Wafers on Whiteface and Pound Cake on Passaconaway. April 19, 2015

Blueberry Ledge Trail, Rollins Trail, Dicey's Mill Trail.
11.9 mile loop with 3800 feet of elevation gain.

The girls and I were fortunate to hike with both John and Samantha for this one -- together, we made a fun team.

The day began on relatively snow-free ground.  The snow stayed scarce for 1.4 miles, all the way up to the intersection with Cutoff Trail.  This part of the hike was the only easy bit of the day...

Starting out...

Heading up Blueberry Ledge Trail

Intersection with Cutoff Trail

From here, it was a soft-ish, moderately steep slog to the ledges near Whiteface's summit.  The snow was firm enough to hold us if we kept to the monorail, so we walked the balance beam and kept our snowshoes on our packs.

John got too close to a spruce at one point and fell into the "trap."  He was a good sport and posed while Samantha and I took photos.

We passed the Tom Wiggin Trail without seeing it (perhaps the sign is missing?) and arrived at the ledges earlier than expected.

The first ledge, which is avoidable...
no need to venture out and possibly fall off a cliff.

The scrambles were fun; the conditions were actually helpful.  Any colder, and the snow would have made life difficult.  If there hadn't been any snow at all, however, then the final scramble would have been harder.

Bare rock when we needed it.

Alex about to tackle a scramble.

The soft snow made life easier here -- there was traction
where normally there would be only smooth and slippery stone.

Admiring the view

Up up up

I had remembered the summit as being located immediately after those scrambles, but alas, the summit is found a few more tenths of a mile upward.  There were a couple more steep sections to ascend...

It was difficult to stay on our feet

 ...but we finally made it.

John, Alex, Samantha, Sage, and Trish on Whiteface

The temperatures were perfect.  Not too hot and not too cold...just right for wafer snacking (Desserts on the 48!).

We talk and eat

We lounged for a long while, conversing with other hikers and taking cat naps.

Samantha did a headstand...

After spending over half an hour enjoying the commonly-acknowledged summit, we got up and trekked less than a tenth of a mile onward and tagged the real summit (directly on the path as you head toward Passaconaway).

John and Samantha on the real summit of Whiteface

From here, we continued along Rollins Trail for 2.4 agonizing miles.  The snow was soft and we sank repeatedly...and no, snowshoes did not help,  The monorail was too narrow to really stay on it with snowshoes, so if you barebooted the monorail, you had a chance of not sinking all of the time.  We still sank quite a bit, though.  It was an arduous journey to Passaconaway, and I look forward to bare summer trail.

Sage stepped off the monorail at one point and sank so deeply that she lost her boot.  I tried to dig it out and failed.  Samantha was able to retrieve it, thank goodness.

Sage postholes off the monorail bigtime.

When we reached Dicey's Mill Trail, we took a break, then I donned my snowshoes in a desperate attempt to make the journey easier.  'Twas in vain.  The 0.7 miles up Passaconaway were much firmer than the 2.4 miles along the Rollins Trail.  Everyone else barebooted without postholing while my left leg cramped up from wearing the 'shoes.  I took the 'shoes off after a tenth of a mile of agony and barebooted along with everyone else to the summit.

Sage on the lookout near Passaconaway's summit.

Pound Cake on Passaconaway!

We visited the actual summit of Passaconaway before sitting down to nosh on pound cake.  I don't have photos of the actual summit because it's a tiny area in the middle of a bunch of trees just off the main trail.  Boring.

Our way down felt simpler...I kept my snowshoes off and slid down much of the trail on my boots.

The large water crossing near the intersection with Tom Wiggin Trail was easily handled thanks to the log in the photo below.

The snow took forever to go away. It remained stubbornly stuck to the trail well past the intersection with Tom Wiggin Trail.

We eventually got back to rocks and roots.

End of the trail, near a private backyard

It is extremely kind of the property owner to allow hikers to pass through his/her land.  I love the sign on the gate!

Many thanks to John and Samantha for the excellent company.  It's always a pleasure to hike with them!  Lots of smiles and laughs.

We hope to get out there again this weekend.

Tom, Field (with Fudge!), and Willey (with Whoopie Pies!) -- April 12, 2015

8.5 mile traverse, 3100 feet of elevation gain.
Avalon, A-Z, Mt. Tom Spur, Willey Range, and Ethan Pond Trails.

We had planned a Jefferson-Washington-Monroe loop hike, but the forecast for Mt. Washington included sustained winds of 40+ miles an hour.  We therefore opted for a Tom-Field-Willey traverse instead.

We met our friend Samantha at the Ethan Pond Trail trailhead, spotted a car, then drove the 3 or so miles up to the Crawford Notch Depot.  We began our hike from there, taking the Avalon, A-Z, and Mt. Tom Spur Trails up to Mt. Tom before traversing across Field and Willey on the Willey Range Trail.

Here we are, about to start our hike...

Off we go...

Since the temperatures were warm (above 32 degrees), I thought we would sink into the snow...however, the pack was firm.  It was just soft enough for our feet to bite in and grip the trail, but it wasn't soft enough for postholing.  Sage and I therefore took off our snowshoes a few tenths of a mile up the trail and carried them for the rest of our hike.  Alex ditched hers once we got to the summit of Tom (and Samantha carried them for her -- thanks, Samantha!).

At the intersection, about halfway up Tom...

The final mile up to the Mt. Tom Spur was steeper than I remembered, and I had to stop more often than I wanted in order to catch my breath, but we eventually made it up and enjoyed the stellar views toward Field, and toward the Presidentials.

Samantha, Sage, and Alex with Mt. Field in the background

The Presidentials

After enjoying the views, we walked over to the actual summit...the cairn was buried under the snow, so we used the dead tree for our official summit photo.

A gray jay showed up.  The girls and I are hardcore Leave No Trace people...except when it comes to gray jays.  I usually carry bird seed when I do Tom, Field, Jackson, or Waumbek, since I almost always see a gray jay (or three or five) when I hike those peaks.  This time around, however, I had forgotten the bird seed.  Alex offered a nut, which I didn't think the bird would want...it flew down to investigate.

Photo by Samantha Brady

It took the nut, but I don't think it ate it.  It didn't accept any other nuts from Alex, and it didn't want any from Sage, either.

Photo by Samantha Brady

From Tom, we barebooted to Field.  The trail held well.  One fellow passed us on snowshoes, and we noticed that his 'shoes bit into the soft snow just as much as our boots did...neither choice seemed better in terms of keeping the trail smooth.

The way up Field is gentle, save for the last 50 yards.  The photo below makes this part of the trail look more mellow than it really is.

Looking back at Tom, near the summit of Field.

The summit cairn of Field is buried under the snow.  Alex walked around the area a bit and fell into a spruce trap.

Photo by Samantha Brady

Alex, Samantha, and Sage on the summit of Field.

Me (with my hair doing something funky), Alex, and Sage on Field.

Photo by Samantha Brady

We could feel the wind up there (though it had been completely calm on Tom), so we moved into the trees to have our snacks.  We ate Fudge on Field (Desserts on the 48!).

The trail from Field to Willey is also mellow...and more beautiful than I had remembered.  We reached the summit in what felt like short order.

Alex and Sage near the (buried) summit cairn on Willey

Samantha, Alex, and Sage on Willey

We walked the short distance to the viewpoint and ate our Whoopie Pies (Desserts on the 48!).

Crawford Notch and Webster Cliff from Willey

The Presidentials and Webster Cliff from Willey

We could not feel the wind from our perch, and the sun was out, and the temperature was perfect...we hung out for quite a bit and ate.  Sage took a mini nap...

We eventually got up and moved on.

Photo by Samantha Brady

Our friend had followed us from Tom -- we bade him/her farewell before heading down the crazy-steep southern section of Willey.

The southern section of Willey is easily managed in the summer and fall, when the ladders are not under a ton of snow and all you have to do is walk up and down well-anchored rungs.  In the winter, however, those ladders are underneath snow an ice.  One must get down and up very, very carefully.  The first time Alex went down this section, five years ago, I made an idiotic mistake and allowed her to go ahead of me on a sled near the bottom of the trail...I thought we were finished with the steep parts...and we weren't.  She ended up going off the most treacherous section a million miles an hour on a sled...luckily she didn't get hurt, but let's just say that wasn't my best parenting moment.  This time around, sleds were banned until we reached the Ethan Pond Trail, and I went first at all times.

We managed this section in the following way -- I went first, crab-walking and slowly sliding, with Alex and Sage directly behind me.  This way, if they lost control, they would simply run into me.  I was almost always firmly anchored somehow (holding on to tree limbs, feet dug firmly into the soft snow, etc.).  Only one part proved particularly tricky...the same part Alex miraculously managed on her sled back in 2010.

Preparing to go down a nasty part (photo by Samantha Brady)

Neither Samantha nor I could take photos while descending Willey, since all our attention had to be focused on getting down safely.

Here's a photo I took of one of the ladder sections back in 2008, when Alex and I did this trail for the first time -- this will give you an idea of how steep this section is (and it goes on like this, off and on, for a mile).  Of course, during our hike last Sunday, those ladders were covered in snow...the section turns into a snow/ice chute.

Willey ladders in November 2008

Once on the Ethan Pond Trail, we picked up the pace and made it back to the summer parking area in fine spirits.

Many thanks to Samantha for her great company.  It's always a pleasure sharing the trails with her!

We hope to hike something this Sunday, so I should have another trip report posted next week.

Happy spring -- enjoy the weather, everyone!

Jackson -- April 1, 2015

We had a wonderful time speaking to the full house at the REI store in Rockville, Maryland last Sunday evening!  Thank you all for coming.  We enjoyed meeting you!!  It was especially nice speaking with the two young ladies sitting near the front row...the two sisters, you know who you are (I didn't ask your permission to name you on this blog, so I won't right now).  Young ladies, hike on -- maybe we'll run into you this August when you visit the White Mountains.  To the mom of those two girls -- kudos -- you deserve huge props for facilitating your daughters' adventures.  I know how much work and planning go into those trips.  You're awesome.


********************
Webster-Jackson Trail, 5 miles round trip.

I know -- we were just here a week ago!  We had only a few hours to spare this week -- both the girls had a ton of schoolwork and both had final exams in their middle school science courses (we homeschool, but the girls have different classes with different in-person and online accredited providers...it's more of a buffet-style public/private-school education than strict homeschooling).  We also hadn't made arrangements to have our dog boarded for the day...and there was a wind chill warning in effect for the higher peaks.  Those three factors combined meant our weekly hike had to be a) close to home, b) mostly below treeline, and c) something we could knock out in three and a half hours or less (so the dog wouldn't be left unattended at home for too long a time).  Tecumseh is usually our go-to mountain (we live fifteen minutes from the trailhead), but we are getting a little tired of that peak for now (both girls have done Tecumseh at least seven times).  Hence Jackson.

I realize I have far too many parentheses in the paragraph above...oh well, parentheses happen (I prefer a more casual style of writing for blogs anyway...blogs that try too hard to be "literary" feel pretentious to me...blogs are casual and should therefore read that way...just my opinion, of course).

The day was COLD...much colder than our Jackson day last week.  We paused for a second to take this photo and throw on our snowshoes, then we moved moved moved and didn't stop until we got past the halfway point.  After chugging some water at said halfway point, we continued until we were right below the final ledge...at that point, we stopped to layer up before rising into the biting and pushing wind.

Quick photo at the trailhead before our ascent

The trail was packed, with a bit of drifting near the summit.
We wore snowshoes all day, but we could have easily gotten away with microspikes.

Sage draws something in the snow while I take a quick chug of water.

Jackson's summit, seen from a couple tenths of a mile away.

Quick photo on the summit -- the wind was so cold that I could not
keep my hands out of my gloves for more than a few seconds...this photo was
taken with haste, so my apologies if it's blurry.

One of the signs had been shoved over by the wind.
It was too cold for me to take the time to right it.

We had to stand with our backs to the wind to protect our exposed faces.
We spent less than two minutes on the summit...otherwise, I would
have insisted on the donning of goggles and face masks.

Back at the trailhead after a fast and furious butt-slide descent.

We have a party to attend this Saturday, and Sunday is Easter...this means next week's hike will be on a weekday again.  I will reserve a kennel space for our dog, and hopefully there won't be a wind chill...so we should be able to hike something longer and above treeline.

It was a good hike up Jackson, though -- no real complaints.  We hadn't yet hiked Jackson in the month of April.  Alex and Sage are probably two years away from completing half the White Mountains Grid, so at least they can count this hike toward that goal.  After they finish a half-Grid, they may decide to go after the rest of the Grid...though I am always hesitant to declare any of Alex and Sage's long-term hiking goals as I never want them to feel locked-in to doing anything regarding hiking.  They both come to me with their plans and ideas, but I feel if I declare anything like it's set-in-stone, then they'll start to feel like they "have" to hike...and I never want that to happen.  So far, I think I've done a pretty good job making sure their hiking lists/goals have always been challenging, but fun, ideas, and not something they ever "have" to do.  I want to keep it that way, so for now, I'll say that both are interested in doing more rounds of the NH48, and both feel they may as well do those rounds during different months of the year.  I am fairly certain they'll complete half the Grid without ever really trying, simply by hiking every week on a casual basis over the years (as we've done for the past seven years).  If they eventually choose to go after the entire Grid, cool, and if they don't, then that's equally cool....all hiking is good hiking, no matter how many official peaks you do or do not cross off.  Also, I don't know if we realistically have time to do the Grid before the girls leave for college anyway.  Both girls are extremely ambitious with the hiking plans....however, both are also extremely ambitious with their academic plans (and their schoolwork must always come first), and both are heavily involved with a slew of other extracurricular activities, all of which they both adore.  So...we'll see.

Happy Easter, everyone.  Hope to have a trip report of something besides Tecumseh, Cannon, or Jackson next week.  :)