I met up with a friend and his wife to keep a tradition going of hiking a summit on or around New years every year. We sure dont have a continuous streak due a variety of factors but probably are batting 75% over 25plus years. My friends live over in the Connecticut River valley and know several other folks who have a specific tradition of climbing Moosiluakee every New Years despite the conditions. For those who have seen the NHPTV show from last new years, you would have recognized several of the "co stars". Unlike the last two New Years, "despite the conditions" was a factor this year. My friends hasnt been able to join us in the past but she was up for the hike and had the attitue and equipment to join us this year.
The parking lot was full at Glencliff, I made a rather inaususpicious approach to the trailhead with my truck as a few minutes before my new muffler had blown off my exhaust system coming down RT 118. After laying down in the nice ice brine at the side of the road under the truck for few minutes and instituting a hack fix, I had straight thru exhaust so folks heard me coming.
The hike up Glencliff trail was initially cool and occasionally breezy with the temps dropping and winds increasing as we proceeded. The majority of hikers were barebooting although I did see a few folks with snowshoes. Most appeared well equipped but the weather most likely weeded out the lesser equipped. After a steady climb and dropping temperatures we started meeting folks heading down. I didnt do a scientific poll but no more than half the folks we met that I talked to had made it to the summit with several commenting about the "wall of wind" that appeared at one point of the final traverse.
We reached the ridgeline at the traditional lunch spot and folks were either gearing up or swapping gear for the trip down. In general it appeared to be that more than half the folks coming through who attempted the summit turned around. A minor annoyance was a hikers dog that was a tad bit agressive on scrounging and an owner that didnt seem to care and sure wasnt trying to correct the dog "He always is like this was a repeated refrain". When another dog on a lead came into the clearing there were numerous skirmishes between the unleased dog and the leashed dog, until the responsible owners headed off to south peak.
After gearing up we headed out to the summit, it was definitely a day for full skin coverage and my goggles came out for rare use. As usual while in the stretch with trees the wind wasnt bad but once out of the trees the wind got very strong as the trail ascended out of the cover of the rise to the NW. At one point, the sustained wind came up quickly and I had to walk leaning into the wind, basically it felt like every 10 steps forward was a significant increase in wind. I got to an hard icy patch and ran into an issue that my hillsound microspikes although having adequate traction didnt have enough contact area on the edges to catch the ice with me leaning into the wind. I tried a couple of options but didnt find a way out so it was the end of the day for me. I figure I was very close to the summit but given the visibility I couldnt see it.
After a quick hike back do to the trail junction, it was time to take the multiple layers off and we talked with some of the locals who were celebrating the day, if not summiting, with their traditional champagne toast. We then did a steady walk back down the trail.
With hindsight, I expect I could have summited with a set of sharp kahtoolas or conventional crampons. The Hillsounds being a hybrid with spike plates and traction cleats while working great on ice in non windy conditions unfortunately centers the load over the spike plates directly under the center of the foot and in this case I needed spikes on the edge of my boots to be able to lean into the wind. I exepct with sharp katoolas I mihgt have had a more even contact area but givent eh hard ice I expect Kahtoolas with any ise would have had the same issues. The other observation is that I used basically the entire aresenal of the gear I had in the pack. When I came off the summit, there sure wasnt much gear in the pack except for some spares and emergency gear.
This was my first major use of my new New Balance 1099 winter boots, I was impressed. I had one "cold toe" but I expect that it was a combination of sock that had slid forward and a overly long break prior to doing the summit attempt. Once I got moving, the toe warmed up and I was good for the rest of the day.
After a stop by my friends in VT, I made the long noisy ride back to Gorham.
Good to see a lot of other folks starting the new year the way its should be with a hike instead of a hangover.
The parking lot was full at Glencliff, I made a rather inaususpicious approach to the trailhead with my truck as a few minutes before my new muffler had blown off my exhaust system coming down RT 118. After laying down in the nice ice brine at the side of the road under the truck for few minutes and instituting a hack fix, I had straight thru exhaust so folks heard me coming.
The hike up Glencliff trail was initially cool and occasionally breezy with the temps dropping and winds increasing as we proceeded. The majority of hikers were barebooting although I did see a few folks with snowshoes. Most appeared well equipped but the weather most likely weeded out the lesser equipped. After a steady climb and dropping temperatures we started meeting folks heading down. I didnt do a scientific poll but no more than half the folks we met that I talked to had made it to the summit with several commenting about the "wall of wind" that appeared at one point of the final traverse.
We reached the ridgeline at the traditional lunch spot and folks were either gearing up or swapping gear for the trip down. In general it appeared to be that more than half the folks coming through who attempted the summit turned around. A minor annoyance was a hikers dog that was a tad bit agressive on scrounging and an owner that didnt seem to care and sure wasnt trying to correct the dog "He always is like this was a repeated refrain". When another dog on a lead came into the clearing there were numerous skirmishes between the unleased dog and the leashed dog, until the responsible owners headed off to south peak.
After gearing up we headed out to the summit, it was definitely a day for full skin coverage and my goggles came out for rare use. As usual while in the stretch with trees the wind wasnt bad but once out of the trees the wind got very strong as the trail ascended out of the cover of the rise to the NW. At one point, the sustained wind came up quickly and I had to walk leaning into the wind, basically it felt like every 10 steps forward was a significant increase in wind. I got to an hard icy patch and ran into an issue that my hillsound microspikes although having adequate traction didnt have enough contact area on the edges to catch the ice with me leaning into the wind. I tried a couple of options but didnt find a way out so it was the end of the day for me. I figure I was very close to the summit but given the visibility I couldnt see it.
After a quick hike back do to the trail junction, it was time to take the multiple layers off and we talked with some of the locals who were celebrating the day, if not summiting, with their traditional champagne toast. We then did a steady walk back down the trail.
With hindsight, I expect I could have summited with a set of sharp kahtoolas or conventional crampons. The Hillsounds being a hybrid with spike plates and traction cleats while working great on ice in non windy conditions unfortunately centers the load over the spike plates directly under the center of the foot and in this case I needed spikes on the edge of my boots to be able to lean into the wind. I exepct with sharp katoolas I mihgt have had a more even contact area but givent eh hard ice I expect Kahtoolas with any ise would have had the same issues. The other observation is that I used basically the entire aresenal of the gear I had in the pack. When I came off the summit, there sure wasnt much gear in the pack except for some spares and emergency gear.
This was my first major use of my new New Balance 1099 winter boots, I was impressed. I had one "cold toe" but I expect that it was a combination of sock that had slid forward and a overly long break prior to doing the summit attempt. Once I got moving, the toe warmed up and I was good for the rest of the day.
After a stop by my friends in VT, I made the long noisy ride back to Gorham.
Good to see a lot of other folks starting the new year the way its should be with a hike instead of a hangover.
I see a pattern developing here! Sounds like other than the muffler issue a good trip out with friends.
