7 summits with Frodo 4/30/2011

Alarm went off at 2am in order for me to meet Frodo at Lincoln Woods at 5:30am. After spotting his car there we drove up through Franconia Notch to the Garfield winter TH. Cruddy Toes joined us there to make sure we had a good pace up to Garfield..


And of we went in the gray morning.....Cruddy and Frodo just passed one of the new bridges....


A fair amount of water in the creeks and we took the shoes off at one point to make it over. Around 2,500' it was time to put the snowshoes on:


It was a monorail conditions with mashed potatoes on the sides. For a while sleet came down and water blew off the trees. Once we got closer to 4,000' the trees were frozen up so weren't getting soaked anymore. Naughty boys we were today so we dropped the packs by the Garfield Ridge intersection and went the last two ticks to the summit packless. First Al pulled out some Ritters chocolate to ensure we had enough energy to make the summit:


Al is getting close in the wind and fog.....


Al went back Garfield Trail and Frodo and I continued towards Galehead. Here you can see Frodo showing proper technique descending steep rock with snowshoes on - shake and bake!


I never fell so many times on a hike as today......the soft snow was deep on the sides of the "magic line".......it took us a good couple of hours to balance our way to Galehead Hut where we took a break to gather strength for the 2nd summit attempt of the day:


Naughty boys again we were.....leaving the packs at the hut while tagging Galehead....on the way up South Twin we met the only hikers for the day....they seemed moderately happy about their ordeal. Here is Frodo coming up South Twin about the same time as the first sun showed up:


Then off to North Twin......I fell off the monorail and face planted into a tree....we'll see if I need to change my vftt name to "Scarface"...
Views of South Twin from North Twin...lovely weather now...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_QZn2o1WVqaA/Tb4SDqB9iqI/AAAAAAAACgw/7RAscFO5Usw/s640/IMG_0464.JPG

The sun was strong going back towards South Twin.....after South Twin I put some chunks of ice in my hydration bladder to extend the range of the fuel tank. Shortly after the right turn onto flatter ground on the Twinway I got lost and it took maybe 20 minutes to get back on the trail......and soon Guyot showed up......off with the snowshoes....used Kahtoola's 28" today....


West Bond was windy as usual.......by now it was 4:30pm.....monorailing up to Bond and soon Bondcliff for summit nr 7 today was in sight:


My 5.5 liters I brought were all gone by the time Bondcliff was reached....and the lovely 9 miles remaining to Lincoln Woods.


Frodo was looking forward to change footwear.....should be clear below 3,000" we guessed......not so.......after mono-railing to the creek crossing where I filled up water we continued to close to the last creek crossing before the snowshoes were off....

....it got darker and darker and finally we hit the Wilderness Trail......we met a mysterious little man by the old logging camp by the trail intersection to Bondcliff Trail.....he said something about a strong force...he was kinda funny looking ....but we were getting tired and didn't pay too much attention to him and continued to Lincoln Woods......


Shortly before 10pm we were back where dropped off the car 16 1/2 hours ago.....a good day we had......

Frodo- that doesn't look like a Yankees hat.

So, all that training on Tecumseh and Jackson paid off, Mats?

Frodo's new cap may be his secret strategy for sending the Red Sox into the basement of the AL East?

Nice TR and pics Mats, though the pics are a nice contrast to the horrible rotten snow conditions we encounered for most of the day. We need a heat wave...

Laura, we must have just missed you! I know you love those early starts...

Dr D, actually I bought that hat after the Rangers ousted NY from the playoffs last October. Still a long season to go...

Dr. Dasypodidae said:

So, all that training on Tecumseh and Jackson paid off, Mats?

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Absolutely!.......never underestimate the impact of Tecumseh.....he was a Shawnee Chief fighting with the British in the 1812 war.....inflicting significant damage to the Americans....he was killed in battle on October 5, 1813. Richard Mentor Johnson, who was elected vice president in 1837 claimed in his election campaign he had personally killed Tecumseh in that battle. In a way, you can argue that Tecumseh should be included in the Presidential Range.....

Tecumseh also had a reputation of treating war prisoners in a very humane way.....he was fighting for native Americans right to their land most of his life.......at least he has a nice piece of land named after him now.....

Anyone knows whom "Ladies Delight Hill" in Maine was named after?

Ummm...nice pants (err, trousers, err, wait, actually they are pants) Mats.

Looks like a fun big day out, despite the crap snow. But no more taking Cruddy out on big hikes. I need to be able to keep up with him when he comes over to hit the mtns with me!

Mats Roing said:

Absolutely!.......never underestimate the impact of Tecumseh.....he was a Shawnee Chief fighting with the British in the 1812 war.....inflicting significant damage to the Americans....he was killed in battle on October 5, 1813. Richard Mentor Johnson, who was elected vice president in 1837 claimed in his election campaign he had personally killed Tecumseh in that battle. In a way, you can argue that Tecumseh should be included in the Presidential Range.....

Tecumseh also had a reputation of treating war prisoners in a very humane way.....he was fighting for native Americans right to their land most of his life.......at least he has a nice piece of land named after him now.....

Anyone knows whom "Ladies Delight Hill" in Maine was named after?

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Hmmm. Was it named after the book by Emile Zola? Au Bonheur des Dames?

Just glad SNOWSHOES WERE USED!