Franconia Ridge Loop

Had a break in my commitments at school and figured it'd be good to get up north for an adventure before things pick up again. I'd been eyeing the Franconia Ridge loop as an easy day trip that I hadn't made before. While my training has been relatively consistent compared to years past, I wasn't quite ready to go full bore on a mountain run. Instead, I set the goal of moving quickly but comfortably. I asked Ginger if she'd be willing to pace me for the loop and she enthusiastically agreed.

The weather forecast was sunny in the valley, but called for cooler temps and lingering fog at elevation. Wishful thinking had me hoping that things would clear up, but in reality I knew I was likely going to miss the views. The bonus was, it'd be much more comfortable than the 90F heat we've been having recently!

I opted for the counterclockwise loop, heading up Falling Water and descending via Greenleaf and Old Bridle Path, figuring this was the most practical route based on terrain features. The trails were busy, but not crowded, and I was able to move efficiently without too much delay, adding in periodic breaks for Ginger to grab water and for photos. As expected, not much for views, but was fun nonetheless. Certainly lots of room for improvement on the round trip time.

Franconia Ridge Loop
Splits:
Little Haystack 1:23
Lafayette 1:59
Greenleaf Hut 2:25
Trailhead 3:26

After a break this week, I'm planning to get more structured with my training, which will hopefully enable a few more northern running objectives before transitioning to ski season.

Late Season Scores

The 2015-2016 will go down as the winter that wasn't. A serious lack of snow combined with increased family and school commitments had me left with only the occasional morning resort laps. While those certainly made the weekdays more tolerable, I was ready to get out into the backcountry. Fortunately, my schedule lined up with Huff's enough to get in a weekday trip up to Mt. Washington. Despite it being well into spring, winter had made a comeback in the Whites, and the weather forecast held a high of 30F and wind. Combined with a bit of recent snow and wind loading, we weren't exactly sure what we'd find, but decided to get out and take a look for ourselves.

Hillman's from a distance

We left home after sunrise, and were hiking in our trail runners by a leisurely 9AM. After ascending into the bowl, we were able to get a better sense of the snow conditions. There was some minor wind deposit in and around the established bumps on the trail, but navigating around it seemed reasonable. 

Huff

Since neither of us had sharps, we resolved to kicking steps into the frozen crust. We hiked up to about the choke point of the gully, and made a decision to quit while we were ahead. The ski down was more survival than anything, crust and stiff wind buff. Not exactly ideal skiing, but at least we were able to get out there and enjoy the remaining snow.

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A couple weeks later, I had another window open up in my schedule. This time around, the weather was forecast for a more spring-like 60s in the valley and 30s up high, much nicer than our previous wintery experience. Since my usual partners weren't available, I had planned to go up solo, but shot a last minute email to JShefftz to see if he'd be roaming around up there as he so often is. Sure enough, he had plans to lap the NE snowfield before heading to Tuck's to catch LG on the way down. We decided to try for a rendezvous on the mountain.

My day trip schedule had me rising at 0300 to get an early departure from the Pinkham lot. Since I had to be back for daycare pickup in the evening, I knew I had to move fast. Luckily, I was on trail by 0730 and chugged my way up the TRT and Lion Head. Aside from a few choice photo ops, I kept moving in order to get as much in and still make my strict deadline.

View from LH (NE snowfields on the far right)

LG

Hillman's

Just before the transition to skins, I caught up to JS (guess I was moving fast), and we skinned over to the NE snowfields together. The snowfields were in excellent condition, with almost the entire potential run still in. It had snowed a few days earlier, and with the solar gain and reasonable temps, we caught perfect corn laps. After a few laps, I let Jonathan spin one more as I set to repairing an unfortunate equipment malfunction - my CAMP pack had torn at the bottom and required some McGuiver-like tape mending.

JS

"One good run deserves another!"

We traversed on skis back over to the top of the bowl, then hike around to LG. Somehow we beat the numerous hikers coming from the bottom and scored first tracks down the gully. Jonathan of course knew a crew climbing the bowl, and we stopped to briefly chat before enjoying the soft bumps to the bottom. Reminded of my need to get home for daycare, I booked it downhill, leaving my partner for the day to enjoy a few more laps of corny goodness. Somehow I beat my cut-off time and got on the road with almost 30 minutes to spare. Unfortunately even the best laid plans can be completely derailed by I-95 traffic. Luckily, daycare was very understanding!

Ouch.

Ollie decided to help me with
my post-tour stretching.

Springtime on Monadnock

This past Saturday called for clear skies and warm weather. Combined with a free Saturday for the two of us, my father and I decided to shoot up to Mt. Monadnock for a casual hike up the hill. We took a different route than I have explored previously, starting up the southerly Parker trail, then heading along the Cliff walk toward the summit. This is a far cry from the busy frontside trails, that were no doubt littered with people that day. On whole, I think we encountered maybe a half dozen folks on the trail. One even commented that he frequently sees no one hiking up Parker, despite it commenting "it's hard to be alone in New Hampshire."  Mostly, it was just us and the reptiles. 

The trail starts out as a nice wind through the woods, with some more open pine groves as the elevation gains. Cliff walk slowly opens up toward the tree line, and the views are as expected, especially on a perfect day like we had. We stopped at Bald Rock for a snack and to enjoy the sunshine before making the final ascent toward Monadnock. As expected given it's proximity to civilization, and the relatively easy ascent, the summit was crowded with folks. Everyone from boy scouts and AMC groups, to college students, to several people I have no doubt were experiencing their first summits were out at the top. We found a lee area to hide from the cool prevailing wind and take a quick break and once again enjoy the great views on this almost cloudless day.

Monadnock from Bald Rock

Did I mention the views were good?

We opted for a quick-er descent down the White Cross trail, which, unlike our time on Parker, was most certainly not isolated. The front side trails are quite rocky, much to the chagrin of my dad, but nevertheless enjoyable. If you're looking for a quick ascent/descent, these are probably your bet. Be sure to stop and look at the quartz veins that somehow formed through the granite. I'm always amazed at the geological phenomena that developed over time in this rock. It's as if someone injected crystal into the granite all over Monadnock - fascinating stuff. At the bottom of the hill, we took a few minutes and poked around the base lodge looking at some Monadnock history and wildlife information, which was quite educational.

A perfect day with no agenda, no timeline, no goals - just a casual stroll up a hill. To top it off, Heather had prepped some delicious pork chops and yams for us to throw on the grill when we returned. Hard to complain with a full belly and tired legs. We'll count this as an early dad's day present for the father and father-to-be. 

Springtime Westside action

With things firming up nicely on all three important fronts: schedule, snowpack, and weather, Cotton and I headed up Mt. W a few weeks back to grab turns in some previously unexplored terrain (for us, anyway). Having gotten some recent beta from a few other folks who have the luxury of mid-week trips, we decided to skin up the Ammo Ravine trail. With the forecast calling for 55F temps at the summit, we hoped to be speedy enough to drop in to Oakes before the sun baked it to complete mush, then proceed from there as the day allowed.

Though the Cog Railway parking lot was crowded, we essentially had the ART to ourselves, save a pair of groups on microspikes looking to hike up to the summit. We started our ascent under bluebird skies and the shade of pines, accompanied by the sweet music of the Ammonoosuc River. I've spent little time exploring this side of the mountain, and can say I was pleasantly surprised with the amazing views one gets for the first third of the hike. I can't count how many times I'd stop to take a picture, only to do the same five steps later when an even better opportunity came about. We finally decided this was the spot and grabbed a few posed ones for the wall at home:

Look at those shiny new boots!

Around halfway up the Ammo trail we transitioned to booting (though perhaps skinning would have been more efficient, given the postholing that went on) until we hit treeline. From there it was a smooth skin to the Lake of the Clouds Hut, where we ran into a few groups coming up from various other ascents. From the hut we traversed along the Dry River Trail to the edge of Oakes. We found a decent path somewhere in the central Gulf and skied in. The snow was heavy, but not a complete mess, and fortunately without much sluffage. (In hindsight, I think it's a better idea to summit Monroe, then ski from the top into Oakes.)

On the way up.

Cotton getting after it in central Oakes

From the bottom of Oakes, we skinned back out and found a quite place to eat lunch among the rocks. Cotton had leftovers from a family dinner the night before, so we feasted on gourmet pasta and lamb, washing it down with a pleasant local microbrew.

Skinning out

On a lunch break

After refueling, we decided to head to the summit and ski down from there. We followed the Tuckerman Ravine Crossover trail to the southeastern snowfields, then zig-zagged our way up to the top. After an obligatory summit pic, we skied back down the southwestern summit cone then across to Lake of the Clouds, then traversing to Monroe Brook. We were blessed with perfect spring snow and some mini-moguls on the way down MB. As an added bonus, we kept skis on all the way to the trailhead with only a few lurking hazards to nick our bases.

I've been told summit pics are required by state law.

Coming down the southwestern side

It was nice to get out and explore a new area, enjoy the day, and get a few turns. I'm excited to use this as a springboard to get into even more terrain in the coming seasons. Unfortunately, this might be the last of 2015 for me. Hoping next season brings as much snow as this one did!

Firescrew, Mt. Cardigan

This is a rather delayed posting of a trip we took back in March on Mt. Cardigan. Having visited the area last year and taken on the prime packed powder (tongue-in-cheek) on the Alexandria Trail, this year we opted for the Duke trail, which heads up the more northerly Firescrew peak. Visions of this route from the trip last year indicated that, given enough snow, there was potential for some open, snow-field skiing. Fortunately, Mother Nature had granted us with a fair amount of snow. Unfortunately, it had gone through a nice melt-freeze and covered the entire snowpack with a skating-rink of ice. Nevertheless, we managed to summit and enjoy a pleasant lunch in the warm spring sun before slipping down the mountain. Here are some pics from our trip.

Shoulda packed the hockey equipment... 

Great view of Cardigan peak.
Good skiing in the right conditions.

Huff enjoying some recovery nutrition.

Cardigan looks to be a go-to spot in the future. It's within a reasonable driving distance and easy on the legs going up, with some solid skiing if there's powder. Looking forward to several weekend mornings here in the coming year.