Whining in Waterville Valley

[Tobit]

There are many things I could title this report but this seems fitting as I wasn't the only one whining today for a change.

Lessons Learned Today:

1) Put your damn gaiters on next time, Tobit!
2) Still a long ways off from even thinking of climbing a 3K or 4K peak in winter.
3) I am sure glad I went with MSRs and not Tubbs
4) NH State Police were definitely more attracted to Mass. cars than locals, thankfully.

Had a fun day stomping around Waterville Valley with Bob McCue and his wife, Rhonda. We met up at the Livermore trailhead parking lot around 9am and set off on the trails by 9:30. Rhonda is also quite new to winter hiking so our goal for today was just to get out and enjoy the nice weather and see where our feet took us. Our route took us up Greeley Pond Trail and up the Flume Path where we were initially thinking of making a loop by continuing on from the flume via the Old Skidder Trail to Livermore Trail and then back down Livermore Road. However, by the time we finally got to the junction of the Old Skidder and Flume Path, all I heard was "oh hell no, Bob" or something to that effect. That was Rhonda, not me, as she looked up the steep Old Skidder.

She said what I was thinking though. By the time we got to the junction, we were both pretty tired and I was even more tired from watching her slide around on her Tubbs.. the things just did not have any traction. We all agreed to go back the way we came and we were back at the cars by 2:50pm. The trip back down was mostly uneventful but with a little bit of whining from me as well. However, I was cursing myself big time for not putting on my gaiters at the start of the hike. Although Greeley Pond Trail was packed quite firm, we did a fair amount of postholing and some light trail breaking on the Flume Path. The tops of my socks and boots just sucked in the moisture as the snow melted while we hiked. Back at the car, my socks were soked and, upon putting on dry socks, I noticed I had a nice blister on my big toe.

All in all though, a very fine day with great company. My feet are very sore though and I expect other body parts to be sore tomorrow. I believe Bob has pics. I took my camera but was lazy about taking pics today.

Oh, and Bob, tell Rhonda for me that WVAIA stands for Waterville Valley Athletic and Improvement Association.

 

[Jazzbo]

Good decisions all round!

Odd that you traveled on just the trail I hiked on 2/15 and posted a TR on. There's a stretch of the Old Skidder Trail above the Flume that runs along the hillside in a most audacious manner. The trail is very narrow and snow was like packed styrofoam. I felt distinctly like a fly on the wall except flies have much better grip. I was wishing I had crampons on, but my MSR's Denali Evo Ascent did pretty well. They are tops in grippiness for a snowshoe in my book. I would have felt very nervous in anything like a Tubbs snowshoe. So it was good decision not to attempt this trail. This little section of trail would definitely be hazardous if it were icy. Just goes to show you don't have to be at a high elevation to find hazardous conditions in the wintertime. On the other hand, the Kancamagus Ski Trail is longer but gentler route that would enable something like the loop you had in mind. It only shows up on Wonalancet Outdoor Club Sandwich Range Map. Probably the WVAIA maps too.

 

[Tobit]

Odd that you traveled on just the trail I hiked on 2/15 and posted a TR on.

Yeah, I was just reading your TR. Thanks for the comments. I had no clue about the Kancamagus Ski Trail. That would have been a perfect loop for the three of us today. More reason to go back now.