Pamola
New member
There's no way this is going to live up to Mats' trip report but heck, some folks will read it.
The ever-mountain-voracious marchowes and I were to meet in Manchester early Sunday morning. After navigating the outlet mall that is downtown i felt the call of nature and decided to visit McDonald's for pretty much the only thing I use them for. Lo and behold, in all his pants-tucked-into-socks glory, ordering multiple egg mcmuffins (what else could keep a machine like him running) was Marc. This made things easier. Evidently the other folks thinking of joining in thought better and it would just be us.
We traveled over to the seminary and parked on the street. After observing a bunch of lax girls going to practice (don't judge) we hit the trail. I am still without snowshoes after the MSR bandit struck on the Signal Ridge Trail. Not the type of thing I can lay down cash for at the drop of a hat. Luckily the trail was fairly packed at the bottom with nice heavy, slushy, dog poop laden snow. We made haste, traveling through the low fog on the wide switchbacks until we finally saw our first spruce. That was far from the neatest part of this elevation. We had traveled out of the undercast, but were yet under the overcast. We were in the oreo creamy center of visibility. Chack out Marc's pics for what we managed to capture of this sight. We continued to travel, and the snow got a bit deeper. As we passed the side trail to the spring, things got right down beautiful. The small birches arched over the trail, burdened with sticky, fresh snow. As we reached the transition from hard to softwoods, our worst fear was realized...postholes! aaah! Such is expected this time of year. I honestly added a few myself. We mashed them down where we could but much was considered a lost cause. Soon thereafter we reached the summit. What a building! Straight out of the 70's. I noshed on a ham sandwich while Marc tried in vain to make a snowman. The snow had actually remained fluffy and dry at the top so, stymied, he hit on the pay binoculars. I think it went well for him. Without a view at all, we cruised down the trail, reaching the cars around an hour and a quarter later.
We thought the idea of finding a cheap, hearty place to eat and grab a brew in this town was moot. wrong! we dropped by mulligan's (i think) and grabbed some wings and fries before heading back to our respective corners of New England.
All in all, a great short day. It took us 4 hours total (minus the grub) and I had overestimated the trail by far. With 3k vertical in ~3.5 miles I always figured it would be a hump like carter dome or north twin down to galehead. naw. It was a very pleasant trail through open woods with many switchbacks for the anaerobically challenged. I loved it. Check out
Marc's pics.
The ever-mountain-voracious marchowes and I were to meet in Manchester early Sunday morning. After navigating the outlet mall that is downtown i felt the call of nature and decided to visit McDonald's for pretty much the only thing I use them for. Lo and behold, in all his pants-tucked-into-socks glory, ordering multiple egg mcmuffins (what else could keep a machine like him running) was Marc. This made things easier. Evidently the other folks thinking of joining in thought better and it would just be us.
We traveled over to the seminary and parked on the street. After observing a bunch of lax girls going to practice (don't judge) we hit the trail. I am still without snowshoes after the MSR bandit struck on the Signal Ridge Trail. Not the type of thing I can lay down cash for at the drop of a hat. Luckily the trail was fairly packed at the bottom with nice heavy, slushy, dog poop laden snow. We made haste, traveling through the low fog on the wide switchbacks until we finally saw our first spruce. That was far from the neatest part of this elevation. We had traveled out of the undercast, but were yet under the overcast. We were in the oreo creamy center of visibility. Chack out Marc's pics for what we managed to capture of this sight. We continued to travel, and the snow got a bit deeper. As we passed the side trail to the spring, things got right down beautiful. The small birches arched over the trail, burdened with sticky, fresh snow. As we reached the transition from hard to softwoods, our worst fear was realized...postholes! aaah! Such is expected this time of year. I honestly added a few myself. We mashed them down where we could but much was considered a lost cause. Soon thereafter we reached the summit. What a building! Straight out of the 70's. I noshed on a ham sandwich while Marc tried in vain to make a snowman. The snow had actually remained fluffy and dry at the top so, stymied, he hit on the pay binoculars. I think it went well for him. Without a view at all, we cruised down the trail, reaching the cars around an hour and a quarter later.
We thought the idea of finding a cheap, hearty place to eat and grab a brew in this town was moot. wrong! we dropped by mulligan's (i think) and grabbed some wings and fries before heading back to our respective corners of New England.
All in all, a great short day. It took us 4 hours total (minus the grub) and I had overestimated the trail by far. With 3k vertical in ~3.5 miles I always figured it would be a hump like carter dome or north twin down to galehead. naw. It was a very pleasant trail through open woods with many switchbacks for the anaerobically challenged. I loved it. Check out
Marc's pics.
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