Lincoln's Backbone Bushwack

Post trip reports in comments.  I'll promote them to this main story.  Just drank many beers and watched movie and am going to crash.  Will get everything typed up in the morning....

g-$$$'s Trip Report:  Another Spungie Day for the record books.  What else is there to be said......

• PM/Maddog....you were missed for sure!!!!
• Tmail....trail breaker, project manager extraordinaire
• Muthaz....how much do you charge for your guided tours.....knew the route like the bank of Spungie's hand
• Wildman....Mr Ready and Steady....new nickname may need to be Hoover since no gear is left behind
• Buddy Boy Bro....F'in A...2 weeks removed from gall bladder surgery....holy WTF...what a rockstar!!!!
• Dogman....welcome to Franconia Ridge
• Rainman....nice to meet you...were we running late for Wapner?  you flew down the mountain like a man possessed
• And Last But Not Least....Spungie......Even though you hate descending you still kick ass.....the only thing better would be.....my....oh never mind.
• Will try and convert the GPS track later but see you all again on Spungie Day 2011 (or the Bad Boy or Katadhin)!

Mutha's Trip Report (Pics Here):  Holy crap, what clear air, what a great group, what an awesome route and what a fun day.  Temps in the woods probably around 15-20°, winds non-existent in the trees, light on the summit, maybe gusting up toe 20?  Hard to say.  Some key moments stuck in my mind:

• Clear Air:  We could see details on Mansfield, Jay, Killington.  I really don't think I've had such good visibility out there.
• At the turnoff point from the trail, looking up into the woods.  Everyone standing around saying "What the f***?  Up there?" and in less than a heartbeat, Spungie is on the move like a moose in mating season, charging up that mountain.
• The tangles on the bushwack required full-body assault on the situation - pulling on branches, ducking, pulling feet out of traps and lifting uphill while pulling poles out of snags and unhooking pack caught on a branch...all while being whipped and stabbed.
• What the hell was with the hyperactive chick on the summit who took our group photo?  She must've dragged her poor husband up that freaking mountain and would've give me my damned camera back!
• tMail and Spungie hammering on that mountain, busting through the trees.
• Getting out of treeline and scrambling over the boulders.  Rainman, tMail and Spungie firing up the rock crevice.
• Wildman has no fear and very likely has no anxiety over near-death experiences, being lost in the forest or being eaten by bears.  What is this guy made of?
• g-$$$, while insisting on the caboose position, hammered out the miles and the nearly impossible terrain with a bum shoulder and loser hiking buddies.  No war whoops, never slower, never faster like a damned machine.  I tried to get away, but he JUST KEPT ON COMING!
• Buddy Boy Bro:  two weeks ago he had his gall bladder out and he's doing this?!?  Does his doctor know?  He's probably thinking hell, when Buddy Boy comes back for new stitches I can afford another car.  No phone, no business calls and no drained batteries.  A Manimal!
• DogMan - The newbie goes out in STYLE, managing gear, perspiration, snow, etc. like a pro.
• Rainman - good to have you with us.  What, you're climbing up this crack in the rock?  Woah, FEARLESS!  (Should have know, he's a buddy of Spungie's).
• tMail - like hiking with the terminator.  Great route finding skills.
• Spungie - I haven't seen the power s**t but I'm not betting against it.  But man, Spungie, what the hell did you eat?!?  Whatever it was, it was Spungie, the Human Freight Train!  IT'S SPUNGIE DAY!

tMail's Trip Report (Coming soon) (Pics Here):The Backbone/Spine what ever you want to call it was a bush whacking success on multiple levels.

• We took an excellent route and communicated magnificently with each other during the ascent.
• Some highlights from the trip!
• Spungie going straight up the bone and dismantling a tree and using it as a hiking pole. It was bigger than me.
• The lady asking us how much time does it take off?
• Her husband saying that they were going out for three days? Doing the ridge?
• The trudge breaking trees, breaking through trees, standing on trees, getting stuck in trees.
• Getting poked in the throat by razor sharp branches.
• Seeing blood running down Wildman and Spungie s face.
• Not hearing any war whoops.
• The amount of gear, axes, snowshoes, poles, microspikes, goggles, crampons.
• The purple barney facemask!
• The girl that molested all of us basically making her husband feel like a bum!  "You guys bushwhacked that is awesome" "I want to take your picture, like 15 of them"
• The sense that Camels Hump, Mansfield, Jay Peak were all reachable if Spungie wanted to piss on them.
• Dogman first time on "the ridge"
• Rainman welcome to the club!
• Buddy Boy Bro internally bleeding and still tags both summits.
• Mutha leading the squad above treeline on the bone and his masterful crampon/axe technique.
• Mutha saying "give me my camera back or I will wrestle you to the ground"
• The lady that stunk like ass.

Awesome day boyz!