campsite
New member
Julie, Fran, Fred, Keith and I met Sat. morning at the Nancy Pond trailhead just as the highway dept was clearing the parking area. (the driving conditions from both Lewiston or Manchester had been lousy) It was still spitting snow, and the dark low hanging clouds with the damp wind were putting a slight damper on the usual pre hike giddiness.
The group's enthusiasm was then eroded a little more by the tiring footing provided by the snow conditions. It appears that the recent storm had laid down about 6-8" of densely packed ultra fine granular snow which displaced unevenly and thus provided uneven footing for all members of the troupe - whether breaking or sweeping. Steep uphills were quite frustrating by the ball bearing consistency of this snow which meant that 2 steps up were rewarded by one step back.
Finally reaching the cascades, little did we realize that the effort to climb this steep slope would make the DP bw pale in comparison. At this point, the trail is poorly marked, and with the sparse tree cover coupled with the dense sloping snow cover made the going particularly difficult - and unsafe in one spot. The travel on the switchbacks was accomplished by stomping the snow forcefully in order to create a shelf for snowshoing. At one point, stomping was ineffectual as ice cover stopped us dead in our tracks - not wanting to risk crossing a treeless downslope area. We then bw straight uphill, holding on to anything secure until we reached the next leg of the switchback(fortunately Fran did not ask to hang on to my thinning hair).
The snow consistency improved considerably at 2900' and we quickly reached the pond. By now, the sun had come out, accompanied by the blue winter sky. The gusting wind and blowing, drifting snow bought back winter memories of our years living near Quebec City.
Bee lining for the SE corner of the pond, we set out on a 165 degree bearing - gritting our teeth for the proverbial bw from hell that never came. (seems like the three most important points in bushwhacking converged here - conditions, conditions, conditions.) Initially, the mountain presented us with a dense, snow laden sprucy area - but always provided us with a small way through. The travel was very good with only the occasional man-eating spruce trap, and we encountered only a few blowdowns over which we were able to walk. We concluded that the snow cover was significant enough to set us above all the usual forest floor impediments.
Once past the sprucy area, we met with rather thick, scratchy fir/spruce. We also crossed the cut, yellow blazed bootleg trail. We followed it a short while until we realized it was not going in our intended direction. Always following our bearing, we emerged from the scratchy stuff into an area of short, super dense spruce. The upside to this situation was that we could visibly determine that we were in the summit area.
Continuing on our bearing, and forging through the growth, we came upon the summit bumperette with its sign and glass bottle. Keith determined that the existing bottle, and hanger were in good condition. The log book only went back a few years. After the usual summit photos, we headed back.
PS
The climb in the area of the cascades might have been easier with full crampons. However, the postholing might have been deep, and/or the angle of the slope uncomfortable for walking.
The group's enthusiasm was then eroded a little more by the tiring footing provided by the snow conditions. It appears that the recent storm had laid down about 6-8" of densely packed ultra fine granular snow which displaced unevenly and thus provided uneven footing for all members of the troupe - whether breaking or sweeping. Steep uphills were quite frustrating by the ball bearing consistency of this snow which meant that 2 steps up were rewarded by one step back.
Finally reaching the cascades, little did we realize that the effort to climb this steep slope would make the DP bw pale in comparison. At this point, the trail is poorly marked, and with the sparse tree cover coupled with the dense sloping snow cover made the going particularly difficult - and unsafe in one spot. The travel on the switchbacks was accomplished by stomping the snow forcefully in order to create a shelf for snowshoing. At one point, stomping was ineffectual as ice cover stopped us dead in our tracks - not wanting to risk crossing a treeless downslope area. We then bw straight uphill, holding on to anything secure until we reached the next leg of the switchback(fortunately Fran did not ask to hang on to my thinning hair).
The snow consistency improved considerably at 2900' and we quickly reached the pond. By now, the sun had come out, accompanied by the blue winter sky. The gusting wind and blowing, drifting snow bought back winter memories of our years living near Quebec City.
Bee lining for the SE corner of the pond, we set out on a 165 degree bearing - gritting our teeth for the proverbial bw from hell that never came. (seems like the three most important points in bushwhacking converged here - conditions, conditions, conditions.) Initially, the mountain presented us with a dense, snow laden sprucy area - but always provided us with a small way through. The travel was very good with only the occasional man-eating spruce trap, and we encountered only a few blowdowns over which we were able to walk. We concluded that the snow cover was significant enough to set us above all the usual forest floor impediments.
Once past the sprucy area, we met with rather thick, scratchy fir/spruce. We also crossed the cut, yellow blazed bootleg trail. We followed it a short while until we realized it was not going in our intended direction. Always following our bearing, we emerged from the scratchy stuff into an area of short, super dense spruce. The upside to this situation was that we could visibly determine that we were in the summit area.
Continuing on our bearing, and forging through the growth, we came upon the summit bumperette with its sign and glass bottle. Keith determined that the existing bottle, and hanger were in good condition. The log book only went back a few years. After the usual summit photos, we headed back.
PS
The climb in the area of the cascades might have been easier with full crampons. However, the postholing might have been deep, and/or the angle of the slope uncomfortable for walking.
