H
HikerBob
Guest
Well I'll try and keep this brief and leave the bulk of my ramblings for my web site. Should have pics and blurb up sometime tomorrow.
After watching the weather all week it looked like today would have been a good day to do 'The Big One' Turned out not to be the case. George was in the clouds down to the top of the ravines and the wind was whipping them over something fierce.
Undeterred I hit the Tucks trail around 6:20am intending to go as far as I felt comfortable and to get a feel for the area, I'd never hiked this side at all so everything was new to me. Made it to the start of the Lion Head winter route on the Huntington fire road a little after 8am and stopped for a gorp and glug break and to stash poles in favour of axe and crampons.
Started off up with a little trepidation given the description of the trail as 'steep' and from others reports. Had no trouble on the snow covered stretches after it got steep but then I came to a patch where the snow had been washed out leaving rock and rotten ice. I watched a couple of people tackle it then started at it myself. There were no good handholds and I couldn't get a good anchor with my axe. With my inability to flex and react I didn't feel good about it and decided to call it a day. If it had been snowed over I'd have gone for it. Given the conditions up top and the necessity of returning the same way I also decided the reward didn't warrant the effort.
So, I went to investigate Tuckerman Ravine. All I can say is 'wow!' What a fantastic place. There were only a handful of snowboarders, skiers and ice climbers up there so I could enjoy the vastness and emptiness of the place. The wind was howling over the headwall, swirling down the left side and causing a strong blow across the floor and up the right side. Goggles and face protection were a must. The sun was in and out of the clouds creating an ever changing display of light and shade. The ice walls high on the headwall shone with a gorgeous blue/green hue. I doubt the pictures will capture a fraction of the beauty.
I stayed quite a while snapping this and that and scaled the right wall up a little ways higher than the Red Cross rocks to get a different perspective. I found the gradient and altitude gain much greater than it appeared from the floor of the ravine. A couple of people had gone up the gullies all the way to the top, it looked a hell of a lot easier than the Lion Head route!
As I made my way down I met hordes of folk heading up. With the sun starting to dip towards the left wall they were all going to miss the best of the light.
Despite bailing on the summit attempt and then backing down on the Lion Head trail I had a great day in the mountains. Hope you all had the same
Bob
After watching the weather all week it looked like today would have been a good day to do 'The Big One' Turned out not to be the case. George was in the clouds down to the top of the ravines and the wind was whipping them over something fierce.
Undeterred I hit the Tucks trail around 6:20am intending to go as far as I felt comfortable and to get a feel for the area, I'd never hiked this side at all so everything was new to me. Made it to the start of the Lion Head winter route on the Huntington fire road a little after 8am and stopped for a gorp and glug break and to stash poles in favour of axe and crampons.
Started off up with a little trepidation given the description of the trail as 'steep' and from others reports. Had no trouble on the snow covered stretches after it got steep but then I came to a patch where the snow had been washed out leaving rock and rotten ice. I watched a couple of people tackle it then started at it myself. There were no good handholds and I couldn't get a good anchor with my axe. With my inability to flex and react I didn't feel good about it and decided to call it a day. If it had been snowed over I'd have gone for it. Given the conditions up top and the necessity of returning the same way I also decided the reward didn't warrant the effort.
So, I went to investigate Tuckerman Ravine. All I can say is 'wow!' What a fantastic place. There were only a handful of snowboarders, skiers and ice climbers up there so I could enjoy the vastness and emptiness of the place. The wind was howling over the headwall, swirling down the left side and causing a strong blow across the floor and up the right side. Goggles and face protection were a must. The sun was in and out of the clouds creating an ever changing display of light and shade. The ice walls high on the headwall shone with a gorgeous blue/green hue. I doubt the pictures will capture a fraction of the beauty.
I stayed quite a while snapping this and that and scaled the right wall up a little ways higher than the Red Cross rocks to get a different perspective. I found the gradient and altitude gain much greater than it appeared from the floor of the ravine. A couple of people had gone up the gullies all the way to the top, it looked a hell of a lot easier than the Lion Head route!
As I made my way down I met hordes of folk heading up. With the sun starting to dip towards the left wall they were all going to miss the best of the light.
Despite bailing on the summit attempt and then backing down on the Lion Head trail I had a great day in the mountains. Hope you all had the same
Bob
