TMax
New member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 589
- Reaction score
- 85
Topofgothics and I spent three wonderful days being thankful that the Dax exist! We drove up bright and early Friday morning and headed out from the Garden with the plan of doing the Brothers, Big Slide and possibly Yard. Well, as thankful as I was at the beginning of the hike, I was even more thankful at the end! (Keep reading, the reason will become apparent) The weather was cold and windy but we got some sun and some views. The trail was snow covered but not enough for snowshoes. The climb up to the first brother was relatively easy and we were rewarded with pretty awesome views. Couldn't enjoy them too long though because the wind was trouble. A couple of tricky moves later and we were on the top of the second brother working at not getting blown off the edge 
. At this point, I began to feel "wierd." I couldn't seem to get a full breath, my muscles ached and my motivation was fried. Endurance athletes refer to this as "bonking." Wow did I bonk! Had I been soloing, I would have turned around. But not wanting to disappoint Topofgothics, I pushed on. One small error in our thinking about where we were (we thought we had already gone over the third brother) led to my downfall. Topofgothics asked a passerby for some distance orientation (was that you PinPin?) and when I realized we had further to go than I thought, my spirit was crushed. I had a moments panic but Topofgothics hung in there with me and gave me the right amount of encouragement and support to help me through. Lots of blowdown along the route only added to my struggle. We climbed up to the trail sign to go back down (about 3/10 of a mile below the summit of Big Slide) and headed down. That view from the top will have to wait for another day for me. Walking out was tough. We used the two leantos as focal points and the first one seemed to take forever to appear! Got out well after dark. Stopped at the Noonmark for some chow and then over to the Loj.
Saturday morning was another cold one with spitting snow. Hung around the Loj for awhile, visiting with some good folks and then decided to walk out to Marcy dam to try out my uncooperative body! On the way up we ran into Guinness who was on his way out after sleeping out the night before Brrrr!! At the dam we went looking for the trail that leads out from behind the first leanto and heads over Whale's Tail. We found it and started out but the snow was deep with extremely goopy mud underneath. Worried about my stamina, I headed us back down the trail. Another wonderful evening at the Loj (with an incredible vegan meal) and a good night's sleep and I was ready to go on Sunday. We decided to do the Noonmark Loop. What a fabulous hike! Made pretty good time heading up. Could have donned crampons about 600 or 700 hundred feet below the summit to help but the conditions were so varied (light snow, slippery rocks, ice) it seemed too much of a bother. Struggled up and over some of the slabs and finally did put crampons on to get me over a particularly rough section. I haven't been on Noonmark before and was a little surprised by the last few sections. It was a fun climb and on the summit the wind was blasting. Took a few photos and a GPS bearing and dropped off the other side to get out of the cold wind. Put another layer on, had a snack and off we went. The trip down was much easier with the grade being less extreme. Wore crampons for a short time but could have made it without them. Topofgothics never put his on. The sun peeked in and out of the clouds and the day got progressively warmer. Back at the trailhead made some coffe and soup and then headed out for our long rides home.
I was truly thankful for the beauty of the terrain, the friendship of Topofgothics, the pleasantness of the Loj, and the return of my body!
Life is Good
. At this point, I began to feel "wierd." I couldn't seem to get a full breath, my muscles ached and my motivation was fried. Endurance athletes refer to this as "bonking." Wow did I bonk! Had I been soloing, I would have turned around. But not wanting to disappoint Topofgothics, I pushed on. One small error in our thinking about where we were (we thought we had already gone over the third brother) led to my downfall. Topofgothics asked a passerby for some distance orientation (was that you PinPin?) and when I realized we had further to go than I thought, my spirit was crushed. I had a moments panic but Topofgothics hung in there with me and gave me the right amount of encouragement and support to help me through. Lots of blowdown along the route only added to my struggle. We climbed up to the trail sign to go back down (about 3/10 of a mile below the summit of Big Slide) and headed down. That view from the top will have to wait for another day for me. Walking out was tough. We used the two leantos as focal points and the first one seemed to take forever to appear! Got out well after dark. Stopped at the Noonmark for some chow and then over to the Loj. Saturday morning was another cold one with spitting snow. Hung around the Loj for awhile, visiting with some good folks and then decided to walk out to Marcy dam to try out my uncooperative body! On the way up we ran into Guinness who was on his way out after sleeping out the night before Brrrr!! At the dam we went looking for the trail that leads out from behind the first leanto and heads over Whale's Tail. We found it and started out but the snow was deep with extremely goopy mud underneath. Worried about my stamina, I headed us back down the trail. Another wonderful evening at the Loj (with an incredible vegan meal) and a good night's sleep and I was ready to go on Sunday. We decided to do the Noonmark Loop. What a fabulous hike! Made pretty good time heading up. Could have donned crampons about 600 or 700 hundred feet below the summit to help but the conditions were so varied (light snow, slippery rocks, ice) it seemed too much of a bother. Struggled up and over some of the slabs and finally did put crampons on to get me over a particularly rough section. I haven't been on Noonmark before and was a little surprised by the last few sections. It was a fun climb and on the summit the wind was blasting.
Took a few photos and a GPS bearing and dropped off the other side to get out of the cold wind. Put another layer on, had a snack and off we went. The trip down was much easier with the grade being less extreme. Wore crampons for a short time but could have made it without them. Topofgothics never put his on. The sun peeked in and out of the clouds and the day got progressively warmer. Back at the trailhead made some coffe and soup and then headed out for our long rides home. I was truly thankful for the beauty of the terrain, the friendship of Topofgothics, the pleasantness of the Loj, and the return of my body!
Life is Good
