4.08.2011

Lafayette w/ Spanky, The Puppet Master & Riley

Up and down Lafayette via the Old Bridle Path.

Mutha's Trip Report (pics here):
A blue-bird day like no other. Lafayette rarely fails to deliver. The PM and I had slightly different ideas on what to bring. He had a full winter pack and went w/ microspikes. I had my smallest pack with only a windbreaker and a mid-weight top in it and wore crampons.

We were both right and both wrong in so many ways. I wore a sleeveless top for the ascent, which was great until I got above treeline and froze my tits off. I lost two fingers on each hand on the way up in the stiff wind. Temps were probably around 20° and the winds no more than 10-15 mph or so but sleeveless w/ fingerless biking gloves ... uhh, kinda cold. I got to the summit first w/ Spanky and made a beeline across the top and around the 'back' of the summit to the southeast corner where I could put on everything, including a fleece hat. Damn it got cold... but not as cold as on the way down, where we both completely lost all fingers and I thought I'd end up with frostbite on my cheeks/nose

Crap.

Other highlights:
* [Updated 4/11 to reflect site info from Fred] Saw a few people on the trail - pretty empty day though. Passed a solo hiker at the hut, saw him again at the summit and on the lee side of the summit (: Fred.  He introduced us to Trail NH which combines GIS info w/ trail reports from VFTT and Hike-NH, NETC and others.  Back down at the Hut we chatted for a while w/ some older folks that were having lunch who, of course, were familiar with folks I knew in Danville.  All socializing aside it was astoundingly sparsely populated up there for a picture perfect day. ... although I did think I was going to lose skin from the cold wind on the way down .... and i completely lost my fingers .... but whatever.
* On the way down, two guys skinning up were going to ski into the ravines. Both had helmets.
* On the way down, a guy coming up stopped to chat about the weather for a second. He kept referring to the schmutz in the sky caused by airplanes and the fast-approaching weather. I think he was insane. I just took off and left the PM to deal. WTF man, it was a gorgeous day!
* Great social day too. The PM and I covered a lot of territory: jobs, relationships, licorice and sardines. Hell Yaz!
* Took another 30 photos of the damn dog. Hey man, it's all digital. 1's and 0's. So stop complaining.
The Puppet Master's Trip Report (pics here):
Beauty of a day today.  The bluebirds were chirping and Mutha's wheels were turning! My regrets -
  1. Agreeing to "blast" up Lafayette with Mutha.  I now know what that really means - wow!  It was like running with TMail, following a ghost!  Mutha had us to the hut in 1hr 15min.
  2. Bringing my full winter pack and not a paired down version appropriate for the day.
  3. Believing in microspikes while trying to front-point up a rock-hard, ice slab... eek!
  4. Not packing more licorice logs - http://www.rjslicorice.co.nz/
 Heard on the hill today -
  1. "F*cking Tmail" - for getting us to buy more gear and his inviting us to chase him as he runs like a lightning streak
  2. "F*cking MadDog" - for talking relationships on hikes, keeping it all in perspective, and asking for a 600 mile triathlon later this year
  3. "F*cking G$" - for not buying a condo in Waterville yet and getting us thinking about hiking/trips out West
  4. "F*cking DogMan" - for battling the racer mentality (i.e. "get to the finish"), being full of zen, and sliding down ski hills like it's his job
My major rants....
Great day out.  I needed that mountain therapy!

Pics (a lot in B&W due to brightness of sun)

Posted by muthaz at 3:22 PM

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