Snowflea
New member
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2003
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Route: Lost Pond Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, Polecat
Date: Thursday, 1/30/14
Equipment: Crampons, Ice axe, Snowshoes, Poles, Sunscreen & Sunglasses
Trail conditions/comments: Parked at Pinkham. Lost Pond Trail/AT was barebooted by many, including me. Lost Pond looks to have excellent ice skating right now.
Wildcat Ridge Trail/AT to D Peak had a few inches of snow over ice and is extremely steep. I followed a couple of sets of cramponed boot prints that looked only a day old. Wore full crampons and used my ice axe with frequency. Would not attempt this section with anything less than full crampons right now. There are quite a few rather steep, exposed ledges that require extreme care. The one particular section that I consider the crux of this route is about ½ mile up - a narrow, downsloping, icy ledge with a pretty good dropoff to the left and not much to hang onto to the right. Would not recommend this route to those with poor balance or dislike of exposed areas.
Poor neglected Wildcat E (which used to be on the 4k list instead of D) got some love today. Stupendous views across the road from D’s summit platform. Skies were sunny and bright blue. It was a Rudy P and sunscreen day. Was actually able to take a nice, decent break up there without freezing my hands while switching from crampons to snowshoes.
From D to A and back was the usual, except that going up - and later, down - C was pretty icy. I did okay in my MSRs, but crampons would not be overkill. There is a nice snowshoe track between D and A right now.
At A Peak, I decided to return to D and descend Polecat. Had thought about a full WRT traverse w/19 MB but didn’t want to deal with the roadwalk or hitching. I really like Wildcat Ridge between the peaks anyway. And there is no way I would descend the WRT from E Peak this day!!
Back at D, I popped into the first aid hut (just as they were leaving to sled somebody out) and asked a very nice guy up there, Michael, about purchasing a trail pass. I did not get one earlier because I was unsure which route I would take down/out. He said no problem, just buy one when I get to the bottom… which I did. The woman working the register thanked me for paying the $10.
From there it was a short road walk back to my car at Pinkham. Saw no other hikers out there today.
Date: Thursday, 1/30/14
Equipment: Crampons, Ice axe, Snowshoes, Poles, Sunscreen & Sunglasses
Trail conditions/comments: Parked at Pinkham. Lost Pond Trail/AT was barebooted by many, including me. Lost Pond looks to have excellent ice skating right now.
Wildcat Ridge Trail/AT to D Peak had a few inches of snow over ice and is extremely steep. I followed a couple of sets of cramponed boot prints that looked only a day old. Wore full crampons and used my ice axe with frequency. Would not attempt this section with anything less than full crampons right now. There are quite a few rather steep, exposed ledges that require extreme care. The one particular section that I consider the crux of this route is about ½ mile up - a narrow, downsloping, icy ledge with a pretty good dropoff to the left and not much to hang onto to the right. Would not recommend this route to those with poor balance or dislike of exposed areas.
Poor neglected Wildcat E (which used to be on the 4k list instead of D) got some love today. Stupendous views across the road from D’s summit platform. Skies were sunny and bright blue. It was a Rudy P and sunscreen day. Was actually able to take a nice, decent break up there without freezing my hands while switching from crampons to snowshoes.
From D to A and back was the usual, except that going up - and later, down - C was pretty icy. I did okay in my MSRs, but crampons would not be overkill. There is a nice snowshoe track between D and A right now.
At A Peak, I decided to return to D and descend Polecat. Had thought about a full WRT traverse w/19 MB but didn’t want to deal with the roadwalk or hitching. I really like Wildcat Ridge between the peaks anyway. And there is no way I would descend the WRT from E Peak this day!!
Back at D, I popped into the first aid hut (just as they were leaving to sled somebody out) and asked a very nice guy up there, Michael, about purchasing a trail pass. I did not get one earlier because I was unsure which route I would take down/out. He said no problem, just buy one when I get to the bottom… which I did. The woman working the register thanked me for paying the $10.
From there it was a short road walk back to my car at Pinkham. Saw no other hikers out there today.
