Bombadil
Active member
12/1/12-12/2/12
One of my few goals for this upcoming winter is to do a single day pemi loop so I figured breaking a loop up into 2 days and staying at the Garfield lean-to would be a good training hike and a pseudo-leisurely way of going about it. Everything's relative I suppose cuz it was far from leisurely thanks to some adverse conditions. I managed to convince a friend that accompanied me on some solid hikes this summer/fall to come along and figured it would be nice to give him a sneak peak of what winter hiking is like without the super cold conditions and difficulties of breaking trail in deep powder.
We started out around 10 am from Lincoln Woods with light snow falling. It was rather pleasant hiking and a nice cool 15-20 degrees which felt perfect for the long hike up to Bondcliff. There was only 1-4" or so of freshies until climbing Bondcliff. Maybe 3-5" or so at upper elevations below treeline. We hit Bondcliff in the clouds, a light snow falling, and breezy 10-30 mph winds blowing. We stopped for a quick bite to eat and set off up Bond. There were some deeper drifts heading up Bond but nothing too bad. It was a bit easier going than when I was last here a month ago and the holes weren't filled in with snow.
Devin wasn't feeling too hot around W Bond so I suggested he have some more food and we both were slacking off in drinking enough fluids. We slackpacked W Bond and felt pretty good as we set off for S Twin. It grew dark and the winds picked up and we trudged along to S twin. I thought about making a mad dash for N Twin and catching up to Devin by the hut but realized that would be silly and selfish under the conditions. Devin made the mistake of not adjusting his layers enough en route up Bond and had swapped his shell for his warm insulation layer, something that I feel guilty about since I should have noticed. So by the time we hit the hut even with his shell on he was very cold, wet, and on his last L of water. I had 1 L left but it was semi-frozen and was working on thawing it, figuring it would last to the campsite. I had Devin ditch his wet layers while I made soup and melted snow. I made the mistake of staying out in the relative open next to the hut, sheltering behind a large boulder instead of going back into the trees. Consequently getting my stove going was a pain and the stove was not super efficient with the gusty winds. I'm a bit disappointed in myself in that I didn't relocate back into the woods but I was a bit distracted with getting my hiking partner warm again and weighing options of bivying and continuing to melt snow, bailing down Gale River, or just trying to make it to Garfield Campsite for the night. Hopefully I'll have a clearer head next time.
After getting Devin warmed up again we set off on the GRT, unsure which way we'd be going at the junction. Once there we discussed the options for a good bit. I was very concerned about fuel since I hadn't brought enough to cook dinner and melt 8+ L of snow, but I was confident we'd have enough for the night for sure. I just was getting real pessimistic about the possibility of finding open water by the campsite since it looked and felt like mid-Jan instead of the first of December. We opted to continue on to the campsite and thankfully the spring was still running, I grinned ear-to-ear and drank my fill (aside: does anyone know if this spring runs during the winter?? Does guyot campsite??). We headed up to the new lean-to and woke up 2 very friendly hikers (Wayne and Susan) and we traded hiking stories with the very accomplished hikers as we cooked up hearty dinners. We slept quite well and were rejuvenated in the morning.
Overnight the temperatures moderated and the light snow that fell all day Saturday turned to sleet but subsided in the morning. Garfield was in the clouds when we got there late morning; Lafayette poked in and out of the clouds as we headed that way. The sky had been clearing late morning/early afternoon and the sun was out for a few hours. Minus the stiff wind it was pretty pleasant. The forecast we had last checked friday night called for moderate temps and a chance of showers on Sun. Lafayette was in the clouds when we summitted and with the 40-70 mph winds we were doing quite a dance leaning into the wind. We figured life would be much better below treeline so we tried to pick up the pace. Within 20 mins it started to sleet/rain. With the howl of the wind it was almost hard to tell it was raining unless you made the mistake of turning to face the assault. I gave Devin my full head/face balaclava but I was feeling the pain in just a Buff. We were quite relieved to get into the trees but the rain only intensified and I felt horrible for taking a friend through such harsh conditions. It wasn't quite on the same plane as a memorable -20 F (-60 windchill) day from a few years ago on the southern presidentials with BigEarl and others, ending with superficial frostbite but it was an uncomfortable slog. We called it quits at Liberty Springs when Devin's jacket turned into a sieve and I had no more dry layers to offer my friend. So it wasn't a true pemi loop since we skipped out on the finish, but it seemed prudent to get down off the ridge asap instead of doing a pointless peak. We took the pemi trail under 93 and walked along 93 in the pouring rain and after 20 mins or so a car stopped. We were blown away because this young woman had passed by 20 mins earlier but couldn't stop due to traffic and circled all the way back to pick us up. There are some truly nice altruistic people out there!
Pat
pcushing21 at yahoo dot com
Not many photo ops:
Bondcliff in a light snow
looking north from below Lafayette
One of my few goals for this upcoming winter is to do a single day pemi loop so I figured breaking a loop up into 2 days and staying at the Garfield lean-to would be a good training hike and a pseudo-leisurely way of going about it. Everything's relative I suppose cuz it was far from leisurely thanks to some adverse conditions. I managed to convince a friend that accompanied me on some solid hikes this summer/fall to come along and figured it would be nice to give him a sneak peak of what winter hiking is like without the super cold conditions and difficulties of breaking trail in deep powder.
We started out around 10 am from Lincoln Woods with light snow falling. It was rather pleasant hiking and a nice cool 15-20 degrees which felt perfect for the long hike up to Bondcliff. There was only 1-4" or so of freshies until climbing Bondcliff. Maybe 3-5" or so at upper elevations below treeline. We hit Bondcliff in the clouds, a light snow falling, and breezy 10-30 mph winds blowing. We stopped for a quick bite to eat and set off up Bond. There were some deeper drifts heading up Bond but nothing too bad. It was a bit easier going than when I was last here a month ago and the holes weren't filled in with snow.
Devin wasn't feeling too hot around W Bond so I suggested he have some more food and we both were slacking off in drinking enough fluids. We slackpacked W Bond and felt pretty good as we set off for S Twin. It grew dark and the winds picked up and we trudged along to S twin. I thought about making a mad dash for N Twin and catching up to Devin by the hut but realized that would be silly and selfish under the conditions. Devin made the mistake of not adjusting his layers enough en route up Bond and had swapped his shell for his warm insulation layer, something that I feel guilty about since I should have noticed. So by the time we hit the hut even with his shell on he was very cold, wet, and on his last L of water. I had 1 L left but it was semi-frozen and was working on thawing it, figuring it would last to the campsite. I had Devin ditch his wet layers while I made soup and melted snow. I made the mistake of staying out in the relative open next to the hut, sheltering behind a large boulder instead of going back into the trees. Consequently getting my stove going was a pain and the stove was not super efficient with the gusty winds. I'm a bit disappointed in myself in that I didn't relocate back into the woods but I was a bit distracted with getting my hiking partner warm again and weighing options of bivying and continuing to melt snow, bailing down Gale River, or just trying to make it to Garfield Campsite for the night. Hopefully I'll have a clearer head next time.
After getting Devin warmed up again we set off on the GRT, unsure which way we'd be going at the junction. Once there we discussed the options for a good bit. I was very concerned about fuel since I hadn't brought enough to cook dinner and melt 8+ L of snow, but I was confident we'd have enough for the night for sure. I just was getting real pessimistic about the possibility of finding open water by the campsite since it looked and felt like mid-Jan instead of the first of December. We opted to continue on to the campsite and thankfully the spring was still running, I grinned ear-to-ear and drank my fill (aside: does anyone know if this spring runs during the winter?? Does guyot campsite??). We headed up to the new lean-to and woke up 2 very friendly hikers (Wayne and Susan) and we traded hiking stories with the very accomplished hikers as we cooked up hearty dinners. We slept quite well and were rejuvenated in the morning.
Overnight the temperatures moderated and the light snow that fell all day Saturday turned to sleet but subsided in the morning. Garfield was in the clouds when we got there late morning; Lafayette poked in and out of the clouds as we headed that way. The sky had been clearing late morning/early afternoon and the sun was out for a few hours. Minus the stiff wind it was pretty pleasant. The forecast we had last checked friday night called for moderate temps and a chance of showers on Sun. Lafayette was in the clouds when we summitted and with the 40-70 mph winds we were doing quite a dance leaning into the wind. We figured life would be much better below treeline so we tried to pick up the pace. Within 20 mins it started to sleet/rain. With the howl of the wind it was almost hard to tell it was raining unless you made the mistake of turning to face the assault. I gave Devin my full head/face balaclava but I was feeling the pain in just a Buff. We were quite relieved to get into the trees but the rain only intensified and I felt horrible for taking a friend through such harsh conditions. It wasn't quite on the same plane as a memorable -20 F (-60 windchill) day from a few years ago on the southern presidentials with BigEarl and others, ending with superficial frostbite but it was an uncomfortable slog. We called it quits at Liberty Springs when Devin's jacket turned into a sieve and I had no more dry layers to offer my friend. So it wasn't a true pemi loop since we skipped out on the finish, but it seemed prudent to get down off the ridge asap instead of doing a pointless peak. We took the pemi trail under 93 and walked along 93 in the pouring rain and after 20 mins or so a car stopped. We were blown away because this young woman had passed by 20 mins earlier but couldn't stop due to traffic and circled all the way back to pick us up. There are some truly nice altruistic people out there!
Pat
pcushing21 at yahoo dot com
Not many photo ops:
Bondcliff in a light snow
looking north from below Lafayette
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