to the far edge of the groomed trail.
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Moosilauke via Benton Trail - 2/01/14
Route: Tunnel Brook Road, Benton Trail, Beaver Brook Trail
Equipment: Snowshoes, Microspikes
Conditions: 2-4” snow on Tunnel Brook Road and lower Benton Trail progressing to up to a foot of trail breaking higher up. Some hidden ice.

The Benton was another lightly used winter route on my to-do list. Stars were aligned, as a good friend Lloyd also had it in his sights. We were able to drive to the (new, post-Irene) summer trailhead on Tunnel Brook Road about 1 ½ miles in from Route 112, so this hike turned out to be only a little over 10 miles.  Tunnel Brook Road had some impressive washouts. Can see why the feds don’t want to spend any $$$ fixing this particular road.

Once on the Benton Trail, the stream crossing 0.2 miles in was frozen over completely and easily crossed. We barebooted until about 2800 feet (?) at which point snowshoes proved to be the most efficient mode of travel. This trail is nicely graded and perfect for snowshoeing. Much to our delight, the trail was completely un-traveled and unbroken. Some serious trail breaking was had for a solid mile before meeting the highly traveled Beaver Brook Trail. There was just enough snow on the summit area that we opted to keep our snowshoes on. Wonderful and far reaching views today, the wind just a tad chilly.

We returned via the same route, switching to Microspikes for the downhill icy sections. We saw zero people until the summit area and zero people after the summit area but about 15 people on/near the summit and a couple of exhausted looking dogs.  (Boo)

This is a great route that I would highly recommend for a change of pace over the usual routes.
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Wildcats E,D,C,B,A,B,C,D - 1/30/14
Route: Lost Pond Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, Polecat
Equipment: Crampons, Ice axe, Snowshoes, Poles, Sunscreen & Sunglasses

Parked at Pinkham. Lost Pond Trail/AT was barebooted by many, including me. Lost Pond looks to have excellent ice skating right now.

Wildcat Ridge Trail/AT to D Peak had a few inches of snow over ice and is extremely steep. I followed a couple of sets of cramponed boot prints that looked only a day old. Wore full crampons and used my ice axe with frequency. Would not attempt this section with anything less than full crampons right now. There are quite a few rather steep, exposed ledges that require extreme care. The one particular section that I consider the crux of this route is about ½ mile up - a narrow, downsloping, icy ledge with a pretty good dropoff to the left and not much to hang onto to the right. Would not recommend this route to those with poor balance or dislike of exposed areas.

Poor neglected Wildcat E (which used to be on the 4k list instead of D) got some love today. Stupendous views across the road from D’s summit platform. Skies were sunny and bright blue. It was a Rudy P and sunscreen day. Was actually able to take a nice, decent break up there without freezing my hands while switching from crampons to snowshoes.

From D to A and back was the usual, except that going up - and later, down - C was pretty icy. I did okay in my MSRs, but crampons would not be overkill. There is a nice snowshoe track between D and A right now.

At A Peak, I decided to return to D and descend Polecat. Had thought about a full WRT traverse w/19 MB but didn’t want to deal with the roadwalk or hitching. I like Wildcat Ridge between the peaks a lot anyway. (And there is no way I would descend the WRT from E Peak this day!!)

Back at D, I popped into the first aid hut (just as they were leaving to sled somebody out) and asked a very nice guy up there, Michael, about purchasing a trail pass. I did not get one earlier because I was unsure which route I would take down/out. He said no problem, just buy one when I get to the bottom… which I did. The woman working the register thanked me for paying the $10.

From there it was a short road walk back to my car at Pinkham. Saw no other hikers out there today.
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Kinsmans from the South - 1/27/14
Route: Reel Brook Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail/AT, Mt. Kinsman Trail, Route 116
Equipment: MSR snowshoes. Poles. Brought crampons - didn’t need. Brought ice axe - didn’t use but probably should have in a couple of spots.
Conditions: We have snow.  The 0.6 mile approach road to Reel Brook Trailhead had been driven but looked a bit sketchy, so I parked just off the road on 116 without any problems. Reel Brook Trail did not look to have been traveled in some time and had about 4-6” of new snow, more with elevation. Kinsman Ridge Trail had about 6-10” of new, unbroken snow. Mt. Kinsman Trail had 6-8” new snow higher up, diminishing to about an inch at the trailhead. Route 116 is paved, frost heave-y and 3 miles long.

This was a great hike.  It snowed on and off all morning, and all the fresh snow provided for a veritable Winter Wonderland above ~2000’. Barebooted to just before the first powerline crossing, about a mile in from the trailhead. At that point there was enough snow to warrant snowshoes which I gladly strapped to my boots since I love snowshoeing. All stream crossings were completely frozen over. The wind was howling pretty fiercely early on but let up as I neared the ridge. Just before reaching the KRT/AT, I got some help in breaking trail: a moose had been through very recently. I followed its tracks until almost Eliza Brook Shelter expecting to meet her around the next bend but no such luck.

The shelter was rebuilt in 2010 and looks awesome, with no graffiti or carvings. Eliza Brook was barely heard today, and all crossings and feeders were completely frozen over. From the shelter to Harrington Pond to South Kinsman the snow got (seemed?) progressively deeper over the 2000‘ climb. With probably 10” of fresh powder, it seemed like much more when the grade got really steep. And the grade got Really Steep: It was a Televator day. To give indication of the challenge, the 2.5 miles between the shelter and S. Kinsman took 2.5 hours. A good workout. The crux-y move of the day was the last little steep section before S. Kinsman which involved some big rocks with gaping holes and some interesting acrobatic maneuvers and tree grabbing.

Finally atop South Kinsman, the KRT appeared surprisingly untraveled to North Kinsman and on down the Mt. Kinsman Trail. I still had to break trail (!) but thankfully the grade was a lot less extreme than the approach. At the Bald Peak turnoff I finally removed my snowshoes and barebooted down to the highway. Some interesting views of the Kinsmans opened up. An hour later I was back at the car.

Met only two other hikers today, both on the Mt. Kinsman Trail, an interesting contrast to the 28 humans and 3 dogs on Mt. Carrigain’s Signal Ridge Trail this past Saturday.

This was my second time doing this route in winter. The first time was in February of 1992, on a hike organized by Steve Smith, who at the time was working on the first edition of his book Ponds and Lakes of the White Mountains. Other than the peaks, another goal of the day was to check out desolate little Harrington Pond. Creston Ruiter and Roger Doucette rounded out our merry contingent. I wore Sherpa snowshoes with little “potato scraper” crampons and was wondering today exactly how I managed that…??
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Carrigain via Signal Ridge - 1/25/14
Route: Sawyer River Road, Signal Ridge Trail
Equipment: Snowshoes (only I wore). Microspikes/Hillsounds (Chris and Sue). Bareboot (Al and Percy)
Companions: Chris, Al, Percy (dog), Sue P.
Conditions: Mostly nicely packed road and trail

This was Chris’s last 4000 footer!! He did great.  Also Percy the dog’s first 4k’er. He wore a jacket and 2 booties for part. We started about ½ hour before Al and Sue. They caught us just after the pain in the ass river crossing. Al took the old trail; Sue the new relo as did we. It was pretty chilly. No long rest breaks. Pretty wintry up on Signal Ridge.  We were first of the day, but on the way down we met 24 people and 2 dogs.  One large Meetup group - ugh. Also ran across Dr. Wu and his wife and 2 other women. Pretty funny. Made it out well before dark.
　
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Osceolas from Tripoli Road - 1/15/14
Route: Tripoli Road and Mt. Osceola Trail, out and back
Equipment: Microspikes, full crampons, MSR Denali snowshoes
Conditions: Tripoli Road groomed by WV Nordic Center (skiing looked pretty gnarly-icy). Mt. Osceola Trail looked to have not been traveled in quite awhile - a lot of ice covered by 1-6” of fresh snow from yesterday’s precip event.

Another route on my winter to-do list and a gorgeous springlike day to be outside.  Parked at Livermore Trailhead and barebooted the 2.7 miles to Mt. Osceola Trailhead. Tripoli Road was hardpacked by the groomers and quite icy, but it was a “sticky ice.” Microspiked to summit of Main Peak. Could have put snowshoes on higher up but kept plugging away in the Microspikes. There is one brook crossing that is frozen over but has some amazing ice bulges. Traction definitely needed here since the trail crossing is above (and below) a small waterfall, hence the cool ice formations. Farther up there is a huge boulder that has to be negotiated with care - dropoff to the left - but has some nice roots on which to step and grab. Followed some bunny and fox tracks for awhile.

The views from Main Peak were stunning today with a bright blue, sunny sky and warm temps. It was a sunglasses day. I switched over to full crampons for the journey to East Peak and back and was glad I‘d brought ‘em. On the summit ridge the fresh snow wasn’t as deep, maybe 3-4”, just enough to hide all the ice. Some of the descents required extreme care. On the Chimney, I took the “bypass of the bypass” for the first time ever (bushwhacked through the woods to the north - AKA the dog route), on both the outbound and the inbound. It just looked too sketchy to be doing solo today.

Switched to snowshoes back on the Main Peak and kept them on for almost 2 miles, trying to smooth out my postholes a bit (not that many people come this way in winter). When the trail got too bony, I switched back to Microspikes and wore them all the way back to the car.

This was an awesome route to the Osceolas in winter. It is a safer route than coming from the Kanc but almost twice as long at almost 14 miles. Of course, 5.4 of those miles are on easy Tripoli Road. The grade is never steep, and the trail maintainers are taking very good care of this trail (Thank you). Saw no one else out there today.
　
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3 Peaks of Webster Cliff Trail - 1/13/14
(Webster, Jackson, and Pierce)
Route: Webster Cliff Trail/Appalachian Trail up/over, Crawford Path out
Equipment: Full crampons. An ice axe would've come on handy in some spots. Snowshoes stayed on the pack.
Conditions: Ice. Packed snow. More ice.

Beautiful morning and warm temps today. Parked at the AT crossing of Rt. 302 in Crawford Notch and headed up the Webster Cliff Trail, barebooting for the first 3/4 mile or so until the ice became too much to maneuver sans traction. When getting my stuff together last night, I decided to not even dink around with the Microspikes or Hillsound Pros and go straight for the full crampons. That was definitely the right choice for today - I would not have done Rt. 302 to Mt. Webster in anything less than full crampons. There was ice, a lot of ice, and a lot of kind of steepish ice. Used the frontpoints a dozen or so different times, sometimes when going up, sometimes down. Stayed on the trail except for one very steep section about 1/2 mile from Webster's summit that was mixed ice and exposed rock - there I whacked through the trees on the north side of the trail. This was all much fun, but I decided not to descend this trail.

Making my way over to Jackson, there was more packed snow than ice but still some impressive ice bulges and flows, likewise to Mizpah Hut, onto Pierce and down the Crawford Path. Maybe okay with just mini-crampons on these sections. Trails were packed out very firmly; did not posthole. The gray jays were out on Jackson as were the snowfleas. Snowfleas in January?!

My stars were aligned today. Ken and Darlene, who were just finishing their hike of Mt. Willard, kindly gave me a ride back to my car, thus saving me a yucky 4-mile roadwalk. Was nice to do this route in winter again.

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Tecumseh Loop via Tripoli Road and Mt. Tecumseh Trail -  1 /09/14
Route: Bushwhack, Tripoli Road, Mt. Tecumseh Trail (the whole thing)
Equipment: Hillsounds & snowshoes
Conditions: Bushwhack (ski parking to Tripoli Road): unbroken crusty snow - 4-6" sinkage
Tripoli Road: Groomed by nordic center to gate at Thornton Gap/Mt. Osceola Trail, then by snowmobiles .  Mt. Tecumseh Trail to main peak: Unbroken crusty snow w/sections of fresh powder here and there.  Mt. Tecumseh Trail to ski parking: Well-packed "highway" w/lots of icy spots

Tecumseh from Tripoli Road in winter had been on my to-do list for some time. Am sorry it took so long to actually do it because it is a great loop with a nice snowshoe grade on the northern/western end of the MTT. I parked at the usual WV skier lot for MTT and immediately after crossing the first stream, hung a right off the trail and headed north, then northwest so as to not lose elevation on the way to Tripoli Road. The 'whack was pretty short and sweet - about 25 minutes to Tripoli Road but I was dawdling, stopping to examine the many, many critter tracks.

Tripoli Road was freshly groomed by the nordic center. The surface was very hardpacked corduroy but not icy at all and I barely left footprints. (The skiing conditions looked to be great.) Still, I stayed to the side of the trail. Never saw any skiers, but it was early and was pretty nippy with the wind. The coldest part of today's hike was topping out at Thornton Gap before dropping down to the MTT. Brrr... At the Mt. Osceola Trail/Thornton Gap there is a gate, and that is where the nordic center stops grooming; however, the snowmobiles ride the western side of the road from this gate. A few had been through. Still no ice - yay.

The Mt. Tecumseh Trail was just as I'd hoped: completely unbroken. The two little stream crossings at the beginning were frozen and not a problem at all. Because my boots were sinking 4-6", I opted for snowshoes and would not have been a happy camper without them higher up. They stayed on my feet until the main summit. The trail was not unbroken for long: I seem to have found the Route 128 for Moose today and followed their prints and postholes (and other "evidence") for a mile or so, to about 3200'. Hadn't seen that degree of moose activity since Frodo and I did the Davis Path to Mt. Davis many winters ago... Some of the tracks were very fresh, and I stopped a few times hoping to hear them crashing through the trees. No such luck.

West Tecumseh used to be a New England 100 Highest peak but was removed from the list in the mid 80s after it was found to be about 24 feet too short. This was before my time, though, so I'd never done it in winter. Was nice to finally pay my respects to a forgotten NE100 peak. There is a bit of a drop between West and Main Peaks, and quite a little eye-opening steep pitch on the way up to 4003 but nothing too crazy. This is Tecumseh after all.

From the Main Peak down was like a well-trodden highway with many icy sections hidden under a thin coating of snow. Ugh. I much preferred breaking trail on the north side of the mountain!

This was a great loop that I highly recommend. It's somewhere in the 9-10 mile range. It certainly makes for a more adventurous day of Tecumseh.