This was a Boston chapter AMC hike that I co-led with Chris P. as our leader. It turns out I just missed some friends who were backpacking up Galehead and over the Twins the next day, as they pulled out of Dascomb Rd just as I pulled in.
Our merry group of ten set off through the campground around 8:30. There was a fair amount of fresh powdery snow, and we barely noticed the tracks made by OldMan (see his excellent trip report at http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=27764&referrerid=2786).
Actually, we where behind three people, but the snow was so light that we saw no actual tracks left by those ahead of us, although the trail was obvious. We were the ones who walked across the pond, and I assume the ice is extremely deep at this point. That didn't stop me from giving folks room ahead and behind of course!
We made a quick stop at the hut, and discovered it was 9.5 degrees outside. No one had stay at Lonesome Lake Friday night, but they has 43 people registered for Saturday night, out of a 48 bunk capacity.
The steep parts were not a huge struggle, but not easy either, especially for some of our newer hikers. The trees were filled with light, powdery snow, and they were quick to shed it on us! I greatly appreciated the hood on my jacket.
The snow was quite deep hiking up, and we put in some work packing it down. At one point I was sixth in line, making me the ninth person up the mountain that day, and I was still able to remark to a friend that the trail still didn't feel packed down.
That changed when we popped onto the ridge. The snow was much more solid there, and while it didn't appear any less deep, we didn't make nearly the indentation we did below. There was a slight breeze, and one really felt it. No need for goggles, and some folks actually hiked without head gear, although I needed a balaclava, a light hat, and my hood.
After a relatively easy walk along the ridge, passing OldMan on his way back, we found ourselves on South Twin, which OldMan correctly assessed was the second hump (with the big cairn), and I had completed by Winter 48. Folks were very nice and they did a wonderful job of helping me celebrate the moment.
Our leader, Chris P., brought up homemade ice cream, which he had scooped into individual servings, placed in cupcake paper. It was unbelievable. I never would have thought of doing that. It worked beautifully. He brought them up in a cooler in the car, and joked they were probably colder in his backpack than in his freezer.
The trip down was quick and easy, with a fair amount of glissading, and before we knew it we were in lakes, popping open some (non-alcoholic) bubbly.
We only needed our headlamps once we were across the lake, and it was interesting heading back down to the parking lot because with the leaves gone we had a full view of I-93 in the Notch, and this might have been the first time I saw a road before I heard the traffic.
I was grateful for the nice folks and all the kind words on the trip. It was cold and lots of snow fell off the trees on us, but it was a very cheerful group from start to finish.
B
Our merry group of ten set off through the campground around 8:30. There was a fair amount of fresh powdery snow, and we barely noticed the tracks made by OldMan (see his excellent trip report at http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=27764&referrerid=2786).
Actually, we where behind three people, but the snow was so light that we saw no actual tracks left by those ahead of us, although the trail was obvious. We were the ones who walked across the pond, and I assume the ice is extremely deep at this point. That didn't stop me from giving folks room ahead and behind of course!
We made a quick stop at the hut, and discovered it was 9.5 degrees outside. No one had stay at Lonesome Lake Friday night, but they has 43 people registered for Saturday night, out of a 48 bunk capacity.
The steep parts were not a huge struggle, but not easy either, especially for some of our newer hikers. The trees were filled with light, powdery snow, and they were quick to shed it on us! I greatly appreciated the hood on my jacket.
The snow was quite deep hiking up, and we put in some work packing it down. At one point I was sixth in line, making me the ninth person up the mountain that day, and I was still able to remark to a friend that the trail still didn't feel packed down.
That changed when we popped onto the ridge. The snow was much more solid there, and while it didn't appear any less deep, we didn't make nearly the indentation we did below. There was a slight breeze, and one really felt it. No need for goggles, and some folks actually hiked without head gear, although I needed a balaclava, a light hat, and my hood.
After a relatively easy walk along the ridge, passing OldMan on his way back, we found ourselves on South Twin, which OldMan correctly assessed was the second hump (with the big cairn), and I had completed by Winter 48. Folks were very nice and they did a wonderful job of helping me celebrate the moment.
Our leader, Chris P., brought up homemade ice cream, which he had scooped into individual servings, placed in cupcake paper. It was unbelievable. I never would have thought of doing that. It worked beautifully. He brought them up in a cooler in the car, and joked they were probably colder in his backpack than in his freezer.
The trip down was quick and easy, with a fair amount of glissading, and before we knew it we were in lakes, popping open some (non-alcoholic) bubbly.
We only needed our headlamps once we were across the lake, and it was interesting heading back down to the parking lot because with the leaves gone we had a full view of I-93 in the Notch, and this might have been the first time I saw a road before I heard the traffic.
I was grateful for the nice folks and all the kind words on the trip. It was cold and lots of snow fell off the trees on us, but it was a very cheerful group from start to finish.
B
