The Next Three Weeks

We have some challenges ahead for the remainder of January as we get ready for The Bad Boy and the Mad River Glen Uphill Snowshoe Challenge (on Feb 2 & 9). With record high temperatures and rain this week, next weekend may not chill up enough to harden the slush. With any luck, the mountains will be coated with hard, frozen snow by Sunday (1/13), but time will tell.

In addition, our good friend Spungie has marked January 19th on his calendar, and is happy to do anything we can come up with, as long as it takes more than five hours. tMail, this may be a good Carrigain date.

In the meantime, let's watch the weather on Mt. Washington. They may hit a record high tomorrow and leave us with nothing but rocks and ice - worse than we saw on Mt. Adams.

[Update 1/8] Note that the Mt. Adams video on YouTube has just been made available.

[Update 1/10] Everything has re-frozen on the summits. But the weather is looking like this: tonight and tomorrow is snow, sleet and freezing rain and rain everywhere around here - from the valley floor to the summits. Then we have Friday night and Saturday night to freeze things up. Sunday is looking like the better day in terms of giving the surfaces a chance to freeze (Saturday night's temps should be bitter cold and helpful). It won't simplify stream crossings, but should give us a nice crust. Will the rocks be coated? Will the mud freeze up? What would be a great route? No clue. Maddog was talking about Bamforth - but I think I'd rather save that for later in the winter - like for our Vermont Weekend adventure.

Here's a radical idea that will require a little investigating: Hillman's Highway if it doesn't wash away. It's a LONG drive, but if we restrict ourselves to that route (crampons and axes - NO snowshoes) it won't take all day. Bear in mind that right now, everything is covered in frozen ice/snow and a fall would be a really fast ride.

Stay tuned...