spaddock
New member
I've been reading about the White Mountains on this site for over a year now but since I was working on my 46 I never got out there except for a quick hike up Mount Washington in 2004. So with the long holiday break my wife and I thought it was the perfect time to make the 5 1/2 hour drive down to Gorham.
Since last weeks forecast was so sketchy we put off the trip until Friday. We spent that day driving around and getting aquainted with the area. Finding trailheads, gear stores, restaurants we'd read about etc. When we checked out the Highland Centre the first person I saw was Sherpa John and Sherpette, it felt strange introducing myself to a total stranger, but what the heck.
Saturday we decided to hike Tom, Field, and Willey. It was a cold morning so we delayed our start until 10am. My wife wore snowshoes and I wore my G10's. Crampons seemed to be the gear of choice that day, everybody we saw on the trail was wearing Grivel G10's, I was beginning to think Grivel was doing a demo day at the Highland Centre. We kind of struggled to the Tom spur trail until my wife switched into my MSR snowshoes. She liked the ascending bar so much that she wants to marry them, luckily she's already taken. My dog Toby was on this trip and he thought the snow was simply fantastic, I don't think his tail stopped wagging all day. Walking up the spur trail to the summit we were getting pretty excited, and when we summitted it was simply breathtaking. I didn't really expect any views, didn't know what we'd find actually. But the views were out of this world! I got a really sweet shot of Mt. Washington and a bunch of others. Then on the other side we got shots of the Bonds, holy smokes what a treat! And to top it off, although it was overcast there was no wind! We stayed on top for a while and then headed back to the turnoff for lunch. After lunch my wife went down with Toby and a group of other hikers and I went on for Field and Willey. Field came up quickly but Willey seemed to take longer than I thought. On my way to Willey I ran into HarryK, small world, I hadn't seen Harry since climbing Giant and Rocky Ridge last winter, good times. Reclimbing Field I knew my climbing legs were turning to rubber, mental note, hit the gym when I get back. Luckily after reclimbing Field that was pretty much it for the ascents. I was able to really hammer the descent, sprinting down the trail. I had forgotten how fun and fast winter descents can be without all the rocks and roots to get in the way!
I made it back down with my headlamp on at 5:45 and it was time to get some pizza and take in the New Year. Driving back up the 302 North there was a HUGE fire right near Breton Woods ski resort. The highway was completely blocked so we turned around and went the long way back to Gorham via North Conway. Does anybody know about the fire and if everyone was OK? My wife and I were pretty concerned.
The next morning my hamstring had tightened up so we decided to have a leisurely morning and then drive back early. We found a place for breakfast called the "Water Wheel" and it was delicous. That breakfast alone made the 1000km we drove worth it.
My wife and I both fell in love with the area, which is a bonus since she will want to return soon, and I'll get to bag more peaks!
Happy New Year,
Shayne
Since last weeks forecast was so sketchy we put off the trip until Friday. We spent that day driving around and getting aquainted with the area. Finding trailheads, gear stores, restaurants we'd read about etc. When we checked out the Highland Centre the first person I saw was Sherpa John and Sherpette, it felt strange introducing myself to a total stranger, but what the heck.
Saturday we decided to hike Tom, Field, and Willey. It was a cold morning so we delayed our start until 10am. My wife wore snowshoes and I wore my G10's. Crampons seemed to be the gear of choice that day, everybody we saw on the trail was wearing Grivel G10's, I was beginning to think Grivel was doing a demo day at the Highland Centre. We kind of struggled to the Tom spur trail until my wife switched into my MSR snowshoes. She liked the ascending bar so much that she wants to marry them, luckily she's already taken. My dog Toby was on this trip and he thought the snow was simply fantastic, I don't think his tail stopped wagging all day. Walking up the spur trail to the summit we were getting pretty excited, and when we summitted it was simply breathtaking. I didn't really expect any views, didn't know what we'd find actually. But the views were out of this world! I got a really sweet shot of Mt. Washington and a bunch of others. Then on the other side we got shots of the Bonds, holy smokes what a treat! And to top it off, although it was overcast there was no wind! We stayed on top for a while and then headed back to the turnoff for lunch. After lunch my wife went down with Toby and a group of other hikers and I went on for Field and Willey. Field came up quickly but Willey seemed to take longer than I thought. On my way to Willey I ran into HarryK, small world, I hadn't seen Harry since climbing Giant and Rocky Ridge last winter, good times. Reclimbing Field I knew my climbing legs were turning to rubber, mental note, hit the gym when I get back. Luckily after reclimbing Field that was pretty much it for the ascents. I was able to really hammer the descent, sprinting down the trail. I had forgotten how fun and fast winter descents can be without all the rocks and roots to get in the way!
I made it back down with my headlamp on at 5:45 and it was time to get some pizza and take in the New Year. Driving back up the 302 North there was a HUGE fire right near Breton Woods ski resort. The highway was completely blocked so we turned around and went the long way back to Gorham via North Conway. Does anybody know about the fire and if everyone was OK? My wife and I were pretty concerned.
The next morning my hamstring had tightened up so we decided to have a leisurely morning and then drive back early. We found a place for breakfast called the "Water Wheel" and it was delicous. That breakfast alone made the 1000km we drove worth it.
My wife and I both fell in love with the area, which is a bonus since she will want to return soon, and I'll get to bag more peaks!
Happy New Year,
Shayne
