blaze
Active member
full route: Air Line to Adams, Star Lake Trail to Madison Spring Hut, Osgood over Madison to Howker Ridge, Howker Ridge to Sylvan Way, back to Appalachia.
Trail conditions: Air Line is pretty well packed. A bit icy in spots, mostly below treeline. Above treeline, lots of dry rock surface to walk on, with more snow than ice, so very little slipping and sliding.
Howker Ridge was pretty much unbroken but not-very-deep powder above treeline, with occasional knee-deep drifts (yee-hah! it almost felt like December!). Snow down low was soft by mid-afternoon.
A few (6-8) blowdowns on Howker and a few (2-4) on Sylvan Way, all easy to get around. The one brook crossing (on Howker) was manageable - rocks not iced over.
Equipment: microspikes were useful on ascent, more for climbing efficiency than for safety. Took 'em off ~5,000' and never put them on again. Left snowshoes in the car and would do so again.
Comments: great to be back in the Presidentials after a long hiatus. MWO called for summits in the clear today under cloudy skies - "in the clear" didn't happen. So no VFTT but a fun day anyway, with great views from Airline, occasional views from Howker, and spectacular skies in the vicinity of Washington as I drove back down route 16.
Photos
Trail conditions: Air Line is pretty well packed. A bit icy in spots, mostly below treeline. Above treeline, lots of dry rock surface to walk on, with more snow than ice, so very little slipping and sliding.
Howker Ridge was pretty much unbroken but not-very-deep powder above treeline, with occasional knee-deep drifts (yee-hah! it almost felt like December!). Snow down low was soft by mid-afternoon.
A few (6-8) blowdowns on Howker and a few (2-4) on Sylvan Way, all easy to get around. The one brook crossing (on Howker) was manageable - rocks not iced over.
Equipment: microspikes were useful on ascent, more for climbing efficiency than for safety. Took 'em off ~5,000' and never put them on again. Left snowshoes in the car and would do so again.
Comments: great to be back in the Presidentials after a long hiatus. MWO called for summits in the clear today under cloudy skies - "in the clear" didn't happen. So no VFTT but a fun day anyway, with great views from Airline, occasional views from Howker, and spectacular skies in the vicinity of Washington as I drove back down route 16.
Photos
