Mt. Mansfield (4,393 ft) 1-24-15

Distance: 6.13 mi.
Elevation: 2,860 ft. (overall) 3,113 ft. (total)
Time: 2:26 (Taft Lodge) 4:06 (Summit) 6:44 (Total)
Trails: Long Trail, Profanity Trail, Skier Path, Ski Trail

Mt. Mansfield was the last peak I needed to complete my goal of hiking all 67 New England 4Ks in the course of one year. Today was also the last possible day to do this as well. Tomorrow would be one year after my first hike of the 67. I picked Mt. Mansfield to end on for a couple reasons. First, I didn't want to end on a peak without a view. Second, I decided I wanted to finish my initial round of hiking the New England 67 at the same time as I did my NE67 in one year.

The road into Smuggler's Notch is closed in winter, but you can park at the ski area lot nearby. The snow on the closed section of road was well packed from skiers, snowmobiles, and foot traffic. As soon as I got to the actual trail though, I put on my snowshoes. Shortly after starting up the trail, you run into tracks from lots of skier traffic. This hides where the actual trail is some as there are so many routes to choose from. I found blazing on the trail to be poor in many places and this was one of them. I took a wrong turn and quickly starting looping back before I found the correct trail. There was a blaze in the area, but even on the way down when I knew the route I still had a hard time seeing it.

Nice section through open hardwoods

Continuing up the most obvious path worked well for staying on the hiking trail. Before long it left the ski tracks to the right. This was a nice open section of woods with an easy to follow snowshoe treadway. Eventually it was back onto a mix of ski and snowshoe tracks though. As mentioned, blazing was poor along this route. I tried to follow the main skier path and my own estimate of where I thought the trail should be. This ended up working pretty well since I wasn't running into any other hikers yet.

Lots of skier traffic making the trail hard to follow

The skiers access the woods/hiking trail by a short path off the side of a ski trail. The hiking trail gets very close to the slopes, so if you follow the path too far, you will come out on the slopes. The hiking trail heads uphill to the right just before you reach the ski slopes. I didn't run into any ski tracks from here until just after Taft Lodge. The trail leading up to the lodge was again easy to follow and a good snowshoe packed route. It took a bit longer to reach the lodge than I expected, but I didn't know what the distance would actually be ahead of time.

Taft Lodge

Looking down the Profanity Trail

At Taft Lodge I talked with a few other hikers that were now catching up to me. One of them expressed how icy the Long Trail could be going up to the summit and that he turned around earlier this week on that route. He guided the rest of us withot crampons to where the Profanity Trail was in relation to the lodge. This was helpful because I never saw a single sign for it. I decided to avoid the ice and take the Profanity Trail to the summit. I was behind a couple of hikers that chose the same. Unfortunately, the Profanity Trail had seen very little hiker traffic up it and lots of skier traffic down it. This made for deep snow with no packed route to start. Because of this, the couple in front of me went off to the right to try and join back onto the Long Trail.

I kept heading up what I thought was the trail. I say "thought" because I saw only one blue blaze on this entire route. And I thought the Long Trail up to here had been poorly blazed. The ski traffic coming down the trail had packed the snow well for them, but not for hikers. In places you could take a few steps on top of the snow, but then all of a sudden you would sink knee deep with your snowhoes on. The steepness of the trail made it hard to get back up on top as well. Making it so you had to compact some snow down each step in order to have something firm to stand on. With encouragement from the hiker/skier behind me that I was now hiking with, I was able to make it to the ridge line at the top of the trail.

View across the notch from the summit

Summit view to the south

The quick hike to the summit from here was easy again. Hard snow and an established route were nice to have back. On the summit I talked with a few people and told some of them what I had just accomplished (67 in one year). After a nice long break, some snacks, and plenty of pictures it was time to head down though. My concern now was that the Long Trail was supposed to be icy and the Profanity Trail was steep with poor snow conditions for hiking back down. I had to come up with a safe route down. Luckily I talked with a couple skiers that told me about the foot path that the many skiers make up to the summit from the top of the lift. I decided to take my chances going down this and using the ski slopes to get back to the Long Trail. At the top of the lift I went inside and talked with ski patrol about my plan to hike down the side of the trail. They didn't like the idea of me hiking all the way down the trail, but were OK with hiking part way down until the two are close to each other. I would recommend asking them yourself before just doing this. If nothing else it gives them a heads up about hikers on the trail if any skiers complain about it to them.

Skier footpath to the summit

I went down the ski slope without any issues and ducked into the woods as soon as I could. Knowing the route now, I was able to made good time down the trail without guessing which path was correct. Even with all the ski traffic seen through here, I actually only saw a handful of skiers. Before too long I was back down to the road and going back to my car. Once back at my car I was officially done with my quest of 67 4Ks in one year. I wasn't sure what I would do to celebrate or how I would react at this point. In the end, I just put my gear away and smiled to myself. Hiking alone for almost every peak, I didn't really have anyone to share with anyways.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Owl's Head (4,025 ft) 1-22-14

Distance: 16.8 mi.
Elevation: 2,907 ft. (overall) 3,457 ft. (total)
Time: 5:24 (Summit) 9:58 (Total)
Trails: Lincoln Woods Trail, Black Pond Trail, Black Pond BW, Lincoln Brook Trail, Brutus BW, Owl's Head Path

This hike was one that I had been putting off. The long hike with no real view doesn't make it as appealing as the rest. I had also attempted this about a month and a half ago, but had to turn back early. That again made it less appealing. I certainly wasn't going to finish with this hike, so I had to do it now with only 2 peaks left to choose from.

The start of the hike involves hiking the Lincoln Woods Trail which is an old logging railroad bed. This means it is wide, flat, and mostly straight, but also boring. Snow on the ground was firm and there wasn't much ice. I was able to hike it pretty quickly and didn't need any traction on my feet. Once I got to the Black Pond Trail, I out on my Microspikes even though I probably didn't need to. I know this trail has more turns, obstacles, and elevation changes so I played it safe. The hike along the trail was quick and soon I was at the pond.

Lincoln Woods Trail

Nearing Black Pond

The trail stops at the pond, but the common winter route is the Balck Pond Buswhack which leaves from the pond and comes out somewhere near the major crossing of Lincoln Brook (it varies each year). This cuts off quite a bit of distance and avoids some water crossings that could be tricky early or late in the season. Today the bushwhack was well defined and in great shape. Microspikes were still working fine and I didn't sink into the snow at all. I can't see it getting much better than it was today. This year, the bushwhack basically came out right at the crossing of Lincoln Brook.

Black Pond Bushwhack

The hike up the Lincoln Brook Trail was nice. Again, conditions were great. There were just a coupld spots where the trail went over some ice or wet spots. Normally on brief sidehills where the treadway has fallen downhill some. The small brook crossings shortly before the Brutus Bushwhack were frozen solid and easy to do. At the start of the Brutus Bushwhack I stopped for a break and to put on my snowshoes. I suspected the snow would be deeper and softer the higher I went, plus I wanted to take advantage of the televators. It didn't look like anyone had been further up the Lincoln Brook Trail to use the Owl's Head Path. Having done that route in late winter before, I don't blame them.

The Brutus Bushwhack is also the standard for winter hikes of Owl's Head. It doesn't trim off much distance, but it does make for a more gradual climb and eliminates the climb up the slide which can be tricky in winter. The bushwhack goes through some open birch glades before turning hard left. From here it enters the softwoods and gets steep for a while. Eventualy it levels out some and works over to the Owl's Head Path near a large rock. From here, you follow the Owl's Head Path up to the old summit.

Brutus Bushwhack

From the old summit to the new summit, snow was deeper and soft on top. It was good to have the snowshoes on now. The path snakes though the trees a bit for being on a ridge, but since it isn't officially a trail, you can't actually make it as nice as the official trails without breaking wilderness rules. It was still easy to follow though and lead right to the summit. A few people had gone just past the summit, but not far and it was obvious where the summit actually was. I took a break here, had some food, and changed into some dry socks.

Owl's Head summit

As good as the view got

After a while of resting and some pictures of Franconia Ridge through the trees, it was time to head back out along the same route. The steep part of the Brutus Bushwhack was a bit tricky in a couple places. The snow was a bit softer with the sun shinning on it and I lost my footing once or twice causing me to stumble or fall down. After that it was smooth sailing back to the car. I switched back to Microspikes once I hit the Lincoln Brook Trail and kept them on until the Lincoln Woods Trail. It was then another boring walk back to the car. All things considered, it was a nice hike today with great conditions. I didn't see a single hiker all day, which was a bit surprising for a weekend. I guess everyone else went somewhere with fews on this sunny day.

Coming down the Brutus Bushwhack

Frozen brook crossing

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Mt. Wildcat, D Peak (4,062 ft) & Mt. Wildcat, A Peak (4,422 ft) 1-2-15

Distance: 8.69 mi.
Elevation: 2,500 ft. (overall) 3,580 ft. (total)
Time: 2:00 (Wildcat D) 3:40 (Wildcat A) 5:10 (Wildcat D) 6:29 (Total)
Trails: Polecat Ski Trails, Wildcat Ridge Trails

Being at camp for New Years weekend as we normally do, it seemed a bit different coming into the White from the north for this hike. Weather for this weekend looked to be cloudy the entire time, but doing it this way made for a shorter drive than my normal 3.5 hours to get to the Wildcats.

Normally I'm not a big fan of hiking up a ski trail or something like that, I prefer to stay in the woods to hike a mountain. But given the longer and more dangerous options of using the trails on either side of the peaks, this was the quickest way to get the summits. It's also a very common route for winter peak baggers. All it requires is a $10 general access pass from the ski area.

Hiking up the ski trail

The standard route up the ski trails is to stay to the left using the Polecat trails and staying out of the way of skiers. This route proved to be steep at times as well as a bit icy in places, but footing was firm and there was no need to break trail. I made it up to the top of the ski trails in good time without any issues along them. I saw one ski patrol member that was cleaning up a small tree and had no issue with access to where I was from anyone. At the top of the chairlift, I could really feel the wind now as there weren't any trees blocking it. I quickly headed into the trees to go up the trail.

Nice hard trail between the peaks

I breezed over Wildcat D planning on spending more time here on the way back. It was a short steep climb up it and then again coming down off it. Now heading down, the hiking trail was quite firm and I decided to try using microspikes instead of my snowshoes. This worked well all the way out and back to the ski trail with only a couple places requiring care. With just the microspikes on, I was able to quicker up the trail. The ridge has a few ups and downs (B and C peak specifically), but nothing was too bad. It was a bit steep coming up onto C peak and some others butt sliding down made it a bit slicker for me going up. There are a few views along the ridge, but today the clouds made them not very good.

Short steep section

I made good time to Wildcat A peak and was able to look down into Carter Notch well. You couldn't see much further than that though. I had met a few people along the trail today that seemed like they were hoping to stay there tonight. But I also saw some of them at 19 Mile Brook trail head as I drove by, so maybe they didn't know all about self service season at the hut. It was cold on the summit and quite windy, so I spent less time than normal here before heading back.

Carter Dome from Wildcat A

The hike back to Wildcat D went well, as expected. The short steep descent off of C Peak took some care, but was never dangerous. Just before the platform on D Peak, I changed my damp layers for dry layers while I still had the trees to block the wind. I knew I was going to want more warm layers on the platform and for the hike down.

Heading back towards Wildcat D

Clouds were trying to clear some while I was on the platform, but they never did much. I was able to see up the range some and into the Gorham area, but that was about it. So after my pictures and such, I headed back down to the ski trail. Wind was blowing harder then the hike up it seemed, but that might have just been because I was now facing the wind. Goggles were nice to have for the descent. At one point I briefly talked with a nice couple that thought I was crazy for hiking up and down the mountain on a day like this. I didn't have the heart to tell them I thought they were crazy for paying $75 just to ski down a mountain (I fully admit I am not a skier) when I only had to pay $10.

Clouds still hiding the Presidential Range from view

Hiking down the ski trail as the sun gets lower

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Mount Tripyramid, North Peak (4,180 ft) & Mount Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid (4,140 ft) 12-27-14

Distance: 11.4 mi. + 1.1 mi. Road Walk
Elevation: 2,789 ft. (overall) 3,465 ft. (total)
Time: 4:04 (North Tripyramid) 4:45 (Middle Tripyramid) 9:26 (Sabbaday Falls Trail Head) 9:46 (Total)
Trails: Pine Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail, Sabbaday Brook Trail, Road (Rt. 112)

The Pine Bend Brook Trail started off nice and firm along the flat beginning of it. By the time it neared the first brook it would go alongside of though, I decided it was time for my snowshoes instead of microspikes. The snow was just soft enough on the edges of the main path that I kept sinking in enough to be annoying. At this point I realized though, that my new snowshoes both had left bindings. With the binding not being too bad for my right foot, I decided to use them anyways. Looks like they just got bundled wrong at the factory.

The firm easy trail to start

It was easy hiking for quite a while. Occasionally there was a small brook crossing in the trail. Non of these had snow bridges established yet, so a couple of them required some creativity to keep from taking my snowshoes on and off multiple times. The trail continued like this for some time, so I was covering distance quickly.

One of the water crossings

Once into the ravine that the trail follows, things get steep. The trail was still easy to follow and the snow was firm, but there started to become a layer or ice in places. Sometimes this was more a layer of small chunks which made it similar to walking on miniature ice cubes. I was already thinking this could be tricky to descend. As the trail continued to climb, the ice got thicker and there started to be some blow downs. Some were easy to get over, while a couple required venturing completely off trail. Once up onto the ridge, the pieces of ice in the trail were getting even bigger. It was clear that there had been heavy icing on the trees recently, but then it warmed up enough for it to fall off and onto the ground.

View of Carrigain along the ridge

View from North Tripyramid

After stopping at the summit of North Tripyramid, I probably could have walked just fine without snowshoes at all. There was more ice on top of the snow and conditions were very firm. But despite the noisiness from my snowshoes on these conditions, I left them on just in case I found soft spots. These conditions also made it harder to follow the trail. You couldn't see any previous tracks (or even your own in places) so you had to pay attention to where the path was widest between the trees and hope that it was still the trail. I got off the trail a couple times, but never far.

Hard ice covered snow between the peaks

Clouds are coming in on Middle Tripyramid

Coming back down from Middle Tripyramid, I debated about hiking out along the Sabbaday Brook Trail. I was thinking back to the loose layer of ice this morning. I knew there would be a few larger brook crossings this way, but firm snow conditions gave me hope that they would be the only issue on this route. So despite noting on the map I left home with my wife that going out this way was "highly unlikely", I did it anyways.

Steep section of Sabbaday Brook Trail

The snow was firm to start and you couldn't tell if anyone had been through here yet this winter. Conditions stayed well for all of the steep descent except for one side hill section that was a bit tricky and one steep pitch I actually went backwards down for better traction. Down near the brooks lower in the valley, things were softening up a little bit. A moose had been through here recently and they had done a great job of finding firm snow, so I followed its tracks while staying on/near the trail. At the upper crossing of Sabbaday Brook, I decided to not cross and to bushwhack through the open woods here. Again, the moose was picking a good route, and I was hoping maybe I could avoid two crossings. I didn't know how far down the second crossing was, which was part of why this way a bad idea.

Down near the brooks where no one had been yet this winter

After having firm conditions for a while bushwhacking, things all of a sudden got soft. I was having a hard time staying on top of the snow and I was slowed way down. I decided it was best to get down the brook, cross it, and at least take the trail so I had a wide path to use. I was already tiring out by the time I crossed the brook. Add that to the soft snow and it was a hard climb up the embankment to the trail. Once on the trail, snow wasn't as deep, but I was still sinking in with snowshoes 4 out of 5 steps. This continued to tire me out. Before I got to the next brook crossing, it was already dark enough that I needed my headlamp. Good thing I brought it even though I wasn't planning on being out this late. I kept slowly making my way down the trail sinking in almost every step.

The brook crossings were deeper than I had expected. There was no way to cross with snow shoes and there weren't many options for dry boots either. I picked the best route I could each time trying to put my boots under as little as I had to. After the last crossing I started to see tracks again from the people that ventured past the waterfall to check things out. Soon, the trail was nice and firm again. At the trail head here, I put my snowshoes onto my pack and headed up the road back to my car. Tired, but happy for a nice firm surface. In the end, I probably got back to my car 1.5 hours or so later than I had planned, and much more tired.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Mt. Osceola, East Peak (4,156 ft) & Mt. Osceola (4,340 ft) 12-21-14

Distance: 7.82 mi.
Elevation: 2,351 ft. (overall) 3,338 ft. (total)
Time: 2:48 (East Osceola), 3:59 (Osceola), 4:59 (East Osceola), 6:32 (Total)
Trails: Greeley Ponds Trail, Mt. Osceola Trail

While it was December 21st and there was snow on the ground, today's hike started about 13 hours to early to be considered a "winter" hike. That wasn't going to stop me though. I started the hike using Microspikes. The trail has a gradual incline and today it was nicely packed out from previous hikers. I hiked in to the first intersection with another hiker that was going past the ponds instead of up the mountain. The hike through here went quick and we had a good conversation. The only water crossing on this route was frozen enough that we were both able to make it across without any issues.

The start of the Mt. Osceola Trail is only a little bit steeper, but goes through thicker trees. Again the trail was well packed. After a little while of walking, the trail finally starts to climb and bears more to the right. From here up to the ridge you will be climbing with only a few small breaks. I put on my snowshoes here. I wanted the extra traction plus the heel lifts. Not very far up my climb I found a pair of snowshoes stuck in the snow next to the trail with no one around. They didn't look like they had fallen out of a pack. I left them figuring I could bring them out on the way back if they were still there. A while later I met the owner of them coming down the mountain from their quick climb up East Osceola. They didn't think they were providing enough traction, so they left the extra weight of them there to pick them up on the way down.

Easy trail before the steep climb begins

Conditions remained good while climbing. The only hard spot was a wide section of trail that had seen enough previous hikers slide down it that there wasn't much for good traction. After looking at my options, a route up the left side showed better looking conditions. Shortly after this there is an open slide to cross. This area had a nice path across it and showed that I was already high enough to be in the clouds. At the top of the steep climb there is a short path heading off to the right that leads to a small outlook to the west. Again, mostly a view of clouds. After the climb to get here, the final ascent to the summit seemed pretty easy and went fairly quick. The summit is wooded, so I didn't spend a lot of time here before continuing on to Mt. Osceola.

Steep portion of trail

Limited view coming up East Osceola

The descent down into the saddle between the peaks was pretty easy. Nothing too steep and the trail was still well packed. Although less packed than the previous portions of trail. The hike down to the chimney and the start of the climb up Osceola was pretty quick and I even picked up a jacket along the way that had fallen off someone's pack. The chimney was full of snow and had ice at the top. No one appears to have gone up it in quite a while. The bypass looked better, but still a bit sketchy. So I decided to try the bypass of the bypass. I'll be honest, this is basically a push through some thick trees that avoids the rocks but means you have to protect your face from branches.

The chimney filled with snow

The trail stays steep for a while after the chimney, but eventually becomes easier. It isn't too much further before you come out onto the open area near the summit. While the actual high point is a bit past the open area, it would seem most hikers stopped here. After a break, adjusting gear, and taking pictures of snow covered trees and the inside of clouds I headed to the high point. Not surprisingly, no one had been up/down from/to Tripoli Road. After hitting the high point, I headed back towards East Osceola.

View from Osceola

Just above the Chimney I encountered a few hikers coming up that had mostly taken the bypass of the chimney using their crampons. Continuing over East Osceola I skipped right over the summit to keep heading down. I went to the lookout just before the steep descent began, and the clouds appeared to be trying to clear out a bit. But there were still no distant views. For much of the descent I slid on my butt down the trail. Normally I don't like doing this because I feel it makes the trail harder for people coming up. But the trail had already been used enough in this manor that it was going to be hard to stay upright on my snowshoes. Because of this, the descent went quickly. At the bottom I switched back to Microspikes and made a quick hike out.

View towards Osceola heading back up East Osceola

View descending East Osceola

Brook crossing on the way out

While there were no good views to be had today, it was still a nice hike with full on winter conditions. There weren't many people on the trails and I was able to climb these peaks using a route that was new to me.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE