Tomorrow above 4 thous. feet?

Anyone going above 4000 feet tomorrow? Forecast seems iffy,with cold,wind and rain. http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/summit_forecast.php Looking for feedback and any general thoughts about hiking in rain and wind this time of year. Maybe go slow with no expectations? Is this weekend a washout?

Depends on your reasons for hiking. Folks peakbagging only for peakbagging sake will just get a bit cold and wet while doing so. Waterfall seekers might find something to like. Myself, I would most likely wait for a nicer day, but everyone is different.

Unless it's steady rain I plan to hike Cabot and Waumbek tomorrow, following that with Carrigain Sunday. Sticking with day hikes (instead of backpacking as I'd probably be doing) because of the forecast. While it's true I am bagging peaks, the thought of missing a weekend of hiking bothers me more than getting a little wet.

It's a perfect day for trail maintenance on National Trails day! How else would you know where the water erodes the trail?

I've already cancelled my Kinsmans hike on Saturday.

Oddly enough, this past winter season's hiking spoiled me. I somehow hit sunny days every time. My, that's nice.

Well, I'm planning to do an overnight practice run for my Whitney hike with my full gear list, so I'm headed out somewhere regardless, and was planning to go for 6000+ but I'm now looking at all other options in case of thunder and lightning or the afternoon winds that are expected.

What is the Davis path south of Isolation like in about 3 inches of rain, will it be torture and slow us down (like Rocky Branch would be after/during heavy rain)?

DMOutdoors said:

What is the Davis path south of Isolation like in about 3 inches of rain, will it be torture and slow us down (like Rocky Branch would be after/during heavy rain)?

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Wet and muddy, but no stream crossings! Nothing that should stop a seasoned tramper.

TDawg said:

Wet and muddy, but no stream crossings! Nothing that should stop a seasoned tramper.

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Exactly what I was hoping to hear. I knew there were no crossings, but saw a couple of photos of this section earlier which compelled me to ask just in case in was a big no-no or something. I haven't hiked south past Isolation yet. Thanks! Stay dry out there

Thanks for all the feedback...I am still on the fence for tomorrow..Does look like some downpour activity though...Cool hikes people are maybe doing tomorrow....

Planning on going Cannon to Moosilauke, and camping somewhere near Kinsman Notch.
Not looking forward to the cold rain, but need more of that kind of experience to feel confident about longer through hikes when there's no avoiding it.

Rain or not, as usual I'm completely stoked for this weekend's hikes

@Jeff: You might want to stay at the Kinsman Pond shelter. Nice heavy-duty roof, and you'll probably have it to yourself.

Myself and a group of friends are heading east to NH for the weekend. We were planning on doing the Bonds, Zealand, Twins, Goyot ridge but with all the rain and possibility of a T-storm gonna switch to to something else. Leaning towards Cannon, Cabot, Hale, or Iso combination. No river crossings that should be of issue if I recall there?

Scotzman said:

Myself and a group of friends are heading east to NH for the weekend. We were planning on doing the Bonds, Zealand, Twins, Goyot ridge but with all the rain and possibility of a T-storm gonna switch to to something else. Leaning towards Cannon, Cabot, Hale, or Iso combination. No river crossings that should be of issue if I recall there?

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Zealand is my goal for tomorrow! Looks like quite the rain maker heading our way.

Stayed out of the whites.Did not like the yellow on the radar,looks like a haymaker for the rain.Stream crossings should be fun this weekend..

Last fall I hiked 190 miles of the Long Trail over a 9 day stretch an had rain most of 7 days. Talk about miserable. One day in the Breadloaf Wilderness area, elevation areas were in 30s and gusts with 100 ft visibility with side ways rain. (saw a guy bagging Breadloaf and Wilson looking pretty miserable) I'm content taking a break if it's a deluge over the weekend. I still have disfigured toe nails 8 months later from 8 days of water logged shoes trekking through ankle deep mud.

My advice.....If you will still enjoy the day get out and hike. If you'll be miserable stay home. We should be out there to enjoy the mountains.

Heavy rain hiking is something you get used to but there are a couple of very important things to consider.

Hypothermia - If you are out in the rain and wind, you can get hypothermia in 60 degree weather. Cotton may kill but any saturated fabric even if its waterproof has minimal insulating value. One of the first symptons of hypthemia is the loss of mental acuity, therefore when you do get it you may not realize it and will start to make poor decisions. Once you are hypothermia you need to warm up and that usually means a change of clothes and something hot to drink. If you are committed to dayhiking in the wet conditions, there is a lot to be said in carrying a small reliable stove like a pocket rocket or a jet boil. It has saved me in the past.

Trail head access - The current forecast if for heavy rain and with the right conditions, roads wash out. I would avoid trailheads that are on long gravel roads as they can and will washout. Rt 302 and RT 16 have washed out in the past in similiar conditions.

Given some recent fish and game charges for rescue, plan on having all their recomended gear and plan on paying for a rescue, as the current forecast of flood conditions with up to 5 inches of rain on already saturated ground is probably a "poor decision" that qualifies for a charge for rescue.

Probably a good weekend to do trip planning and inventory the gear.

I Can't Get No Satispassion.

tomcat32 said:

We should be out there to enjoy the mountains.

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Does that mean it is wrong to seek satispassion in the mountains?

Once more, with feeling.

Silly Season on Mt Washington has arrived.

By 8:30 this morning, temp at the summit had dipped to 29 F, winds were up to @ 70 mph, and ice was building on all summit surfaces. There would be no road or rail access to Mt Washington summit today, limited summit amenities ( bathrooms Yes, summit building open YES, PERHAPS extremely limited cafeteria offerings ie hot beverages/water, packaged snack foods) Extremely limited staffing of the summit building. Why ????? Because the summit staff couldn't get there ?>?|???/

At the toll house at MWAR by 8:30 AM I had redirected 6 ( full) cars of hikers to PNVC , turned around 4 other cars who were supposed to be picking up hikers at the top.


By 2 PM there was an initial group of 9 hikers up top needing downbound transportation, and another group of 8 stacked up behind the first wave. The gravel section of the MWAR was the consistency of chunky peanut butter and IMPASSABLE upbound even with 4WD.

Silly season commences.

Breeze

As planned I hiked Cabot and Waumbek Saturday as a hit and run, then did Carrigain Sunday. Wasn't too bad. Very enjoyable hikes

Well just a quick update, we were commited to our trip but went with an alternate set of mountains. We did Hale and Waumbek on Sat and Cannon on Sun and for as nasty as the radar looked we really lucked out. We had some pretty strong wind gusts on Saturday, guessing in the 40's which happened to do alot of de-foaliation but there was practically no rain while we were on the trails. On Sun we had no wind and a few sprinkles but really turned out quite nice. Glad we were hiking.