2.11.2010

Bamforth, Yet Again

That's the plan for 2/13 and I don't mind telling you the conditions are going to be completely unpredictable.  Packed out trails?  Maybe.  Snowshoe terrain?  Maybe.  Headlamps?  Maybe.  Dog-Friendly?  Maybe.

Trailhead:  7:30am.
Dogman Pickup:  6:15am

The Puppet Master's Trip Report (Pics here):  Things I learned yesterday...
  1. Bamforth remains in the top 3 hardest hikes I have done in winter.
  2. Never leave snowshoes behind for microspikes. Microspikes are good for what?!
  3. 250lbs and deep, uphill powder is a recipe for post-holing pain.
  4. 3 small donuts, 1/2 a granola bar is not the breakfast of choice for a Bamforth day out!
  5. Bring enough food for 4 on Bamforth, you'll need it.
  6. 4 liters of H20 is needed for Bamforth
  7. MuthaZ and TMail are like snowcats.
  8. MadDog is insanely tough - proven time and again.
  9. DogMan and Trudy are hard rocking winter beasts - born for the VT outdoor fun.
  10. It really is 1hr down the Monroe trail (3.5mi) to the lot.
  11. Palin's bus is a godsend at mile 5 of road walking!
  12. Eating a whole pizza after Bamforth is perfectly acceptable.
This trail is killer. The image that portrays the day to me is MadDog trying to get to the pre-summit clearing at the top where he half post-holes, his pack gets stuck on a tree, and there's a stick coming up between his legs from the snow. He turns and chuckles and says "My God." Awesome!

Hats off to you cats who went back down Bamforth. Animals.

A special thanks to the Palin bus who arrived with a honk and smile. Vick, you rock!
Mutha's Trip Report (Pics here):  Some observations:
  1. Dogs Rock! But man, they'll eat and eat and eat ...
  2. Never give all your food to your dog.  My entire food consumption:  small bag of granola, 1/3 of a mackerel sandwich, a bottle of Boost, evening handout from tMail & MadDog (handful of nuts, a peanut butter cracker, piece of chocolate).  Spanky's entire food consumption:  a whole tuna sandwich, 2/3 of a mackerel sandwich, 3 string cheese sticks, a small handful of granola, dogfood, a bag of homemade dog treats, handouts from the boys.
  3. Bring more water.  Entire water consumption:  1L.  What the hell is up with that?  It's like I never packed for a hike before.
  4. Special gold award to The PM, MD & DM for post-holing to the summit.  How the hell they did that I don't know.  It was hard enough on snowshoes!
  5. Special gold award to tMail who sacrificed a pole for me.
  6. Special gold award to Trudy who launched herself up the Deadman's Folly ice wall.
  7. Special gold award to Spanky who, after hauling her little doggie-butt up and down that mountain actually frolicked in the woods on the way to the car.
  8. Phun Phact:  According to Delorme, the total elevation difference from trailhead to summit is 3,691ft.  The total elevation gain on the hike is just over 4,000ft due to about 325ft of up-and-down gains.
  9. Skiers down the north glades from the summit?  WTF?  What are these people made of???
  10. BAMFORTH DELIVERS!!
MadDog's Trip Report: Nice day guys, thanks for the trip. I got my butt kicked. Just when I thought I was in shape, that thing comes along, slaps me with reality and deals a dose of work. It seemed like my legs were empty for most of the ascent. Though I seem to catch a second wind of sorts on the descent. Definitely a great workout to crampon it on the ascent.

Thanks to the shoe brigade - Tmail and Mutha for breaking trail and navigating. And DogMan and PM for sharing the rear and handwarmers. Which reminds to point out that the return trip featured an appearance by a Formula One pit crew...thanks for some very impressive work. And thanks to Palin for answering the Save our Soles (SOS) call, and doing the impromptu shuttle.
Tmail's Trip Report (Pics Here):  Bamforth Part II:  Bamforth killed me the first time but I got revenge

1. To those that hiked up with no snow shoes - you guys are rabid animals!
2. 2L of water consumed first time since I can remember I drank 1L
3. All food completely consumed - thought entered my mind to eat dog food.
4. Route finding 101 "just keep going up"
5. MadDog pit crew change two crampons two snowshoes and hand warmers all in 2 minutes.
6. Getting beat up by MadDogs pack while in the pit crew.
7. Uncle Pete flex on Camels Hump
8. Getting my snowshoe stuck coming down Bamforth and seeing everyone walk away and yelling "Mutha"
9. The amount of pill popping at MadDogs, "MadDog what am I taking, oooo tMail don't worry"
10. MadDog has the best cheese in the world at his house.
11. Palin can out drink all of us combined.
12. The cougars of Jericho exist and are in season.
13. The mountain kitty in outdoor gear exchange, yum!
14. Burlington, Vt (cougars, MILFS, hippies, Meth users)
15. Seeing the best stone work in all of Burlington!
16. Telling Palin to pick us up at Monroe then taking Bamforth.

4 comments:

  1. Excellent! My truck is jammed so DogMan will either have to ride with you or you ride with him...I am going to the DogPound after the hike...MadDog is going to introduce me as his younger brother from Italy, code name Valentino at the Vt social outing....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a plan. I'm trying to determine what the conditions might be like but it's such a rarely used trail that other than guessing that there's a lot of wind-packed snow and some bare regions it's hard to say - no trip reports anywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Things I learned yesterday...

    1) Bamforth remains in the top 3 hardest hikes I have done in winter.
    2) Never leave snowshoes behind for microspikes. Microspikes are good for what?!
    3) 250lbs and deep, uphill powder is a recipe for post-holing pain.
    4) 3 small donuts, 1/2 a granola bar is not the breakfast of choice for a Bamforth day out!
    5) Bring enough food for 4 on Bamforth, you'll need it.
    6) 4 liters of H20 is needed for Bamforth
    7) MuthaZ and TMail are like snowcats.
    8) MadDog is insanely tough - proven time and again.
    9) DogMan and Trudy are hard rocking winter beasts - born for the VT outdoor fun.
    10) It really is 1hr down the Monroe trail (3.5mi) to the lot.
    11) Palin's bus is a godsend at mile 5 of road walking!
    12) Eating a whole pizza after Bamforth is perfectly acceptable.

    This trail is killer. The image that portrays the day to me is MadDog trying to get to the pre-summit clearing at the top where he half post-holes, his pack gets stuck on a tree, and there's a stick coming up between his legs from the snow. He turns and chuckles and says "My God." Awesome!

    Hats off to you cats who went back down Bamforth. Animals.

    A special thanks to the Palin bus who arrived with a honk and smile. Vick, you rock!

    Pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/puppetmaster64/BamforthTheWrathOfThePosthole#

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice day guys, thanks for the trip. I got my butt kicked. Just when I thought I was in shape, that thing comes along, slaps me with reality and deals a dose of work. It seemed like my legs were empty for most of the ascent. Though I seem to catch a second wind of sorts on the descent. Definitely a great workout to crampon it on the ascent.

    Thanks to the shoe brigade - Tmail and Mutha for breaking trail and navigating. And DogMan and PM for sharing the rear and handwarmers. Which reminds to point out that the return trip featured an appearance by a Formula One pit crew...thanks for some very impressive work. And thanks to Palin for answering the Save our Soles (SOS) call, and doing the impromptu shuttle.

    -MD

    ReplyDelete