Bondcliff to Galehead Birthday Bash

Date:  3/17/2012
Route:  Bondcliff to West Bond, South Twin via the Twinway, Galehead, Gale River Trail to Rte 3.
Gear:  light packs, light shoes, no snowshoes, microspikes (except tMail)
Team:  MadDog, DogMan (birthday celebration), tMail (birthday celebration) and me.
Conditions:  Bondcliff:  good snow cover, some postholing off the narrow treadway.  Bondcliff and the Twinway over Guyot were melted out.  Twinway between Guyot and South Twin was painfully slow due to postholing, as was descent off South Twin.  Gale River Trail had sporadic postholing higher up, completely melted out on lowest mile.  The Loop road has no snow on it.
Mutha's Pictures:  here
tMail's Pictures:  here

Trip report:  DogMan, MadDog and I trotted the rail bed from the campground (0:55 to the turn to ascend Bondcliff).  My microspikes exploded and we all got separated while I was doing repairs.

Lots of folks heading up to BondCliff - quite the crowd on a summit known for its remoteness.  Probably a dozen people on the trail on the way up, a few already on the summit, and another dozen coming in from Zealand.

DogMan and I stuck together for the next few hours, tagging West Bond.  We ran into tMail a few minutes into the W. Bond spur, on his way out.  While the three of us were on the spur trail, MadDog trotted by on his way north.  We eventually all met up by the time we got to South Twin.

The Twinway between Guyot and South Twin was pretty tough w/out snow shoes.  The postholing was unpredictable and I lack the language skills to do justice to just how hard that 2 miles was.

We all ran out of water by South Twin and refilled from a brook crossing the Gale River Trail later in the evening.

tMail took off on the final descent and arrived at the cars a good 1:30 before the rest of us.  DogMan defeated his demons and ran out the last 2 miles at a half-marathon 'sprint'.

Good for us.

Mt. Isolation in 2:32

Date:  3/10/2012
Route:  Isolation via Rocky Branch (from Rte 16).  Took Engine Hill bushwack.
Team:  Dogman, Trudy, Spanky & Mutha
Conditions:  Completely packed out trail.  Dogman was barebooting - i put on micros at some point although they weren't really necessary anywhere.  The bushwack was in great shape.  Two snowshoers from Keene did their best to follow the packed trail, which was a bit blown over.  To a large degree they followed it.  The Isolation trail near The Davis Path is a bit filled in and a few minor deviations by the snowshoers were corrected on the return trip.  Snowshoes aren't a bad idea beyond the bushwack but aside from a few deep postholes it actually wasn't that bad.
Pictures:  here

Trip Report:  We're preparing for Leadville so keeping the pace up was pretty high on the priority list.  On the other hand, the weather was gorgeous, the birch groves open and inviting and our packs light (z30's).

Lincoln, Lafayette and Franconia Ridge Loop

Did the Franconia Ridge Speed Loop w/ Spanky. 
Date:  3/7/2012
Route:  Ascend Falling Waters Trail, Descend Old Bridle Path
Conditions:  Very well packed trail everywhere.  In the warm temperatures there was a lot of slush and soft snow.  When this freezes up expect a lot of ice and crust.  Sections of the OBP were packed very tight and those will be quite slick when frozen.  I recommend traction of some kind.
Team:  me & Spanky The Wonder Dog
Pictures:  Here

Trip Report:
3:20 total time.  this included:
    - snack on Mt. Lincoln (5min)
    - lunch on Mt. Lafayette (10 min)
    - climbing down to retrieve the dog's water bowl that blew off
        the summit (+10 minutes round trip)
    - changing out of my crampons and final food/water (5 min).
    - 50+ photos
    - one 40sec video

Amazing blue-bird day, but a little warm.  Wore sleeveless shirt for the entire ascent and descent.  Put on a longsleeve shirt on the ridge.  Only wore a sweat-rag and no gloves.  I put on my light liner gloves on Lincoln when things got pretty windy, although it was nothing like on the Bad Boy (which cranked in the 60 mph range).  The wind probably got to around 25mph in sections.  My hands weren't actually cold - just seemed the prudent thing to do.  Gloves came off before I even got to the hut.

Traction was necessary.  Wore crampons until the final descent from treeline on down.  Probably could've been done w/ microspikes but at the higher trotting speeds that would've been dangerous on the descent of Lafayette.

Light climbing pants, gaiters, mid-weight summer hiking boots, wool socks.  gaiters were unnecessary.

Mt. Flume via The Osseo Trail

Date:  2/3/2012
Route:  Mt. Flume, via The Osseo Trail
Group:  Dogman, Trudy, Spanky & Me
Conditions:  Fresh fallen snow over packed trail.
Gear:  Snowshoes were necessary but we packed the trail down pretty tight on the up-and-down so it should be workable with crampons.  There are a lot of soft spots though, especially on the ladders so snowshoes are recommended high up.  Postholing w/out snowshoes is likely.  Once out on the cliffs, watch for spruce traps.  We headed into the trees to go around the spot where the trail crosses over the top of a slide.  It's a clean chute now.

Mt. Liberty Speed Hike

Date:  2/25/2012
Route:  Whitehouse to Liberty Springs, up and down.
Conditions:  Perfectly packed out.  Wore crampons the whole day - got a little soft near the top.
Hikers:  me and Dogman
Dogs:  Trudy & Spanky The Wonder Dog
Comments:  Speed hike to the summit (1:50).  Full battle gear needed in the high winds and blowing ice and snow.  Full packs on the ascent but stripped down to thin base layer w/ sleeves rolled up.  Almost died in the explosive winds/ice/snow... well, not really.  But it was damned cold.

Mt. Lafayette Speed Hike

Date:  2/18/2012
Route:  Up and down the Old Bridle Path
Conditions:  White carpet - crampons needed above treeline.  Drifts were only knee deep and the trail below treeline was perfectly packed out.  Barebooted descent.
Hikers:  me and Dogman
Dogs:  brought Trudy & Spanky The Wonder Dog
Comments:  Speed hike to the summit (2:05).

Mt. Washington

Route:  Lion's Head Trail up and down

Date:  Saturday, February 4th, 2012

Group:  Hiked directly with tMail & Dogman, and more generally all the other guys of the annual Bad Boy event.  (The Puppet Master was unable to attend this year, and it was Old Skool's 2nd year in a row.)

Weather:  0° with winds gusting up into the 60's or so.  Actually, the winds were kind of out of the NW and the summit caused some weird wind shifts that basically protected us most of the day.  I doubt I experienced anything stronger than a steady 30mph for a short time.

Trail Conditions:  Very little snow, no snowshoes needed anywhere, crampons all day.  The trail is well packed out and somebody had placed bamboo poles w/ pink tape on the trail on the eastern snow fields.  The rocky sections of both the crossing from Lion's Head along the Alpine Garden and the ascent of the summit cone were well filled in and for one of the only times in a dozen-ish ascents, didn't feel like I was just banging on rocks.  Even the summit itself has almost no visible rocks although obviously you can tell by the shapes of the ice/snow/crust/rime that it's rocky.

Some hikers used microspikes, but were a bit unstable in the snowfields.

Lafayette, Lincoln & The Spungie Day Loop

Route:  Franconia Ridge Loop (clockwise) via the Old Bridle Path and Falling Waters

Date:  1/21/2012

Team:  Spungie, tMail, Wildman, g-$$$, Mutha
 
Conditions:  No snowshoes needed.  Snow depth below treeline on the packed trail was deep enough for crampons all day except bare-booting the descent.  All trails well-packed out, some drifting on the ridge.  Traction is necessary on the Lafayette ascent but Wildman and g-$$$ were in microspikes all day and never changed into their crampons.

Pictures:  Here

Mutha's Trip Report:  As part of our annual 'Spungie Day' celebration we took a more-or-less standard route for this event, although in part we were motivated by a forecast of low visibility in blowing snow and fog.  Conditions turned out to be quite easy, although the flat, grey light made photography challenging.

One of the more startling facts:  the snow on top was soft, dry powder everywhere, even in drifts.  It was as if none of it had been subjected to high winds or other consolidating/transforming effects.

Wildman showed off his shoulder-mounted, water-proof video/still camera and Spungie brought an expedition pack filled with gear for a few nights (see pic above).

Unexpectedly caught up with a huge group of 20 (more or less) Koreans from Virginia.  This was their second, annual, adventure up Lafayette.  Their skill levels were mixed so they were spread out all over the mountain.  One young woman seemed to have the motivation to break some record to the summit.  Weird times ahead.

Great day, great conditions, great group.

g-$$$'s Trip Report:  Upon further reflection, discussion with Lisa and EZ-E, and the sheer realization that I descend like shit (or is it my shit descends) and I have been displaced by Dumi Sok Mi as the token Asian. I am hereby hanging up my crampons and going to embark on a new business initiative, Kitchen Remodeling...as it appears that is the only skill I have competence in at the moment.  I will be bringing my gear to the Bad Boy and auctioning off my slightly used/almost brand new stuff to anybody with cash, paypal account, and/or coffee rolls.

Thanks for your years of support, friendship, and trailside camaraderie...

With that note I thank all who participated in Spungie Day 2012.

After PM's scolding about how he didn't want to be bothered by a message while in Chicago that 6 dudes got lost in NH....and for the record it would have been ONLY 5.....we opted to stay off the Castles and hit the standard fallback, Franconia Ridge Trail....FRT is never boring in the winter.
Notable points of the day:
The two fittest guys carrying the smallest packs......
F'in Koreans only have one speed..just fast enough to slow me down and piss me off....
Spungie knows his weather...for at least a couple of hours
Two newest pieces of gear....my GPS and Wildman's GoPro camera....neither of know how to use them....
Dumi Sok Mi is one beast of a climber
Proposed nickname for K4/Brian...Northern Belle
By summertime we are all buying Harleys and will have license plates to match SPNGY and BRO
The Spungie/Wildman renenactment of famous historical proposals was deeply touching and it certainly was not the wind strewn snow crystals pelting my face that were causing me to tear up
I descend like shit, ascend like shit, and eat like shit ergo i am full of shit.
K4 or Winter Presi Traverse....it's all good!
Chicago Basin...book it.
Woodstock Inn....great eats before the Loon crowds arrive
Highlight of the trip...not spending a cent in Lincoln!
Happy Spungie Day!  Good times.

tMail's Trip Report (pics here):I believe this was the 4th Spungie Day off of which have been held on Franconia Ridge, weather usually dictates as does snow conditions.  What we thought would be a little bit of a beat down with wind and visibility turned out to be a calm day.

We did the climb in the counterclockwise conditions was the wind was coming out of the Northwest, if you can call it wind, but enough to warrant a facemask and goggles for some.  The trail conditions are in good shape there is a good base and I would imagine where there is a good base on other trails and lots of traffic the conditions are the same.  There is not a lot of snow, but what is there will pack and freeze nicely in the coming weeks.

We had a great run in with the Korean team and there desire to latch on to whoever is around to keep up and route find.  DOO MI BOO TE was hot on Spungie’s heals for the ascent to Lafayette.  She was determine to summit with our team.  Once arriving on the summit she laid down on the ground, it was impressive.


The hike along the ridge had visibility of .5 – 1 mile at times.  The snow on the ridge does not appear to be windblown as there are clear billows of low density snow in pockets which is unusual.  This matches the Avalanche forecast comments of powder like snow, that is just sitting on steep stuff waiting for a heavy load or rain to make natural avalanches occur.

Be interesting to see the video that Wildman recorded.  Picture from Mutha, Spungie and myself are pretty sweet.

Awesome day overall stuck together as a group and no child was left behind, separated on the descent off of Falling Water as the boot skiing, running was awesome.  Mutha and I waited down near the water cascades and we all hiked out together from there.


Looking forward to low key weekend next week and a big Saturday shake down at The Louie Chinese New Years Party and then BAD BOY weekend!!!!!

Cannon Mtn And North Kinsman

Date:  January 14, 2012
Route:  Cannon via Hi-Cannon, Kinsman Ridge and Cannon Balls to North Kinsman, Fishin' Jimmy to Lonesome Lake.
Team:  tMail, DogMan and me.
Conditions:  Hi Cannon and Kinsman Ridge were unbroken, but with a base of only at most a foot, travel was easy in crampons the entire day.  Temperatures never got over -5°F so the snow stayed soft and manageable.  Snowshoes were unnecessary unless it was only for traction.
Pictures:  Here

DogMan's Trip Report:  Two curious couple sightings.

First the "grumpies" heading into Cannon Balls. The more I reflect on that, could not have been a good end result.

"All your losing is a little mascara!"

And then the "fashionistas". WTF was that????

Great day. I am tired and stiff. But then I have more body fat than TMail or Mutha, and not as good of equipment (although TMail does his best providing my hand me downs). But my hands still froze into useless pain generating nubs at the car. That was freaky.

Thanks guys! Missing everyone else.

tMail's Trip Report:
My trail runners worked great.
My jeans worked better.
My boots with fur sticking out have great traction.
My rope I was carrying "just for the look" was awesome.
Great day!!!

Mutha's Trip Report:  Yeah! Wish you all could have been there. It never got above -5° all day, though we were sheltered for the most part and only got hit with a cold breeze a few times.

We all had great success with clothing/gear - no changes the entire day (9am to 4pm). We stayed surprisingly uninsulated and surprisingly dry (I'm still in my hiking clothes as I type this). Given our vertical assault up Hi-Cannon to the summit and the ass-dragging over the Cannon Balls and the bitter cold wind, it was quite surprising.

Crampons all day. Perfect gear.

One quick anecdote: on arriving back at the cars at the Lafayette Place Campground Parking Lot, we started to go through the simple gestures of pulling down jackets out, removing boots, etc., and each of us, like synchronized swimmers, got hit with a massive wave of bitter cold, bone-chilling finger loss. We nearly died there in the parking lot. In under three minutes, at 2°F with a very light breeze, we all lost the use of our fingers in one of the most painful episodes I can remember.

For me, I had just removed my pack, set it on the ground, lifted the top pocket and dug in for my down jacket. In the span of time it took me to pull it out of the pack & unzip the storage pocket I nearly lost the complete use of my fingers. I had great difficulty unfurling the jacket and almost couldn't get it on me. Unbeknownst to me, DogMan and tMail were getting hit with the same thing.

I've never experienced anything like it. It reminded me of the tsunami videos where it just comes on in an unstoppable assault. It was like the gates of hell opened and released the demons and sucked us into the vortex of cold hatred to die there just outside the parking lot. It was like being doused with gas and having a match thrown on us, only with cold, not heat. It was an explosion of numbing extremity-loss.

It took a while to recover.

The Hancocks

Date:  1/8/2012
Route:  Standard route from the Kanc on the Hancock Loop Trail (North then South)
Conditions:  The fastest conditions on this trail ever.  Packed snow w/ ice underneath, some icy spots.  In microspikes we could go as fast as we were physically able, not slowed down by trail conditions.  Water crossings were easy (mostly frozen over).
Dogs:  had two experienced winter climbing dogs - plenty of water down low.  No problems for the dogs.
Specs:  9.8-ish miles, 2,650-ish feet of gain.

Mutha's Trip report:  tMail, Dogman, Trudy, Spanky and I ran the loop.  tMail disappeared, returning around 2:20 or so but credited for the waiting around he did for me and Dogman, he pulled off a sub-two-hr run.  What an animal!  Dogman, the dogs and I hit the cars at exactly 2:40.  I doubt we'll ever have conditions this fast in there.  We spent so little time out there that I didn't eat or drink anything.  Got back to the car with a full liter of water.

Afterwards, hit the Cascade Cafe in Woodstock for portabella wraps, grilled ham sandwiches, cookies and lattes.

Fastest.  Conditions.  Ever.

If you're thinking of doing this loop in the next few days, now's the time.

Pictures here.

tMail's Trip Report:  This was a fascinating trip on a couple of fronts.

The trail conditions have been ideal for these "speed" hikes.  Its a weird concept "winter hiking" with running gear.  I actually took a pack this trip that had two jackets a Patagonia Nano Puff, MH Effusion Hood Jacket, Brooks Fleece Mittens and HH Hat.

I had a 26oz of water and two gels.  The conditions are fast and with spikes you get excellent traction, thanks also to Mutha who sharpened mine.  Even on hard ice I got purchase to push off.  The day was fast all day, we pushed hard.

DogMan was cursing in the parking lot, Mutha and I poisoned him, pulling stuff out of his bag, "am I allowed to bring this?" was uttered at one point, answer was "No".  The rule in all of this is you have to keep moving there is NO stopping, but if that is what you want to do that day, then that is acceptable.

I think we all enjoyed it and fought our own discomforts all day, mine was going up Hancock, brutal and the last 1.5 miles out cramp city and the ice was hard on the feet with micro-spikes.

After all was said and done we were all laughing at the parking lot about the battle, the dogs were still barking and jumping up and down.  We didn't talk much during the day BUT we had an awesome lunch at DogMan's Cafe find that serves excellent food, link here.

We caught up on the week, talked about card games, I am learning Mah Jong, business in the Northeast Kingdom, the pros and cons, upcoming trips, 2012 presidential election.  It was actually awesome, it was casual in a way after the track meet we had on the Hancocks, something we rarely get to do.

DogMan wanted to be home before dinner, that was his request.  If we didn't go to lunch he could have been home for lunch.

Great Day, missed the rest of you guys!!!!