alexmtn
Member
Route: Ammonusuc Ravine Trail from the Cog Railway station to Lakes of the Clouds; Crawford Path to Monroe, and then back and up to Washington; Trinity Connector, Gulfside, and Clay Loop over Clay; Gulfside and Jefferson Loop to Jefferson; then back on Jefferson Loop, and Gulfside to descend the Jewell Trail back to the Cog Railway station.
Date of Hike: Monday 4/21/2014
Trail Conditions: Still mostly snow below tree line, with [soft] icy patches and a couple of slush puddles. Above tree line, mostly rock, with some stretches of snow and soft ice. On the return, beware that the Jewell Trail is well into monorail mode, degenerating into icy stretches on its lower reaches.
Special Equipment Required: Below tree line on Ammo, I passed a couple of folks with crampons, but my weapon of choice was trusty MSR Evo Ascents. All the ice I encountered, including the critical sections on Ammo was easily soft enough for them to engage, and I was treated to zero post holing and zero lost energy from sinking my boots with every step. Crampons and microspikes stayed in my 30-lb pack (great weight for training!). Above tree line, I agree with yesterday's comment that the Monroe snowfield may require crampons if colder temps prevail later in the week -- and I would add the critical sections of Ammo to that list as well. Apart from that, it's [gingerly] barebootable. I stuck with the Evo's all the way over Clay, clattering over the rocks. They take the try tooling abuse far better than microspikes or crampons, and I really didn't want to fuss with the snowy/icy stretches. Before descending the backside of Clay though, I was sick of the clatter and went to bare boots after noting that the descent (and Jefferson ascent) really was mostly rock, and took my time with the icy stretches.
Comments: A beautiful day, sunny and hitting the 40s at altitude, winds under 30mph the whole time. The one unpleasant sight was someone's [huge and particularly nasty] pile of crap and toilet paper just off the Gulfside trail above Sphynx. That thing will be with us all summer. While most of us know that above tree line you really need to be prepared to carry out, the small percentage that don't all too often ruin things for the rest of us.
LOST ON UPPER JEWELL TRAIL (or possibly Gulfside near Jewell): GRAY BLACK DIAMOND HEADLAMP
FOUND ON JEWELL TRAIL BELOW TREE LINE: ICE AX
Your name: alexmtn
Your E-mail address: alex at nedzel dot com
Date of Hike: Monday 4/21/2014
Trail Conditions: Still mostly snow below tree line, with [soft] icy patches and a couple of slush puddles. Above tree line, mostly rock, with some stretches of snow and soft ice. On the return, beware that the Jewell Trail is well into monorail mode, degenerating into icy stretches on its lower reaches.
Special Equipment Required: Below tree line on Ammo, I passed a couple of folks with crampons, but my weapon of choice was trusty MSR Evo Ascents. All the ice I encountered, including the critical sections on Ammo was easily soft enough for them to engage, and I was treated to zero post holing and zero lost energy from sinking my boots with every step. Crampons and microspikes stayed in my 30-lb pack (great weight for training!). Above tree line, I agree with yesterday's comment that the Monroe snowfield may require crampons if colder temps prevail later in the week -- and I would add the critical sections of Ammo to that list as well. Apart from that, it's [gingerly] barebootable. I stuck with the Evo's all the way over Clay, clattering over the rocks. They take the try tooling abuse far better than microspikes or crampons, and I really didn't want to fuss with the snowy/icy stretches. Before descending the backside of Clay though, I was sick of the clatter and went to bare boots after noting that the descent (and Jefferson ascent) really was mostly rock, and took my time with the icy stretches.
Comments: A beautiful day, sunny and hitting the 40s at altitude, winds under 30mph the whole time. The one unpleasant sight was someone's [huge and particularly nasty] pile of crap and toilet paper just off the Gulfside trail above Sphynx. That thing will be with us all summer. While most of us know that above tree line you really need to be prepared to carry out, the small percentage that don't all too often ruin things for the rest of us.
LOST ON UPPER JEWELL TRAIL (or possibly Gulfside near Jewell): GRAY BLACK DIAMOND HEADLAMP
FOUND ON JEWELL TRAIL BELOW TREE LINE: ICE AX
Your name: alexmtn
Your E-mail address: alex at nedzel dot com
