Jim lombard
New member
We met in the pack room at Pinkham notch lodge, 13 (or was it 14) all joined up, many meeting for the first time. I met peak_bgr and Donna first, recognized some from their avatar photos like Blue and Frodo from past trail meetings. I apologize right off the bat, I am TERRIBLE with names and I'm leaving some out. BlueZ, SueBiscuit, Hamtero, Bushwhacker, NH Mt Hiker, Mt-top were there also, we headed out under clear skies at 8am. Tuckerman's as always was a groomed and well packed out trail....I watched several parties ahead of us take off wearing snowshoes...left mine home after reading the observatory conditions.....well, actually I kinda forgot them 
Good pace right from the beginning, Tucks trail is moderate but steady, got to talk with Sue, Jun, Frodo, Bushwhacker and others as we headed past Crystal cascade and on up. Water was running along the waterbars and alongside the trail in several places, strange to see this in mid-January. Heard the songs of my favorite bird...the chicadee of course, enjoyed a really beautiful hike with cottony woods and promising blue skies. When we got to the final bridge I tried to take a picture of the group with my digital but it was frozen. I stashed it in my inner jacket pocket in hopes of summit pictures. We reached the winter Lions head route, cramponed up and waited for everybody before starting up the steep trail. Before too long we were at a standstill as folks ahead struggled with the first real steep pitch. There were LOTS of people out hiking.....Saturday and a holiday weekend and nice weather. I watched in amazement as one of our group navigated the first steep icy spot with snowshoes, it was a river of ice. One by one we climbed that followed by the next steep part......stand in line...wait...I joked that a fast food joint could set up shop here today. Kick in crampons, grab root, pull yourself up and repeat. Beyond that last uphill grunt it was more steadily steep. We reached Lion's head and I was feeling pretty good. The summit was under fog but you could see a long line ahead of hikers so the visibility wasn't that bad. Beyond the rock formation that is the head we got blasted by winds. I got blown sideways at one point as I stumbled, managed to grab a rock and stay on my feet. I saw people heading back but didn't recognize anybody. Frodo told me later that they were from our group. Frodo showed some great leadership skills by staying behind at Lions head to wait for the final few while the rest of us continued up. I was pretty comfortable, I'd been here once before on a February day when we turned back from the high winds and had come prepared for it this time. My problem was energy, I hadn't taken much time to eat anything and hadn't had much of a breakfast. I lagged behind as we climbed the summit cone above alpine garden. 6 or 7 of the group were far ahead....I'd stopped with another group that I thought was VFTT (everyone was all covered up, you couldn't id anyone.) I did recognize Frodo as he passed me, in going he said that 4 or 5 had turned back. Winds were light on the cone, I was determined to make the summit. Also in the back of our pack was the cop from Fairhaven (again, names, ugh ) He passed me, I managed to eat a bit of chocolate and was thrilled when the clouds lifted enough to see the tops of the towers on the summit. When I reached the bottom parking lot a bunch from our group were heading down including Sue, BlueZ, NH-mt Hiker? and others....everyone was all covered up. I climbed that little pile of rocks in time to take pictures for a couple of groups, touched the top and headed to the shelter of the building. I was glad to see Frodo there, he waited patiently while I got a couple of pictures http://community.webshots.com/album/253116983FmKUyF
I ate some cookies and thought about the hike down, "Halfway there" I said as Frodo led the way. The three of of met BlueZ and we scrambled over the exposed rime ice painted boulders. Frodo was much faster than I, but he waited at many points. We stopped to look around at the clear views, Wildcat and Carter ranges seemed so close. I peered down into Tucks as several hikers seemed to be picking their way down the face....didn't look like much fun to me. Waited in line for several minutes again on the steep parts below treeline. We chatted about what a great day it had been, this had been my third try for a winter Washington summit and I was so excited. Frodo said that 9 from our group had made it.
BlueZ had taken some great pictures of the trip. Can you post that link for everybody? Thanks again to some great companions and a fun day. Hope to see you all on the trails again.
Jim L
Good pace right from the beginning, Tucks trail is moderate but steady, got to talk with Sue, Jun, Frodo, Bushwhacker and others as we headed past Crystal cascade and on up. Water was running along the waterbars and alongside the trail in several places, strange to see this in mid-January. Heard the songs of my favorite bird...the chicadee of course, enjoyed a really beautiful hike with cottony woods and promising blue skies. When we got to the final bridge I tried to take a picture of the group with my digital but it was frozen. I stashed it in my inner jacket pocket in hopes of summit pictures. We reached the winter Lions head route, cramponed up and waited for everybody before starting up the steep trail. Before too long we were at a standstill as folks ahead struggled with the first real steep pitch. There were LOTS of people out hiking.....Saturday and a holiday weekend and nice weather. I watched in amazement as one of our group navigated the first steep icy spot with snowshoes, it was a river of ice. One by one we climbed that followed by the next steep part......stand in line...wait...I joked that a fast food joint could set up shop here today. Kick in crampons, grab root, pull yourself up and repeat. Beyond that last uphill grunt it was more steadily steep. We reached Lion's head and I was feeling pretty good. The summit was under fog but you could see a long line ahead of hikers so the visibility wasn't that bad. Beyond the rock formation that is the head we got blasted by winds. I got blown sideways at one point as I stumbled, managed to grab a rock and stay on my feet. I saw people heading back but didn't recognize anybody. Frodo told me later that they were from our group. Frodo showed some great leadership skills by staying behind at Lions head to wait for the final few while the rest of us continued up. I was pretty comfortable, I'd been here once before on a February day when we turned back from the high winds and had come prepared for it this time. My problem was energy, I hadn't taken much time to eat anything and hadn't had much of a breakfast. I lagged behind as we climbed the summit cone above alpine garden. 6 or 7 of the group were far ahead....I'd stopped with another group that I thought was VFTT (everyone was all covered up, you couldn't id anyone.) I did recognize Frodo as he passed me, in going he said that 4 or 5 had turned back. Winds were light on the cone, I was determined to make the summit. Also in the back of our pack was the cop from Fairhaven (again, names, ugh ) He passed me, I managed to eat a bit of chocolate and was thrilled when the clouds lifted enough to see the tops of the towers on the summit. When I reached the bottom parking lot a bunch from our group were heading down including Sue, BlueZ, NH-mt Hiker? and others....everyone was all covered up. I climbed that little pile of rocks in time to take pictures for a couple of groups, touched the top and headed to the shelter of the building. I was glad to see Frodo there, he waited patiently while I got a couple of pictures http://community.webshots.com/album/253116983FmKUyFI ate some cookies and thought about the hike down, "Halfway there" I said as Frodo led the way. The three of of met BlueZ and we scrambled over the exposed rime ice painted boulders. Frodo was much faster than I, but he waited at many points. We stopped to look around at the clear views, Wildcat and Carter ranges seemed so close. I peered down into Tucks as several hikers seemed to be picking their way down the face....didn't look like much fun to me. Waited in line for several minutes again on the steep parts below treeline. We chatted about what a great day it had been, this had been my third try for a winter Washington summit and I was so excited. Frodo said that 9 from our group had made it.
BlueZ had taken some great pictures of the trip. Can you post that link for everybody? Thanks again to some great companions and a fun day. Hope to see you all on the trails again.
Jim L
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