michael
New member
After breaking trail on the Williams Pond Road Friday morning and arriving after dark to our lean-to at Nesowadnehunk Field , the boyz and I took a slack day on Saturday and set up shop in the recently vacated bunkhouse. Good thing we did because the conditions were ripe for a near epic adventure along the Marston Trail to North Brother and Fort and we would need every ounce of reserve energy for a successful day in the mountains.
After Wil's exceptional spaghetti dinner Saturday night, we all hit the hay early and awoke at 3:45 to prepare for our day in the woods. Andy hit the road at 4:30, being eager to finish his NEHH no doubt. Peak baggers can be so pushy can't they?
Meanwhile the rest of the Croo straggled out by 5am and we were all marching in the silent predawn air to Marston Trail trailhead 3 miles down the road.
An hour and 15 minutes later the late departees arrive at the Martson Trail and the Croo plunges into the fresh powder of the Marston Trail. The last party in the trail register indicates 12/28 as the last time anyone traveled this trial - definitely no help in terms of trail breakage so off we go.
The going was moderate to steep, the snow deep and the pace steady. At first anyway. We bang out the first chunk to the Coe Trailhead in an hour and a half...about .8 miles per hour. Nothing spectacular about that trailspeed. There were a couple blowdowns but that wasn't really an issue. It was the snow. At times it was deep and unconsolidated other times loose and unmanageable. Mostly, if you were in the lead, you step up to it and push down, it holds for a second and gives. You find yourself bracing for the 'give' and you sowly work the snow down and move on, yard by yard.
Ka-chunk, Ka-chunk, Ka-chunk...the cadence was steady but not too fast.
We initially traded off after 10 - 15 minutes but as we headed up from the cirque we shortened the lead to 5-10 minutes because the going was now about 1/2 a mile per hour and falling as the snow got deeper and the terrain steeper. It was quite a workout.
At some point we all realized that Fort Mt was history on this day but no one said a word about it until we reached the junction with the Coe Trail.
But in the name of community service we were determined to get a trail out to North Brother. We were feeling pretty good as we sat around eating lunch before our final push to the summit of North Brother. How hard can .8 miles be, right? I mean some of that would be above treeline and the slope would be windswept and thus there would be less snow loading. That turned out to be true but the 1/2 mile from the base of the summit cone to treeline a mere 400 or so of vertical was without a doubt the deepest snow yet and that .8 miles took us 3 hours. We're talking yards per hour here. At one point I was using my hands to pull down the semi-consolidated-but-too-weak-to-hold-my-weight blocks of snow by driving my hands into the snow 2 feet ahead, snow that was now chest high, pulling the 'quarried' chunks behind me and stepping up to the next batch. On and on it went with each of us vigorously working the mounds of snow in front of us. The folks at the back often waited 5 or 10 minutes before moving that next 10 feet and so we all got cold as we waited for the work crew to push the trail forward.
We finally arrived at some snow that was able to support 200 lbs or so and we made some better progress finally arriving near treeline around 3:45pm. We had been on the trail for 11 1/2 hours. 10 of it breaking trail. We were focused though and prepared for the elements and so we pushed on.
TommyC was the first to gain the summit, myself, andy and pete soon followed. Wil, who worked hard as a bull all day, turned around before treeline and headed for the bunkhouse. He was played. We spent only 15 minutes soaking up the vftt, pleased at the effort we had just put forth and amazed at the deep unforgiving snow. It was more than we expected, but not a complete surprise. It was the unrelenting and seriously deep and difficult snow that kept us from Fort mountain. That and the time. 3 hours to go .8 miles, who knows how long it would take to get to Fort? The snow is no doubt loaded deeper than what we saw all day so we saved Fort and Andy's 100 highest completion for another day.
Andy did finish his NewEngland 4k though so we were still happy for him and not a one of us regretted the accomplishment nor did we bemoan the fact that one of our goals was not attained, it was a great day and one that saw each member contribute significant time and energy for the team. It was tough sledding at the front of the line and oddly enough everyone was eager to take the lead so seemingly personal had the struggle become.
A solid effort indeed.
At any rate, the return trip to the trailhead took us only 2 1/2 hours and the road walk was almost 3 hours in a gentle but steady snow in the moonless night. This road walk was especially tough after a long day busting snowdrifts and we all staggered back to the bunkhouse by 9:15pm. We had just put in a 17 hour shift. The beer went down eagerly as did a fine Beef stew specially prepared for ths trip by Pete's wife. We shot the breeze until 1:30 am crashed and headed out at 9am this morning tired, achey and satisfied. A great weekend of fun in one of my favorite parks.
There's now a fine broken trail to North Brother should anyone be heading to BSP in the near future and are looking to get a couple of the more remote winter NE 4k peaks.
pictures are here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/557743044xqCdfS
After Wil's exceptional spaghetti dinner Saturday night, we all hit the hay early and awoke at 3:45 to prepare for our day in the woods. Andy hit the road at 4:30, being eager to finish his NEHH no doubt. Peak baggers can be so pushy can't they?
Meanwhile the rest of the Croo straggled out by 5am and we were all marching in the silent predawn air to Marston Trail trailhead 3 miles down the road.
An hour and 15 minutes later the late departees arrive at the Martson Trail and the Croo plunges into the fresh powder of the Marston Trail. The last party in the trail register indicates 12/28 as the last time anyone traveled this trial - definitely no help in terms of trail breakage so off we go.
The going was moderate to steep, the snow deep and the pace steady. At first anyway. We bang out the first chunk to the Coe Trailhead in an hour and a half...about .8 miles per hour. Nothing spectacular about that trailspeed. There were a couple blowdowns but that wasn't really an issue. It was the snow. At times it was deep and unconsolidated other times loose and unmanageable. Mostly, if you were in the lead, you step up to it and push down, it holds for a second and gives. You find yourself bracing for the 'give' and you sowly work the snow down and move on, yard by yard.
Ka-chunk, Ka-chunk, Ka-chunk...the cadence was steady but not too fast.
We initially traded off after 10 - 15 minutes but as we headed up from the cirque we shortened the lead to 5-10 minutes because the going was now about 1/2 a mile per hour and falling as the snow got deeper and the terrain steeper. It was quite a workout.
At some point we all realized that Fort Mt was history on this day but no one said a word about it until we reached the junction with the Coe Trail.
But in the name of community service we were determined to get a trail out to North Brother. We were feeling pretty good as we sat around eating lunch before our final push to the summit of North Brother. How hard can .8 miles be, right? I mean some of that would be above treeline and the slope would be windswept and thus there would be less snow loading. That turned out to be true but the 1/2 mile from the base of the summit cone to treeline a mere 400 or so of vertical was without a doubt the deepest snow yet and that .8 miles took us 3 hours. We're talking yards per hour here. At one point I was using my hands to pull down the semi-consolidated-but-too-weak-to-hold-my-weight blocks of snow by driving my hands into the snow 2 feet ahead, snow that was now chest high, pulling the 'quarried' chunks behind me and stepping up to the next batch. On and on it went with each of us vigorously working the mounds of snow in front of us. The folks at the back often waited 5 or 10 minutes before moving that next 10 feet and so we all got cold as we waited for the work crew to push the trail forward.
We finally arrived at some snow that was able to support 200 lbs or so and we made some better progress finally arriving near treeline around 3:45pm. We had been on the trail for 11 1/2 hours. 10 of it breaking trail. We were focused though and prepared for the elements and so we pushed on.
TommyC was the first to gain the summit, myself, andy and pete soon followed. Wil, who worked hard as a bull all day, turned around before treeline and headed for the bunkhouse. He was played. We spent only 15 minutes soaking up the vftt, pleased at the effort we had just put forth and amazed at the deep unforgiving snow. It was more than we expected, but not a complete surprise. It was the unrelenting and seriously deep and difficult snow that kept us from Fort mountain. That and the time. 3 hours to go .8 miles, who knows how long it would take to get to Fort? The snow is no doubt loaded deeper than what we saw all day so we saved Fort and Andy's 100 highest completion for another day.
Andy did finish his NewEngland 4k though so we were still happy for him and not a one of us regretted the accomplishment nor did we bemoan the fact that one of our goals was not attained, it was a great day and one that saw each member contribute significant time and energy for the team. It was tough sledding at the front of the line and oddly enough everyone was eager to take the lead so seemingly personal had the struggle become.
A solid effort indeed.
At any rate, the return trip to the trailhead took us only 2 1/2 hours and the road walk was almost 3 hours in a gentle but steady snow in the moonless night. This road walk was especially tough after a long day busting snowdrifts and we all staggered back to the bunkhouse by 9:15pm. We had just put in a 17 hour shift. The beer went down eagerly as did a fine Beef stew specially prepared for ths trip by Pete's wife. We shot the breeze until 1:30 am crashed and headed out at 9am this morning tired, achey and satisfied. A great weekend of fun in one of my favorite parks.
There's now a fine broken trail to North Brother should anyone be heading to BSP in the near future and are looking to get a couple of the more remote winter NE 4k peaks.
pictures are here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/557743044xqCdfS
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