LittleBear
New member
I don't normally post extended trip reports, but Max and I had such a great time on Saturday, I thought I would write one.
Max and I had decided to do Tom, Field, and Willey before the predictions of a big snowstorm, and despite the fact that we knew we would likely be the first ones up the trail, pressed on with our plans anyway. We wanted to do this as a one-way hike, so we spotted cars. I met Max around 7 am near the Ethan Pond Trailhead. We left his car there and headed up to the Highland Center where I left my car in their parking lot - don't tell anyone, okay?
We decided to leave the crampons behind. Given the amounts of fresh snow, we figured we wouldn't need them. I also decided to wear my leather boots instead of my plastics. I knew we would be breaking trail and I was looking for ways to lighten up. Since we weren't camping out and the temps were in the 'teens, I just put toe warmers in my boots and left the plastics behind.
We got started around 7:40 am and were surprised to see that someone else was ahead of us breaking trail. This was a welcome sight and meant that our original goal of all 3 peaks might actually happen. We warmed up quickly and shedded our jackets not 10 minutes up the trail. Max determined that there was just one person ahead of us - and he had a very energetic dog accompanying him. I don't know where that dog found the energy - he was all over the place in some pretty deep snow! Only once did our intrepid frontrunner lose his way. We followed his tracks and then saw where he had gone awry. Back on the trail, we were enjoying the day.
Before long we could see Avalon to our left and at one point the sun came out - although briefly. We had hoped that we would have more sun, but that was not to be. Just beyond the trail junction for Avalon the wind seemed to pick up a bit and we stopped to put our jackets back on where they would remain for the rest of the hike. We weren't breaking any land speed records, but felt we were making good time (thank goodness for our trail breaking friend in front of us). We knew it was going to be a long day and were trying to pace ourselves so we woudn't burn out too quickly. We wondered how far our friend was going. I was hoping that he would be doing the entire range, or maybe go as far as Field. (Okay, so I was being optimistic.)
When the A-Z Trail dropped to cross the stream, we noticed that our friend had gone straight across and up the slope while the actual trail veered to the right and then up the slope. Max said he did this once before and had taken the very route our friend was taking, but that he couldn't regain the trail and wandered around for about an hour before giving up and going back down. We decided to follow the actual trail. It was a bit tricky climbing up that really steep section after the stream crossing, but we managed to get up it and continue on. About five minutes later we encountered our friend's tracks again, so he had better luck than Max had finding the trail again. We joked about the fact that we had taken the regular "summer" route and our friend had ventured off onto the A-Z "Winter Route."
We reached the Mt. Tom Spur trail around 10 am, not long after encountering our friend (turned out to be Hampshire) and his dog (Jackson) headed back down. (Damn - and I was so hoping he was going further). We had a quick snack of Nutter Butters, fended off the brazen Gray Jays, and headed up to the summit. There were no views as the sun had disappeared behind the clouds and the cloud ceiling seemed to be dropping. We took some quick summit pictures and headed down.
Back at the col, there were no tracks going further. It was going to be trail breaking time for us from here on. After another brief snack, we headed towards Field. It was a little after 11. At first, the trail breaking wasn't too bad and the snow wasn't too deep. That changed pretty quickly as we began to ascend the Willey Range Trail. Soon we were encountering hip-high drifts which Max plowed through. Although we were trying to pace ourselves, Max had the lead all the way to Field. It was hard work (well, for him, anyway....for me, it was a LOT easier
) By the time we reached the summit, Max was pretty well spent. MAX - you're my HERO!!
We took a couple of pictures and discussed the rest of our hike. Max was tired and wasn't sure we would make it to Willey. He was afraid we would encounter even higher drifts and maybe even have problems finding the trail. I wanted to try, and since I was still feeling fresh I volunteered to take the lead. We decided to give it a try, see how it was going, and then, if it was taking too long or tiring us out too quickly, we would turn around and return the way we came.
So, off we went, I valiantly took up the trail breaking duties. The snow was deeper here and seemed to get deeper as we dropped down off the summit. I was slogging through consistently thigh deep snow. Although it seemed as though the snow was fluffier than the heavy, dense, drifted snow we encountered coming up Field, it was still slow going. This is a day that teaches you the real meaning of the word PATIENCE!!! That's all we could do, be patient with our plodding and not burn ourselves out. We had been hiking for about an hour when we heard a voice behind us!! An ANGEL??!!! No - but another crazy hiker - Jeff from Connecticut. Help with trailbreaking!!! I have never been so glad to see someone on the trail. What a difference a 3rd person made. Jeff took the lead so Max and I both got a break, although if you were the 3rd person in line, it felt more like a stroll in the park .
The Willey Range Trail meanders between Field and Willey and we had a couple of moments of indecision/hesitation as we tried to find our way. Jeff had his GPS with him with a bunch of waypoints entered, but we think there may have been a problem with the data he entered since it was telling us we still had 1.37 miles to go to Willey !!! We finally got to Willey, approximately 2.5 hours after leaving the summit of Field. And lo and behold, two brave (foolish???) souls had hiked up Willey from the other direction! We had broken out trail from here to the car and no issues with route finding.
The descent off of Willey was a BLAST! I have never laughed so hard on a hike in my life. We glissaded (only briefly) and slid and tumbled our way down. I was hoping my technique would improve as the descent continued, but I only managed to get a whole bunch of snow in some pretty unusual places. The ladders were very interesting since they had been broken out. I decided to watch Max and Jeff before trying it myself, particularly after what happened to SherpaK last year. We tried a couple of techniques getting down one ladder, but it seemed the best way was to sit and just go for it and pray you could stop before slamming into a tree. This was the hardest I have ever worked on a descent - my heart rate was right up there around 140 and I was generating so much heat I wanted to take my jacket off, but kept it on so I wouldn't be totally snow covered!!!
We all got down safely and made it back to the car by 4:30 p.m. Numbers 16, 17, and 18 in winter for me! I was going to post pictures, but I seemed to have misplaced the cable I need for my camera to talk to my computer, so I will have to get them up later.
Thanks Max (and Hampshire and Jeff). I had a BLAST.
Max and I had decided to do Tom, Field, and Willey before the predictions of a big snowstorm, and despite the fact that we knew we would likely be the first ones up the trail, pressed on with our plans anyway. We wanted to do this as a one-way hike, so we spotted cars. I met Max around 7 am near the Ethan Pond Trailhead. We left his car there and headed up to the Highland Center where I left my car in their parking lot - don't tell anyone, okay?
We decided to leave the crampons behind. Given the amounts of fresh snow, we figured we wouldn't need them. I also decided to wear my leather boots instead of my plastics. I knew we would be breaking trail and I was looking for ways to lighten up. Since we weren't camping out and the temps were in the 'teens, I just put toe warmers in my boots and left the plastics behind.
We got started around 7:40 am and were surprised to see that someone else was ahead of us breaking trail. This was a welcome sight and meant that our original goal of all 3 peaks might actually happen. We warmed up quickly and shedded our jackets not 10 minutes up the trail. Max determined that there was just one person ahead of us - and he had a very energetic dog accompanying him. I don't know where that dog found the energy - he was all over the place in some pretty deep snow! Only once did our intrepid frontrunner lose his way. We followed his tracks and then saw where he had gone awry. Back on the trail, we were enjoying the day.
Before long we could see Avalon to our left and at one point the sun came out - although briefly. We had hoped that we would have more sun, but that was not to be. Just beyond the trail junction for Avalon the wind seemed to pick up a bit and we stopped to put our jackets back on where they would remain for the rest of the hike. We weren't breaking any land speed records, but felt we were making good time (thank goodness for our trail breaking friend in front of us). We knew it was going to be a long day and were trying to pace ourselves so we woudn't burn out too quickly. We wondered how far our friend was going. I was hoping that he would be doing the entire range, or maybe go as far as Field. (Okay, so I was being optimistic.)
When the A-Z Trail dropped to cross the stream, we noticed that our friend had gone straight across and up the slope while the actual trail veered to the right and then up the slope. Max said he did this once before and had taken the very route our friend was taking, but that he couldn't regain the trail and wandered around for about an hour before giving up and going back down. We decided to follow the actual trail. It was a bit tricky climbing up that really steep section after the stream crossing, but we managed to get up it and continue on. About five minutes later we encountered our friend's tracks again, so he had better luck than Max had finding the trail again. We joked about the fact that we had taken the regular "summer" route and our friend had ventured off onto the A-Z "Winter Route."
We reached the Mt. Tom Spur trail around 10 am, not long after encountering our friend (turned out to be Hampshire) and his dog (Jackson) headed back down. (Damn - and I was so hoping he was going further). We had a quick snack of Nutter Butters, fended off the brazen Gray Jays, and headed up to the summit. There were no views as the sun had disappeared behind the clouds and the cloud ceiling seemed to be dropping. We took some quick summit pictures and headed down.
Back at the col, there were no tracks going further. It was going to be trail breaking time for us from here on. After another brief snack, we headed towards Field. It was a little after 11. At first, the trail breaking wasn't too bad and the snow wasn't too deep. That changed pretty quickly as we began to ascend the Willey Range Trail. Soon we were encountering hip-high drifts which Max plowed through. Although we were trying to pace ourselves, Max had the lead all the way to Field. It was hard work (well, for him, anyway....for me, it was a LOT easier
) By the time we reached the summit, Max was pretty well spent. MAX - you're my HERO!! We took a couple of pictures and discussed the rest of our hike. Max was tired and wasn't sure we would make it to Willey. He was afraid we would encounter even higher drifts and maybe even have problems finding the trail. I wanted to try, and since I was still feeling fresh I volunteered to take the lead. We decided to give it a try, see how it was going, and then, if it was taking too long or tiring us out too quickly, we would turn around and return the way we came.
So, off we went, I valiantly took up the trail breaking duties. The snow was deeper here and seemed to get deeper as we dropped down off the summit. I was slogging through consistently thigh deep snow. Although it seemed as though the snow was fluffier than the heavy, dense, drifted snow we encountered coming up Field, it was still slow going. This is a day that teaches you the real meaning of the word PATIENCE!!! That's all we could do, be patient with our plodding and not burn ourselves out. We had been hiking for about an hour when we heard a voice behind us!! An ANGEL??!!! No - but another crazy hiker - Jeff from Connecticut. Help with trailbreaking!!! I have never been so glad to see someone on the trail. What a difference a 3rd person made. Jeff took the lead so Max and I both got a break, although if you were the 3rd person in line, it felt more like a stroll in the park
. The Willey Range Trail meanders between Field and Willey and we had a couple of moments of indecision/hesitation as we tried to find our way. Jeff had his GPS with him with a bunch of waypoints entered, but we think there may have been a problem with the data he entered since it was telling us we still had 1.37 miles to go to Willey
!!! We finally got to Willey, approximately 2.5 hours after leaving the summit of Field. And lo and behold, two brave (foolish???) souls had hiked up Willey from the other direction! We had broken out trail from here to the car and no issues with route finding.The descent off of Willey was a BLAST! I have never laughed so hard on a hike in my life. We glissaded (only briefly) and slid and tumbled our way down. I was hoping my technique would improve as the descent continued, but I only managed to get a whole bunch of snow in some pretty unusual places. The ladders were very interesting since they had been broken out. I decided to watch Max and Jeff before trying it myself, particularly after what happened to SherpaK last year. We tried a couple of techniques getting down one ladder, but it seemed the best way was to sit and just go for it and pray you could stop before slamming into a tree. This was the hardest I have ever worked on a descent - my heart rate was right up there around 140 and I was generating so much heat I wanted to take my jacket off, but kept it on so I wouldn't be totally snow covered!!!
We all got down safely and made it back to the car by 4:30 p.m. Numbers 16, 17, and 18 in winter for me! I was going to post pictures, but I seemed to have misplaced the cable I need for my camera to talk to my computer, so I will have to get them up later.
Thanks Max (and Hampshire and Jeff). I had a BLAST.
