JoeCedar
10-16-2010, 10:06 AM
I had been thinking about a fall visit to the Whites for a while and waiting for a stretch of good weather. I guess I’m working on a second round and also justified the effort as reconnaissance for some possible winter excursions.
10/11. I got the 6:30 ferry and was ready to go at the cog railway base trailhead about 10:00 with destinations of Mts Monroe and Washington. I don’t take MtW lightly (I read “Not without Peril” this summer) and had thoroughly researched the weather situation and brought clothing (plenty) and Microspikes for traction. Taking the Ammonoosuc Ravine trail I encountered some ice on the wet slabs above about 4500 feet and soon felt more comfortable with the help of Microspikes. Visibility decreased to about 100 feet as I reached the hut and wind was “strong”. I added layers, shell jacket (hood cinched as tight as I could), winter mitts, balaclava (all fall hiking gear on MtW) and headed up the short trail to Mt Monroe. Temperature was in the 20s F and rime was forming on my clothing and mitts. The summit wasn’t a place to hang around and I quickly went back down to the Crawford path toward MtW. Visibility remained poor but wind didn’t get a lot worse except near the summit. I met a couple from Ottawa who had come up from Pinkham but had missed the turn to MtW and were headed down toward Crawford. He had a map but was obviously disoriented. It seemed like his wife had maybe lost confidence in him. Her look was like “I just want to get the hell out of here—please help us”. I got them re-oriented and resumed my climb to the summit. Seeing the tourists who had come up on the cog railway was hilarious—freezing, being blown about, and slipping on the ice/snow. Let’s just say that most of them were not very well prepared. After a quick snack in the building, I headed across the summit to the Gulfside trail and the Jewell trail back to the base. In a few short minutes the clouds had blown out and the rest of the day was crystal clear with spectacular views (and warmer).
10/12. This was planned to be the big day with a drive over to Gale River road and a nice loop hike: South Twin, North Twin, Galehead, and Garfield. With almost cloudless skies, warmer temperatures, and great views, this hike to lower peaks (highest was South Twin, 4902 ft) was almost completely different from the chilly Presidentials. Instead of boots/gaiters, I just wore trail runners like it was summer, and finished the day clean and dry. The tough part of this hike is the initial climb to South Twin, about 3400 ft ascent. Later, the climb up Garfield, about 1700 ft is an attention-getter. In between, it is nice ‘n easy. It is also nice to sit on a bench at the Galehead hut (which was open) and eat a leisurely lunch. Views were great from Garfield; I easily saw Camel’s Hump and Mansfield in VT (reversed profiles of course). Totals were 19.5 miles and 6500 ft ascent/descent.
10/13. Before driving home, I planned to climb some easy peaks: Tom, Field, Willey, and (across the road) Jackson. I missed the views from these peaks my previous time and did again this time except for Jackson, the runt of the Presidentials at 4052 ft. Jackson had a nice view of MtW, still cased in white.
So you must be wondering by now about the significance of the title of this report. I was about 10 min from the finish of Jackson hopping merrily down the rocky trail when I saw a furry head pop up above a large rock. No, it wasn’t a wild animal but a Golden Retriever with a man not far behind. The dog was in the best part of the trail and I attempted to detour to the side over some larger rocks. The man called to the dog and I was momentarily distracted and tripped, falling head first toward the rocks. With some heroic leaps and tumbles I landed on soft ground, happy that my head and body were uninjured. But one of my fingers was intensely painful and I saw that the nail was completely gone. Ripped off (avulsion in the medical term) somehow during my struggle against the rocks (I had a pole in my hand). Amazingly, the other fingers and rest of my body were not affected. I was fine, so I proceeded to the car, wrapped it up and drove home. I stopped at the E’town Hospital ER (10 miles from home) and had it checked and attended-to medically. After three days, it is sore but doing fine. So I’ll be out of commission for a while, but I’m just glad it wasn’t worse and I will be back hiking soon.
10/11. I got the 6:30 ferry and was ready to go at the cog railway base trailhead about 10:00 with destinations of Mts Monroe and Washington. I don’t take MtW lightly (I read “Not without Peril” this summer) and had thoroughly researched the weather situation and brought clothing (plenty) and Microspikes for traction. Taking the Ammonoosuc Ravine trail I encountered some ice on the wet slabs above about 4500 feet and soon felt more comfortable with the help of Microspikes. Visibility decreased to about 100 feet as I reached the hut and wind was “strong”. I added layers, shell jacket (hood cinched as tight as I could), winter mitts, balaclava (all fall hiking gear on MtW) and headed up the short trail to Mt Monroe. Temperature was in the 20s F and rime was forming on my clothing and mitts. The summit wasn’t a place to hang around and I quickly went back down to the Crawford path toward MtW. Visibility remained poor but wind didn’t get a lot worse except near the summit. I met a couple from Ottawa who had come up from Pinkham but had missed the turn to MtW and were headed down toward Crawford. He had a map but was obviously disoriented. It seemed like his wife had maybe lost confidence in him. Her look was like “I just want to get the hell out of here—please help us”. I got them re-oriented and resumed my climb to the summit. Seeing the tourists who had come up on the cog railway was hilarious—freezing, being blown about, and slipping on the ice/snow. Let’s just say that most of them were not very well prepared. After a quick snack in the building, I headed across the summit to the Gulfside trail and the Jewell trail back to the base. In a few short minutes the clouds had blown out and the rest of the day was crystal clear with spectacular views (and warmer).
10/12. This was planned to be the big day with a drive over to Gale River road and a nice loop hike: South Twin, North Twin, Galehead, and Garfield. With almost cloudless skies, warmer temperatures, and great views, this hike to lower peaks (highest was South Twin, 4902 ft) was almost completely different from the chilly Presidentials. Instead of boots/gaiters, I just wore trail runners like it was summer, and finished the day clean and dry. The tough part of this hike is the initial climb to South Twin, about 3400 ft ascent. Later, the climb up Garfield, about 1700 ft is an attention-getter. In between, it is nice ‘n easy. It is also nice to sit on a bench at the Galehead hut (which was open) and eat a leisurely lunch. Views were great from Garfield; I easily saw Camel’s Hump and Mansfield in VT (reversed profiles of course). Totals were 19.5 miles and 6500 ft ascent/descent.
10/13. Before driving home, I planned to climb some easy peaks: Tom, Field, Willey, and (across the road) Jackson. I missed the views from these peaks my previous time and did again this time except for Jackson, the runt of the Presidentials at 4052 ft. Jackson had a nice view of MtW, still cased in white.
So you must be wondering by now about the significance of the title of this report. I was about 10 min from the finish of Jackson hopping merrily down the rocky trail when I saw a furry head pop up above a large rock. No, it wasn’t a wild animal but a Golden Retriever with a man not far behind. The dog was in the best part of the trail and I attempted to detour to the side over some larger rocks. The man called to the dog and I was momentarily distracted and tripped, falling head first toward the rocks. With some heroic leaps and tumbles I landed on soft ground, happy that my head and body were uninjured. But one of my fingers was intensely painful and I saw that the nail was completely gone. Ripped off (avulsion in the medical term) somehow during my struggle against the rocks (I had a pole in my hand). Amazingly, the other fingers and rest of my body were not affected. I was fine, so I proceeded to the car, wrapped it up and drove home. I stopped at the E’town Hospital ER (10 miles from home) and had it checked and attended-to medically. After three days, it is sore but doing fine. So I’ll be out of commission for a while, but I’m just glad it wasn’t worse and I will be back hiking soon.