.January 20, 2007
I recently bought some skis from LL Bean. They are a combination cross country-ski/snowshoe. They are a lot shorter than cross-country skis and a lot wider. Although we have a couple of inches of snow here in Norway, it's not enough to try out my skis so I headed off to Evans Notch. A long stretch of Route 113 is closed in the winter and that sounds like a great place to try out my skis. I drove in from Route 2 and found where the road was closed. There was a small parking area with several vehicles with snowmobile trailers. I got out and strapped on my skis.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A couple of snowmobilers were finishing there ride when I started.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Wild River, to my right, sure looked cold. All the ice made the river look green.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Entering the Whites
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The Roost Trail has 2 trailheads. I reached the first one. I had been up that way last summer so I decided to keep going. I'll go up via the southern trailhead. Next, I saw a suspension bridge crossing the river
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Today's trip didn't require crossing the bridge but I couldn't resist.
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I got halfway across and heard the roar of snowmobiles behind me. This motivated me to get across the bridge quickly. I reached the other side and 4 snowmobiles crossed the bridge and whizzed passed me. I was now in New Hampshire. I turned around and got a glimpse of the Roost which I would consider more of a hill than a mountain. That's where I was heading next.
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There was a note on the bridge stating the bridge was to be shared by foot traffic, snowmobiles, and dog sleds. Dog sleds, now that would be fun to see. I went back across the bridge and continued down Route 113. I came to a fork in the road with snowmobile trails running everywhere.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I stayed to the left and continued south down Route 113.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I took a side trip through Hastings Campground
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I made the loop through the campground following the trail laid by the snowmobilers. There were no signs of anyone doing any winter camping. I made my way back to 113 and continued south. I again heard the roar of snowmobiles and moved to the side of the road to let them pass.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I reached the southern trailhead to the Roost Trail. It would be a short hike since it was just .7 miles to the top.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I knew portions of the trail would be too steep for my skis, so I hid them in the woods. There were no footprints so I'm guessing I was the first person to take this trail this year. Looks like some bog bridging under this snow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Part way up I came across some animal tracks. They weren't deer, they were too small for moose or bear, and they were two big for squirrel or rabbit. My best guess is either fox, coyote, or bobcat.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ For a while I thought my animal friend might have gone to the top as well, but after a while the tracks left the trail. I was once again on the trail with an untouched blanket of snow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I reached the top.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There was no view from here, but there was a sign pointing down that read 'View'. I went down the mountain a tenth of a mile or so. The weather wasn't that great but I got a fair view down into the valley.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I zoomed in and could see the suspension bridge far below.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It got cold fast on this open ledge, so I didn't stick around long. I headed back up to the top and retraced my steps back to Route 113. I put my skis back on and continued south. I came across Little Lary Brook Road and decided to take it. I followed the road which was mostly uphill all the way to where the trailhead for Wheeler Brook Trail starts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I plan to hike Wheeler Brook Trail one day. It is on my ever growing list of trails to hike. It can be more easily reached by its northern trailhead. I had gone far enough for today so I headed back down to Route 113, and this time headed north. The temperature sure was dropping, so I was glad to get back to my truck.
I needed to purchase some crampons so I decided to head over to Eastern Mountain Sports in North Conway, NH. On the way I stopped at the visitor center at Pinkham Notch which is at the base of Mount Washington. Inside, I got a current weather report. Where I was the temperature dropped to 8 degrees. On the top of Washington it was -16. But that's not the half of it. There were also 100 mile an hour winds at the top bringing the wind chill down to -65. I'm looking forward to doing a lot of winter hiking but not in those temperatures.
I got the crampons I was looking for. Tomorrow I plan to test them out on Streaked Mountain.
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