Una_dogger
11-18-2007, 09:29 PM
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Trails:
Ethan Pond > Willey Range Trail > AZ Trail > Zealand Trail > Ethan Pond Trail
Mileage: 16.5
Gain: ~4400ft
NH48 Nos. 34, 35, 36/48
NE115 Nos 95, 96, 97/115
NEHH Nos. 57, 58, 59/100
NE4k Nos. 48, 49, 50/67
Its 4:30 am on saturday morning and my alarm is going off....its time to go hiking again! Time enough for coffee and a dog walk before Leaf arrived, then we loaded up the Suby and headed for the far hills, we were White Mountain bound!
A quick stop along the way and now Frodo makes three. No Terra today, 8 inches of fresh snow and underlaying ice were the forecasted conditions, she may have seen her last four K until Spring.
Several plans were afoot this week -- but we settled on Tom, Field and Willey, a long loop starting and ending at Ethan Pond TH. Snowshoes added to an ever increasing winter gear pack, but the ice axe stayed behind and the crampons stayed in the pack all day.
We hit the trail about 8:30 am *thinking we'd be back about 4:30 or so*. Right! With plenty of layers, snacks and multiple headlamps, we hit the trail.
We barebooted up the backside of Willey -- the trail was broken out until the jct of the Willey Range Trail and the Ethan Pond Trail. Some ice here and there under the rocks on the way up made for some fun tree hugging and scrambling.
A perfect blue sky was cut by pure white snow laden branches -- a winter wonderland! En route to the summit we donned our snowshoes for the first time of the season, the powdery snow was about 4 inches at the trailhead, and had increased to approximately 8 inches at about 4000 feet.
We broke trail all the way to Field, where we saw two of the six people we would see all day. The trail up from the Highland Center was packed down and easy to follow. In a snowy glade between Field and Tom we saw a small cottontail rabbit, he remained just a few feet off the trail while we took some pictures of him. He looked so innocent...yet, we could not help but remember what happened in MP's Holy Grail!
We traversed the ridge and took the spur up and down Tom, pausing in the col to have a snack and make friends with the gray jays. On the summit we enjoyed the views from the top and an exciting yet brief pine marten sighting in the woods near the top! We wondered what other animals we might see today??
The AZ Trail down to Zealand was unbroken, but we took care of that! I had a *great time* zooming down the trail, the snow cover was deep enough to minimize any sharp corners and soften the crevices between adjoining rocks. Towards the lower reaches of the trail, old logging roads crisscrossed the area and the trail was sometimes a challenge to follow. Boot sucking mud lay under the snow. The slack on the laces of my gaiters got wet, and began to pick up snow. We saw signs of moose -- tracks in the snow, tracks to the water, browse marks --along the pond, but no moose.
We enjoyed about 0.2 miles of a well packed Zealand Trail and a snack on the bridge before turning onto the unbroken Ethan Pond Trail. The sun was setting as we headed toward Zealand Notch. Fast moving clouds rolled through the Pemi. The sky faded from baby blue to light pink. The snow was about 6 inches deep, barebootable and powdery, but I decided to switch back to snowshoes for a bit. The snowballs at the ends of my laces were growing and creating a bit of drag on my feet.
At the junction of the ZeaCliff Trail Frodo shared good news, the trail was broken from this point onward! Yippee! We enjoyed a beautiful sunset in the Notch, and then began our 7.5 mile trek back to the car. Maybe 4:30 return estimate was optimistic in winter conditions??
Shortly before the jct of the Thoreau Falls trail the headlamps came out. The sky was clear and the waxing gibbous moon helped light our way. The stars were very bright, and I saw a shooting star cross the sky. It was a mild 30 degrees with no wind, the perfect conditions for a night hike.
Soon the bog bridges began, and they continued for nearly three miles. It was a challenge to walk on them without slipping off one side or missing them completely and landing in the gaps. I found this section tiring, especially because my little *snowballs* had grown into frozen bocci balls and they were getting a little ....cough...heavy! What was going on here? This has never happened to me before! I really started to slow down! Frodo optimistically reminded me that my feet now probably wieghed about as much as they would in Koflach Degre's..a very good point!!!!
I like bog bridges, and I hope to return to this trail in summer when I can really appreciate them. Finally we reached the little spur to the Ethan Pond Shelter; only a few more miles to go! We began to joke about my "snowballs". They were really getting heavy! My "snowballs" were really killing me! Its not easy having such big "snowballs".
Soon I was feeling the strain of my "snowballs" and asked Frodo and Leaf to pass me. I lingered behind them as we dropped down the final 1.3 miles to the trailhead. I was really tired! What a great hike! It had lasted 11 hours.
We reached the trailhead and unfortunately my car had been broken into, but amazingly, nothing was stolen. We bundled up and began our ride home. I felt bad for Frodo who was in the backseat, but optimistically he remarked that it was still warmer than it was on the traverse!
We stopped in Lincoln for gas, and refreshment. Frodo had ice cream, and so did Leaf! What fun friends I have...not a complaint all day -- just lots of fun hiking and happy hikers.
Today I am tired. I think that was a good hike! I have bruises on my calves, my snowballs really beat me up!
Thanks to Leaf and Frodo for a fine day in the woods!
Not too many pictures, but the last one is of my snowballs....they didn't melt much overnight...quite impressive at nearly two pounds per gaiter! I think I will cut those little strings off now....
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Trails:
Ethan Pond > Willey Range Trail > AZ Trail > Zealand Trail > Ethan Pond Trail
Mileage: 16.5
Gain: ~4400ft
NH48 Nos. 34, 35, 36/48
NE115 Nos 95, 96, 97/115
NEHH Nos. 57, 58, 59/100
NE4k Nos. 48, 49, 50/67
Its 4:30 am on saturday morning and my alarm is going off....its time to go hiking again! Time enough for coffee and a dog walk before Leaf arrived, then we loaded up the Suby and headed for the far hills, we were White Mountain bound!
A quick stop along the way and now Frodo makes three. No Terra today, 8 inches of fresh snow and underlaying ice were the forecasted conditions, she may have seen her last four K until Spring.
Several plans were afoot this week -- but we settled on Tom, Field and Willey, a long loop starting and ending at Ethan Pond TH. Snowshoes added to an ever increasing winter gear pack, but the ice axe stayed behind and the crampons stayed in the pack all day.
We hit the trail about 8:30 am *thinking we'd be back about 4:30 or so*. Right! With plenty of layers, snacks and multiple headlamps, we hit the trail.
We barebooted up the backside of Willey -- the trail was broken out until the jct of the Willey Range Trail and the Ethan Pond Trail. Some ice here and there under the rocks on the way up made for some fun tree hugging and scrambling.
A perfect blue sky was cut by pure white snow laden branches -- a winter wonderland! En route to the summit we donned our snowshoes for the first time of the season, the powdery snow was about 4 inches at the trailhead, and had increased to approximately 8 inches at about 4000 feet.
We broke trail all the way to Field, where we saw two of the six people we would see all day. The trail up from the Highland Center was packed down and easy to follow. In a snowy glade between Field and Tom we saw a small cottontail rabbit, he remained just a few feet off the trail while we took some pictures of him. He looked so innocent...yet, we could not help but remember what happened in MP's Holy Grail!
We traversed the ridge and took the spur up and down Tom, pausing in the col to have a snack and make friends with the gray jays. On the summit we enjoyed the views from the top and an exciting yet brief pine marten sighting in the woods near the top! We wondered what other animals we might see today??
The AZ Trail down to Zealand was unbroken, but we took care of that! I had a *great time* zooming down the trail, the snow cover was deep enough to minimize any sharp corners and soften the crevices between adjoining rocks. Towards the lower reaches of the trail, old logging roads crisscrossed the area and the trail was sometimes a challenge to follow. Boot sucking mud lay under the snow. The slack on the laces of my gaiters got wet, and began to pick up snow. We saw signs of moose -- tracks in the snow, tracks to the water, browse marks --along the pond, but no moose.
We enjoyed about 0.2 miles of a well packed Zealand Trail and a snack on the bridge before turning onto the unbroken Ethan Pond Trail. The sun was setting as we headed toward Zealand Notch. Fast moving clouds rolled through the Pemi. The sky faded from baby blue to light pink. The snow was about 6 inches deep, barebootable and powdery, but I decided to switch back to snowshoes for a bit. The snowballs at the ends of my laces were growing and creating a bit of drag on my feet.
At the junction of the ZeaCliff Trail Frodo shared good news, the trail was broken from this point onward! Yippee! We enjoyed a beautiful sunset in the Notch, and then began our 7.5 mile trek back to the car. Maybe 4:30 return estimate was optimistic in winter conditions??
Shortly before the jct of the Thoreau Falls trail the headlamps came out. The sky was clear and the waxing gibbous moon helped light our way. The stars were very bright, and I saw a shooting star cross the sky. It was a mild 30 degrees with no wind, the perfect conditions for a night hike.
Soon the bog bridges began, and they continued for nearly three miles. It was a challenge to walk on them without slipping off one side or missing them completely and landing in the gaps. I found this section tiring, especially because my little *snowballs* had grown into frozen bocci balls and they were getting a little ....cough...heavy! What was going on here? This has never happened to me before! I really started to slow down! Frodo optimistically reminded me that my feet now probably wieghed about as much as they would in Koflach Degre's..a very good point!!!!
I like bog bridges, and I hope to return to this trail in summer when I can really appreciate them. Finally we reached the little spur to the Ethan Pond Shelter; only a few more miles to go! We began to joke about my "snowballs". They were really getting heavy! My "snowballs" were really killing me! Its not easy having such big "snowballs".
Soon I was feeling the strain of my "snowballs" and asked Frodo and Leaf to pass me. I lingered behind them as we dropped down the final 1.3 miles to the trailhead. I was really tired! What a great hike! It had lasted 11 hours.
We reached the trailhead and unfortunately my car had been broken into, but amazingly, nothing was stolen. We bundled up and began our ride home. I felt bad for Frodo who was in the backseat, but optimistically he remarked that it was still warmer than it was on the traverse!
We stopped in Lincoln for gas, and refreshment. Frodo had ice cream, and so did Leaf! What fun friends I have...not a complaint all day -- just lots of fun hiking and happy hikers.
Today I am tired. I think that was a good hike! I have bruises on my calves, my snowballs really beat me up!
Thanks to Leaf and Frodo for a fine day in the woods!
Not too many pictures, but the last one is of my snowballs....they didn't melt much overnight...quite impressive at nearly two pounds per gaiter! I think I will cut those little strings off now....
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EYuWzNs1bsLM¬ag=1