20070407 The Real Story

G-$$$ and the Puppet Master made a masterful attack on the overnight in the northern Presi's. g-$$$'s account:

Real Men Do Overnights:

..and that we are not.
First we got delayed because we had to aid in the rescue of 4 Canadians who thought they were on Mt Everest. Then the PM kept chasing me around the Madison Hut trying to hide his "Easter Eggs" in my "Chocolate" But the last straw was when one of the folks we met reminded us that the AMC would not recognize our Traverse because it fell outside of calendar winter, so we decided to protest and spend Easter with our families......

But so many lessons learned today......
Glissades don't go well with 50 lb packs and sleeping pads wider than your ass (even mine) dragging beneath you
50 lbs packs makes you strong but putting them down at stops and lifting them back up is no fun.
climbing with a 50lb pack is no joke, especially when you know where you are on the trail and it's not where you want to be.
breaking trail through knee deep snow with 50 lb packs is even less a joke.
When they say you should be fit (mentally and physically) to do a Winter Traverse, pay attention
A two-day traverse is a dream......a one-day...hah...yeah right!
Canadians must celebrate Easter by climbing and camping on Madison.
Air Line is a cool trail...even with a 50 lb pack.
And #1 Lesson to be Learned.....courtesy of the wisdon of the PM....Aborted Presi Traverses are like really bad sex...you don't really enjoy yourself and all you want is to just get over with it.

And that is the lesson for today!

Happy Easter!
g-$$$

As for tMail and me? Well, our plan for a grand loop (up Castle Ridge, down Lowe's Path) got trumped by the weather but as tMail put it: "I learned today that................um........um......ALOT." The mountain spirits were having fun, but clearly the devil lives in Edmand's Col. I also have to add that tMail and I got to experience almost everything one could in the northern Presi's, except wind. Without going into the long, gory details at this point, here is a list of all the experiences I can think of that characterize yesterday's 11 hour trek:

snow, posthole, powder
ascend, powder, posthole
climb, sweat, gear, change
rock, crevice, danger, axe
low visibility, disorientation, compass, cairn, no-cairn
decision-making, retrace-route, time
endurance, push, reserves, sweat, food
crampon, rock, pole, (honorary mention: kneecap)
descent, glissade, boot ski
eat
ibuprofen
whiskey.


Pics will be posted at some point, maybe even a youtube movie. Today's a family day, keep the swelling down in my kneecap, shovel snow, etc.

20070407/08? Ideas?

So, g-$$$ and the PM are talking about a 2-day winter/spring traverse. I have no experience camping and because of the bare conditions on the summits and somewhat lukewarm about the idea - although it has its obvious appeal. I think if they go I'll join them on day one (saturday) but not overnight.

The next few days will bring in a lot of weather, so the Sat/Sun choice may also wait until the last minute for a good decision. Right now in Danville we've had rain all day and now sleet and then snow during the rest of the week (mixed w/ sleet and rain). The high summits are expected to get a mix as well, probably mostly snow at this point, although it's also been rain up until now.

If the snowpack is stable, there's a climb I'm intrigued by one gully to the left of Dodge's which I've marked in the picture shown here. It's not real clear from the angle of this photo, but there is a fin of rock between it and Dodge's. It looks real narrow, which means few options, and a higher likelihood of not making it to the top - but still, it's really intriguing.... isn't it? I found another pic on Tuckerman.org that might help illustrate the route (seen on right).

Dodge's Drop II: Doug's Drop

Later this evening I'll get pics posted and a full workup of the event, hopefully w/ comments from the PM and Doug. Here's the short version:

I replaced my 8yr old Kong Bonati crampons with Black Diamond Saber-Tooth step-ins. I realized saturday when I tried to sharpen my Kongs that I had busted a tooth of one, bent a tooth on the other, busted a rivet on one, bend the extender bar on both, chipped a tooth, dulled all the points down to butter-knife dullness and frayed the straps down to threads. I'm not even going to keep them as spares. Because they were my first crampons I may hang them in the MuthaZ "Awarded Senior Status in the Hall Of Limited Efficacy" or ASSHOLE. Due to a rockin' 25% off sale at the NorthFace shop in Lincoln, I also picked up two Black Diamond Rage tools (low-end, all purpose, all-terrain hammer axes). Today I got to test drive my new crampons and ice tools.

The route: Dodge's Drop again. The ice dam was bigger than last week and posed a bit of a logistical hurdle... but not for MR. ICE TOOL AND NEW SHARP CRAMPONS!! The PM and Doug did a masterful job of scrambling over that w/ their alpine axes.

Then, there was the tippy top. As you've seen in the pics from previous trips (and you'll see again when we post our pics from Lion's Head), this trail starts off at a mere 15deg slope, then kicks it up to 20, 30, 40, 50 and I'm quite sure at the tippy top, we had about 15 vertical feet of at least 75deg pitch. It was c-r-a-z-y. Because I had the two tools, I chose the more challenging route, but the "less challenging" route was fucking c-r-a-z-y! It's not like it had rungs. I almost couldn't watch the other guys pop over the top because the closest I could get to the edge all I could see was Doug's head and empty space down to Pinkham Notch.

The weather on top? Ummm, maybe 30F w/ 2mph winds, gusting to 10? Of course the summit had its own story to tell, maybe a little windier - but not by much.

A great time was had by all and of course we missed all who could not attend, especially afterwards when we got drunk and rowdy and the PM punched a horse. You'll hear more when we get the pics posted.

UPDATE 4/1/07, 10:45pm
My pics are posted - waiting for PM's later this week. See link at left (for 070401) or click on title of this post. The picture included with this post is Dodge's Drop gully as seen from Lion's Head. The gully is the one ascending up the center of the image to the highest point. It descends down to Hillman's Highway, which from this perspective cuts diagonally across the screen and is best identified visually in the middle-ish left side by the thin, nearly-straight black line of bare rock.

UPDATE 4/4/07, 9:25am]
Website updated w/ the PM's Pics. See links on left or Click Here.

Next Weekend (3/31 - 4/1)

Well, what's in store boys and girls? We're supposed to have rain today and then sun and warm temperatures during the day and freezing at night for the rest of the week. The sap will be flowing but if things don't freeze up hard we may have some challenges w/ mud. If we don't get any spring storms, the presi-traverse that g-$$$/pm are planning the following weekend will be on bare rock.

Lastly, blogspot has been having some major problems and it's possible that once I put up a post like this it can't be edited. I hope they get their shit together soon.

20070304 - Dodge's Drop

The days are getting longer and the planning is beginning for the first post-equinox (vernal) hike of the 2007 season. As always, I'm open to suggestions from the bleachers, but right now we've got freezing rain and I have a sore throat. Depending on what this does to the snowpack, it really makes me think about Hillman's again. Post your availability and/or desires here or by email (the UF is doing a good job g-$$$, don't resent her for securing your network!).

I'd like to point out that the current forecast for Saturday (as of 6am, Thursday) is for bright sunny skies.

Update 3/24, 6:40pm: Holy Crap! I didn't do Hillman's Highway after all. But I DID do something much cooler! More on this in a bit. I'm getting dinner and then putting something together to show the NEW COOL THING!

Ten Hints:

1. I forgot sunscreen, and that was a problem.
2. I needed my axe (and had it, so I used it).
3. I should've sharpened my crampons
4. I should've had two tools, not a single all-purpose alpine axe
5. I used every technique I learned on that ice-climbing day at Cathedral Ledge.
6. I was solo, and No, I didn't know it was going to be that steep... well, I sort of did ... but not really.... well, I figured it might be, but it was hard to tell from below.
7. It had a greater elevation gain than Hillman's.
8. It wasn't the Headwall or in Tuck's
9. Halfway up I passed 3 climbers roping up their harnesses to ice screws for a belay. They watched me go by with my huge pack, strap-on crampons and one alpine axe. On guy said "going for the big ascent?" I thought about it for a sec and said "uh, yeh...." and kept going, trying not to drop ice on their heads.
10. At the gnarliest points I said to myself "don't look down, don't look down..." and of course I did because it was so fucking steep. Luckily, it was also really fucking cool.

Oh yeh, baby!

Update 9:34pm: See pic posted at right (and link to gallery on left, or click on title) for route. I got up to the cabin and stared at that gully on the left of Hillmans and couldn't resist.

Update 3/25/07, 5pm: Due to some weird problem w/ BlogSpot (who hosts this blog) I lost the Dodge's Drop post.

20070318: On The Menu

Okay, what'll it be? Cast your votes now!

1. B#%&@mforth Ridge to the Hump and back.
2. Hellbrook (what, again? don't we keep doing that fucker?)
3. Long Trail winter traverse, non-stop, from the App Gap to the Jonesville parking area.
4. Hillman's (probably too soon, but the weather may be warming... save for late March)
5. X-C in to Thoreau Falls via Zealand Road... and then back again.
6. X-C skiing on groomed trails anywhere (down by Tripyramids)... maybe even ski in, do the Tri loop, ski out (this will be do-able by novice x-c skiers).
7. Liberty Spring trail up, Franconia Ridge to Lafayette, return via Bridal Path and a 1mile trek along rec trail back to Liberty Spring trail head (at Visitor Center?).
8. ...

UPDATE 3/11: We're on for the 18th (changed title of post). Now it's just a matter of picking a destination. There's no new avalanche advisory posted for today as of this writing so whether or not the rain destabilized the snowpack is still up for discussion (did somebody say "Hillman's").

UPDATE 3/18: Well, everyone got busy so MuthaZ went back to his solo routine. Luckily I checked the forecast because as of this writing (5pm) winds on The Bad Boy rose up to about 105mph w/ temps a few degrees below zero. On the ridge, the temps were probably at least 5° but in addition to rising winds, there was a LOT of blowing snow - not just frozen fog. My official trip report is posted as a comment to this.

Notes From Ancient History

While we're waiting for snow totals of "The Storm of March 3, 2007!" and are planning our next hike on Sunday, I figured I'd post links to all the trips going back to May 8, 2004, my first Presi Traverse w/ Mad Dog, Keith & Roland. Prior to that I didn't have a digital camera.

New postings include a link to my first meeting w/ Treadmill on our 9/10/2005 Presi Traverse.

The link list on the left has grown, and the plan is to keep it going for many years to come.

The Bad Boy II: Hillman's Horror... or ...

Well, another weekend lost to fun in the snow. The Hancocks on Saturday (see previous post) and Sunday spent the day w/ my friend Brian at Craftsbury Nordic Center for a sunny day on groomed trails. But that's just a prelude to next weekend - the dreaded March 3/4 excursion up Washington. As tMail might say, "I hear it calling my name...". Indeed, from Danville the eastern horizon consists of the Presidentials, The Twins, Garfield, Lafayette and Franconia Ridge, Cannon and Moosilauke. On a clear day like today, all the details are visible and they seem to form little faces, mouthing the words "climb me....climb me...".

So what stands in our way? Nothing but logistics. We have some weather coming through over the next 4 days, enough to define what the weekend plans might be, so we'll leave our options open.

UPDATE 2/26/07: [.... taunting...]

UPDATE 3/1/07: I took out the old pics and replaced them w/ this more relevant one, to remind us what snow looks like. Chances are we'll see some of this white stuff this weekend.

UPDATE 4/3/07: tMail popped his cherry!

Saturday's Mystery Date

Oh where, oh where will we end up on Saturday? Oh where oh where indeed! What are the choices? Why, all the choices in the world. What's been offered so far?

1. The Hancocks, because of the descent from South Hancock
2. Sandwich Dome (up Drake's Brook, out to Black Mtn, back via Sandwich Mtn Trail... or was it the other way around?)
3. What about an x-c trek through Zealand Notch out to Thoreau Falls and back? tMail, I know you have experience=zero with the x-c thing, but with your arm strength you'd have it figured out in no time. The trail is almost completely flat. It's gentle uphill on the way in - a great way to get the hang of the skis. You'll do FINE! It's all about endurance - the technique will come along naturally. Check it out on the map. Start on Rte 302 in Twin Mountain. At the next right turn we park at the Zealand Campground and ski up the Zealand Rd (not plowed) to the Zealand Trail, to the Ethan Pond Trail. The falls are about 2 miles along the Ethan Pond Tr. at the junction w/ the Thoreau Falls Tr. I've never been to the falls. If we stay to the valley we could do it in light gear.
   
4. Do we really need a 4th option?

UPDATE 2/22: The choice has been made: It's the Hancocks!
Meeting Place: The parking area on the ultra-sharp curve of the Kanc on the south side of the road.
Meeting Time: 8am? Still waiting for feedback from hikers.

UPDATE 2/24: See comments for MZ's partial trip report.

UPDATE 3/2: I finally posted my and Tim's pics to the website

Sunday, Feb 11: North Slide Dammit

It looks like the next trip is on the calendar and it's still 3 days away. This is more advanced planning than we normally experience. More on the specifics later, but the plan is clearly to go up the North Slide of North Tripyramid.

Gear of the Day will be crampons or mountaineering snowshoes and an axe.

Trail conditions from Views From The Top describe solid stream crossing, packed snow and crampon conditions on the slide. More on the route conditions as things progress.

[Update: 2/11/07 5:32pm]
The slides were mostly filled in w/ snow. We actually had to work to stay out of the drifts and on top of the rocks/ice/crust as much as possible. We stayed left, crossed right, got into the scrub, back left, and all was golden.

It was a bright sunny day. I'm sure it wasn't above 0F on the slides and the summit - maybe 5F - but we didn't have to put on any shells or masks (no wind) and I was actually bare-handed once we got down off the south slide. We didn't use poles anywhere. We took the ice axes out and packed them at the top of the South Slide.

No big incidents other than being threatened by a bull moose, chased by bears and Timmy had to lower me into a ravine to retrieve his JetBoil after the earthquake subsided.

g-$: I don't know why I sometimes shrug off your advice. You've never steered me wrong. But I guess it seemed too much of a pain to get tMail a pair of skis - or maybe it was because I didn't realize that the trail to the Tri-Loop IS FUCKING GROOMED AND TRACKED!!!!! Jeezus H. F0cking Krist on a popsicle stick! I can't believe we had to walk TWO MILES on GROOMED AND TRACKED TRAIL!

Holy crap. I told Timmy that he's getting fucking skis or he can wear my size 11 boots next time.

Once tMail sends me his pics I'll post 'em on the web.

On a related note, I stopped at Wal~Mart in Littleton on the way back to pick up tissues and colored markers and bought goggles. They had ski goggles with a double lens (polycarbonate front lens), SP400 UV protection and amazing ventilation. The bottom edge of the mask has an open plastic grill under each eye running the length of the lens. Totally open. Along the top, there is also a grill, but there is a very thin foam 'filter' to keep snow out. When I say 'thin', I mean 'thin'. I can read a newspaper through it. It's just sturdy enough to keep out snow and ice but that's it. I got an XL to maximize the surface area (the frame is almost completely out of my peripheral visual field). They cost $19.83. I know it may be wishful thinking, but I have high hopes for these. The worst case scenario is that I now have a third set for backup.

[Update 2/11/07: Pics Are Posted Here]