| Summary | |
| Owner | Pavel Gorelik |
| Creation Date | 2008-01-15 01:22:39 UTC-0500 |
| Description | Overnight at the Mitzpah hut campsite and an ascent of Mt. Pierce
Manny Balderas and Pavel Gorelik Cast of Characters: Andy, E'beth, Ed, Eric, Jaryn, Jen, Onur, Sarah Trip report by Onur Kuzucu: Our early meeting attempt for 6:30 am departure was botched due to, well, predictable causes such as sleep-deprivation-due-to-last-minute-packing and somewhat irresistable desire for a warm breakfast. The trip to Crawford Notch was pleasant as we were well treated with low-occupancy vehicles. I was riding with Eric and Jen in a great minivan with plenty space, whereas Manny's folks decided to create some warmth in their car by fitting four. We stopped briefly at AMC Highland Center for last minute needs and we also had a chance to tour Brad Washburn's spectacular aerial photography exhibit covering Alaska, France, Switzerland and of course Mt. Washington. After gearing up and taking some group photos in Mt. Clinton Rd parking lot, we set out for a beautiful hike through Crawford Path trail. The weather conditions were way too warm for most of us and in a couple of minutes we delayered down to base due to unusually spring-like weather. We made a couple of brief stops at Gibbs Falls and Mizpah Hut cut-off junction. Some Canadian Jays, apparently quite well acquainted with hikers, were treated with our snacks and then we covered the last mile to Mizpah Hut which is closed for winter. We moved our gear to Naumann Tentsite and quickly set up our nightly accomodation. While most of us preferred four-season tents, our savvy leaders set up their dugout-like tarps with snow stakes. Then, it was time for cooking. Manny and Pavel set up their stoves and it turns out at that point that we were up for some gourmet treat. The menu: Corn pasta (well, polenta was the better description for that one. But fear not, our chefs Manny and Pavel improvised with garden veggies and spices to make it taste great), couscous, chicken sausage. The surprise came at the very end. Our leaders brought up some mulled wine infused with cinnamon, cardamom, orange and other spices (eventually following a Glogg or Gluhwein recipe, whichever you'd like) and an incendiary display of melting sugar with a slight touch of Bacardi 151. This warmed us up before going out to the open-ground next to the Hut and lying down to watch stars under an all clear sky. The weather conditions were so good that we even contemplated bringing our sleeping bags out there and spending the night under stars, but I guess we were a bit lazy about the hassle. Everyone went to sleep by 10 pm and had a comfortable night with their warmed Nalgene bottles. The next day's agenda was covering the short distance between the hut and Mt. Pierce and possibly continuing to Eisenhower. Personally, I was in favor of an early start, expecting that we would make the most out of favorable weather conditions. Yet we woke up around 8:30 am (so much for our Alpine start) and settled into a hearty breakfast. We had some hot cocoa to begin with and then oatmeal followed. The highlight of the breakfast was scrambled eggs (two dozen that Pavel brought in two big Ziploc bags) with chicken sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, onions and some grated cheese. By the time we were done with breakfast our neighboring fellow hikers already completed their Pierce hike and informed us about the unbelievable views and conditions up there. I think for some of us that was the reminder for our Sunday agenda and we quickly set out to cleaning up, packed our tents and gear. I was personally able to assess the damage done by red squirrels to my brand-new backpack, who were able to penetrate through the shell and feasted on some gummy bears. I was cautious enough to put up the bag on a branch, but that obviously did not deter hungry squirrels. There's simply no way of protecting your bag unless you carry some pepper spray with you. I think they were more ambitious with others' bags but in the end no MITOC-owned backpack got damaged, phew. By the time we finally set out to our course, it was almost noon! Apparently we wouldn't have enough time to reach Eisenhower, so we picked a relaxed pace and made our ascent to Pierce. We put on our crampons before getting on some ice slabs and as the trail flattened out, we had the gorgeous southwest views of Southern Pemi range and Carrigain. The approach to Pierce was flat and we stopped at the summit to enjoy beautiful weather and clear views to Presidentials. We practiced some compass bearing as we had unmistakable landmarks lying around. After some bird feeding, we went down to take Crawford Path back to the parking lot. The descent was quick and enjoyable. We almost shoe-skied down and eventually reached the parking lot before sunset. After dressing up, came the greatest challenge of all day. Our cars got stuck at the sloping entrance of the parking lot. Here, our crampons came in handy to give the push on icy road. Eventually, we made out in 15 minutes and drove to Lincoln for a hearty dinner and some beer. |