freighttrain48
New member
Monroe 1/24
myself and my friend Nathan
I was hoping all day Monday when I was working that the rain and fog predicted that night for the whites would not amount to much snow loss. Well I was wrong, when I drove threw Franconia notch and saw the Front side of Cannon I knew that the fog took its tole. As I drove up Rt 3 towards twin mountain and eventually Cog Base station I saw way to much grass where there was Snow just 48 hrs prior.
We left the Ice skating rink known as hikers parking at the Cog Base Station and hit the trail. There was snow cover on all the whole trail. The trail had been tracked out all the way to tree line and we bare booted the first mile. As the snow began to get deeper we started to posthole due to the high moisture levels in the snow. I put on my brandy new Msr ascents and was good to go. I have been looking forward to trying out my Msr's and I must say I am very impressed. My old snowshoes were never intended for any kind of incline and were huge, the ascents are very light and the climbing bar option is the best thing since sliced bread.
The power of Irene
Took us about an hr to reach what I am guessing is the Gem Pool. From this point the trail climbs up the side of a brook at a pretty steep grade until you cross above the waterfall. This is were I enjoyed my climbing bars as we slowly made our way up towards the waterfall and the crossing above it. A lot of the snowbridge had melted away but the crossing was pretty easy. Soon the trees were small and we climbed over blue ice that you could hear the water flowing underneath.
Once above tree line the well defined path disappeared as the wind blasted a constant 30ish mph. With Visibility at about 25 feet we soon lost trail for the first time. I looked at my Gps and I saw only a few contour lines and we would be at lake of the clouds. The first man made structure we encountered was a storage shed behind the hut. Then we say the fenced in area that holds the propane tanks during the summer. We walked around the hut until we say the sign for the Crawford Path. Luckly the tops of the rocks that line the trail were visible so we followed them until we say the sign for Monroe Loop Trail. From there we made a direct assult up Monroe following the summer trail for the most part to the summit.
We had made it! We made our way back to the hut to go and check out the infamous " Dungeon" I have been hearing stories about this place for almost two years and I must say I thought it would be a lot worse than it was. We popped in for about ten mins to get out of the wind have a snack and change out some wet gear. and Soon we were off.
We only lost the trail once on the descent about 300 ft below the hut. The Snow was deep but with my handy garmin we were soon back on track and 20 mins later we were out of the wind and the face gear could come off. We hiked down to the snow bridge above the waterfall crossed it took off our traction devices and Glissaded down to the gem pool. At the Gem pool snow shoes back on and headlamps out we kicked it into highgear and were back at the car an hr later. when I got to the Cog Base Station I was amazed at how much snow disappeared. Great hike all in all the low Visability gave us a good chance to use the Gps for something other than to track data. 44 down 4 more to go!!!
myself and my friend Nathan
I was hoping all day Monday when I was working that the rain and fog predicted that night for the whites would not amount to much snow loss. Well I was wrong, when I drove threw Franconia notch and saw the Front side of Cannon I knew that the fog took its tole. As I drove up Rt 3 towards twin mountain and eventually Cog Base station I saw way to much grass where there was Snow just 48 hrs prior.
We left the Ice skating rink known as hikers parking at the Cog Base Station and hit the trail. There was snow cover on all the whole trail. The trail had been tracked out all the way to tree line and we bare booted the first mile. As the snow began to get deeper we started to posthole due to the high moisture levels in the snow. I put on my brandy new Msr ascents and was good to go. I have been looking forward to trying out my Msr's and I must say I am very impressed. My old snowshoes were never intended for any kind of incline and were huge, the ascents are very light and the climbing bar option is the best thing since sliced bread.
The power of Irene
Took us about an hr to reach what I am guessing is the Gem Pool. From this point the trail climbs up the side of a brook at a pretty steep grade until you cross above the waterfall. This is were I enjoyed my climbing bars as we slowly made our way up towards the waterfall and the crossing above it. A lot of the snowbridge had melted away but the crossing was pretty easy. Soon the trees were small and we climbed over blue ice that you could hear the water flowing underneath.
Once above tree line the well defined path disappeared as the wind blasted a constant 30ish mph. With Visibility at about 25 feet we soon lost trail for the first time. I looked at my Gps and I saw only a few contour lines and we would be at lake of the clouds. The first man made structure we encountered was a storage shed behind the hut. Then we say the fenced in area that holds the propane tanks during the summer. We walked around the hut until we say the sign for the Crawford Path. Luckly the tops of the rocks that line the trail were visible so we followed them until we say the sign for Monroe Loop Trail. From there we made a direct assult up Monroe following the summer trail for the most part to the summit.
We had made it! We made our way back to the hut to go and check out the infamous " Dungeon" I have been hearing stories about this place for almost two years and I must say I thought it would be a lot worse than it was. We popped in for about ten mins to get out of the wind have a snack and change out some wet gear. and Soon we were off.
We only lost the trail once on the descent about 300 ft below the hut. The Snow was deep but with my handy garmin we were soon back on track and 20 mins later we were out of the wind and the face gear could come off. We hiked down to the snow bridge above the waterfall crossed it took off our traction devices and Glissaded down to the gem pool. At the Gem pool snow shoes back on and headlamps out we kicked it into highgear and were back at the car an hr later. when I got to the Cog Base Station I was amazed at how much snow disappeared. Great hike all in all the low Visability gave us a good chance to use the Gps for something other than to track data. 44 down 4 more to go!!!
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