Mike DiStefano completes winter NH 100 on Middle Long

On Friday, December 23rd, Dave Langley led an AMC hike to West and Middle Long accompanied by Ed, Ken, Mike, Phil, and Neil. The day was overcast, temp in the 20s with little wind. While the trip was of interest to all of us, it was of particular interest to Mike DiStefano who was trying to complete his winter NH 100s on Middle Long.
We drove our cars from Stark Village to the end of Christine Lake Rd which borders the north side of Christine Lake. The dirt road was well plowed up to the locked gate at the east end of the lake. The parking lot there can hold about 20 cars and was also plowed. As we arrived at 7:15 there was already an ice fisherman sawing holes out on the lake. We barebooted down the road about 1 mile. A couple hundred yards past Rowell's Brook we left the road at a trail sign marked "Victor Head". We followed the trail for about a 1/4 mile, then left it as it seemed to be heading too far to the west for our needs. We bushwhacked through mostly open woods until we intersected a wide snowmobile path. The path was about 200' lower than the path we hoped to intersect so we kept heading uphill. We crossed an overgrown wood road about 100' higher, then at about 1600', we reached another wide snowmobile road. We decided that this must be the trail that was on the topo and headed up that trail. We followed that trail to an intersection, then bore right on that trail, also on the topo. We followed that trail past two open areas, probably yarding areas for logging. Just after the second yarding area, a trail headed off to the left, We took that for a 100 yards or so. Getting tired of just following easy trails, we decided to plunge into the woods and start climbing. At first the climb was rather gentle and the woods fairly open. Soon the woods started getting thicker, with mostly small deciduous trees. Of course we got the usual snow dumps and, in the fairly warm temperatures, we were all soon quite wet. About halfway up the slope we started hitting fairly steep and thick terrain with mixed evergreen and deciduous trees. The thick, steep woods continued until we got fairly close to the level saddle between West Long and its southern neighbor. At that point the woods opened up and we had a fairly open bushwhack straight to the summit. We reached the summit at noon and found the summit canister quite easily although it was frozen solid and we couldn't get it open.

After a short food break we headed in a northerly direction to stay in the middle of the ridge. The woods were open at first but then started getting moderately thick with spruce and a good number of blowdowns of small trees. After a 1/4 mile we turned east to head directly for Long Mtn Pond. The woods continued moderately thick with primarily evergreens.

We hit the pond dead on at around 2PM. By that time the visibility had reduced considerably to about 200' in freezing fog and we had no views of the surrounding peaks. At that point we took a direct heading to Middle Long. The woods continued to be fairly thick evergreens for a few tenths then opened up nicely for the last 1/3 mile to the summit. We had seen quite a few moose tracks along the whole ridge and encountered one as we got close to the summit. We reached the Middle Long canister dead on at 2:55 but couldn't open that one either. After congratulating Mike on completing his winter NH 100's and taking a short food break we headed back in the already fading light.

Halfway between the pond and the summit of West Long we needed to turn on the headlamps. It had started to snow lightly and the snowflakes sparkled brightly in the light of our headlamps. Very beautiful. The trip back was uneventful except for the steep descent from the saddle below West Long. After reaching the trail again we made excellent time back to the road and then the cars. We reached the cars at 7:20, almost 12 hours exactly. We used snowshoes for the whole route except the roadwalk but did not need crampons. I doubt that crampons would ever be necessary for this route.

There was moderate snow and freezing rain all the way back home so the driving was quite slow. Probably the most dangerous part of the trip. Up at 4AM and home at 11:15 to crash through undergrowth all day. No wonder my wife thinks I've got a weird hobby. A long day but worthwhile since we achieved our goal of two NH 100 peaks in winter and Mike finished his NH 100 in winter on his second winter attempt at Middle Long.

A couple of people on the hike had been on the Longs before and thought that our route worked out quite well compared to other routes they had tried. They recommend it as a winter route for other attempts. Following is a pointer to the pictures I took and the GPS track of our route.

Pix and GPS Track

Thanks for the trip report. From the pictures it looks like the woods were quite lovely. Also, just in general, is Christine Lake the most commonly used starting point for hikes to the Long Peaks, or do people often come from the north as well? Also, for a mountain like Long, where there is a bunch of minor peaks, how do you ensure that you're heading to the correct ones? Is it purely based on taking correct readings from the map? Especially with all the snow on trees inhibiting visibility, how do you know that you're on the peak you intended?

It was my first trip to the Longs but Dave Langley mentioned that routes from the north and east have also been used. Perhaps others can comment more exactly. As for knowing where you are, the best way is a careful use of the map (to identify topographical features) and the compass (for bearings). With those you always ought to be aware of where you are. On this hike I carried a GPS as well but I use it only for backup since it is not always reliable (dying batteries, electrical malfunctions, heavy tree cover, etc). Looking at the GPS track after the hike is always interesting to see just how good your map and compass navigation skills were and how much the terrain caused deviations in your route.

Very nice! Sounds like it was a great trip!!

In my trail conditions report a couple years ago I said to bring a 1" wrench for the canister, and campsite said the same thing last year, doesn't anybody read these

I have done a variation of the route you used, except the bridge was out on the road to Christine Lake so we had to park at the main road. We were able to follow snowmobile trails to beyond where you did.

I have also been up from Boman Valley, driving in the Nash Stream Road before the state owned it and put up more gates.

I have also been to what you call Middle Long (which was called E Long on the original list) from Phillips Brook, with a real 4wd we could have driven up an unplowed road to within 3 miles of the peak but we parked on the main road and hiked about 5 miles, the first 4 up to the yurt which was there then.

I believe Tom Sawyer did his winter ascent up Roberts Brook.

In summer, the usual route is from the Trio Ponds Road to the N but it is a Long walk around in winter There is a story about a hunter from Franklin who shot a deer up there and couldn't carry both the deer & his rifle, so as the deer was more perishable he carried it out first. But he never found the rifle so some lucky bushwhacker may get a real trophy.