Mt Eisenhower, Winter School 2001

Summary
OwnerMITOC Gallery Administrator
Creation Date2004-09-18 15:12:31 UTC-0400
Description


Mt. Eisenhower Winter School Hike
Date: 1/28/01
Location: Mt. Eisenhower Via Edmands Path



Sometimes good conditions require payback of another sort. I paid in
advance this weekend as I drove up toward Intervale for some Sherburne
skiing. As I pulled out of the Hooksett tolls, I heard way too much
exhaust noise coming from the back of my car. I made it to Plymouth,
and spent a few hours reinforcing a rusted tailpipe with metal
flashing and hose clamps (big thanks to the fine folks at Reed's
Hardware for helping me out). My ski day shot, I did a tour of local
ski shops, found a $75 set of tele skis at Lahout's, and earned a few
quick turns in Franconia Notch to test them out. Driving to the
cabin, however, the Camelot Access Rd. judged my automotive handiwork
and found it wanting--321 frost heaves later, my muffler was trashed.
{Sigh} I don't even own that car anymore, technically. This may get
expensive.

Anyway, it all paid off, as Sunday dawned cool and sunny. After
meeting the rest of the team in Lincoln, we headed to Crawford Notch.
We consolidated out gear in Nathan's Subaru, and drove past the gate
onto the "not maintained for winter travel" Clinton Rd., which is
perfectly passable if you have reasonable ground clearance. We
cruised into the Edmunds Path parking area, woke up some snow campers
sleeping under one of the plow berms (after that incident at Stratton
last year, you think people would learn?), and were on the trail by
10am.

Going to a hard-to-reach trailhead paid off, since the light snow and
drifting from the night before had covered and smoothed out the trail
for us. An old boot track was visible, but we still had to break
through shin-deep fluff. It was so light, though, that snowshoes were
pointless. About halfway up, I started to realize that bringing a
35lb pack was a stupid idea, and traded the lead with Shawn and Alex
who managed to break a fine trail, even with mouse boots. The Edmunds
Path, just as in the summer, is a perfectly-graded ascent though dense
woods, with only moderate steep sections and no ledges or flats. In
the summer, you'd see elaborate erosion control and perfect rock
cribbing along the switchbacks (laid by Edmunds himself over 100 years
ago), but on this day all of that was covered by deep snow. So deep,
in fact, that my trekking poles were useless even at their full
length. Stepping six inches off the old boot track meant crotch-deep
postholes.

As we approached the ridge, the path turned left to circle the bround,
round mass of Eisenhower. We got our first views as the trail
traversed across several steep slide paths that hold streams and
waterfalls in the summer. Always AVY aware, we took basic precautions
at each crossing ("one at a time!"), since even a 100' slide could put
an end to the day. The snow was even deeper up high, and we found
ourselves up in the tree canopy that hovers 8'-10' above the summer
trail surface. This sucks, really, since you expend as much effort
pushing against frozen branches as you do driving uphill. Our packs
(and necks) were soon covered by snapped twigs, pine needles, and
lumps of snow.

Soon after, we started to lose the trail in deep snow and bent trees.
Our heads now stuck out above the vegetation (although we were still
"below treeline" by summer standards!) and we could see where we
wanted to go, but the perfectly-level traverse path could not be found
under deep drifts. After some argument as to the best way to go,
Shawn and Alex forged ahead through the path of least resistance and
broke through to treeline just a few yards downhill of where the
summer trail exits the scrub.

{Note: it helps to have a working knowledge of the topography, the
trail layout, and numerous waypoints when hiking in the winter.
You can't always count on a broken trail, especially when high
winds can fill a boot track in minutes! The lack of open snow
slopes in New England makes it even harder, since the only
difference between "the trail" and "not the trail" is how much
resistance the scrub provides!}

We hiked up the col to Red Pond, and entered a perfect Winter
Wonderland. The last of the evil clouds had blown off of Washington,
giving us expansive views in all directions. It was in the teens,
with perfect sun, blue skies, and light winds (~30 mph, light by local
standards). Single, double, and triple lenticular clouds hoved over
the high summits, but we were clearly in the best location of the day.
Lack of triple-digit windchill made the whole facemask-goggles problem
easier, since there wasn't that "alpine bite" you get in more typical
conditions. After exploring the col, we located the Crawford Path
under deep snowdrifts (the Eisenhower loop sign was completely
buried!) and charged up the dome-shaped summit. Conditions were
perfect, with either soft windpack or rough scoured snow and very
little ice, and bare boots held fine. On the summit, the wind picked
up just a bit, but there was little punishment in exchange for
incredible views. I've never seen such friendly conidtions in four
years of winter hiking! We milled around for ten minutes, snapped
pictures, and headed down by 2pm.

The walk out went smoothly, since we now had a broken path to follow
through deep drifts (we didn't even try to locate the summer
trail--who needs more postholing!). The soft snow spoiled any good
glissading opportunities, but those with worn knees appreciated the
even grade. We made it out by 4pm, recovered our cars, and enjoyed a
fine dinner in Woodstock.

My ears are still ringing from 170 miles of highway driving with the
muffler in the back seat rather than on the tailpipe.

Thanks, everyone, for coming out--it was an awesome day!

-Matt

http://www.mit.edu/~reagan/outdoor.html