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Wright, Algonquin & Iroquois (Winter Peak 24)
2/13/10
Duration: 11 hours; 8 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Benchmarks: Summits: Wright: 10:40, Algonquin: 11:40, Iroquois 1:00. Cold Brook Pass: 3:40 p.m.
Route: Loj – Wright – Algonquin – Boundary – Iroquois – Bushwhack past Shepherd’s Tooth to Cold Brook Pass and Lake Colden. Return to Loj via Avalanche Lake.
Total Mileage/Vertical Ascent:13 miles (1/2 mile bushwhack) /
Trail Conditions: Broken trail on packed snow to Algonquin. Spruce traps, some broken trail to Iroquois. Open rock/ice on all summits. Partially supportive snow down Iroquois to cliffs. Unbroken trail on Cold Brook Pass. Hard packed trail back to Loj from Lake Colden.
Temperature:-4 F at the trailhead; about 10 degrees with approx. -5 F windchill on summits. Strong winds south down Avalanche Lake.
Partner: WWBF.
Diet: Bars: 1 Nature Valley Trail Mix, 1 Power, 1 Big 100, 1 Zone Perfect. Jolley Rancher, 7 dried apricot slices, 1 poptart, 2 Glucose 15 gels, 3 liters water.
Clothing: Loose knit polyester wicking layer, Northface Glacier Fleece, Integral Designs Event rainjacket. Lightweight tights, polyester leggings, Columbia snow-pants. MSR Denali Evo snowshoes with Northface boots/O.R. gortex gaiters. Heavy smartwool socks with wrightsock coolmax next to skin. (Feet stayed dry for duration). Fleece hat. O.R. Absolute Zero Mitts & Burton Mitts with fleece mitt inserts, goggles.
Pack: 35 lbs. with belt pack.
Picture Gallery: Click Here for Pics
Video: A quick rappel from Iroquois' Cliffs...yes the video's title is misspelled!
Thoughts:
WWBF and I met back in 2004 when he was bushwhacking off Iroquois and I was arriving from the Indian Pass area. So, what better way to celebrate our hiking partnership than to have a nice Valentine’s weekend hike!....uhm…just kidding, though we (my wife included) have been getting some good mileage out of that joke.
It had been nearly a half year since WWBF and I had tramped together. After some discussion, we opted for an easy hike of the MacIntyre Range and threw in Marshall for good measure. The latter did not figure into the plan by the day’s end, however, even though we were a mere ½ mile from its summit.
The temperature was a brisk 6 F at my house at 7:30 a.m. and a touch below zero at the Loj around 8:00 a.m. We were both cold even though WWBF’s core usually runs at about 300 degrees kelvin. I normally run cold for about a mile, which meant that I was swapping mittens to gloves by the third or fourth intersection (Marcy Dam/Algonquin).
The trail was packed down as expected and my snowshoes on the crunchy surface made talking all but impossible. WWBF bare booted (snowshoes attached to his pack) and barely made a mark on the trail. We maintained a slow pace to regulate heat and breathing and only took breaks to deal with essentials like thawing WWBF’s water hose. The sun rose on the adjacent hills as we trekked through pink casted birch stands and passed MacIntyre Falls…now a frozen marvel of thick blue ice…a big difference from its 3 season trickle. The nub west of the fault line prior to Wright’s intersection beckoned as a possible bushwhack/picnic destination …likely on the way to a future slide bushwhack (if I have any say in the matter).
Wright’s intersection was in full sun and we leisurely dropped our packs, ate a snack and made the call to ascend packless. We already knew the summit was mostly bare rock…a huge difference from 2008 when it was entombed in a shell of slick verglass. Today, the wind was calm. We began the ascent and found ourselves on the summit rock at 10:40 a.m. watching clouds drift along Algonquin’s mass and over Avalanche Lake. Marcy and Colden captured clouds on their summits. The steel blue color of the distant mountains was awesome. We nimbly, especially since by now neither of us were wearing snowshoes, made our way back down the peak to the packed trail. The ensuing butt-slide (I was Avalanche Shovel-less) brought us back to our packs in mere minutes.
The next portion of hard-packed trail up to Algonquin was a pleasant difference from my last winter journey up Algonquin when I broke the trail. Several groups passed us on their descent. A look over our left shoulders showed that Wright Peak had disappeared in the steadily increasing cloudcover as if engulfed in a spell that left only a cold grey void. Ahead, the sun shone through the clouds making it appear larger than life, but without warmth. Again, bare rock was present along with plenty of ice as we broke tree-line. The steadily increasing wind climaxed into a face-freezing blast as we passed the summit rock at 11:40 a.m. The temperature was around 10 degrees on the peak which put the wind chill around 0 or perhaps a little below at times depending on the wind speed.
Iroquois, our final mountain was as shrouded as Wright. Only Boundary, the intermediate bump between Algonquin and Iroquios peeked through the clouds. We descended around 400’ to the col and shelter of the stunted trees and protective path. It felt warm in comparison, but that again changed as we climbed Boundary and descended its windy south side into yet more protective trees and softer snow…riddled with spruce traps. WWBF checked the ground beneath the surface while I walked on top in typical MacKenzie fashion…(I’m lighter than he is). I snickered as my hiking partner crawled a couple times to decrease his pounds per square inch to remain on the surface. He picked this moment to verbally question our commitment to the upcoming bushwhack after Iroquois’ summit. I voiced that I was second guessing the quest as well, but didn’t really care.
A Winter Bushwhack past the Shepherd’s Tooth
So, we ignored our little voices and, after continuing to the south side of the summit, agreed to make a route decision at the Shepherd’s Tooth (another cone of rock on Iroquios’ south side). We’d continue if it was somewhat supportive snow. I fell in a few spruce traps, but the trip to the tooth only took 10-15 minutes. Great progress was made via more butt-sliding. I heard a yelp as a stick abruptly halted WWBF on his slide! I’ll make no further comments about that…snicker, snicker, snicker.
The drainage near the tooth was easy to locate and we either progressed on foot amongst the loosely woven trees or more sliding as we descended. I noticed what, with some imagination, looked like a path. A varmint of some sort or another had followed it as well. The path/drainage made for a decent glissade down to the top of the cliffs where things got interesting.
I knew the location of the exit chute through the cliffs (having climbed it in 2008), but didn’t bother listening to myself. Instead, I led us to the bottom of the drainage and a nice cascade of ice. It had taken about an hour (maybe less) to get to this point from the summit, but took another hour and a half to reach Cold Brook Pass just a few hundred yards away. Our first task was to climb a bit in elevation and to the east. We got hung up a various points amongst the hungry trees and now unsupportive snow. It drained us of energy.
Finally, we reached another lesser drainage close to where I knew the chute to be. I was tired and a navigable cliff of about 25 feet looked promising. I made it to the top of the location a few minutes ahead of WWBF and had already stripped taken my gear off and readied the rope around the base of a tree when he arrived. The cliff was nearly vertical and offered a series of small one-inch footholds about ten feet down. We were both comfortable with the decision to rappel (despite the fact that we’d never done it before) and began the effort.
I lowered myself over the edge and made a less than graceful show of the descent until lodging my back against some adjacent rock to regrip. Using the rope as leverage, I lowered myself until touching the first small ledge. I was comfortable after that albeit with frozen hands…gloveless to maintain my grip. I jumped down on the steep bank at the bottom and immediately fell to my crotch in a hole in the boulders. It was much deeper than I penetrated.
WWBF then lowered each pack, the snowshoes and trekking poles via the rope. It was then his turn. I told him just to jump and I’d catch him, but he must not have believed me! Anyway, I got the camera ready for his turn on the rope. Neither of us had rappelled before (if you can call what I did a rappel), but he learned from my mistakes and made a comfortable looking job of it. The large flow of ice on the side did nothing to warm me, nor did the lack of motion while at the bottom.
2/13/10
Duration: 11 hours; 8 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Benchmarks: Summits: Wright: 10:40, Algonquin: 11:40, Iroquois 1:00. Cold Brook Pass: 3:40 p.m.
Route: Loj – Wright – Algonquin – Boundary – Iroquois – Bushwhack past Shepherd’s Tooth to Cold Brook Pass and Lake Colden. Return to Loj via Avalanche Lake.
Total Mileage/Vertical Ascent:13 miles (1/2 mile bushwhack) /
Trail Conditions: Broken trail on packed snow to Algonquin. Spruce traps, some broken trail to Iroquois. Open rock/ice on all summits. Partially supportive snow down Iroquois to cliffs. Unbroken trail on Cold Brook Pass. Hard packed trail back to Loj from Lake Colden.
Temperature:-4 F at the trailhead; about 10 degrees with approx. -5 F windchill on summits. Strong winds south down Avalanche Lake.
Partner: WWBF.
Diet: Bars: 1 Nature Valley Trail Mix, 1 Power, 1 Big 100, 1 Zone Perfect. Jolley Rancher, 7 dried apricot slices, 1 poptart, 2 Glucose 15 gels, 3 liters water.
Clothing: Loose knit polyester wicking layer, Northface Glacier Fleece, Integral Designs Event rainjacket. Lightweight tights, polyester leggings, Columbia snow-pants. MSR Denali Evo snowshoes with Northface boots/O.R. gortex gaiters. Heavy smartwool socks with wrightsock coolmax next to skin. (Feet stayed dry for duration). Fleece hat. O.R. Absolute Zero Mitts & Burton Mitts with fleece mitt inserts, goggles.
Pack: 35 lbs. with belt pack.
Picture Gallery: Click Here for Pics
Video: A quick rappel from Iroquois' Cliffs...yes the video's title is misspelled!
Thoughts:
WWBF and I met back in 2004 when he was bushwhacking off Iroquois and I was arriving from the Indian Pass area. So, what better way to celebrate our hiking partnership than to have a nice Valentine’s weekend hike!....uhm…just kidding, though we (my wife included) have been getting some good mileage out of that joke.
It had been nearly a half year since WWBF and I had tramped together. After some discussion, we opted for an easy hike of the MacIntyre Range and threw in Marshall for good measure. The latter did not figure into the plan by the day’s end, however, even though we were a mere ½ mile from its summit.
The temperature was a brisk 6 F at my house at 7:30 a.m. and a touch below zero at the Loj around 8:00 a.m. We were both cold even though WWBF’s core usually runs at about 300 degrees kelvin. I normally run cold for about a mile, which meant that I was swapping mittens to gloves by the third or fourth intersection (Marcy Dam/Algonquin).
The trail was packed down as expected and my snowshoes on the crunchy surface made talking all but impossible. WWBF bare booted (snowshoes attached to his pack) and barely made a mark on the trail. We maintained a slow pace to regulate heat and breathing and only took breaks to deal with essentials like thawing WWBF’s water hose. The sun rose on the adjacent hills as we trekked through pink casted birch stands and passed MacIntyre Falls…now a frozen marvel of thick blue ice…a big difference from its 3 season trickle. The nub west of the fault line prior to Wright’s intersection beckoned as a possible bushwhack/picnic destination …likely on the way to a future slide bushwhack (if I have any say in the matter).
Wright’s intersection was in full sun and we leisurely dropped our packs, ate a snack and made the call to ascend packless. We already knew the summit was mostly bare rock…a huge difference from 2008 when it was entombed in a shell of slick verglass. Today, the wind was calm. We began the ascent and found ourselves on the summit rock at 10:40 a.m. watching clouds drift along Algonquin’s mass and over Avalanche Lake. Marcy and Colden captured clouds on their summits. The steel blue color of the distant mountains was awesome. We nimbly, especially since by now neither of us were wearing snowshoes, made our way back down the peak to the packed trail. The ensuing butt-slide (I was Avalanche Shovel-less) brought us back to our packs in mere minutes.
The next portion of hard-packed trail up to Algonquin was a pleasant difference from my last winter journey up Algonquin when I broke the trail. Several groups passed us on their descent. A look over our left shoulders showed that Wright Peak had disappeared in the steadily increasing cloudcover as if engulfed in a spell that left only a cold grey void. Ahead, the sun shone through the clouds making it appear larger than life, but without warmth. Again, bare rock was present along with plenty of ice as we broke tree-line. The steadily increasing wind climaxed into a face-freezing blast as we passed the summit rock at 11:40 a.m. The temperature was around 10 degrees on the peak which put the wind chill around 0 or perhaps a little below at times depending on the wind speed.
Iroquois, our final mountain was as shrouded as Wright. Only Boundary, the intermediate bump between Algonquin and Iroquios peeked through the clouds. We descended around 400’ to the col and shelter of the stunted trees and protective path. It felt warm in comparison, but that again changed as we climbed Boundary and descended its windy south side into yet more protective trees and softer snow…riddled with spruce traps. WWBF checked the ground beneath the surface while I walked on top in typical MacKenzie fashion…(I’m lighter than he is). I snickered as my hiking partner crawled a couple times to decrease his pounds per square inch to remain on the surface. He picked this moment to verbally question our commitment to the upcoming bushwhack after Iroquois’ summit. I voiced that I was second guessing the quest as well, but didn’t really care.
A Winter Bushwhack past the Shepherd’s Tooth
So, we ignored our little voices and, after continuing to the south side of the summit, agreed to make a route decision at the Shepherd’s Tooth (another cone of rock on Iroquios’ south side). We’d continue if it was somewhat supportive snow. I fell in a few spruce traps, but the trip to the tooth only took 10-15 minutes. Great progress was made via more butt-sliding. I heard a yelp as a stick abruptly halted WWBF on his slide! I’ll make no further comments about that…snicker, snicker, snicker.
The drainage near the tooth was easy to locate and we either progressed on foot amongst the loosely woven trees or more sliding as we descended. I noticed what, with some imagination, looked like a path. A varmint of some sort or another had followed it as well. The path/drainage made for a decent glissade down to the top of the cliffs where things got interesting.
I knew the location of the exit chute through the cliffs (having climbed it in 2008), but didn’t bother listening to myself. Instead, I led us to the bottom of the drainage and a nice cascade of ice. It had taken about an hour (maybe less) to get to this point from the summit, but took another hour and a half to reach Cold Brook Pass just a few hundred yards away. Our first task was to climb a bit in elevation and to the east. We got hung up a various points amongst the hungry trees and now unsupportive snow. It drained us of energy.
Finally, we reached another lesser drainage close to where I knew the chute to be. I was tired and a navigable cliff of about 25 feet looked promising. I made it to the top of the location a few minutes ahead of WWBF and had already stripped taken my gear off and readied the rope around the base of a tree when he arrived. The cliff was nearly vertical and offered a series of small one-inch footholds about ten feet down. We were both comfortable with the decision to rappel (despite the fact that we’d never done it before) and began the effort.
I lowered myself over the edge and made a less than graceful show of the descent until lodging my back against some adjacent rock to regrip. Using the rope as leverage, I lowered myself until touching the first small ledge. I was comfortable after that albeit with frozen hands…gloveless to maintain my grip. I jumped down on the steep bank at the bottom and immediately fell to my crotch in a hole in the boulders. It was much deeper than I penetrated.
WWBF then lowered each pack, the snowshoes and trekking poles via the rope. It was then his turn. I told him just to jump and I’d catch him, but he must not have believed me! Anyway, I got the camera ready for his turn on the rope. Neither of us had rappelled before (if you can call what I did a rappel), but he learned from my mistakes and made a comfortable looking job of it. The large flow of ice on the side did nothing to warm me, nor did the lack of motion while at the bottom.
Just when you think you are on the cusp of "hardcore" someone has to go and pee in your Cheerios lol.....nice job you two!!!!
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