TrishandAlex
New member
Glencliff Trail and Moosilauke Carriage Road, just about 7.4 or 7.5 miles roundtrip (what we accomplished, just shy of the summit).
Alex and I had planned to practice with our snowshoes today. I thought if we were on a 4K trail, that would give us incentive to go a little farther, to check out the trail for a future peakbaggin attempt. With that in mind, we set off for the Glencliff Trail.
The Glencliff trail had no snow on the lower section, and just enough ice and snow for microspikes on the middle and upper sections. Therefore, our snowshoe practice plan quickly went by the wayside. Instead, since the trail was easy and the day breezeless (below treeline), we set our sights on seeing just how far we could go. Alex sang and told stories the entire way up, she was in a very bright mood and declared every sight she saw "so beautiful!" Today was a far cry from our Willey experience a few weeks ago. This was an easy day. We trekked up to the Moosilauke Carriage Road in close to book time.
On the way, an AMC group from Boston passed us. Also, a very, very nice man named Wayne passed us, then we would pass him, then he would pass us, etc. We had the pleasure of his periodic company on both the ascent and the descent. There were many people on this trail today, so I felt fine continuing on up with Alex.
The Moosilauke Carriage Trail was all torn up from folks barebooting. We could have put on our snowshoes here, but now we were so close we didn't want to practice, we just wanted to get there. We were fine, happily going along until we got to.....the treeline.
We got to treeline, and on went the balaclavas, goggles, facemasks, wind gear, etc. I was pretty sure we would reach the summit -- we had all the right stuff, and every inch of skin was covered. We stepped out of the scrub and into the INCREDIBLE WIND!!!! It was enough to blow Alex off the trail a few times. I grabbed her arm and we kept moving. However - the one thing that's always been hard for me to take care of -- her hands -- her hands immediately became too cold. I asked how she was, and she said she was fine except for her hands. I looked down, and in my making sure her face and head were covered, I had forgotten to put the shells over her gloves and mittens (DUH!!!). However, even with them on, I think these wind chills would have been too much for her. I ducked her behind a cairn, away from the wind, and asked her what she wanted to do. We were very, very close to the summit, but I was concerned that in the 15-20 minutes or so that it would take for us to get there, her fingers could succumb to frostbite. I waited for her answer, preparing to veto her if she voted to continue.
She asked if it would count if we turned back now, and I said no. She then said that she thought she wanted to turn back anyway, her hands hurt and she didn't like the wind. I told her that was fine, that a real hiker knows when to turn back, and that she had made what I thought was the right decision. We stepped away from the cairn, I pulled her toward the scrub, and as soon as we were sheltered I went to work on her hands. I warmed them up, then I told her this had been a great hike. She didn't seem very disappointed not to have gotten to the summit. Actually she seemed very happy in all the snow all the way down. She used the "butt slide" technique at every opportunity, she jumped and pranced and generally had a grand time all the way down the mountain.
We met several people along the trail today -- Wayne, the kind man who kept us company now and again (and who picked up various hats and gloves that I dropped on the Moosialuke Carriage trail -- thanks again, Wayne!!). We also met Greg and his wife Nancy (VFTT members), and toecozy and her kind friend who found one of Alex's snowshoes (which had fallen off my pack as I used the buttslide technique with Alex).
It was a grand day, and I'm glad we had another opportunity to learn that it's no big deal to turn back. We had a great time, and the weather was perfect (below treeline).
I'll post some pictures over the next couple of days.
Alex and I had planned to practice with our snowshoes today. I thought if we were on a 4K trail, that would give us incentive to go a little farther, to check out the trail for a future peakbaggin attempt. With that in mind, we set off for the Glencliff Trail.
The Glencliff trail had no snow on the lower section, and just enough ice and snow for microspikes on the middle and upper sections. Therefore, our snowshoe practice plan quickly went by the wayside. Instead, since the trail was easy and the day breezeless (below treeline), we set our sights on seeing just how far we could go. Alex sang and told stories the entire way up, she was in a very bright mood and declared every sight she saw "so beautiful!" Today was a far cry from our Willey experience a few weeks ago. This was an easy day. We trekked up to the Moosilauke Carriage Road in close to book time.
On the way, an AMC group from Boston passed us. Also, a very, very nice man named Wayne passed us, then we would pass him, then he would pass us, etc. We had the pleasure of his periodic company on both the ascent and the descent. There were many people on this trail today, so I felt fine continuing on up with Alex.
The Moosilauke Carriage Trail was all torn up from folks barebooting. We could have put on our snowshoes here, but now we were so close we didn't want to practice, we just wanted to get there. We were fine, happily going along until we got to.....the treeline.
We got to treeline, and on went the balaclavas, goggles, facemasks, wind gear, etc. I was pretty sure we would reach the summit -- we had all the right stuff, and every inch of skin was covered. We stepped out of the scrub and into the INCREDIBLE WIND!!!! It was enough to blow Alex off the trail a few times. I grabbed her arm and we kept moving. However - the one thing that's always been hard for me to take care of -- her hands -- her hands immediately became too cold. I asked how she was, and she said she was fine except for her hands. I looked down, and in my making sure her face and head were covered, I had forgotten to put the shells over her gloves and mittens (DUH!!!). However, even with them on, I think these wind chills would have been too much for her. I ducked her behind a cairn, away from the wind, and asked her what she wanted to do. We were very, very close to the summit, but I was concerned that in the 15-20 minutes or so that it would take for us to get there, her fingers could succumb to frostbite. I waited for her answer, preparing to veto her if she voted to continue.
She asked if it would count if we turned back now, and I said no. She then said that she thought she wanted to turn back anyway, her hands hurt and she didn't like the wind. I told her that was fine, that a real hiker knows when to turn back, and that she had made what I thought was the right decision. We stepped away from the cairn, I pulled her toward the scrub, and as soon as we were sheltered I went to work on her hands. I warmed them up, then I told her this had been a great hike. She didn't seem very disappointed not to have gotten to the summit. Actually she seemed very happy in all the snow all the way down. She used the "butt slide" technique at every opportunity, she jumped and pranced and generally had a grand time all the way down the mountain.
We met several people along the trail today -- Wayne, the kind man who kept us company now and again (and who picked up various hats and gloves that I dropped on the Moosialuke Carriage trail -- thanks again, Wayne!!). We also met Greg and his wife Nancy (VFTT members), and toecozy and her kind friend who found one of Alex's snowshoes (which had fallen off my pack as I used the buttslide technique with Alex).
It was a grand day, and I'm glad we had another opportunity to learn that it's no big deal to turn back. We had a great time, and the weather was perfect (below treeline).
I'll post some pictures over the next couple of days.
Last edited:
