Tripyramids

 I'll let the trip reports speak for themselves.

 tMail's Report
What an adventure!  This was my third time on the North Slide once in primo winter snow ice crampon / axe conditions, once bombing down it and Saturday Dogtown Day.

• Weather Reports have been whacked lately, Saturday was suppose to be snow instead sunny weather, decent views.
• Its an over looked area for hiking but the interconnectivity of Passaconaway, Whiteface, Tri's, Osceola, Tecumseh and Hancocks is worthy of high adventure.
• Fireworks went off on the North Slide, dangling from trees, traverses that got pucker factor across the slide, bushwhacking both left and right side of slide.
• Ice axe and traction equipment of the day.
• Never would I have though I would be pretzel-ed around a tree on the North Slide trying to get 100lbs Trudy through ice, over a tree then DogMan over me while holding Trudy.
• Trudy is all of 100lbs, 200lbs when she is frozen on the slide collapsed against your left rib cage.
• DogMan put your axe down the root of the tree, Tmail drive your axe to secure it. Ok I'm in you in? Yes, ok hand me Trudy.
• We had Dog release rolls, Dog spotter rolls and Dog catcher rolls while handing the dogs off on the slide.
• Black Diamond gloves continue to reign superior.
• Ibex liner gloves superior.
• Wool superior.
• Looking at Mutha coming down to support the Trudy experiment and seeing Spanky anchored to a tree by either a hiking pole or ice axe.
• Mutha telling Cody at Dunkin Donuts the size small coffee cups suck and he should fix them, poor Cody.
• "When were the bagels made?"
• "Our dogs need food, you have day old food around?" Cody - "yes we have stuff for dogs."
• DogMan freaking out at Dunkin Donuts saying "this is all fictitious food."

What a great day!

DogMan's Report

Some of my thoughts:

• The root structure of the tree of life is somewhat implanted in my brain.
• Sometimes you can go up, but can't go down. And shouldn't think about it.
• Total body work out. Like no other.
• Sand in the v*? How about sticks up your ass, literally.
• I need truly telescoping poles. Who knew that could matter so much.
• That little "leash" thing on the tree hooker (eh ice ax), good idea.
• Flashbacks still occurring here. Simple walk in the woods today, slight slip of the foot, brain instantly sends message "you are going to fall 300 feet and die!".
• Conveying confidence to your dog by forcing it to put all it's weight onto you while perched on a quasi vertical slab of rock ice, held in place with crampons, an ax and pine saplings is weird, but ultimately proved helpful.
• TMail was a f* marvelous manager and partner at a crucial time. I can't compliment or thank him enough. Neither can Trudy.
• My brain was completely flushed. Like a big mental stress s*, no room left for the bullshit of everyday life after that.
• Dunking Donuts is indeed a marvel. A restaurant that does not sell food. But that green thing I had sure tasted good.

Thank guys.

PS - no more of that for the dogs I think. Happy to have got us all through that in one piece. But for me anyway, new rule is if ax required/recommended, it is not a dog friendly scenario.

Mutha's Report

• This was truly a day of high adventure.  The clear blue skies transitioning in the late day to threatening clouds and then back to clear skies with stars was a complete surprise (based on the forecasted snowy/stormy system spinning to our north).
• The dog thing was, astonishingly, a surprise.  It may seem like it was a bad idea from the start - and I feel a little bad about labeling it dog-friendly - but my past ascents put it at a workable trek... at the limit, but workable.  As it turned out, it was over the edge.  Live and learn
• As DogMan said, the day was a complete brain dump.  High levels of focus relieved me of all the outside cares and woes.  The day was about not slipping and moving the dogs in stages.
• On the plus side, I learned that I could micromanage Spanky. She did fine with it until near the top when each 'staging' would present her with no obvious next move. Then she was clearly not thrilled. But I did learn where her balance point is for a one-hand lift-and-place while feet were anchored and the axe placed for security. Quite a few times I had to secure the axe and do a two-hand lift-and-place to head-level, then retrieve the axe with one hand on the dog. At 50lbs she was a lot easier to manage than Trudy, but my shoulders are still aching.
• It's amazing how versatile that damned axe is.
• The microspikes did well on the slide. The lack of toe points requires rethinking body position. The fact that the points are set in, under the foot, also requires careful placement in sketchy conditions but I was determined to test them to the summit. Not bad. Kept them on until we were down from the snow/ice.
• Tested the Columbia Omni-Max sweater. The inside lining is all shiny - my "Liberace Dinner Jacket". Could only wear it as a summit warmer - too warm to hike in in those conditions.
• The descent was via the Scaur Ridge Trail (to avoid the South Slide). This trail also required a lot of dog management. It's steep, rocky, icy on that day but with beautiful views north and south. It's razor thin at the saddle near the junction but the surrounding trees make it secure.
• The day was truly transformative.

Adventure for Saturday

It's time to start thinking about an adventure (above treeline?) for our next trek, scheduled for 12/4.  It's a little to far in the future to have a good read on the weather, but it's looking kind of snowy.  Please mention any trek ideas in the comments and I'll throw them onto this main page.

Mutha's List:

• Castle Trail to Jefferson and back (from Randolph).  Rating:  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.  Or do the reverse.  Rating:  Huge.
• Carrigain Loop via Carrigain Notch, return via Signal Ridge.  No car spotting.  Rating:  Big day, not too bad.

tMail's List (concerned about ice above treeline):

• Passaconaway & Whiteface
• Cannon, Cannon Balls, Kinsmans

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.

Backcountry Wanderings in Groton State Forest

This summer I spent quite a few hours both w/ DogMan, Trudy, Spanky & Jake and just w/ Spanky & Jake exploring all over the eastern section of Groton State Forest.  It lacks much in the way of a trail system, unlike the western side.  The map at the right is a not too accurate accounting of some of the bushwacks I've logged.  Regrettably, without a GPS trace, these are no more than rough guesses as to where we were.

The routes are a combination of old forest roads, VAST trails, raw bushwacks, beaver dams and what-the-heck-is-this-we're-on???

Part of the goal is to simply explore.  This is, after all, my back yard (so to speak).  Another part is to seek out good xc ski routes for this winter.  Lastly, is the desire to trek all over the long ridgeline that bisects this image.  We've got much of it from Cow Hill south to Jeremiah Lund Mountain.  bit by bit as I learn my way through those woods I've got routes now that can get me to the little bumps to the south.

One of these days we're going to tackle north of Cow Hill (which seems to be just a straightforward bushwack down to Rte 2) and the summit to the south of Cow Hill (Lookout Mtn.).

In the meantime, we've logged some outstanding xc ski routes.  This promises to be a great winter.

Now, About Those NH 4000 Footers

had to go to littleton on an errand today.  the sun was shining so i brought jake and spanky and did a quick toodle up to the top of Cannon via the Lonesome Lake and Kinsman Ridge trails (up the back of Cannon).

it's a great little quick hike.  including lunch, photographs, checking out the vistas from that lower trail that has the stone 'bench' things, chatting w/ folks who were riding up the lift for foliage tours, etc. it only took 2:50 total round-trip.

we pushed pretty hard (about 80% max) on the ascent.  rough times were:
car to lonesome lake:  under 30 minutes
lonesome lake to kinsman ridge trail:  about 15minutes
kinsman ridge trail to summit:  about 20 minutes

pwning the mountain

i think to get from the car to the top of the observation tower was about 1:15.

it's a great route for dogs.  plenty of water (the trail up the back of the summit has a lot of water running down it).  on the way up, hit a spot where i had to lift jake.  spanky scrambled it after decided to try it on her own (she was getting ready for me to lift her, then decided she had a plan).  i had to push her butt for it to work, but it did.  on the way down, had to lift jake off boulders in about 5 spots.

Dogs, Man & DogMan!

DogMan:  Hey mutha, want to go for a quick trot in the woods?  I'm feeling a little off today, so it won't be much.  I want to get Trudy out too.

Mutha:  Yeah, Jake & Spanky could use some trail time.  Sounds great.  I'm still in recovery from Friday so let's do a little trot.  I'll pick you up at 2:30.

Three and a half hours later I walk in the door and Sue says:  Hey, glad you're back.  We ate - I was beginning to wonder where you were.

Yeah, DogMan, where the hell were we?  We hit Little Deer Mtn, Big Deer Mtn, Osmore Pond, Up, Down, All Around.  Holy hell.  And DogMan was freaking possessed.  It was like chasing a Przewalski’s Gazelle (not to be confused w/ a Przewalski's Wild Horse, also named after the Russian colonel Nikolai Przhevalsky (1839–1888) - Przewalski being the Polish spelling).

What a great run. 

[Disclaimer:  the map below is where I kind of think we were.  Close enough, man.]