Doodles
Active member
Today's plan was to bag Indian Head and Twin and intercept the Sugarloaf gang in Pecoy Notch.
I planned my start time based on their start time. A quick call to Snickers to see if they were still on schedule. The plan was on. As I headed to the trail head the snow was falling quite heavy and the road was covered and slick.
Parked the truck and decided to start out bare booting in the 2"-4" of snow. Switched over to snowshoes at about 2600' as the snow increased and increased presence of ice. The climb up to JD notch was quite icy but very doable with the SS. I made the turn up to Indian Head and the ice thickened with every step. I made my way to the summit, took a few pictures and started back since I planned on a 12 noon rendezvous. The descent was a bit trickier since there was not enough snow to hold on the ice. Crampons probably would have been the better choice.
Back at JD Notch, I continued on up Twin. The climb was easy going. Not nearly as much ice on the East side as on the West side. By now the snow fall was diminishing and the clouds breaking up, but the wind kept howling. Made the summit, took a few quick pictures, and I figured I better keep moving for the 12:00 meeting.
The West side down climb once again proved to be much icier than the climb up. The cliff sections were a bit hairy. A few times I left the trail and bushwhacked to avoid the real steep ice shoots. I pushed hard and arrived at Pecoy Notch a few minutes before noon. I figured the ice conditions would slow down the other group a bit. I spotted a set of rocks up on the hillside that would provide some shelter for lunch and a place to wait. A full belly, some hot tea and out of the wind I was quite content. As time went by I started to chill down. I decided to head uphill to do some cliff exploring. Warmed up again, I headed back to my rock shelter. More time went by, now I am doing jumping jacks in the rocks to warm up again.
Finally I hear what sounds like a group of hikers, well at least one. As they approached, I maintained my position in the rocks like a hibernating bear. As the first two approached there was dialog as they spotted my tracks. Is he here? Where is Doodles? DOODLES!!! The shouting continued. Guess who was shouting? However, Pirates Maiden used a bit of a different approach. Just follow the snowshoe tracks up into the rocks. "There he is," as I sat smiling with peace sign held up. I gathered up my stuff came down as the rest of the group approached. Said hello to everyone, made introductions with Bill. Nice meeting you Bill. A quick cookie break and time to head down.
We all had a nice hike down and caught up with each other. Six of us, all piled into Snicker's hotel on wheels to be brought back to our vehicles.
A nice day in the mountains hooking up with old friends and one new one in the NEW YEAR.
A few pics.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2613393750093435686XMwItr
I planned my start time based on their start time. A quick call to Snickers to see if they were still on schedule. The plan was on. As I headed to the trail head the snow was falling quite heavy and the road was covered and slick.
Parked the truck and decided to start out bare booting in the 2"-4" of snow. Switched over to snowshoes at about 2600' as the snow increased and increased presence of ice. The climb up to JD notch was quite icy but very doable with the SS. I made the turn up to Indian Head and the ice thickened with every step. I made my way to the summit, took a few pictures and started back since I planned on a 12 noon rendezvous. The descent was a bit trickier since there was not enough snow to hold on the ice. Crampons probably would have been the better choice.
Back at JD Notch, I continued on up Twin. The climb was easy going. Not nearly as much ice on the East side as on the West side. By now the snow fall was diminishing and the clouds breaking up, but the wind kept howling. Made the summit, took a few quick pictures, and I figured I better keep moving for the 12:00 meeting.
The West side down climb once again proved to be much icier than the climb up. The cliff sections were a bit hairy. A few times I left the trail and bushwhacked to avoid the real steep ice shoots. I pushed hard and arrived at Pecoy Notch a few minutes before noon. I figured the ice conditions would slow down the other group a bit. I spotted a set of rocks up on the hillside that would provide some shelter for lunch and a place to wait. A full belly, some hot tea and out of the wind I was quite content. As time went by I started to chill down. I decided to head uphill to do some cliff exploring. Warmed up again, I headed back to my rock shelter. More time went by, now I am doing jumping jacks in the rocks to warm up again.
Finally I hear what sounds like a group of hikers, well at least one. As they approached, I maintained my position in the rocks like a hibernating bear. As the first two approached there was dialog as they spotted my tracks. Is he here? Where is Doodles? DOODLES!!! The shouting continued. Guess who was shouting? However, Pirates Maiden used a bit of a different approach. Just follow the snowshoe tracks up into the rocks. "There he is," as I sat smiling with peace sign held up. I gathered up my stuff came down as the rest of the group approached. Said hello to everyone, made introductions with Bill. Nice meeting you Bill. A quick cookie break and time to head down.
We all had a nice hike down and caught up with each other. Six of us, all piled into Snicker's hotel on wheels to be brought back to our vehicles.
A nice day in the mountains hooking up with old friends and one new one in the NEW YEAR.
A few pics.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2613393750093435686XMwItr
