.February 3, 2007
I climbed a 4000 footer last weekend when I went back up Old Speck in Maine. This week I am climbing a 4000 footer that I have never climbed, Mount Whiteface. It is the southern most 4000 footer in the White Mountains. I'm glad I signed up with the Appalachian Mountain Club. I get their magazine, AMC Outdoors. I found this hike headed up by Eric Savage. I will refer to him as Eric S throughout today's entry so not to confuse him with myself. It's not that my readers would get mixed up between the two Erics, but I might. Eric S and myself were joined by Scott, Tom, and Mike. We spotted two of our vehicles at Ferncroft Road, and then drove our other two vehicles to Whiteface Intervale Road.
We got a few inches of fresh snow last night. It makes everything so much more beautiful, but also meant that we would be breaking trail. Eric S and Mike decided to go to their snowshoes right away. The rest of us decided to hold off a while. I've done my share of snowshoeing. It is a matter of preference, but for me, unless the snow is close to a foot or more, I find it easier to "bare boot it". The trail started out nice and easy. On the way we had a view of our goal, Mount Whiteface. On a day like today, it is obvious how it got its name.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After crossing the mostly frozen Whiteface River, we entered the Sandwich Range Wilderness. The name makes me hungry for some reason. I already stripped off my winter coat and was down to my thin bright orange one.
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Next we turned onto McCrillis Trail
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Somewhere around this point the trail started getting a little steeper. Scott and Tom decided to put on their crampons while Eric S and Mike remained in their snowshoes. Well, this put me in a tough spot. There were 2 in favor of snowshoes and 2 in favor of crampons. Rather than have to pick a side, I avoided it by staying in my boots.
Eric S (left) and Tom (right)
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Then we lost the trail. It is obviously a lot harder to follow a trail in the winter. If someone has gone ahead of you it is easy, but after a snowfall it can be quite difficult. We spent several minutes looking for a blaze, and then remembered we were in a wilderness area which means there are no blazes. Wilderness areas have strick restrictions: no blazes, very few signs, very few bridges etc...
Eric S is an experienced bushwacker. We headed northeast until we ran into McCrillis Trail again. On a trail in the wilderness, you will find an occasional blaze from years ago before such tough restrictions were put in place, but they are few and far between.
Scott
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ When the trail has to be broken, it is a lot more difficult being the person in front. To avoid burning out the person in front, it's best to take turns. Everyone had had a turn breaking trail but me, so I stepped up to the front of the line and moved forward into the fresh snow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I stopped long enough to get a picture everyone. Here's the team: Scott, then Tom, Mike, and Eric S.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I used to be a three season hiker. I'm sure glad I made the transition over to being a four season hiker. It's so beautiful in winter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The trail became very steep after this. Everyone was commenting on how blue the sky was today. I had to warn everyone.
"I'm a bit of jinx when it comes to having clear skies on the summit, so be prepared for it to be socked in," I said.
"You think your jinx," said Mike, "I'm the jinx."
"I have a feeling the two of you will cancel each other out," added Eric S.
Eric S
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Our first reward for climbing up, but we still have a ways to go.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I took another turn at the front and headed into the winter wonderland.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We're getting up there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Looking south. You can see part of Lake Winnipesaukee. It is way in the back and is New Hampshire's largest lake.
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Although we were heading to the summit of Whiteface, we were most looking forward to the southern false summit, because that is where the best view was. We made it to the top of the McCrillis Trail after fighting our way through several fairly deep snowdrifts along some open ledges.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Mike nears the top
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The view east with Mount Chocorua in the distance. As you can see from the blue sky. The bad luck that Mike and I have for getting good views, cancelled each other out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's a zoomed in shot. Mount Chocorua is my favorite mountain under 4000 feet. At only 3475 feet, it has a large area on the top that is above treeline.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Looking west.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Mike also took some pictures of the hike and forwarded a bunch to me. The following three pictures were taken by Mike.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here we are on the top of the false summit of Whiteface. From left to right: Eric S, myself, Scott, and Tom.
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We weren't at the true summit yet, so we followed Mike and Eric S back into the woods.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Once back into the shelter of the trees, we took a brief break to eat some lunch. A couple more minutes, and we reached the summit. I was glad Eric S mentioned that we were on the summit, because you can really miss this one. There is no view, no cairn at the top, and no sign. I am sure many just go right over the top and don't know it. Back in November, I climbed a few 4000 footers in Virginia when I was hiking the Appalachian Trail, but this is my first new White Mountains 4000 footer since September 30th of last year. It is my 33rd for my White Mountains 4000 list and 44th for my New England 4000 footer list
Now on Rollins Trail, we began following the ridge over to Mount Passaconaway. We passed our first hiker of the day who was heading up to the top. This was good news for our group and this solo hiker as well. This now meant we both had broken trail in front of us. That should help out a little.
We took turns stepping a few yards off the trail for this scenic outlook.
Mount Passaconaway
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Another view with Mount Chocorua way in the back. In the foreground, way below was an area called 'The Bowl'.
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We passed two more hikers with dogs. Great the trail was even a little more packed down. It seemed we would never make the 2.3 miles across the ridge, but we finally reached the junction with the Dicey's Mill Trail.
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At this point, we were just .9 miles from the summit of Mount Passaconaway. It would have been nice to bag another 4000 footer, but we were going to finish at dark as it was. We were reluctant, but followed our gut feeling that it was time to head out of the woods. The Dicey's Mill Trail was fairly well packed down, and we made great time heading down. About halfway out we had a small stream to cross. Tom took the lead.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After a couple more miles, we came out at Ferncroft Road where two of our vehicles were waiting for us. I ended up bare booting it the whole way. This was a wonderful, beautiful hike. Thanks everyone for coming along, and a special thanks to Eric S for heading up this hike.
I am trying to decide on a hike for next week. Right now it looks like either a rehike up the Appalachian Trail to Mount Liberty or a 14 mile roundtrip hike to the top of Mount Carrigain. We'll see.
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