una_dogger
Well-known member
It's been a long time coming...I finally convinced MichaelJ that the Daks are a &^%% alot closer to VeeTee than the Whites!!!! Woo hoo! 
So, on this fine winter day, we packed up the car and headed over to the High Peaks Wilderness to tag a W46 or two. Initially we had considered Bear Den, Dial and Nippletop (knowing that this would be a dog-less day and a good one to get out into the ADK Preserve without extreme dog guilt--dogs are forbidden there); but after breaking snow here in Vermont on Friday evening solo, I didn't think a ten plus mile day breaking snow was in our immediate future.
Time constraints on saturday gave us only about 12 hours total to do both the drive and hike, so we opted for Cascade and Porter. We both need those peaks and figure that it was the day to knock off this pretty easy hike to two great 4Ks. That also gave us time to enjoy a relaxing drive up to the Daks.
We took some backroads in Vermont and did a little sightseeing, which cost us time, and we reached the trailhead at (eek!) 11:30 am!!! After getting our snowshoes on, etc etc, and hoofing it up the road a bit to the trailhead from the lower parking lot, we estimate that we began our hike about 11:45 am.
We clambored over the huge piles of plowed snow from the parking lot and then descended down to the trail register. About 17 hikers had logged in to hike Cascade, and only two to Porter. We decided to hit Porter first and then tag Cascade on the way out.
We started up the trail and found it to be very well broken out but not well packed yet, the snow was slippery and soft under our snowshoes. Beautiful stands of birch and pine lined the trail. Within a half mile we ran into two hikers coming down from Cascade. Soon thereafter we passed a group of four hikers on rented snowshoes futzing with thier bindings. Stepping off trail to pass them I sunk down to my waist in snow! (Ok, that would be about 36 inches!)
The trail is a relatively gentle climb of about 1800 feet in approximately 2 miles to the junction of the Cascade Spur Trail, with an additional 270 feet to Porter and 292 to Cascade. Just before the spur we broke out onto a large ledge with great views of the Olympic Training Center Ski Jump. A solo hiker on downhill skiis (yes, downhill gear, not tele gear! ) coming down from above joined us for a moment on the ledge. He asked us to promise not to laugh at him when he went down the steep pitch below the ledge, because he was sure he would fall on his @$$. Ok, he did, and I couldn't help but laugh, but I was laughing with him, not at him!!!
The trail narrowed and we were hedged in by spruce on both sides, creating a winter wonderland of soft snowy trails and big mushroomy trees. Just before hitting the junction we stopped to chat with a solo hiker, an older woman with enormous snowshoes and an old pack covered with patches from the NH4k, NEHH, and ADK46. Its always so cool to cross paths with a solitary hiker with such a rich history of hiking. We chatted with her for a few minutes, and learned that her husband and his friend were now up on Cascade, after finishing his W46 on Porter. She chose not to remain with them..um....because they were a bit on the tipsy side from their celebration and had to "wait it off". We learned they were from Baltimore, and had finished the majority of thier peak lists many years ago before starting a family. MichaelJ asked if they were members of any online trail communities, and she was pretty surprised there were such things. We said our goodbyes and continued upward.
The trail to Porter is 0.7 mile from the junction and was less broken out. The trail drops steeply about 300 feet to a col and then quickly climbs back up to the summit of Porter. The wind through the col during/after the storm had created some amazing snow drifts and formations. We ,however, enjoyed a relatively wind free hike through the col, which gave us time to enjoy the snow art show. In soft snow, our MSRs glissaded quite well. Every once in a while, though, one of mine would grab and I'd go face down into the snow, usually landing off trail with an arm postholing into a spruce trap!! MJ tends to fall backwards, then buttslides yelling "OH NO", which is my cue to jump off trail, usually landing in a spruce trap.
Inspired by the Olympic Ski Jump, I opted to get a good running start, push of and ski over a boulder, catching great air and executing a perfect snow landing. Woo hoo!!!! In a few places the hikers who's tracks we were gratefully following had made a wrong turn, dead ended and turned back. It was great fun following thier little snow maze. I realized just below the summit of Porter that I had only seen one blaze! I was even more grateful to have been following thier tracks.
The summit of Porter is a quiet place in Winter with super views of the Great Range, although, today, the low clouds cut off the big mountains about half way, and we couldn't identify them. The slides in the Daks are really quite amazing, especially when covered in a thick blanket of snow. After a couple pics, we turned and headed back along the trail back the junction. The 0.7 miles seemed to pass very quickly and we headed up the 0.3 mile/292 feet of gain spur to Cascade.
Pretty quickly we broke out into the open and began climbing the slab up to the summit. I laughed at just how many yellow blazed there were on the rocks, no way to lose the trail here! We found easy routes up on the slab which was covered in thin ice/snow crust. One steep ledge gave us pause, it was covered in very thick ice. We considered taking our snowshoes off and switching to crampons, but after a bit more pondering, we dug in with our MSRs and took a big step up onto the ledge. Crossing the slab the herdpath through the icy crust dropped off the rocks onto a southern exposure and hugged the slab, then climbed back up over another little icy steep. A faint path had crossed the small snowfield below the slab to an easier entry onto the slab, and MichaelJ began to walk there. We both instinctively thought, "uh oh" and I cautioned, "I wouldn't cross there". The snow was unconsolidated, and there was nothing holding it down. MJ also noted, there would be no way to self arrest if he did go down. I'm glad that the previous crossers had no difficulty. This is my first winter of serious peaks, and I've learned alot about what to look for/avoid from the trip reports of others, thanks VfTTers!
After a few more steps we reached the summit, where a raven was trying to fly forward but kept getting pushed back down by the wind. The wind was strong and sustained on the summit. I immediately began to get very cold. We took a summit self portrait, looked around at the 360 degree view, and then I headed down while MJ took a bunch of pics. The High Peaks were still obscured by a large overhanging cloud, but the winter landscape was still beautiful.
We soon reached the really icy slab and concurred that the way down was on our butts. We threw our packs and poles down and then I sat and inched my way along the ledge until I reached a point where I could put one snowshoe down and grab some ice. Then with a "Yee Haw" I sprang forward and landed in a snowpile at the base! Kinda scary and very exhilarating at the same time. It looked alot lower and easier from the bottom! MJ did a perfect butt slide off the rock ledge, keeping his snowshoes at an impressive 90 degree angle the whole time!
We reached the junction at 4:00 pm. We glissaded and snowshoe skiied nearly the entire 2 plus miles back to the trailhead, arriving at the trail register at 4:35.
On the way back home, we took a direct route over the Crown Pointe Bridge, (alternatively signed "the Bridge to Vermont") and found that it takes exactly 2 hours to get to the trailhead! Woo hooo! Plenty of Daks peaks in our future!!!
This made ADK #9/ W1 & 2 for me and ADK # 7/W 3 & 4 for MichaelJ!!!!
Pics to come.........courtesy of MichaelJ and the Big Camera.
So, on this fine winter day, we packed up the car and headed over to the High Peaks Wilderness to tag a W46 or two. Initially we had considered Bear Den, Dial and Nippletop (knowing that this would be a dog-less day and a good one to get out into the ADK Preserve without extreme dog guilt--dogs are forbidden there); but after breaking snow here in Vermont on Friday evening solo, I didn't think a ten plus mile day breaking snow was in our immediate future. Time constraints on saturday gave us only about 12 hours total to do both the drive and hike, so we opted for Cascade and Porter. We both need those peaks and figure that it was the day to knock off this pretty easy hike to two great 4Ks. That also gave us time to enjoy a relaxing drive up to the Daks.
We took some backroads in Vermont and did a little sightseeing, which cost us time, and we reached the trailhead at (eek!) 11:30 am!!! After getting our snowshoes on, etc etc, and hoofing it up the road a bit to the trailhead from the lower parking lot, we estimate that we began our hike about 11:45 am.
We clambored over the huge piles of plowed snow from the parking lot and then descended down to the trail register. About 17 hikers had logged in to hike Cascade, and only two to Porter. We decided to hit Porter first and then tag Cascade on the way out.
We started up the trail and found it to be very well broken out but not well packed yet, the snow was slippery and soft under our snowshoes. Beautiful stands of birch and pine lined the trail. Within a half mile we ran into two hikers coming down from Cascade. Soon thereafter we passed a group of four hikers on rented snowshoes futzing with thier bindings. Stepping off trail to pass them I sunk down to my waist in snow! (Ok, that would be about 36 inches!)
The trail is a relatively gentle climb of about 1800 feet in approximately 2 miles to the junction of the Cascade Spur Trail, with an additional 270 feet to Porter and 292 to Cascade. Just before the spur we broke out onto a large ledge with great views of the Olympic Training Center Ski Jump. A solo hiker on downhill skiis (yes, downhill gear, not tele gear!
) coming down from above joined us for a moment on the ledge. He asked us to promise not to laugh at him when he went down the steep pitch below the ledge, because he was sure he would fall on his @$$. Ok, he did, and I couldn't help but laugh, but I was laughing with him, not at him!!!The trail narrowed and we were hedged in by spruce on both sides, creating a winter wonderland of soft snowy trails and big mushroomy trees. Just before hitting the junction we stopped to chat with a solo hiker, an older woman with enormous snowshoes and an old pack covered with patches from the NH4k, NEHH, and ADK46. Its always so cool to cross paths with a solitary hiker with such a rich history of hiking. We chatted with her for a few minutes, and learned that her husband and his friend were now up on Cascade, after finishing his W46 on Porter. She chose not to remain with them..um....because they were a bit on the tipsy side from their celebration and had to "wait it off". We learned they were from Baltimore, and had finished the majority of thier peak lists many years ago before starting a family. MichaelJ asked if they were members of any online trail communities, and she was pretty surprised there were such things.
We said our goodbyes and continued upward.The trail to Porter is 0.7 mile from the junction and was less broken out. The trail drops steeply about 300 feet to a col and then quickly climbs back up to the summit of Porter. The wind through the col during/after the storm had created some amazing snow drifts and formations. We ,however, enjoyed a relatively wind free hike through the col, which gave us time to enjoy the snow art show. In soft snow, our MSRs glissaded quite well. Every once in a while, though, one of mine would grab and I'd go face down into the snow, usually landing off trail with an arm postholing into a spruce trap!! MJ tends to fall backwards, then buttslides yelling "OH NO", which is my cue to jump off trail, usually landing in a spruce trap.
Inspired by the Olympic Ski Jump, I opted to get a good running start, push of and ski over a boulder, catching great air and executing a perfect snow landing. Woo hoo!!!! In a few places the hikers who's tracks we were gratefully following had made a wrong turn, dead ended and turned back. It was great fun following thier little snow maze. I realized just below the summit of Porter that I had only seen one blaze! I was even more grateful to have been following thier tracks.
The summit of Porter is a quiet place in Winter with super views of the Great Range, although, today, the low clouds cut off the big mountains about half way, and we couldn't identify them. The slides in the Daks are really quite amazing, especially when covered in a thick blanket of snow. After a couple pics, we turned and headed back along the trail back the junction. The 0.7 miles seemed to pass very quickly and we headed up the 0.3 mile/292 feet of gain spur to Cascade.
Pretty quickly we broke out into the open and began climbing the slab up to the summit. I laughed at just how many yellow blazed there were on the rocks, no way to lose the trail here! We found easy routes up on the slab which was covered in thin ice/snow crust. One steep ledge gave us pause, it was covered in very thick ice. We considered taking our snowshoes off and switching to crampons, but after a bit more pondering, we dug in with our MSRs and took a big step up onto the ledge. Crossing the slab the herdpath through the icy crust dropped off the rocks onto a southern exposure and hugged the slab, then climbed back up over another little icy steep. A faint path had crossed the small snowfield below the slab to an easier entry onto the slab, and MichaelJ began to walk there. We both instinctively thought, "uh oh" and I cautioned, "I wouldn't cross there". The snow was unconsolidated, and there was nothing holding it down. MJ also noted, there would be no way to self arrest if he did go down. I'm glad that the previous crossers had no difficulty. This is my first winter of serious peaks, and I've learned alot about what to look for/avoid from the trip reports of others, thanks VfTTers!
After a few more steps we reached the summit, where a raven was trying to fly forward but kept getting pushed back down by the wind. The wind was strong and sustained on the summit. I immediately began to get very cold. We took a summit self portrait, looked around at the 360 degree view, and then I headed down while MJ took a bunch of pics. The High Peaks were still obscured by a large overhanging cloud, but the winter landscape was still beautiful.
We soon reached the really icy slab and concurred that the way down was on our butts. We threw our packs and poles down and then I sat and inched my way along the ledge until I reached a point where I could put one snowshoe down and grab some ice. Then with a "Yee Haw" I sprang forward and landed in a snowpile at the base! Kinda scary and very exhilarating at the same time. It looked alot lower and easier from the bottom! MJ did a perfect butt slide off the rock ledge, keeping his snowshoes at an impressive 90 degree angle the whole time!
We reached the junction at 4:00 pm. We glissaded and snowshoe skiied nearly the entire 2 plus miles back to the trailhead, arriving at the trail register at 4:35.
On the way back home, we took a direct route over the Crown Pointe Bridge, (alternatively signed "the Bridge to Vermont") and found that it takes exactly 2 hours to get to the trailhead! Woo hooo! Plenty of Daks peaks in our future!!!
This made ADK #9/ W1 & 2 for me and ADK # 7/W 3 & 4 for MichaelJ!!!!
Pics to come.........courtesy of MichaelJ and the Big Camera.
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