skidoc22
New member
Great day to end the winter climbing season, sunny and crisp in the AM warming up in the afternoon, and the beauty of daylight savings time. Skied in to Marcy Dam with a new pair of backcountry nordic skis. Unfjortunately I mistakenly used a glide wax in stead of a typical grippy xc ski wax which made ascending very difficult and the downhills comical/treacherous. Fortunately a group of better prepared skiers were on their way to Marcy and one gentleman was kind enough to let me use his wax (which made a huge difference). Made it up to the Tabletop herd path where I stopped for a bite to eat before stashing my pack and skis and heading up.
The herd path was in great shape with a couple of inches of new on a firm but not icy base. As stated by others elsewhere the lower part meanders for a few hundred yards ( I tried in vain to straighten one area out on the way down) but strikes the herd path and leads right to the summit and beyond to the southeastern view spot. I don't remember the views from TT being particularly good but today the Macintyres , Colden, Marcy and Gray were all bright and shiny.
Grabbed the skis and pack and headed down the ski trail to Phelps. I ended up walking about half of it due to the steepness and my xc equipment not being up to the task. I later realized that the strap to my gaiters weren't allowing my boot to engage the binding system which made the trip from Phelps to the Loj much more enjoyable.
Anyway, the afternoon heated up, the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. The trail up Phelps was coated with 2-3 inches of soft wet sticky snow. My snowshoes weighed about ten pounds each despite constantly banging them off with my poles or kicking a tree (yeah yeah I did get a pile of snow dropped on my head a couple of times). Again great views of the Dax and Avy Pass. On the way down I passed a group of three young guys who were on their way up. Unfortunately they had neither skis nor snow shoes so I'm afraid my nice snowshoe trail is going to be all postholed. Hopefully they turned back before doing too much damage.
The trip out was quick and uneventful - about half the time that it took me Sunday on snowshoes - and much more fun. My take home message- I need to upgrade to Alpine Touring gear for next year.
The herd path was in great shape with a couple of inches of new on a firm but not icy base. As stated by others elsewhere the lower part meanders for a few hundred yards ( I tried in vain to straighten one area out on the way down) but strikes the herd path and leads right to the summit and beyond to the southeastern view spot. I don't remember the views from TT being particularly good but today the Macintyres , Colden, Marcy and Gray were all bright and shiny.
Grabbed the skis and pack and headed down the ski trail to Phelps. I ended up walking about half of it due to the steepness and my xc equipment not being up to the task. I later realized that the strap to my gaiters weren't allowing my boot to engage the binding system which made the trip from Phelps to the Loj much more enjoyable.
Anyway, the afternoon heated up, the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. The trail up Phelps was coated with 2-3 inches of soft wet sticky snow. My snowshoes weighed about ten pounds each despite constantly banging them off with my poles or kicking a tree (yeah yeah I did get a pile of snow dropped on my head a couple of times). Again great views of the Dax and Avy Pass. On the way down I passed a group of three young guys who were on their way up. Unfortunately they had neither skis nor snow shoes so I'm afraid my nice snowshoe trail is going to be all postholed. Hopefully they turned back before doing too much damage.
The trip out was quick and uneventful - about half the time that it took me Sunday on snowshoes - and much more fun. My take home message- I need to upgrade to Alpine Touring gear for next year.
