Snowflea
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- Sep 5, 2003
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Part 2
3/15 Tecumseh, Kinsmans/Cannnon - 17.9 miles
The trip up Tecumseh in a steady, drenching, bone chilling March rain is one of those character builders that is best deleted from memory. My umbrella once again gets a workout, and we are up and down the peak in a little over 2 hours. We’d intended to head up the Tripyramids from here, but our waterlogged packs, clothing, and bodies dictate a switch to Plan B. We stop at the condo to dry our clothing and gear, then drive up to Lafayette Place and are pleasantly surprised when the rain stops just as we start up the grade toward Lonesome Lake. The Swimmin’ Jimmy Trail lives up to its name on this day, but we are SO happy that the entire route, even the Cannonballs(!), is broken out and seems to have received only rain in the storm! Since Cannon Ski Area is closed today, we are the only ones on top of the mountain. The day ends with a Sasquatch sighting in the parking lot! Another low mileage day.
3/16 Passaconaway/Whiteface/Tripyramids & Moosilauke - 27.3 miles
We awake at 4 a.m., spot a car at Pine Bend Brook, and Garbonzo drives us aaaall the way around to Ferncroft. We are first on the trail since the recent storm, and Dicey’s Mill Trail has a few inches of new snow. We top Passaconaway and Whiteface, then proceed to the Kate Sleeper Trail which is covered in untracked snow that is made increasingly sticky in the warm sun. (Frodo had broken out Kate Sleeper the weekend before, but unfortunately there was no sign of his tracks after the last storm.) Farmer breaks an impressive trail, but I feel as though I’m dragging cement blocks across the Sleepers. However, we are happy that today is a beautiful, warm, blue sky day, and morale is high. Nearing South Tripyramid we lose the Sleeper Trail and opt to head straight up, completely missing the South Slide. The “Farmer Direct” route up South Tri is stellar and highly recommended. Although untracked, we make our way pretty easily over to North Peak but miss the Pine Bend Brook Trail and instead descend into the PBB Valley directly from the N. Tri - Scaur Peak col. Wheeeeee… fun! We reconnect with Jason at Dunkin Donuts in Lincoln, stop at the condo for a few minutes to regroup, and negotiate the crazy frost heaves to Ravine Lodge Road. The ascent of Gorge Brook Trail is uneventful, the stars are groovy, and we enjoy Jason’s infusion of fresh energy. We fall asleep later than we should have given what’s in store for tomorrow…
3/17-18 Pemi loop w/side peaks, plus Owls Head - 44.7 miles
I wasn’t certain it would be doable but wanted to give this 13 peaker a shot as the nonstop grand finale. Garbonzo joins us for the 5-mile speedwalk to the broken out Bondcliff Trail, where he wishes us good luck as I fill my water bottles straight from Black Brook. With Jason leading most of the way, we head up to Bondcliff, taking yet another unique route, bypassing the trail in one section in favor of the brookbed. Bondcliff, Bond, West Bond… the summits are tagged under blue skies and bright sunshine. We drop our packs on Guyot and head over to Zealand via previous hikers’ meandering paths. On the summit we are surprised by our only hiker encounter of the day: it’s BOB of Bob’nGeri, who is only a couple of peaks short of completing the 48 twice this winter. Congrats Bob! The Twinway is untracked, difficult to follow, and the snow begins to resemble yesterday’s Kate Sleeper concrete. Yuck. My legs are definitely feeling the extra effort, and I entertain the thought of bailing. Jason’s GPS keeps us on track, but he opts to skip North Twin and forge ahead, so Farmer and I are on our own finding the unbroken trail, a tiny bit challenging. As with some of the other peaks, we are astounded at how much snow there is and enjoy the resulting unusual perspective. The plunge from South Twin to Galehead Hut is disappointing as the snow is very slow and sticky, but that’s about the end of the sticky snow for the day as it firms up in the cooler temps. We take a luxurious break to bask in the warm sun and dry out our feet at the hut before proceeding to Galehead’s summit.
The bumps between Galehead and Lafayette aren’t too bad, and we are happy to see the Garfield Ridge Campsite water source dug out since this is our one and only refill spot on the ridge. (We also eat a bunch of wet snow during the day.) Unbeknownst to us at this point--although Farmer correctly guesses--Jason spent 2 hours (!) digging out the tiny pool with a snowshoe and isn’t exactly thrilled about it as evidenced by the string of expletives upon catching up to him between Garfield and Lafayette. (THANKS JASON!) At this point the headlamps are on and will remain on for the next 11 hours or so. (Frodo had broken out this section of trail on Saturday, but there was no sign of his tracks after the storm.) The Lafayette climb is interminable, but finally we are on the summit looking down on hundreds of twinkling lights from Littleton, Franconia, North Woodstock, etc. The wind is brisk but not too crazy, knocking us around just a little bit. I wear goggles because of a few stray ice pellets, but they are tinted so the effect makes for an even more surreal experience. Farmer hoots with joy, and we make pretty good time over Lincoln and Little Haystack. Somewhat relieved to be in the trees once again, we take another sitdown break before completing the Franconia Ridge peaks and descending the wicked awesome! Roing Route from the Liberty-Flume col. Jason has skipped Flume in order to break out the way ahead of us. The Roing Route is steep and would be a fun ride on fresh legs. Alas, our legs are not fresh, and unfortunately Farmer also suffers a muscle tear above his knee and is in excruciating pain.
We finally hit the Lincoln Brook Trail and turn left. Farmer stuns me with the revelation that he won’t be climbing Owls Head due to the intense pain of his muscle tear. Having climbed 47 of the 48 peaks, traversed over 200 miles, and become good friends over the past week, it is devastating news that makes for a bittersweet finish. We catch up to Jason, who agrees to accompany me up Owls Head. (THANKS JASON!) With heavy hearts we ascend the Owls Head Slide sans Farmer. The slide conditions are a bit scary, but Jason kicks perfect steps up it. As the sky lightens to welcome the new day, we reach the new improved summit at 6:20 a.m. which makes me smile since it means I climbed all 48 within 8 days (3 minutes to spare!). All that’s left is the long slog out…
I’m a little sketched out about descending the slide in my depleted state as my balance feels a bit off, so we opt for the Brutus bushwhack, a first for me. The old tote road is especially enjoyable. We hook back up with Farmer, and in a momentary lapse of sanity, IMHO, decide to follow the Lincoln Brook and Franconia Brook Trails all the way out instead of breaking out the Black Pond bushwhack since the trail has been traveled recently and, we surmise, makes for easier walking. This is a mistake and probably costs us an extra 30-60 (?) minutes. To the point, the trail sucks. And fording the almost knee-deep frigid water in snowshoes is another first. On the bright side, freezing cold water pouring into our boots is a rather exhilarating wake-me-up. Golly durn but that was a fun 5 miles! We reach the Lincoln Woods trailhead at 10:25 a.m. and are congratulated by Garbonzo, who has been waiting for 4 hours. A ranger asks what we’ve just hiked. We smile.
3/15 Tecumseh, Kinsmans/Cannnon - 17.9 miles
The trip up Tecumseh in a steady, drenching, bone chilling March rain is one of those character builders that is best deleted from memory. My umbrella once again gets a workout, and we are up and down the peak in a little over 2 hours. We’d intended to head up the Tripyramids from here, but our waterlogged packs, clothing, and bodies dictate a switch to Plan B. We stop at the condo to dry our clothing and gear, then drive up to Lafayette Place and are pleasantly surprised when the rain stops just as we start up the grade toward Lonesome Lake. The Swimmin’ Jimmy Trail lives up to its name on this day, but we are SO happy that the entire route, even the Cannonballs(!), is broken out and seems to have received only rain in the storm! Since Cannon Ski Area is closed today, we are the only ones on top of the mountain. The day ends with a Sasquatch sighting in the parking lot! Another low mileage day.
3/16 Passaconaway/Whiteface/Tripyramids & Moosilauke - 27.3 miles
We awake at 4 a.m., spot a car at Pine Bend Brook, and Garbonzo drives us aaaall the way around to Ferncroft. We are first on the trail since the recent storm, and Dicey’s Mill Trail has a few inches of new snow. We top Passaconaway and Whiteface, then proceed to the Kate Sleeper Trail which is covered in untracked snow that is made increasingly sticky in the warm sun. (Frodo had broken out Kate Sleeper the weekend before, but unfortunately there was no sign of his tracks after the last storm.) Farmer breaks an impressive trail, but I feel as though I’m dragging cement blocks across the Sleepers. However, we are happy that today is a beautiful, warm, blue sky day, and morale is high. Nearing South Tripyramid we lose the Sleeper Trail and opt to head straight up, completely missing the South Slide. The “Farmer Direct” route up South Tri is stellar and highly recommended. Although untracked, we make our way pretty easily over to North Peak but miss the Pine Bend Brook Trail and instead descend into the PBB Valley directly from the N. Tri - Scaur Peak col. Wheeeeee… fun! We reconnect with Jason at Dunkin Donuts in Lincoln, stop at the condo for a few minutes to regroup, and negotiate the crazy frost heaves to Ravine Lodge Road. The ascent of Gorge Brook Trail is uneventful, the stars are groovy, and we enjoy Jason’s infusion of fresh energy. We fall asleep later than we should have given what’s in store for tomorrow…
3/17-18 Pemi loop w/side peaks, plus Owls Head - 44.7 miles
I wasn’t certain it would be doable but wanted to give this 13 peaker a shot as the nonstop grand finale. Garbonzo joins us for the 5-mile speedwalk to the broken out Bondcliff Trail, where he wishes us good luck as I fill my water bottles straight from Black Brook. With Jason leading most of the way, we head up to Bondcliff, taking yet another unique route, bypassing the trail in one section in favor of the brookbed. Bondcliff, Bond, West Bond… the summits are tagged under blue skies and bright sunshine. We drop our packs on Guyot and head over to Zealand via previous hikers’ meandering paths. On the summit we are surprised by our only hiker encounter of the day: it’s BOB of Bob’nGeri, who is only a couple of peaks short of completing the 48 twice this winter. Congrats Bob! The Twinway is untracked, difficult to follow, and the snow begins to resemble yesterday’s Kate Sleeper concrete. Yuck. My legs are definitely feeling the extra effort, and I entertain the thought of bailing. Jason’s GPS keeps us on track, but he opts to skip North Twin and forge ahead, so Farmer and I are on our own finding the unbroken trail, a tiny bit challenging. As with some of the other peaks, we are astounded at how much snow there is and enjoy the resulting unusual perspective. The plunge from South Twin to Galehead Hut is disappointing as the snow is very slow and sticky, but that’s about the end of the sticky snow for the day as it firms up in the cooler temps. We take a luxurious break to bask in the warm sun and dry out our feet at the hut before proceeding to Galehead’s summit.
The bumps between Galehead and Lafayette aren’t too bad, and we are happy to see the Garfield Ridge Campsite water source dug out since this is our one and only refill spot on the ridge. (We also eat a bunch of wet snow during the day.) Unbeknownst to us at this point--although Farmer correctly guesses--Jason spent 2 hours (!) digging out the tiny pool with a snowshoe and isn’t exactly thrilled about it as evidenced by the string of expletives upon catching up to him between Garfield and Lafayette. (THANKS JASON!) At this point the headlamps are on and will remain on for the next 11 hours or so. (Frodo had broken out this section of trail on Saturday, but there was no sign of his tracks after the storm.) The Lafayette climb is interminable, but finally we are on the summit looking down on hundreds of twinkling lights from Littleton, Franconia, North Woodstock, etc. The wind is brisk but not too crazy, knocking us around just a little bit. I wear goggles because of a few stray ice pellets, but they are tinted so the effect makes for an even more surreal experience. Farmer hoots with joy, and we make pretty good time over Lincoln and Little Haystack. Somewhat relieved to be in the trees once again, we take another sitdown break before completing the Franconia Ridge peaks and descending the wicked awesome! Roing Route from the Liberty-Flume col. Jason has skipped Flume in order to break out the way ahead of us. The Roing Route is steep and would be a fun ride on fresh legs. Alas, our legs are not fresh, and unfortunately Farmer also suffers a muscle tear above his knee and is in excruciating pain.
We finally hit the Lincoln Brook Trail and turn left. Farmer stuns me with the revelation that he won’t be climbing Owls Head due to the intense pain of his muscle tear. Having climbed 47 of the 48 peaks, traversed over 200 miles, and become good friends over the past week, it is devastating news that makes for a bittersweet finish. We catch up to Jason, who agrees to accompany me up Owls Head. (THANKS JASON!) With heavy hearts we ascend the Owls Head Slide sans Farmer. The slide conditions are a bit scary, but Jason kicks perfect steps up it. As the sky lightens to welcome the new day, we reach the new improved summit at 6:20 a.m. which makes me smile since it means I climbed all 48 within 8 days (3 minutes to spare!). All that’s left is the long slog out…
I’m a little sketched out about descending the slide in my depleted state as my balance feels a bit off, so we opt for the Brutus bushwhack, a first for me. The old tote road is especially enjoyable. We hook back up with Farmer, and in a momentary lapse of sanity, IMHO, decide to follow the Lincoln Brook and Franconia Brook Trails all the way out instead of breaking out the Black Pond bushwhack since the trail has been traveled recently and, we surmise, makes for easier walking. This is a mistake and probably costs us an extra 30-60 (?) minutes. To the point, the trail sucks. And fording the almost knee-deep frigid water in snowshoes is another first. On the bright side, freezing cold water pouring into our boots is a rather exhilarating wake-me-up. Golly durn but that was a fun 5 miles! We reach the Lincoln Woods trailhead at 10:25 a.m. and are congratulated by Garbonzo, who has been waiting for 4 hours. A ranger asks what we’ve just hiked. We smile.
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