UNFROZENCAVEMAN
New member
I got to play with some machines this weekend and it was good fun!
Friday night I drove up to Charles (a.k.a. Yougblood) and Melanie's (two of the machines) place to stay. We wound up staying up till almost 1:00 a.m., slept till 7, got breakfast (It's Pat! Wow, look at those arms...(inside joke)) and headed up to bag Wildcat A, one of 2 remaining peaks that Charles needed for his Winter 48.
Headed up 19 Mile Brook, and well, things don't always go as planned............we started out doing fine but missed the hard switchback (followed several sets of tracks that did the same thing) on the climb up out of Carter Notch, suddenly the tracks (and the trail might I add) ended. We decided to wack it so we headed up the hill, climbing strait up that was a bit of a chore made even more so since we had opted to travel light and fast and left snowshoes in the truck - the snow was deep! And the spruce closed in on us pretty good too. It worked out pretty good though and we said that we would have done it again given the choice, the views of the Presi's was gorgeous off the backside of the mountain. We goofed around, made some funny short movies, took some pictures and headed down. At the point where we made a mistake (or missed the turn at least) we put some branches up to deter others from unconsciously doing the same thing. We headed down the trail and met some hikers coming up with a stray dog that someone had lost, Angus was his name. Well we got him turned around with us and brought him back to the 19 Mile Brook Trailhead Parking lot where we found a relieved man. Then we drove around to spot a car at the Cog (met up with Mountain Magic, and Dr. Wu) and headed home for showers and dinner.
When we got home we got in touch with Jenny (another machine) who had just gotten back from a 6 day adventure race in Costa Rica four days ago. She said that she had really bad blisters and was a bit saddle sore but wanted to at least give it a shot. We told her that we'd pick her up at 2:00 a.m. After eating a lot of Angus (cow not the dog!) we got to bed at 9:30 and set the alarm for 12:30 - a whopping 3 hours later which came VERY quickly.
More Angus (ahhh, awake to steak!) and eggs for breakfast, a quick drive up to Appalachia and we were on the trail by 3:15.
I led the group and used the pace that BigEarl and I climb at as that is what I am comfortable and very familiar with. On the way up we were greeted by ferocious barking – a big Shepard protecting his masters campsite.
We summited Madison at 6:45, 3-1/2 hours later to the sun still pretty low in the sky. Onward we hiked, Charles giving it around a 42% chance of success.......I kept telling him that we got it. I was hurting bad though by the time we started climbing Adams (not good), surprisingly I hadn't slept that well the night before and woke up with a sleeping bag that was completely drenched in sweat. And even though I had pre-hydrated with over 1/2 gallon of water that morning I was extremely thirsty and had no leg strength whatsoever. We hiked on though, they had me set the pace (I think so they didn’t have to wait for me!). I was going through water way too fast, and couldn't quench my thirst.....I knew I was going to be in trouble with my water situation later, I was carrying a gallon but it wasn't going to be enough.
I started eating rime ice off of rocks in my attempt to re-hydrate and ration my water at the same time, It was warm and I was sweating bad so I didn’t worry about drawing down my temperature. I also started hammering food in a big way.
We met up with the Shepard (who was a lot more friendly when in neutral territory) and his owner who was on his way over to Monroe (his and his dogs final 48 4K) on the way up Adams. We made it to the top of Adams, looked around and then continued on in the direction of Jefferson – on the way over one of the girls (Melanie I think) mentioned that the rime ice looked like a shag carpet, it was a perfect description, a REALLY big shag carpet.
At the base of Jefferson we grabbed some food while Charles slid around on the ice barefoot. Then we started the climb. Jefferson was a pretty big push, the climb up through the snowfield was awesome but a fair amount of work, at the summit we took a quick picture and looked toward Clay.
Clay kinda kills me every time that I hike over it, it doesn’t look like much in front of Washinton but there’s some elevation to gain there, and everytime that you think you’re at the top you realize you’ve been fooled again. We eventually got there though and then dropped of the backside for a snack. Jenny treated us all to some great chocolate while we hid behind a boulder out of the wind.
Then we started the climb up Washington. The winds were pretty hard, at one point while stopping to discuss which route to take a gust hit us and all four of us got knocked about 2 feet sideways in an instant. That was cool. Wicked cool! Charles was taunting, “Come on George, that’s all you got?”
We summited Washington at 12:15, 9 hours after starting. The winds were kicking pretty good, I haven't found where that information is but we were guessing between 50 and 60 miles/hr. Dropping off the backside was a trip, ice was pelting us in the eyes, pretty much had to hike head down. We ran into a few people that were camping down in the Ammonoosuc ravine and we talked them into driving Charles truck down to the Highland Center for us (it was spotted at the Cog, but it appeared that we’d march on after all. Now it was set, not that there isn't bailouts but things were looking pretty good, and we hadn't run into any rain at this point.
There is an emergency dungeon on the backside of the Lake of the Clouds Hut, we stepped in and snacked there briefly before continuing on our way. We were all loaded up on food and got ready to pump out some more peaks. On the way out we found where someone had dug a cave into some snow that was packed up against the shelter. It was a big cave and Charles and I goofed and made a short video where I awoke a hibernating polar bear – high comedy for us, the girls not impressed hiked ahead.
I was finally feeling like I had the strength that I've spent all winter building; I wasn't constantly thirsty thanks to all of the ice I had eaten and 2 liters of water I had consumed.
After summiting Monroe we we're making some pretty good time.
The rain started on and off about the time we were heading over to Eisenhower, not hard though.
We summited Eisenhower and looked out in the distance at Jackson.....it looks like a pretty good poke from that vantage and I guess it kinda is. We hiked on.
We worked our way over to Pierce, no big deal, and headed for the next hut. Boot skied a lot going down to Mitzpa (sp.?) hut, the snow was pretty deep over in that area of the range. Charles put his snowshoes on almost immediately after leaving the hut area, the rest of us got about 100 yards down the trail heading for Jackson and finally put the snowshoes on that we had been carrying all day. We did probably 14 or more miles of crampon work with all of the ice and questioned why we brought the shoes at all till that point. We were glad that we had them with us, the going became much quicker.
A while after crossing through the swamp section that has the raised boards to walk on we stopped, grabbed a snack and some water. Well, I didn't know exactly where we were but I knew we were close, about 50 yards up the trail and we were at the base of the final push to the summit. We summited at 5:15, 14 hours after we started. We were pumped! After swapping the snowshoes out for crampons again, we made our way down the initial icy ledge sections at the top of the trail. After we got through that the fun began, we took off the crampons and went back to bare bootin. We were pretty much running and boot skiing all the way down from there, having a blast all the way. It's amazing how much spring we all found in our legs once we knew we were on the way out.
When we got to the final part of the descent, I mentioned that we probably should put crampons back on as "this section gets nasty" as I put it. Everyone was reluctant, feeling bad enough about having a headlamp back on, so we managed our way down without them, it was dangerous but we made it down safely.
We hit the Highland Center and found Charles truck parked there (thanks to the guys that moved it for us), it was 6:45, 15-1/2 hours after we started. Our feet hurt, we were cold, tired, extremely wet, really hungry, and incredibly happy! We had completed a one day winter Presidential traverse. It was Charles third attempt, all of our first success. As a bonus, Charles finished his winter 48 when we validated his getting Madison by stomping out the other end of the range. WOOO HOOO!!! GO TEAM!!! Congrats Charles!
Now, not to get all misty here but, I’m really happy to have been a part of this day AND team. This hike wrapped up my own personal goals for the winter, having completed a single season trip through the 48 with my Uncle (Big) Earl, and a single day winter Presidential Traverse with some great friends, I’ve met the objective I set out to achieve – good stuff.
Friday night I drove up to Charles (a.k.a. Yougblood) and Melanie's (two of the machines) place to stay. We wound up staying up till almost 1:00 a.m., slept till 7, got breakfast (It's Pat! Wow, look at those arms...(inside joke)) and headed up to bag Wildcat A, one of 2 remaining peaks that Charles needed for his Winter 48.
Headed up 19 Mile Brook, and well, things don't always go as planned............we started out doing fine but missed the hard switchback (followed several sets of tracks that did the same thing) on the climb up out of Carter Notch, suddenly the tracks (and the trail might I add) ended. We decided to wack it so we headed up the hill, climbing strait up that was a bit of a chore made even more so since we had opted to travel light and fast and left snowshoes in the truck - the snow was deep! And the spruce closed in on us pretty good too. It worked out pretty good though and we said that we would have done it again given the choice, the views of the Presi's was gorgeous off the backside of the mountain. We goofed around, made some funny short movies, took some pictures and headed down. At the point where we made a mistake (or missed the turn at least) we put some branches up to deter others from unconsciously doing the same thing. We headed down the trail and met some hikers coming up with a stray dog that someone had lost, Angus was his name. Well we got him turned around with us and brought him back to the 19 Mile Brook Trailhead Parking lot where we found a relieved man. Then we drove around to spot a car at the Cog (met up with Mountain Magic, and Dr. Wu) and headed home for showers and dinner.
When we got home we got in touch with Jenny (another machine) who had just gotten back from a 6 day adventure race in Costa Rica four days ago. She said that she had really bad blisters and was a bit saddle sore but wanted to at least give it a shot. We told her that we'd pick her up at 2:00 a.m. After eating a lot of Angus (cow not the dog!) we got to bed at 9:30 and set the alarm for 12:30 - a whopping 3 hours later which came VERY quickly.
More Angus (ahhh, awake to steak!) and eggs for breakfast, a quick drive up to Appalachia and we were on the trail by 3:15.
I led the group and used the pace that BigEarl and I climb at as that is what I am comfortable and very familiar with. On the way up we were greeted by ferocious barking – a big Shepard protecting his masters campsite.
We summited Madison at 6:45, 3-1/2 hours later to the sun still pretty low in the sky. Onward we hiked, Charles giving it around a 42% chance of success.......I kept telling him that we got it. I was hurting bad though by the time we started climbing Adams (not good), surprisingly I hadn't slept that well the night before and woke up with a sleeping bag that was completely drenched in sweat. And even though I had pre-hydrated with over 1/2 gallon of water that morning I was extremely thirsty and had no leg strength whatsoever. We hiked on though, they had me set the pace (I think so they didn’t have to wait for me!). I was going through water way too fast, and couldn't quench my thirst.....I knew I was going to be in trouble with my water situation later, I was carrying a gallon but it wasn't going to be enough.
I started eating rime ice off of rocks in my attempt to re-hydrate and ration my water at the same time, It was warm and I was sweating bad so I didn’t worry about drawing down my temperature. I also started hammering food in a big way.
We met up with the Shepard (who was a lot more friendly when in neutral territory) and his owner who was on his way over to Monroe (his and his dogs final 48 4K) on the way up Adams. We made it to the top of Adams, looked around and then continued on in the direction of Jefferson – on the way over one of the girls (Melanie I think) mentioned that the rime ice looked like a shag carpet, it was a perfect description, a REALLY big shag carpet.
At the base of Jefferson we grabbed some food while Charles slid around on the ice barefoot. Then we started the climb. Jefferson was a pretty big push, the climb up through the snowfield was awesome but a fair amount of work, at the summit we took a quick picture and looked toward Clay.
Clay kinda kills me every time that I hike over it, it doesn’t look like much in front of Washinton but there’s some elevation to gain there, and everytime that you think you’re at the top you realize you’ve been fooled again. We eventually got there though and then dropped of the backside for a snack. Jenny treated us all to some great chocolate while we hid behind a boulder out of the wind.
Then we started the climb up Washington. The winds were pretty hard, at one point while stopping to discuss which route to take a gust hit us and all four of us got knocked about 2 feet sideways in an instant. That was cool. Wicked cool! Charles was taunting, “Come on George, that’s all you got?”
We summited Washington at 12:15, 9 hours after starting. The winds were kicking pretty good, I haven't found where that information is but we were guessing between 50 and 60 miles/hr. Dropping off the backside was a trip, ice was pelting us in the eyes, pretty much had to hike head down. We ran into a few people that were camping down in the Ammonoosuc ravine and we talked them into driving Charles truck down to the Highland Center for us (it was spotted at the Cog, but it appeared that we’d march on after all. Now it was set, not that there isn't bailouts but things were looking pretty good, and we hadn't run into any rain at this point.
There is an emergency dungeon on the backside of the Lake of the Clouds Hut, we stepped in and snacked there briefly before continuing on our way. We were all loaded up on food and got ready to pump out some more peaks. On the way out we found where someone had dug a cave into some snow that was packed up against the shelter. It was a big cave and Charles and I goofed and made a short video where I awoke a hibernating polar bear – high comedy for us, the girls not impressed hiked ahead.
I was finally feeling like I had the strength that I've spent all winter building; I wasn't constantly thirsty thanks to all of the ice I had eaten and 2 liters of water I had consumed.
After summiting Monroe we we're making some pretty good time.
The rain started on and off about the time we were heading over to Eisenhower, not hard though.
We summited Eisenhower and looked out in the distance at Jackson.....it looks like a pretty good poke from that vantage and I guess it kinda is. We hiked on.
We worked our way over to Pierce, no big deal, and headed for the next hut. Boot skied a lot going down to Mitzpa (sp.?) hut, the snow was pretty deep over in that area of the range. Charles put his snowshoes on almost immediately after leaving the hut area, the rest of us got about 100 yards down the trail heading for Jackson and finally put the snowshoes on that we had been carrying all day. We did probably 14 or more miles of crampon work with all of the ice and questioned why we brought the shoes at all till that point. We were glad that we had them with us, the going became much quicker.
A while after crossing through the swamp section that has the raised boards to walk on we stopped, grabbed a snack and some water. Well, I didn't know exactly where we were but I knew we were close, about 50 yards up the trail and we were at the base of the final push to the summit. We summited at 5:15, 14 hours after we started. We were pumped! After swapping the snowshoes out for crampons again, we made our way down the initial icy ledge sections at the top of the trail. After we got through that the fun began, we took off the crampons and went back to bare bootin. We were pretty much running and boot skiing all the way down from there, having a blast all the way. It's amazing how much spring we all found in our legs once we knew we were on the way out.
When we got to the final part of the descent, I mentioned that we probably should put crampons back on as "this section gets nasty" as I put it. Everyone was reluctant, feeling bad enough about having a headlamp back on, so we managed our way down without them, it was dangerous but we made it down safely.
We hit the Highland Center and found Charles truck parked there (thanks to the guys that moved it for us), it was 6:45, 15-1/2 hours after we started. Our feet hurt, we were cold, tired, extremely wet, really hungry, and incredibly happy! We had completed a one day winter Presidential traverse. It was Charles third attempt, all of our first success. As a bonus, Charles finished his winter 48 when we validated his getting Madison by stomping out the other end of the range. WOOO HOOO!!! GO TEAM!!! Congrats Charles!
Now, not to get all misty here but, I’m really happy to have been a part of this day AND team. This hike wrapped up my own personal goals for the winter, having completed a single season trip through the 48 with my Uncle (Big) Earl, and a single day winter Presidential Traverse with some great friends, I’ve met the objective I set out to achieve – good stuff.
