Jon and Petek's Weekend Adventure

SummaryWe hiked Whiteface and Passaconaway on Saturday, and Moriah on Sunday
OwnerJon Hanselman
Creation Date2010-01-19 09:31:54 UTC-0500
DescriptionThis being my first hike of the season, my goals were simple. Mostly, I just wanted to enjoy being in the mountains for a weekend before my new semester starts. With great mountains, good company, and perfect weather... mission accomplished. It was also nice to knock off a few more 4000 footers. Only 6 left.

Saturday:

After a night at Camelot, we made our way to the trailhead for Whiteface and Passaconaway. We hiked them from the south and did a loop, up Passoconaway via Dicey's, along the ridge to Whiteface, and down Blueberry Ridge: about 11 miles. The weather was incredible all day. It was clear, calm, and unnaturally warm (above freezing). I soon shed every possible layer, even on my feet. In hindsight, I should have worn my summer boots, but I had on my 400g insulated winter boots, and my feet got pretty warm, even though I was only wearing liner socks. As we climbed up Passoconaway I was especially hot, and I kept thinking how good it would feel to take my boots off and stand directly on the snow. Then I figured, why not? I "delayered" and hiked for about 20 minutes barefoot. It actually felt fine (as long as I kept moving). The only downside: zero traction. When I finally put boots back on it felt like I had put on crampons. Continuing up, we had half of lunch at the top of Passoconaway. We had some good glissading down Passoconaway, and some good views on the way to Whiteface, where we stopped to eat a little more before descending. We hiked the last hour by headlamp, which meant by the time we reached the car the cloudless sky was perfect for stargazing from the middle of the huge field right next to the trailhead.


Sunday:

After Saturday's hike we met up with Yuval in North Conway and stayed in the yurt at Intervale. On Sunday the three of us hiked Moriah. It was colder than Saturday, but still broke above freezing, at least at the bottom of the mountain. It was, however, fairly cloudy. We had no views from the top, but we were graced with a few partial views of the northern Presi's on the way up. For most of the trip down we had fun with the small butt sled Petek had brought, especially after I discovered it worked much better, and was much more fun, if I stood on it. Thankfully we all made it back to the car in one piece, just before 5pm.