islandside
New member
Mount Moosilauke - Glencliff Trail
December 6, 2008
Trail Condition - Parking lot and lower section of the trail were nearly snow free. Stream crossings on this trail were no problem. No blowdowns to speak of. As we gained altitude the snow depth increased. We donned our Microspikes within the first mile and were glad we had them. By the time we reached the start of the spruce forest there was a section of trail a moose had "hiked" before us and managed to post-hole quite a bit! Once we reached the Carriage Road the trail was drifted over is some spots, and bare ice in others. It seemed this section had seen a lot more traffic and was in rougher condition. We saw only one couple wearing snow shoes, but it looked as though most who had passed this way previously, had not. We stayed in the Microspikes the entire time, could have switched to snow shoes for the Carriage Road, but never needed crampons.
Special Equipment Required - light traction, snow shoes, goggles, insulated water bottles, full winter clothing
Comments - Started about 8:30 AM, a large group left the parking lot 15 minutes before us but we did not see them until up on the ridge. I had hiked Moosilauke before, Beaver Brook trail, but I had not been on this trail. Big Earl was hiking up the Beaver Brook trail and we hoped to see them up top, but we stayed so short a time we did not. We did meet Trish & Alex on their descent. Alex has a great book of tales to call on for story time at school I am sure!
The last two 4000 footers I had hiked were small(er) and I am spoiled by doing Mt Major all the time, but this hike kicked my butt! I was having trouble with the right layers, sweating and chilling at the same time, but finally had the right combination for the pace and temperature we were at. As we were climbing, I was actually thinking about bailing out on this one! Sandi would have been with me at the drop of a hat too!..... we kept hiking...
Once we reached the Carriage Road the gain was almost done so the pace picked up a bit, the sun was on us, we had some views and we could see other hikers... life on the mountain! We skipped the south peak, and layered up behind a spruce hedge, right before the last push to the summit. I took just a very few pictures and we turned around right away due to the windchill. Sandi can have problems with her hands getting cold, so we avoided that by not waiting too long up there. For Moosilauke standards, these winds were not too bad, but we didn't take time out for lunch while we were on the summit!
On the way down we made great time, ahhh, the joy of the lower impact of descending on snow instead of rock! We hiked with Trish and Alex for a bit while Alex was telling us of some of her adventures. Made it back to our start in about 7 hours. Round trip: 7.8 miles, with 3,300 feet gain. This was #25 for Sandi, more then 1/2 way!
our pictures - http://community.webshots.com/album/569113434aymeHv?vhost=community
The slide show - http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/569113434aymeHv
The Movie!! - http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=im2kRjf8waY
Greg and Sandi
December 6, 2008
Trail Condition - Parking lot and lower section of the trail were nearly snow free. Stream crossings on this trail were no problem. No blowdowns to speak of. As we gained altitude the snow depth increased. We donned our Microspikes within the first mile and were glad we had them. By the time we reached the start of the spruce forest there was a section of trail a moose had "hiked" before us and managed to post-hole quite a bit! Once we reached the Carriage Road the trail was drifted over is some spots, and bare ice in others. It seemed this section had seen a lot more traffic and was in rougher condition. We saw only one couple wearing snow shoes, but it looked as though most who had passed this way previously, had not. We stayed in the Microspikes the entire time, could have switched to snow shoes for the Carriage Road, but never needed crampons.
Special Equipment Required - light traction, snow shoes, goggles, insulated water bottles, full winter clothing
Comments - Started about 8:30 AM, a large group left the parking lot 15 minutes before us but we did not see them until up on the ridge. I had hiked Moosilauke before, Beaver Brook trail, but I had not been on this trail. Big Earl was hiking up the Beaver Brook trail and we hoped to see them up top, but we stayed so short a time we did not. We did meet Trish & Alex on their descent. Alex has a great book of tales to call on for story time at school I am sure!
The last two 4000 footers I had hiked were small(er) and I am spoiled by doing Mt Major all the time, but this hike kicked my butt! I was having trouble with the right layers, sweating and chilling at the same time, but finally had the right combination for the pace and temperature we were at. As we were climbing, I was actually thinking about bailing out on this one! Sandi would have been with me at the drop of a hat too!..... we kept hiking...
Once we reached the Carriage Road the gain was almost done so the pace picked up a bit, the sun was on us, we had some views and we could see other hikers... life on the mountain! We skipped the south peak, and layered up behind a spruce hedge, right before the last push to the summit. I took just a very few pictures and we turned around right away due to the windchill. Sandi can have problems with her hands getting cold, so we avoided that by not waiting too long up there. For Moosilauke standards, these winds were not too bad, but we didn't take time out for lunch while we were on the summit!
On the way down we made great time, ahhh, the joy of the lower impact of descending on snow instead of rock! We hiked with Trish and Alex for a bit while Alex was telling us of some of her adventures. Made it back to our start in about 7 hours. Round trip: 7.8 miles, with 3,300 feet gain. This was #25 for Sandi, more then 1/2 way!
our pictures - http://community.webshots.com/album/569113434aymeHv?vhost=community
The slide show - http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/569113434aymeHv
The Movie!! - http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=im2kRjf8waY
Greg and Sandi
