Hell Brook: Promises And Delivers

The hike up Hell Brook was an amazing success. A tiring, seeming unending struggle that only took three hours. Trip reports and pics will follow. The pics included in this post (click them to zoom) are

• A Google Earth view of the route
  
• Mad Dog in the krumholz in Eagle Pass, in the clouds w/ filtered sun. Google Earth View of The Route
  
• Mad Dog & The Puppet Master as seen from my position just above in the main gulley of Hell Brook on the waterfalls.
• The Puppet Master on the cascades of hell Brook.

Update 12/23 8:45am: Pics are now online. Amazing.

Update 12/23 8:48am: PM Trip Report:

Holy hell. The Eagle is back... we will need that rhino dart!

G$, Life IS crap! Thanks for the insight on life and on buying skis.

MD and MZ,
* Up Hell Brook, or whatever trail it was we followed, was incredible. Steep may be the preferred description of the route but with the snow and endless amounts of effort it took to go 10ft at times, I'd say "relentless" may be a better description!
* Glad that MZ lent me his poles and that MD was able to enjoy mine. How MZ went up with only an ice axe that looked like it belonged to a 6yr old is still baffling me!
* How MD comes off the couch, and hammers up a route like Hell Brook also baffles me! You animal...
* Wish I took more pics but when you have to concentrate on where your 15th plant will be to go the next 12 inches, the camera is the last thing in the mind!
* It was a near perfect day in regards to temp, wind, and the like. Visibility was what it needed to be. It was REALLY cool on top of the ridge where the snow blowing and the tree top snowmen were dancing in the wind and sun.
* Burgers and beer at the Shed were a fine end to a day of hard work.
* Thanks for the great adventure. I'll be thinking about you guys from the relative warmth of GA over the next week. Have fun and be safe if you get out and up.

Update 12/23, 10:30am: Mutha's Trip Report:

* The Hell Brook Trail stays to climber's right of the brook, rarely in view of it. We stayed to the left, and slogged up along the hillside, working our way through the woods and hitting the brook after half of the elevation gain. There were no hiker tracks because the trail is mainly used by skiers/snowboarders descending the steep ravine... in fact it looked like nobody had hiked up there all winter.
* We tried barebooting it, but within 100ft, gave up entirely. I retrieved snowshoes for me and MD from the car (the PM had wisely brought his) and before long were on our way... slowly ... ever slower ... even stopped dead in our tracks. The snow was soft everywhere, and ever deeper as we got higher. A common problem was the difficulty in packing down a 'step' that would hold weight - and the frequent plunging of arms, poles, axes, etc. into the snow. It gave a weird look that we were periodically groping for a lost watch or hunting for clams or something.
* How MD managed to get off the operating table and slog up that monster is beyond me. But he did. And the PM is running in a 5k today? Holy crap. These guys are ANIMALS.
* The Eagle Pass traverse was otherworldly (see photo above/right and pics in gallery). As the PM says, it was perfect. I took the time to put on a facemask and goggles, but they were off within 5 minutes as the conditions were quite bearable and extremely stylin'.
* 3 hours up, but it didn't take us long to descend - maybe an hour. Great hike, great company, and great food/beer afterwards.

Update 12/23, 2pm: Mad Dog's Trip Report:

* Yep, another fine group outing...my baskets were nowhere to be found so PM unselfishly lent me his poles at the start. I'm grateful because without it, I would have been toast and not able to do the route. Lots of amazing stuff...it was three hours of a total body workout. Until we finally the reached the actual trail, it was taking anywhere from 6 to 12 front kick/plants to move 1 leg. Really awesome, as PM said, was Mutha pounding a path for us all the way up - essentially all leg strength with the occasional aid of his axe.
* A couple of notables...while waiting for Mutha to return with the shoes, with our backs turned some a-hole skier threaded a very fine needle between PM and me. While the ski skills for the guy are to be acknowledged, he clearly demonstrated a lack of brains and common sense. The second notable was that in any context, with this crowd, one should never the use phrase "Don't worry I'll get you off." I paid dearly for letting that slip out :-)

Thanks for a great time!!!