Three years ago today I was going through a very dark and difficult time in my life. I had gotten back into hiking the year before by attempting the Northville-Placid trail with my 20+ year old gear and a few borrowed items. I was bitten by the hiking bug, but it was winter, and I hated winters. After reading a little of this forum and much more of the sister forum (for planning the N-P trip), I decided to climb Phelps on my birthday. I prepared as well as I could with limited funds, and borrowed 56" rackets from a friend (yes, you read that right) and drove out from Michigan to do something different. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into, but didn't really care, either. I made it about a third of the way up the Phelps trail before I left the useless snowshoes on the side of the trail, dropping my pack about two thirds of the way up. It was a snowy day with no views, but I made it, and it changed me forever. I've climbed a peak to celebrate my birthday every year since then, and this year it was Mt. Marshall.
JennyB and I set out from Upper Works at 6:30. We used headlamps to gear up, but stowed them once we got underway. We started out in microspikes, as the trail was bullet-proof from snowshoes, skis, and pulks. Within the first half mile we hit two short sections that had a little drifting. We decided that we'd don snowshoes if we encountered any more, but that was it. We stopped at the Calamity Brook lean-to about 8:30 to change to snowshoes to cross Flowed Lands. We were concerned with the exposure, given the forecast and howling wind at the trail head, but there was just a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky. It was turning out to be another beautiful day.
We made it to the Herbert Brook lean-to in no time, where we met a group who had been there all weekend skiing. They were enjoying the sun before heading out. The herd path was well broken, long sections going up the brook in the lower half. We stopped to eat about 11:00 (I prefer my beans warm, and I've found that my thermos is good for about six hours, tops), when Telemarkmike caught up with us. We chatted for a bit before he pushed on, and we finished lunch. We crossed paths again just below the last steep pitch before the summit, him coming down as we were going up.
We made the summit by 12:15, where we lingered for nearly an hour soaking up the sun and views at the leeward lookout. The trip down went quickly, and before we knew it we were back at the Herbert Brook lean-to, where we took a little break to soak the afternoon sun. We stopped at the Calamity Brook lean-to and changed back into microspikes for the snowcrete sidewalk out. We were back at the car by 5:15. We did the 13 GPS miles in less than 11 hours, beating my typical 1 MPH overall pace.
Having hiked the Calamity Brook trail and around Flowed Lands a few times in the fall, I much prefer this route in the winter!
Pictures
JennyB and I set out from Upper Works at 6:30. We used headlamps to gear up, but stowed them once we got underway. We started out in microspikes, as the trail was bullet-proof from snowshoes, skis, and pulks. Within the first half mile we hit two short sections that had a little drifting. We decided that we'd don snowshoes if we encountered any more, but that was it. We stopped at the Calamity Brook lean-to about 8:30 to change to snowshoes to cross Flowed Lands. We were concerned with the exposure, given the forecast and howling wind at the trail head, but there was just a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky. It was turning out to be another beautiful day.
We made it to the Herbert Brook lean-to in no time, where we met a group who had been there all weekend skiing. They were enjoying the sun before heading out. The herd path was well broken, long sections going up the brook in the lower half. We stopped to eat about 11:00 (I prefer my beans warm, and I've found that my thermos is good for about six hours, tops), when Telemarkmike caught up with us. We chatted for a bit before he pushed on, and we finished lunch. We crossed paths again just below the last steep pitch before the summit, him coming down as we were going up.
We made the summit by 12:15, where we lingered for nearly an hour soaking up the sun and views at the leeward lookout. The trip down went quickly, and before we knew it we were back at the Herbert Brook lean-to, where we took a little break to soak the afternoon sun. We stopped at the Calamity Brook lean-to and changed back into microspikes for the snowcrete sidewalk out. We were back at the car by 5:15. We did the 13 GPS miles in less than 11 hours, beating my typical 1 MPH overall pace.
Having hiked the Calamity Brook trail and around Flowed Lands a few times in the fall, I much prefer this route in the winter!
Pictures
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