sapblatt
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Ah – a wonderful day for a spring hike, right in the middle of winter…
My days are numbered. Baby # 2 is less than two months from arriving and I only have a couple of days left for hiking until at least late spring/early summer. Two of the first few VFTT people I ever met and hiked with, Tuco and Rols wanted to be sure we all got out at least one more time. We were able to pick this day over a month ago and all week we watched the weather and it all seemed good. We met on the Kanc in Lincoln at 6am to discuss our two options – we considered Flume and Liberty via Osseo-Franconia
Ridge-Liberty Springs traverse or the Osceola’s from the Kanc. Just getting over a cold/flu I made the case for the Osceola’s figuring less distance would be good. After talking about it we thought that the warmer temperatures might have made the slide on East Osceola impossible so we decided to head up Osseo.
After a pretty quick car spot we were at Lincoln Woods and ready to roll at 7am. We all had very lightweight clothing on for February – it was already in the 40s. We all wore Stabilicers as we headed out on the Wilderness Trail, which was covered with well-packed snow and a little ice. We readjusted layers about a mile out and we all pretty much wore windbreakers and t-shirts for the day. I think I only had a hat and gloves on near the two summits as the temperature eventually hit near 50. We hit the Osseo junction in about thirty minutes (this would be the last time we made “good” time all day!) The Osseo is a real nice trail with very easy grades for good portions of the trail. About a mile up we were passed by Suebiscuit and Hamtero who were on their way to Lincoln and then they were going to bushwhack down into the Pemi and camp. It sure was a good winter day for an ambitious trip like that.
Eventually, the trail passes by Whaleback Mountain and swings way right, away from Mount Flume. Then a series of switchbacks took us up to a very nice overlook with spectacular views across the Pemi. The Bonds and Twins looked great from here. Right after this rest stop we began the ladders. 90 % of the ladders were covered in packed snow, which probably made it a bit easier. The hikers ahead of us kicked in some nice steps and we had no trouble getting up all of them. After the stairs the trail levels out a bit again, but I was starting to have some issues – my cold seemed to have been gone, but I was still congested and not getting as much air in as I would have liked. Rols and Tuco were great at tolerating my frequent 90-second breaks as we plodded on and up. Another couple passed us a little before the Flume Slide Trail junction.
After the initial short climb we decided to stop at the view area to decide what we were going to do, as I was not having a banner day (too many colds this year.) Rols figured it was not sense climbing up over the treacherous, narrow ridge to the summit if we were going to bale out and go back to Lincoln Woods. I thought about it for a minute and decided to push on. I knew the climb to Liberty would be the last issue of the day for me as after that it is almost all downhill. I really did not want to contend with going down all of the ladders. We opted to switch to crampons for this section. This section is not too tough, as it is very short. I found the key to be just to watch where you put your foot on each and every step – it would not be a good place to fall to the left and it would not be a great spot to catch a spike on anything. It only took a couple of minutes and we were on top with incredible views. We did not stay long as all of this was taking way too long…we started to move towards Liberty. We all kept crampons on until the Liberty Springs junction. We passed a group that was doing our hike in the other direction in the col between Flume and Liberty as we made our way. All was going well except that I was beat!
The entire way up towards Liberty Rols and I kept discussing this one tricky scramble just below the summit – we probably mentioned it 3-4 times. Well wouldn’t you know it? When it is packed in with snow it is no problem at all – in fact you could not even see the boulder. We made a quick tour of the summit area (which was my first three-peat) and began our descent. We quickly reached the Liberty Springs Trail and took a rather late lunch break as it was now around 3:00.
We switched to our traction of choice and started descending quite quickly – it is easier on snow than on the rock steps! After awhile we needed to slow it down a bit and a bit later Eric’s hamstring started to tighten up and get real painful. He stretched a bit which helped a lot for a bit and then a little before the Flume Slide Trail junction where it went again and it appeared to be twice as painful as the first time. Rols tried to rub it out which helped a bit and he was going to tape it (it is great hiking with someone who has medical skills) but Eric thought he would be OK. For a minute there I was not sure Tuco was going to be able to walk out. Be carried on through a section with no snow and eventually made the bridge – we were all very tired, and I for one was in no mood for the .6 miles of the Pemi trail…which I am now referring to the longest .6 in the Whites – replacing the last .6 of the Air Line to Adams!
We eventually made it got back over to Lincoln Woods to get Eric’s (Tuco’s) car and we congratulated a couple of hikers who just got back from a 13 hour trip to Owl’s Head. For all of the difficulty I had, and later that Tuco had, I am so glad I got out on this beautiful winter day. By the time I was ten miles down the highway the rain had started and I could not wait to get back to hike again. It was great hiking with Rols and Tuco again and I cannot wait to do it again!
My days are numbered. Baby # 2 is less than two months from arriving and I only have a couple of days left for hiking until at least late spring/early summer. Two of the first few VFTT people I ever met and hiked with, Tuco and Rols wanted to be sure we all got out at least one more time. We were able to pick this day over a month ago and all week we watched the weather and it all seemed good. We met on the Kanc in Lincoln at 6am to discuss our two options – we considered Flume and Liberty via Osseo-Franconia
Ridge-Liberty Springs traverse or the Osceola’s from the Kanc. Just getting over a cold/flu I made the case for the Osceola’s figuring less distance would be good. After talking about it we thought that the warmer temperatures might have made the slide on East Osceola impossible so we decided to head up Osseo.
After a pretty quick car spot we were at Lincoln Woods and ready to roll at 7am. We all had very lightweight clothing on for February – it was already in the 40s. We all wore Stabilicers as we headed out on the Wilderness Trail, which was covered with well-packed snow and a little ice. We readjusted layers about a mile out and we all pretty much wore windbreakers and t-shirts for the day. I think I only had a hat and gloves on near the two summits as the temperature eventually hit near 50. We hit the Osseo junction in about thirty minutes (this would be the last time we made “good” time all day!) The Osseo is a real nice trail with very easy grades for good portions of the trail. About a mile up we were passed by Suebiscuit and Hamtero who were on their way to Lincoln and then they were going to bushwhack down into the Pemi and camp. It sure was a good winter day for an ambitious trip like that.
Eventually, the trail passes by Whaleback Mountain and swings way right, away from Mount Flume. Then a series of switchbacks took us up to a very nice overlook with spectacular views across the Pemi. The Bonds and Twins looked great from here. Right after this rest stop we began the ladders. 90 % of the ladders were covered in packed snow, which probably made it a bit easier. The hikers ahead of us kicked in some nice steps and we had no trouble getting up all of them. After the stairs the trail levels out a bit again, but I was starting to have some issues – my cold seemed to have been gone, but I was still congested and not getting as much air in as I would have liked. Rols and Tuco were great at tolerating my frequent 90-second breaks as we plodded on and up. Another couple passed us a little before the Flume Slide Trail junction.
After the initial short climb we decided to stop at the view area to decide what we were going to do, as I was not having a banner day (too many colds this year.) Rols figured it was not sense climbing up over the treacherous, narrow ridge to the summit if we were going to bale out and go back to Lincoln Woods. I thought about it for a minute and decided to push on. I knew the climb to Liberty would be the last issue of the day for me as after that it is almost all downhill. I really did not want to contend with going down all of the ladders. We opted to switch to crampons for this section. This section is not too tough, as it is very short. I found the key to be just to watch where you put your foot on each and every step – it would not be a good place to fall to the left and it would not be a great spot to catch a spike on anything. It only took a couple of minutes and we were on top with incredible views. We did not stay long as all of this was taking way too long…we started to move towards Liberty. We all kept crampons on until the Liberty Springs junction. We passed a group that was doing our hike in the other direction in the col between Flume and Liberty as we made our way. All was going well except that I was beat!
The entire way up towards Liberty Rols and I kept discussing this one tricky scramble just below the summit – we probably mentioned it 3-4 times. Well wouldn’t you know it? When it is packed in with snow it is no problem at all – in fact you could not even see the boulder. We made a quick tour of the summit area (which was my first three-peat) and began our descent. We quickly reached the Liberty Springs Trail and took a rather late lunch break as it was now around 3:00.
We switched to our traction of choice and started descending quite quickly – it is easier on snow than on the rock steps! After awhile we needed to slow it down a bit and a bit later Eric’s hamstring started to tighten up and get real painful. He stretched a bit which helped a lot for a bit and then a little before the Flume Slide Trail junction where it went again and it appeared to be twice as painful as the first time. Rols tried to rub it out which helped a bit and he was going to tape it (it is great hiking with someone who has medical skills) but Eric thought he would be OK. For a minute there I was not sure Tuco was going to be able to walk out. Be carried on through a section with no snow and eventually made the bridge – we were all very tired, and I for one was in no mood for the .6 miles of the Pemi trail…which I am now referring to the longest .6 in the Whites – replacing the last .6 of the Air Line to Adams!
We eventually made it got back over to Lincoln Woods to get Eric’s (Tuco’s) car and we congratulated a couple of hikers who just got back from a 13 hour trip to Owl’s Head. For all of the difficulty I had, and later that Tuco had, I am so glad I got out on this beautiful winter day. By the time I was ten miles down the highway the rain had started and I could not wait to get back to hike again. It was great hiking with Rols and Tuco again and I cannot wait to do it again!
