A hairy day on the Baldplates!

So there I was waiting on Alpinista at 6:00 AM. She showed up and we transferred her hiking gear over to my car, parked her "Bug" in my garage and headed north to meet with Stevehiker at the park and ride in Bow, NH. We met, did another gear transfer to Stevehikers truck and it was off to West and East Baldplate in Maine. Of the 2 peaks, we really needed East Baldplate, which is a peak we all need for the New England Hundred Highest list.

As we cruised into Gorham, NH and picked up some trail food, we could see the snow on all the major peaks and we knew todays hike would be a good one . After turning off Rt 2 towards Grafton Notch State Park we could easily see the snow on the summits of the 2 Baldplates! Upon reaching the State Park lot, Amicus was there to meet us, he had pulled in 10 minutes prior.

We geared up, and at 9:48 AM AMStony, Alpinista, Stevehiker, and Amicus headed up the AT towards the Baldplates to "conquer" another NEHH peak. It was 19 degrees and everything was snow covered all the way along the trail. There were several streams to cross, which had bad footing due to ice, ran a foot or more deep, and could be a hike stopper if you had water get into your boots. So we gingerly crossed the streams, poles were real handy here. Stevehiker, who borrowed my "back up" set of hiking poles from my car back in Bow was appreciative to have the poles at this point!

As we moved up the AT, we could hear what sounded like snowmobiles in the distance, this would lead to a surprise shortly further down the trail. After about a half hour several of us changed layers. We then crossed some more streams and passed through several blowdowns that had recently been cleared. Snow depths continued to increase as we gained elevation. At around 11:15 we ran into a real surprise- a Maine ATC 2 person trail crew was out clearing all the blowdowns with chainsaws and axes up to West Baldplate summit . Man had this made our hike easier!! These guys were awesome and later in the day we'd be very appreciative of the trail work. We spoke to them and thanked them for their efforts.

At around 11:30, at the 3100 foot level, Alpinista decided to bail on the remainder of the hike and return back to the trailhead. She had decided to go back since the snow depths were getting more and more difficult, blowdowns were a problem, and above all it was her first major hike since getting back from the Katrina disaster. We agreed and did not see a problem, since the trail crew was further back if she needed something and the 2 Maine ATC trailworkers would be coming to the summit. She wanted to see the AT lean to and some other things along the trail, and talk to the trail crew (she maintains a piece of Airline trail). She left me her camera to take more pics, since mine had just died in the cold...........

Amicus, Stevehiker, and I arrived on the East Baldplate summit at approximately 1230 after beating thru major blowdowns, moving along rock faces with pretty serious ice on them, and having to move off the trail on many occasions to avoid both or a combination of both. On the West Baldplate summit we looked at the time, 1230, and knew we were pushing our turn around time. We could see East Baldplate- "right over there", only 9/10 of a mile to the summit! The three of us jointly decided to go for it since we still had 4 hours of daylight and if the situation was OK we could make it.

As we moved off the summit the one thing we saw was no footprints, nothing along the trail. No one had been this way since it had snowed. We moved carefully down the backside of West Baldplate, arriving at the big ladder, covered in very thin ice, but surrounded completely by ice. We looked at it, talked about it, and decided to have a go. As it turned out it was an "easy " go. It took awhile but we reached the col between the 2 peaks, and were now greeted by a steady cold blast of wind which now never let up. The East Baldplate summit was staring us in our face.

At 1:30 PM we reached the second, small ladder and at this point we knew it was, as Stevehiker said "game over man". A huge chunk of ice was along the trail, the AT was practically gone from a very major blowdown, and a fast moving stream was down from the small cliff with no way around it. We'd have to cross all this- and then who knows what else- that was still in front of us.

We studied the summit route to our front on East Baldplate where you could follow pieces of the trail to the summit. We could see the ice glistening along the rock faces. We discussed it all- the 3 of us looked at the time, the diminishing daylight (3 hours at very best), minimal moonlight from behind the ridge, the high winds, increasing cold, the severely impaired route, and the ice on the ledges. At this point, no matter how we discussed it, we knew this hike, after all the hard work- was done- game over man. It had taken us 1 hour to go approximately 700 yards. If we went on we still faced a hike to the summit with unknown icing conditions, then back down, then back up W. Baldpalte and the AT to the trailhead. No one was getting to East Baldplate today on this route.

So reluctantly we headed back. The problems continued as I lost a stabilcer and could not locate it again on the trek back up W. Baldplate, Stevehikers Yak trax broke on the trail coming off W. Balplate summit, and Amicus nearly lost his stabilicers.

The good part was we met the MATC trail crew just below the summit finishing up their work. They'd cleared every blowdown from that point to the trailhead in Grafton Notch!!! This definitely speeded our descent, and I took off ahead arriving back at Stevehikers truck at 3:30 and Stevehiker and Amicus arriving back at 3:45 PM.

The best part here was Alpinista had warned up the truck, a Quebec hiker was being screamed at in French by his wife for changing clothes for all to see- he put on a blanket and continued , and we took some pictures for a group of girls having fun in the park. Then Amicus left for home, and Alpinista, Stevehiker, and I stopped at Sunday River arriving for dinner at 4:45.

It was very cold, windy, and the 1/4 moon was low- we were glad to have not continued onto East Baldplate. We'll make another go for it on another day!

Great job capturing the fun and wonder of it all, Tony! It was great to be out in the snow on such a beautiful day. I love the winter sky when it's just crystal clear and blue.

Here are the pix, with a credit to you for the last five images!

http://community.webshots.com/album/503274435yyDEFP

Nicely written report. I did this hike in the early part of the summer, and i would have to say that you did the right thing by turning around. The last trek up to east baldpate has some very steep, slick, and dangerous ledges. If you were having problems before these ledges, i imagine it would have been a difficult go of it heading up, and very treachorous coming down. Were there any views? Unfortunately i did not partake in the views when i climbed it, it was a wet rainy day.

Views there were and they were great. They started when the going got steep (and icy, but with sidepaths around the ice) up to West Baldpate, and got spectacular when we descended to the bare and windswept col. The East summit ledges, ice-coated, loomed in our faces, while the crystal air gave us visibility you'd hardly ever find in the summer. The Umbagogs and neighboring lakes dominated the view north, but I need to work on my knowledge of the many peaks we viewed. We were a bit distracted with the decisions Amstony has well described.
The MATC crew were George Brown and Peter Roderick, by the way. Great guys and dedicated servants of the Maine trails. They both lead Maine hikes you can find ahead of time in AMC Outdoors, and you'll almost certainly be doing yourself a favor if you go on one of theirs.
For me, the hike was a complete success. Even the drive to and from Freedom, NH edified on such a day. Route 5 from Fryeburg to Bethel can be beautiful - Good morning Lovell! Whether I'm at 70 or 71 on the NEHH means nothing - the List succeeded in overcoming my inertia and getting me to do a hike I never would have otherwise. Nice people too.

I'm glad you guys had a great day out... enjoying yourselves out there is way more important than making the summit! Baldpate was the peak that I had some trouble on last April... glad you guys didn't have a similar experience!

- Ivy

I also did Baldpate on a cloudy, rainy day, and can only imagine what it'd be like under the conditions you describe.

But the important thing is that nothing was tried that would result in a long thread debating its stupidity, and nobody's getting written up by Mohamed.


Great hike!

great report and a good decision on turning around. you can always go back.

nice pics, alpinista!

Yes, glad to hear everyone had a safe, if abbreviated, hike. I was thinking about your group as I was parked firmly in my classroom on that gorgeous day! I got a view of the Baldpates from town yesterday and they were starting to look rocky on top again...was there not too much snow?

To add to the "hairy days on Baldpate" theme my first attempt to visit the summits was a late winter solo backpack. I was hoping to camp up high. On the steep part approaching west peak I broke through a "stream trap". The snow level was at about 4 ft, but it was only a thin layer. Underneath was nothing...it had been rotted away by runoff flowing underneath. I, my snowshoes, and my winter overnight pack dropped straight down into 20-25 cm of cold running water that got right into my boots. Turned around there, slept at the lean-to and headed out the next morning.

Did get a brilliant, warm, sunny visit years later in late summer. Definitely worth re-doing, I think, if you did not get views on prior visits.
-vegematic

Poison Ivy (and anyone else ...) -- any idea how the approach to East Baldpate would be from the northern trailhead? I'm guessing that there wouldn't be the col to contend with and thus nothing so steep as to require an ice axe etc.

some more pics of our fun in the snow. This all I got since the camera battery died.

and then the battery on the camera died....

Snow depths

They varied of course but overall quite a bit more than on the Weeks ridge last weekend. The col in particular had lots, but drifted and wind-crusted. For some stretches you could walk gingerly on the crust for a while, then post-hole. Icy bare spots too, of course, but I found stabilicers to be quite adequate for everything except those few hundred yards of ledges to the summit of East. I loved the look of the whole trail, but especially the col - a real winterscape.

alpinista said:

Poison Ivy (and anyone else ...) -- any idea how the approach to East Baldpate would be from the northern trailhead? I'm guessing that there wouldn't be the col to contend with and thus nothing so steep as to require an ice axe etc.

Click to expand...

Alpinista - there is lots of steep slab and a small ladder or two as you ascend Little Baldpate on the AT. Never did it in the winter, but I would guess that would be challenging. Marty

alpinista said:

Poison Ivy (and anyone else ...) -- any idea how the approach to East Baldpate would be from the northern trailhead? I'm guessing that there wouldn't be the col to contend with and thus nothing so steep as to require an ice axe etc.

Click to expand...

You can go up from East B Hill Road (if you go round trip, make a loop by heading down the Cascade Trail... lots of pretty falls.) It doesn't get much traffic, so you'll likely be breaking trail most of the way if there's snow. Last April, it was very, very sparsely blazed and there were a lot of blowdowns so the trail was hard to follow. When I returned to pick up the area I missed when I got off the trail, they had repainted the blazes up to where the snowline was at that time... so someone may have gone up in the summer and reblazed the rest of the way later... I was last up there in May.

There aren't any ledges to contend with coming from the north... the summit of Little Baldpate had a little ice in April so you might need crampons, but there is nothing so steep as to need an ice axe.

I think the route from the south is better though.
- Ivy

Edited to add: I don't remember seeing a ladder-- perhaps it was buried in the snow by that point!

next time

I'd just as soon go back the same way again. That was one of the coolest cols I've ever been in. It had a better view than the summit of West Baldpate, too.

I still think Amicus had a good idea. With that picture of the summit sign of West and some creative photo-editting, we might have made it after all.

West Baldpate remeasured

My Vertech altimeter, which had been accurate at the trailhead, showed 3,820 feet for the West Baldpate summit. When I got home, I expected to find the altimeter 200 feet or so too high, but in fact it was 60 feet low. So, West Baldpate is 3,880 feet and in fact one of the NEHH - incontrovertible scientific proof. Don't know how they messed up so badly. East Baldpate did look a little higher, but that may have been an illusion, or maybe it too has been mismeasured.
Like Steve, I'm definitely headed back there - probably next summer.

Nice trip report!

I agree that the col is an awesome place. I'd encourage you to give it another go in the winter... it's not always so difficult. Some days, you can just tromp right up and down with snowshoes and ski poles. Other days, I've used ice axe and crampons. On yet more days, I didn't even hike Baldpate at all, so I can't comment on what sharp metal objects you need.

Now, climbing from East B Hill Road in winter, that would be groovy. I don't think anyone much goes there. Best of all would be a car spot and traverse, crashing downhill through untramped powder. Back to the brewery by dark? I think I'll give it a go this year. Don't steal my powder!

East is definitely higher.

I went solo last January, on a colder than cold day. West is a great place to have lunch out of the wind, and I agree that the col is spectacular! Started up the ledges of East with crampons and poles, but about 2/3 of the way up I decided I really should have used the ice axe instead. Rather than end up in the col with a busted leg and alone in those temperatures, I turned around just a couple hundred feet from the East summit.

There will be another winter day!