Looks like a microspike weekend

The snow up north is trying to survive but the warm weather, wind and rain is really burning it down. I expect with the cool down on Friday over Saturday night and into Saturday that packed down trails are probably going to be icy with rocks sticking up through. I expect where the snow remains will probably be hard crust. Definitely not typical mid January conditions. Probably not a great time to go somewhere with a lot of river crossings as the ice bridges probably are taking a hit.

peakbagger said:

The snow up north is trying to survive but the warm weather, wind and rain is really burning it down. I expect with the cool down on Friday over Saturday night and into Saturday that packed down trails are probably going to be icy with rocks sticking up through. I expect where the snow remains will probably be hard crust. Definitely not typical mid January conditions. Probably not a great time to go somewhere with a lot of river crossings as the ice bridges probably are taking a hit.

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I was actually going to ask about this tonight. Was hoping to do Owl's Head and/or Isolation this weekend. Given that the major crossings on these routes are bypassed by bushwhacks on these routes do you still anticipate issues (never done either in Winter so not sure about little brooks and drainages, etc)? River gauges look pretty low as of lunch time today but that can change rapidly with this weather.

Keep an eye on the gauge. As long as its trending down you should be good for Sunday or Monday. I expect by Sunday after two cold nights that things will have frozen up. I would take Owl via the Brutus over Isolation via Rocky Branch unless you do the long route via Glen Boulder. Given the conditions I expect it will be fast hike as the snow should be solid.

peakbagger said:

Keep an eye on the gauge. As long as its trending down you should be good for Sunday or Monday. I expect by Sunday after two cold nights that things will have frozen up. I would take Owl via the Brutus over Isolation via Rocky Branch unless you do the long route via Glen Boulder. Given the conditions I expect it will be fast hike as the snow should be solid.

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OK. Thanks for the info. I've seen a lot of references to deep drifts on ridges on a lot of recent trip reports which surprised me a bit because it looked like it was rain everywhere. I was expecting a bulletproof track up there this weekend.

I am looking out the window from my office at the summit of Madison and near the summit of Adams and I see a lot of rock showing. I can even see the top of the "seven" somewhat outlined by rock in Kings ravine. That usually means its pretty scratchy up there. There still can be cornicing and snow fields on the lee sides of the summits and some near treeline trails are notorious for filling up with snow even with the trees. Davis path down from Glen Bounder does occasionally fill in with snow even with the trees but the Black Pond bushwhack doesn't. All bets are off on the summit of the Owl as its downwind of Franconia Ridge so it usually gets more snow. Its a holiday weekend for some so let the hardcores go out Saturday and follow their route on Sunday. It is supposed to be windy and cold Saturday so I would cross off Isolation via Davis due to the exposure if you insist going on Saturday.

Then again I am a fair weather hiker and I wont make any decisions until the day before Its opening day for summer reservations at Baxter on Saturday so I may just be up there waiting in line for some warm weather reservations.

DayTrip said:

OK. Thanks for the info. I've seen a lot of references to deep drifts on ridges on a lot of recent trip reports which surprised me a bit because it looked like it was rain everywhere. I was expecting a bulletproof track up there this weekend.

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Rain by itself doesn't melt the snow very much. (Warm fog and sun are much bigger snow killers.) However when the wet surface freezes, it can become breakable crust (particularly over deep powder) as well as a strong crust.

If you have never hiked on breakable crust, you will find it to be a very enjoyable experience*...

* Not

Doug

DayTrip said:

I was actually going to ask about this tonight. Was hoping to do Owl's Head and/or Isolation this weekend.

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My plan is OH Sunday/Monday overnight via either Brutus or the east slopes. Say hi.

peakbagger said:

The snow up north is trying to survive but the warm weather, wind and rain is really burning it down. I expect with the cool down on Friday over Saturday night and into Saturday that packed down trails are probably going to be icy with rocks sticking up through. I expect where the snow remains will probably be hard crust. Definitely not typical mid January conditions. Probably not a great time to go somewhere with a lot of river crossings as the ice bridges probably are taking a hit.

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Still a helluva lot better than it was this time last year

jniehof said:

My plan is OH Sunday/Monday overnight via either Brutus or the east slopes. Say hi.

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I'll watch for you if it winds up being MON. I'll be the guy who looks like he did an overnight but is just out for the day.

DougPaul said:

Rain by itself doesn't melt the snow very much. (Warm fog and sun are much bigger snow killers.) However when the wet surface freezes, it can become breakable crust (particularly over deep powder) as well as a strong crust.

If you have never hiked on breakable crust, you will find it to be a very enjoyable experience*...

* Not

Doug

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I'm no stranger to breakable crust. It is indeed not pleasant. I think the worst one yet was when I did the Kinsmans. No one had broken out to South Kinsman so I got the joy of stomping on some 2-3' drifts that were just firm enough to hold me for a few seconds before collapsing into the fluffy powder below. I tip the scales at about 230 lbs before gear and there were some drifts on South Kinsman's summit that were so solid on top I had to jump up and down to break through them. Was pretty amazing to see windblown snow get so firm but have fluffy powder underneath.

Looks like I lost at least 12" of snow during the warm spell. Probably 8 " in my yard at 1400 feet and expect its going to firm up quite well overnight

Barkingcat said:

You could always try the Davis Path to Isolation. Sounds like a fun )) route right now. See this entry from a few days ago, on NETC. Of course, this was before yesterday's weather/rain.

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Nice. Kudos to Nate for a tough hike. And now I know I need to bring the good saw come spring.

jniehof said:

Nice. Kudos to Nate for a tough hike. And now I know I need to bring the good saw come spring.

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Nate's a great hiker, but in all fairness, pretty sure he let Alton take the lead breaking trail.

jniehof said:

Nice. Kudos to Nate for a tough hike. And now I know I need to bring the good saw come spring.

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Those two do some pretty impressive hikes. I think maybe the most impressive was that Mahoosuc Notch Winter traverse last year. Any hike that takes those guys 26 hours is truly intense.

Barkingcat said:

You could always try the Davis Path to Isolation. Sounds like a fun )) route right now. See this entry from a few days ago, on NETC. Of course, this was before yesterday's weather/rain.

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That hike beat me down in the Summer a few years ago. Turned around before I made Davis. I can't imagine breaking trail on it the whole way. Damn impressive.

Took Valley Way to Madison Spring hut. We were one of the first on the trail this morning so the surface was nice and firm, as long as one stayed on the trail. Near the hut, the trail is drifted over pretty good and if you step off, up to your waist in snow. We bailed on summiting Adams or Madison. The wind was kinda chilly for my GF. On the way down the trail was pretty chewed up from snowshoes and crampons. The surface was a bit mushier. I debated putting on my snowshoes that I carried for 3.8 miles. At least there would have been a reason to carry them, but they weren't needed. Lot of hikers out. We were back to the car around 1:30pm and there were still people headed up the mountain. One group was with a couple guys we had talked to on the mountain who had camped at Valley Way campsite the night before.

It was a good day.

Barkingcat said:

We've never done the entire stretch in the winter -- but from our experience in the fall, it's a lovely route. Stopped at Stairs and zipped over to Resolution. Even just to Crawford is fine, but once past that, it gets quiet. And wilderness-y. And lovely.

Come to think of it, I think we may go back there in the next week of so.

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It is a nice area but it definitely stretches out. Love Crawford. One of my favorite small mountains. I went back two years ago and did Rocky Branch, Stairs Col and Davis Path to Mt Davis on the Flags for the 48 weekend. Brought my Jetboil and had a nice lunch on summit and watched the flag flying on Isolation. Only saw two people all day. Was nice. Nothing for water though. Carried 4L and used every drop. This hike was actually one of the main reasons I switched to a pump from my Sawyer filter. There were a few trickles that I could have got water from with a pump that were impossible with a bag style filter. Davis is a hike I will be redoing, hopefully as an overnight and likely a bushwhack up from Dry River.

Davis path has a long term reputation that due to the type of growth along it that is perpetually chock full of blowdowns. Long ago the 4000 footer committee used to adopt is as no one else would.

I climbed Braintree Mountain and Goshen Mountain in Vermont this weekend. Definitely a microspike weekend. Nice weather though and beautiful views from both.

I did Owl's Head today and I doubt the track could have been better. It could easily have been bare booted the entire way (I wore spikes and gave my snowshoes a nice long free ride).