Tryptophan Dryout Day: November 28, 2010

It's time to start posting ideas for an outing on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  They should range from 'baby' to 'brutal' so we have some variety from which to choose.  Post your ideas in the comments section and I'll list them here.  Feel free to consider variety, such as:  novelty, adventure, elevation, exposure.  Here are a few ideas to get the juices flowing:

• If MadDog can make it, how about Adams Slide?  For those that don't know the route, requires getting in to the Great Gulf, making our way to the Buttress Trail and then finding a bushwack to the left that hits Adams.  I propose:  Ridge of the Caps Trail, over Jefferson and down into the Great Gulf.  Return via Adams and Gulfside Trail.  Rating:  Really hard.
• Isolation via Glen Boulder trail.  Rating:  not too bad.
• Isolation via Rocky Branch Trail in, Davis Path/Stairs Col Trail out.  Rating:  long day, not too bad.
• Carrigain the long way:  in via Nancy Pond Trail, drop into the Pemi.  Out over Carrigain.  Requires spotting a car or two depending on group size.  Rating:  Huge.
• Carrigain Loop via Carrigain Notch, return via Signal Ridge.  No car spotting.  Rating:  Big day, not too bad.
• Bushwack up or down West Bond via Hellgate or Red Rocks (from tMail) 

 [Update, 11/27, 10pm]  Final destination:  9am, Trailhead for Pierce/Eisenhower

Trip Report:  Mutha

• Final body count:  tMail, Buddy Boy Bro, Spanky and Me. 
  
• Final Route:  Crawford path to Pierce, Eisenhower, back to Pierce, over to Mizpah Hut, Mizpah Cut-off to the parking lot.
  
• A few inches of snow on frozen/slushy ice.  20°-ish with winds calm in the woods and light/breezy on the ridge - maybe gusting in the 20-s.  Barebooting was fine for the whole trek but I had the opportunity on the descent to Mizpah Hut to put on my micro-spikes.  They worked really well in those conditions.
  
• The day was really about providing us with about 6 hours out on the snow and mountains as part of gearing up towards full-on winter blow-out, adventures and beat-downs.

Trip Report:  tMail
It was a great day of adventure and getting back to the mountains and winter conditions and final gear checks and what works and what doesn’t work and if anything needs to be replaced.

• Parking lots procedure, have the shell jacket not packed, put it on immediately to keep it warm and then put on my Montbell down jacket over that while we all get ready.  This worked very well I was actually very warm while getting ready.
• Before taking off take off Montbell and leave in car
• I have been wearing my shell jacket on the ascents and keeping body moisture control under extreme control hardly any sweating when I do I vent.
• Patagonia backcountry guide pants still working well, had long underwear on as well the EMS Tech stuff, pretty soon smartwool long underwear will be called on.
• Plastic boots excellent still, worried about boot liner hope to get another winter out of them.
• Pace was easy all day we kept it in check for Buddy Boy Bro
• 4 PB&J wraps worked extremely well, keep them all in one zip lock bag easy to get easy to eat.  Also went through 4 gels kept them in my pockets they stayed perfect.
• Didn’t pack trail mix or any of that other stuff and I was fine.
• Drank about 1 liter of water the entire day.
• Put goggles on just to see how things were working no fog issues and I let the face dry first in the wind before putting them on.
• Conditions are getting close to winter waiting for the big dumping.
• Ibex liner gloves and Blackdiamond guide gloves were an excellent combination; I need to pay better attention to hands this year. I had the Blackdiamond Mercury Mittens with me and Alpaca Hat.
• I have been going on the lighter side of gear in my pack, but what I have been bringing I am using, instead of multiple layers I am accepting putting on my primaloft jacket then shell over it.
• I still have a bivy, compass, headlamp and med kit with me at all times.
• As we start getting more exposure or longer outings the sleeping bag will make it back into the pack.
• Conclusion DogMan needs mountaineering boots by next Friday 12/3/2010

Finally, Back in the Whites

After a long hiatus Dogman, The PM, g-$$$, tMail, Spanky, Riley, Trudy and I hit the Whites for a quick up and down on Moosilauke.  We ascended the gorge trail and descended the ridge trail.  Great loop.

• Dogman made insightful comments on the nature of 'furries'.
• g-$$$ let out the war-whoop
• The PM informed us of Johnson Controls' worldwide reach
• tMail offered details of the 'mystery' that has been haunting MadDog for a few weeks
• Spanky at two large Mackerel sandwiches and anything anyone else offered
• Riley demonstrated an even temperament
• Trudy used the high winds and blowing fog as an excuse to roll around, puppylike, in the snow.

Great times were had by all.

Lookout Mtn to Macks Mtn Road!

Zoomed home after class, grabbed the dogs and burned out to Peacham to fill in another segment of the ridge.  Today I found my way from Lookout Mtn down to Macks Mtn Road.  tMail's familiar with this (he's been on it twice). 

Dogman is of course intimately familiar with this road. 

It took me 55 min to get from the car to Macks Mtn. Rd (see map) and 45 min to get back.  The trick was to find the bowl that I descended down into the notch.  A classic profile of the hills around here is a ramp-like ascent from the north and a sometimes horribly steep descent on the south side.  It's from glaciers moving south.  The south sides are usually boulders & rubble dropped by the glaciers that over the years have filled in with soil.  At the bottom, the small pond visible on the map is part of two ponds, one dug by the property owners, and includes a mowed area with a fire pit and some chairs.  It's a great spot.  The trek finished down a rutted road to the main road.

Unnamed Mountain Has Fallen

It's now official:  We can do the bushwack from Devil's Hill, over Jennison Mtn and over Unnamed Mtn (I have not been able to find an historical name for it yet) to Jerry Lund Mtn.

Today's adventure w/ Spanky & Jake involved taking a forest road to the notch between Devil's Hill and Jennison, then heading southeast over the two hills and down to Jeremiah Lund Road (my name for a forest road that climbs part way up Jerry Lund Mtn).  In the map shown here the known forest roads are in pale brown and today's route in pink (out) and blue (back).  If you click on the map to zoom you can see that the route back included a side trip west that dropped down into the great valley of Peacham Bog.  It can be seen on careful inspection that it hits a low bowl with a few beaver ponds.  For a future date, get to the other side of the bowl, climb a small rise and look out over the bog.

The only remaining legs of this chain of hills is to hit Lookout Mtn heading north, and then hit Rte 2 heading north from Cow Hill.

Lookout Mtn Has Fallen

In the ongoing quest to tackle all the minor summits in the area, I knocked off one named (and one unnamed) hill.  The purple route show on the attached map was today's trek, topping out at just a little over 2,450'.  The woods were bright and open and the snow about shoe deep (the soft leaves underfoot made it seem deeper).

Not much evidence of human industry except the general look of having been completely logged out in the recent past.



Found an outstanding outcrop w/ large fir trees that make a terrific campsite and location for the new fort (that will one day be built).

Lookout mountain has no outlook that earns it that name.  I'd like to rename it "Can't See Sh*t Mountain".

Also on the map:
brown arrows:  we've done those routes
green loop:  "The Homewrecker".  Starts/Ends at Dogman's house.  Hits Hooker Mtn, Macks Mtn, Lookout Mtn, Cow Hill and then back.
    the goal:  sub 4 hours.