Where the day before had been calm, clear and cold, Sunday morning saw relatively heavy snow, good consistent winds, although it was almost 30 degrees warmer (22F) than when we hit the trails on Saturday.
At the cog railway parking lot we encountered some young gentlemen who looking college age. They were packing their gear into a van. One looked to be wearing cotton, which was soaking wet. Another was smoking a pipe. He informed us that it had been really windy and snowy the night before, when they camped just below Jefferson, so they built an extra large fire to keep themselves warm!
The parking lot was extremely windy, and as we ascending the Amonoosuc Ravine trail, the snow blowing down from the ridge looked quite a lot like the Everest movies. We could make out tracks, but barely, and we were certain no one was ahead of us.
About half way up we encountered three large packs, and the contents of another in a plastic bag, so we knew at that point that there folks above us, although we wouldn't have thought so from the trail, which showed no evidence of having been hiked that morning.
I later asked folks what they thought the odds of us making summit were, and 20% was the highest estimate.
Just below the first clearing we encountered a gent coming down. He had gone about another half hour up, came to a crossing (which admittedly was pretty hairy looking), and being alone decided he had gone far enough. Ten minutes after our encounter there was no evidence on the trail that he had just walked up and down it in snowshoes! As with Carrigain, the snows were light and powdery, and packed down easily.
About say forty-five minutes from Lonesome Lake we met the party of four coming down. They had stayed out the night before and had hoped to make Monroe, but said the winds were very stiff and with one of they members being from Philly, wanted to make it down in time to see the playoff game. Winds were still very stiff at that point, and we geared up for the worst.
The trail from where one leaves the trees to Lakes is under-cairned, and at one point we left a pole to serve as a willow wand in a spot where one could easily turn left when one needed to turn right. Our tracks were being blown away as soon as we made them.
After a brief pause in the shelter to snack up and hydrate a bit more, we walked around the hut to be hit by stiff winds, but not stopper winds. It wasn't easy getting up by any means, but still, before we knew it the four of us were standing on Monroe. Visibility was extremely limited, maybe a hundred yards. According to a neat weather summary table I should be able to insert her but don't know how to, the temps around 2pm were hovering around 10F, with winds averaging 40mph, 20mph *less* than just two hours prior.
We made it down in less than an hour, with a fair amount of glissading along the way.
The entire trip was done in snowshoes, although if we had put on crampons at Lakes, I'm confident we would not have complained about it.
Brian
At the cog railway parking lot we encountered some young gentlemen who looking college age. They were packing their gear into a van. One looked to be wearing cotton, which was soaking wet. Another was smoking a pipe. He informed us that it had been really windy and snowy the night before, when they camped just below Jefferson, so they built an extra large fire to keep themselves warm!
The parking lot was extremely windy, and as we ascending the Amonoosuc Ravine trail, the snow blowing down from the ridge looked quite a lot like the Everest movies. We could make out tracks, but barely, and we were certain no one was ahead of us.
About half way up we encountered three large packs, and the contents of another in a plastic bag, so we knew at that point that there folks above us, although we wouldn't have thought so from the trail, which showed no evidence of having been hiked that morning.
I later asked folks what they thought the odds of us making summit were, and 20% was the highest estimate.
Just below the first clearing we encountered a gent coming down. He had gone about another half hour up, came to a crossing (which admittedly was pretty hairy looking), and being alone decided he had gone far enough. Ten minutes after our encounter there was no evidence on the trail that he had just walked up and down it in snowshoes! As with Carrigain, the snows were light and powdery, and packed down easily.
About say forty-five minutes from Lonesome Lake we met the party of four coming down. They had stayed out the night before and had hoped to make Monroe, but said the winds were very stiff and with one of they members being from Philly, wanted to make it down in time to see the playoff game. Winds were still very stiff at that point, and we geared up for the worst.
The trail from where one leaves the trees to Lakes is under-cairned, and at one point we left a pole to serve as a willow wand in a spot where one could easily turn left when one needed to turn right. Our tracks were being blown away as soon as we made them.
After a brief pause in the shelter to snack up and hydrate a bit more, we walked around the hut to be hit by stiff winds, but not stopper winds. It wasn't easy getting up by any means, but still, before we knew it the four of us were standing on Monroe. Visibility was extremely limited, maybe a hundred yards. According to a neat weather summary table I should be able to insert her but don't know how to, the temps around 2pm were hovering around 10F, with winds averaging 40mph, 20mph *less* than just two hours prior.
We made it down in less than an hour, with a fair amount of glissading along the way.
The entire trip was done in snowshoes, although if we had put on crampons at Lakes, I'm confident we would not have complained about it.
Brian
