Spungie Day Trip Logistics

Bob W. may be joining us on Saturday. Here's the main plan. Start time is tentative based on feedback from tMail, Spungie and other southern belles:

Start:
Meeting Time: 8am (more likely 8:30, but we'll firm this up later in the week)
Location: Lafayette Place parking area on east side of 93, the next parking area north of The Basin. This is the parking area opposite the Lafayette Campground, and is the trailhead for The Bridal Path and Falling Waters trails.

Route in Stages: Route Map (Click To Zoom)

1. South along Rec Path to Liberty Spring Trailhead (about 2.2 mi, -250')
2. Liberty Spring Trail (the AT) to Franconia Ridge (2.9 mi, +2850')
3. Franconia Ridge Trail to Haystack, Lincoln, Lafayette (3.5 mi, +1000')
4. Old Bridal Path down to parking lot (4.0 mi, -3,600')

Total Miles: 12.6
Elevation Gained: 3850' (not including ups-and-downs of Franconia Ridge)

Good/Bad Conditions Time Estimate:

1. Rec Path: 0.5/0.75 hrs
   
2. Ascent: 2.0/3.0 hrs
   
3. Ridge: 1.7/3.0 hrs
4. Descent: 1.5/2.25 hrs

Total Good/Bad Time: 6/9 hrs

Likelihood of reaching cars without headlamps: 75%
-- given a 9am start, sunset at 4:40pm & descent on west side of Lafayette

My bet: 7hrs, back at cars by 4pm, no headlamps, two pairs of goggles, 2L of water.

[Note 1, added on 1/16, 10am]
The surface around here is frozen, water-saturated snow at all elevations, that is: great solid base for crampons - no wallowing around in deep powder drifts. We didn't get a ton of snow on Monday and we don't have a forecast yet for Friday, but if we don't get dumped on we'll have really firm conditions under a soft top coat. tMail and I did this hike last spring in deep snow conditions and it was pretty slow because the ridge between Liberty and Haystack is below treeline and gets filled in with deep snow.

[Note 2, added on 1/16, 10pm]
Everything exposed on Mt. Washington that wasn't covered in snow was covered in ice on Sunday (the rocks, shrubs, etc.) This was true all the way down to tree-line on the Lion's Head trail. I wore crampons the entire time. Because I didn't bring poles, I couldn't use my hands to grip when working my way over rocks - too slippery. However, the ice was a thin coating and in general the crampons banged through to rock, dulling them. As you all recall, Franconia Ridge has many places that are iced in pools, as well as spots where an uncontrolled slide would be painful (the descent into the wooded col before the Lafayette ascent). I believe barebooting without an axe would be risky if the ridge is completely windblown down to ice/crust.

[Weather Update: 1/18, 7:15am]
Take a look at the weather for tomorrow (MWO Higher Summits Forecast). It is starting to look like we could be in the shit. I'll post a last minute summary tonight. Still unsure of footwear. Mixed precip tonight is unlikely up high and there is probably about 8" of snow that has been blowing around for filling in drifts - and it'll be blowing really hard tonight and into the early morning. I'm thinking of going w/out snowshoes and bringing my old, busted, crampons for banging on rocks.

Also, in a comment below, the PM has declared a possible arrival time at the parking lot of 8-8:30. Sounds like a great hustle.