XC Skiing the Pemi East Side (turning back on Thoreau Falls Trail) Feb 24, 2014

Vacation week, so, I kind of had my heart set on skiing in the Pemi as I haven't been back in a while. Luckily, a snowboarding fall a couple weeks ago has restricted other outdoor activities and I have found myself doing more XC skiing than originally anticipated while certain inflexible joints become more flexible!!

Anyway, started at 8am in Lincoln Woods - as I was gearing up I kept hearing wheels turning and revving. Only 2 other cars in the lot and the truck spinning his wheels. On my way to the trail I asked the guy if I could help. "It's a manual!" he said. "Great! I only drive manuals!!!" A few shifts of the gears and he was on his way to ski as well!

Started out with wider skis but quickly switched back to my old, dependable, waxless Rossis after running back to the car. Put on some glide wax and quickly found I wasn't going anywhere in the 20-degree "heat"! Luckily, I was carrying some tubes of legit wax I bought after DougPaul's and my Pemi lollipop TFT/Shoal Pond overnight ski several years ago. I recall pretty much exactly what he said to do and I was soon actually gliding on the waxless skis again! Yay!!!

Conditions were basically very icy/frozen postholes/frozen tracks with lots of crust. Too bad people bareboot all over the XC tracks out to the wilderness boundary - I mean, there are LOTS of places to walk other than the tracks, right???

At the wilderness boundary, I found some older ski tracks that were heavily postholed. The usual drainages were a challenge to get over... some required a LOT of maneuvering. Occasionally, I had to take my skis off. Ski trails led along the shores of the Pemi as well.

Carried my skis up the long uphill near the Cedar Brook Jct. At that point, the tracks ended - whoever broke out the trail (somewhat - it was still pretty rough!!!) turned around. I could see faint tracks leading off to Cedar Brook Trail - I know an AMC group did the traverse a while ago since the storm. I headed up the Wilderness Trail - a faint trough to break out. Lots of views along the way. Occasional obstacles. I knew my turnaround time was going to be around 12:30 and I was an hour from that.

I headed up the Wilderness Trail - skis off for the major washout and another walkover area/open stream. I was curious about where the faint tracks led. Still, all along the way I was punching down through the crust that was pretty thin. The faint trough continued up the Wilderness Trail.

Took the left onto Thoreau Falls Trail - noone had been there.... easy skiing on the top of the snow until the wet areas - when I fell in, I sunk up to my waist and had trouble getting out. Finally, at the major crossing (well before the bridge), I reached my turnaround time - snow looked very deep. After getting stuck a few times in spruce/water bars/etc, decided safety called... turnaround time!!!!

I would have liked to get up to the falls but it wasn't in the cards - just not enough time to get home for dinner

Looking across the Pemi East Side Trail:


Where the Pemi East Side Trail bends back from the river (north of the campground):


Skiable crossing on the Pemi East Side Trail (I have fallen in here in the summer!):


Now on the Wilderness Trail - nice trailwork!!!


Junction with Thoreau Falls Trail - noone has been out there!


Easy skiing along Thoreau Falls Trail... until the wet sections


More Thoreau Falls Trail:


Just past this wet section (at the river crossing) I turned back - didn't seem safe


On the way back, at the earlier water crossing on the Pemi East Side Trail - this cool view


Hope you enjoy!
--Becca

Not smart enough to rest on your (good snow) laurels, I see...

I was invited to go on a ski Pemi traverse this past weekend but declined, in part due to the snow conditions. I haven't heard what happened, but I suspect that you would have seen fresh tracks if they had skied either route.

Doug

EDIT: the traverse crew bailed.

Great report Becca! I was out early on the East Side trail last Sat Feb 15, right after a ton of snow earlier in the week. One other skiier ahead of me. As I was on the trail, before the washout, a couple were stomping through, bare-booting. I hope and prayed that they would turn back at the washout. I kept on skiing, saw the other skier had continued to nicely break trail heading out to the campsites and a bit beyond. Great and wonderful conditions. I turned around, and soon found that the bare-booters had gone the whole way. So annoying, as they really chewed up the trail. This is a big pet peeve of mine, I mean come on!

As you say, there are SO many other places to walk! And yes, if the snow is too deep, then it's too deep--please don't walk there! I did say, "oh you came all the way out here without skis or snowshoes". Yes, they said, they thought the snow would be too deep, but then they figured out they could walk on the nice new ski trails. Grrrrrr!

Sounds like the conditions have deteriorated a lot in one week. Hoping for some more snow in the next few days.

Happy Trails

I made my own Kanc XC debut on Sat. (Feb. 22), on the pair of linked XC loops, the east end of which starts at the Oliverian Brook parking lot. I should have realized that the rain late last week would have produced poor conditions. Snowshoers had used the trails far more than XC'rs (or bare-booters), so there was a well-defined but narrow track, with very little postholing. That was fine for the flat sections, which predominate, but outside the narrow track, there was a crust on top of more than a foot of powder, so descending was brutal and I had to quit after less than an hour. There is a wonderful meadow in the middle of the connecting section, however, with a sweeping view north into the Pemi, including Carrigain and Lowell, and east to the Moats. I regretted not bringing my camera.

carla said:

Great report Becca! I was out early on the East Side trail last Sat Feb 15, right after a ton of snow earlier in the week. One other skiier ahead of me. As I was on the trail, before the washout, a couple were stomping through, bare-booting. I hope and prayed that they would turn back at the washout. I kept on skiing, saw the other skier had continued to nicely break trail heading out to the campsites and a bit beyond. Great and wonderful conditions. I turned around, and soon found that the bare-booters had gone the whole way. So annoying, as they really chewed up the trail. This is a big pet peeve of mine, I mean come on!

As you say, there are SO many other places to walk! And yes, if the snow is too deep, then it's too deep--please don't walk there! I did say, "oh you came all the way out here without skis or snowshoes". Yes, they said, they thought the snow would be too deep, but then they figured out they could walk on the nice new ski trails. Grrrrrr!

Sounds like the conditions have deteriorated a lot in one week. Hoping for some more snow in the next few days.

Happy Trails

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Hi Carla! You must have been the skier I met on 2/15 - I was the one ahead!! I turned around at the wilderness boundary and skied the other side of the river later.

Yeah, I ran across those barebooters all punching up the trail - I was anticipating a nice smooth ski back and WHAM the track was destroyed!!!! I decided I wouldn't say anything to them because it would have just made me madder and what was the point... GRRRRRR

Amicus said:

I made my own Kanc XC debut on Sat. (Feb. 22), on the pair of linked XC loops, the east end of which starts at the Oliverian Brook parking lot. I should have realized that the rain late last week would have produced poor conditions. Snowshoers had used the trails far more than XC'rs (or bare-booters), so there was a well-defined but narrow track, with very little postholing. That was fine for the flat sections, which predominate, but outside the narrow track, there was a crust on top of more than a foot of powder, so descending was brutal and I had to quit after less than an hour. There is a wonderful meadow in the middle of the connecting section, however, with a sweeping view north into the Pemi, including Carrigain and Lowell, and east to the Moats. I regretted not bringing my camera.

Click to expand...

HI Amicus - good info on the Kanc XC areas in winter - I have mountain biked them in the summer - you are right, the view in the meadow is wonderful!!! I have never XC skied there, tho.... sounds like scary conditions!!!

Amicus said:

I should have realized that the rain late last week would have produced poor conditions. Snowshoers had used the trails far more than XC'rs (or bare-booters), so there was a well-defined but narrow track, with very little postholing. That was fine for the flat sections, which predominate, but outside the narrow track, there was a crust on top of more than a foot of powder, so descending was brutal and I had to quit after less than an hour.

Click to expand...

Both happen fairly often in the Whites...
I tend to view BC ski conditions as a temperamental prima donna: if they are good, I generally ski because they may not last. If not good, I do something else (eg snowshoe/hike).

There are a number of trails often shared by skiers and snowshoers. Skiing uphill or on the level in a snowshoe trench is no problem, but speed control can become difficult on the downhills. Getting first tracks is often the best solution--it helps if you can ski mid-week right after a new snowfall. Avoiding popular snowshoe/bare boot trails can help too.

And of course, warm spells and/or rain can turn the surface to crust which can also make skiing much harder. My approach is to wait for good snow conditions and pounce. (For instance, for my solo Pemi lollipop in 2002, I got 6 inches of fresh cold snow over a hard crust on Sunday or Monday, skied it on Tuesday (starting at -5F and finishing ~30F eighteen hours later), and rain spoiled it on Wednesday...)

To guesstimate the snow conditions from home (in eastern MA), I use weather forecasts, climate reports, nearby XC ski area snow condition reports, and the AMC backcountry weather reports.

Doug


some URLs:
* weather forecasts (move to location of interest)
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...YX&textField1=44.0456&textField2=-71.6706&e=1

* detailed history and climate (go to the location page and click on "Detailed History and Climate")
Berlin: http://classic.wunderground.com/US/NH/Berlin/KBML.html
Mt Wash: http://classic.wunderground.com/US/NH/Whitefield/KMWN.html
Whitefield: http://classic.wunderground.com/US/NH/Whitefield/KHIE.html
Laconia: http://classic.wunderground.com/US/NH/Laconia/KLCI.html
Fryburg: http://classic.wunderground.com/US/ME/Fryeburg/KIZG.html

* climate reports (what has happened in the last 24 hrs, BTW the times are in UTC (GMT)))
Berlin: http://vortex.plymouth.edu/cgi-bin/gen_statlog.cgi?ident=kbml&pl=none&cu=la
Mt Wash: http://vortex.plymouth.edu/cgi-bin/gen_statlog.cgi?ident=kmwn&pl=none&cu=la
Whitefield: http://vortex.plymouth.edu/cgi-bin/gen_statlog.cgi?ident=khie&pl=none&cu=la
Laconia: http://vortex.plymouth.edu/cgi-bin/gen_statlog.cgi?ident=klci&pl=none&cu=la
Fryburg: http://vortex.plymouth.edu/cgi-bin/gen_statlog.cgi?ident=kizg&pl=none&cu=la

* XC ski area condition reports (The kick wax, surface conditions, and depth reports are particularly useful.)
http://www.brettonwoods.com/nordic_conditions/snow_conditions
http://www.greatglentrails.com/winter/outdoor-center/snow-conditions/
http://jacksonxc.org/general-conditions
http://jacksonxc.org/trail-conditions
http://www.mwvskitouring.org/snowreport.html (Intervale)
http://www.waterville.com/nordic/nordic-conditions

* AMC backcountry weather reports
http://www.outdoors.org/recreation/tripplanner/go/backcountry-weather.cfm

Oh Becca! I wish I had known it was you! you've been so generous with your advice on XC ski trails. Thanks again for breaking it out for me (and the annoying bare booters!) on the 15th. Of course you wouldn't have recognized me from my avatar picture. I'm not an otter--I wish I was that cute! ; )

Glad you went and did the other side too. It seems that on that side people had been much better about not messing up the ski tracks. I'm still bummed that the missing bridge breaks up what used to be such a great loop. Ah well…

Happy Trails!

I saw your tracks. Use update posted on Pemi Traverse (ski) thread.

Did the pemi ski traverse Mar 1-2 weekend with an AMC group of 4, led by Pete Lane. Went in from Zealand Road to Zealand Trail, stayed at Zealand hut Sat night. Almost bailed due to icy snow conditions, but then got 1-2 inches overnight and decided to go for it. From the hut and skiing hard, took 8 hours to get the ~16 miles to Lincoln Woods. Didn't see anyone the whole way. Final several miles had already been tracked, but many miles in the middle were untracked. Very icy conditions on the final few miles from Franconia campground. but made for very quick skiing. Distance per hour ranged from 2.5 miles for the first hour, then 1.2 miles average for the next four hours, then much faster toward the end due to icy continuous downhills.

eliotlevine said:

Did the pemi ski traverse Mar 1-2 weekend with an AMC group of 4, led by Pete Lane. Went in from Zealand Road to Zealand Trail, stayed at Zealand hut Sat night. Almost bailed due to icy snow conditions, but then got 1-2 inches overnight and decided to go for it. From the hut and skiing hard, took 8 hours to get the ~16 miles to Lincoln Woods. Didn't see anyone the whole way. Final several miles had already been tracked, but many miles in the middle were untracked. Very icy conditions on the final few miles from Franconia campground. but made for very quick skiing. Distance per hour ranged from 2.5 miles for the first hour, then 1.2 miles average for the next four hours, then much faster toward the end due to icy continuous downhills.

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Which way did you go? TFT or SPT? (We did the traverse from Rte 302 to LW on the 2nd via SPT.)

Doug

TFT or SPT

DougPaul said:

Which way did you go? TFT or SPT? (We did the traverse from Rte 302 to LW on the 2nd via SPT.)

Doug

Click to expand...

We went via the Thoreau Falls Trail. I had heard from some folks that the Shoal Pond was better skiing even though longer. What are your thoughts about this? Thank you.

eliotlevine said:

We went via the Thoreau Falls Trail. I had heard from some folks that the Shoal Pond was better skiing even though longer. What are your thoughts about this? Thank you.

Click to expand...

We considered taking the TFT, but the steep descent with a thin layer of unconsolidated powder over breakable crust didn't seem appealing. (Also I cannot do a kick turn since my broken leg so I probably would have had to walk down.)

The SPT started with ~3in of powder over the breakable crust which was reasonable, but as we headed south the powder thinned leaving mostly breakable crust and IMO conditions went downhill. I was third in line so I encountered a mixture of pieces of crust mixed with powder. They grabbed at my skis unpredictably and my waxless skis gave very little kick, so I wasn't very happy with the conditions. They didn't seem to bother my companions as much so perhaps there was something different about their skis and/or perhaps they were more skilled at dealing with the conditions. I found that I could get a reasonable kick/grip with purple wax on the skis, but the snow was so abrasive that it didn't last very long.

IMO, the SPT is more interesting than the TFT and there were several spots that I wanted to revisit in the daylight. (I had skied the SPT twice in the dark (with navigational difficulties on one trip) on my lollipop routes from Lincoln Woods. Both trips were done in much better snow conditions...)

Writing a trip report has been on my to-do list.

Doug