February 28, 2009 Hike #1
Today is a big day today. Not so much in terms of the number of peaks I would be bagging or the number of miles I'd be hiking, but because I would be finishing not one but two of my goals. I will be finishing my White Mountain winter four thousand footers on Hale and then in the afternoon I will finish my 48 in 1 winter season on Cannon. Ed Hawkins helped organize my finish. The orginal plan was for Hale today and Cannon tomorrow. The weather was 'iffy' for tomorrow, so I decided to hike both peaks today. Turns out that the weather was great for Sunday so I could have waited on the second peak. Eight people had signed up with Ed for that day, so I apology to them for the inconvenience. You just don't know with the weather sometimes, and I wanted to finish on the nicer day.
OK, one peak at a time. First up is Mount Hale. This mountain is generally one of the easier ones to climb, but we had a big storm a few days ago. The question was: Was it broken out? Regardless, I knew I could bag Hale today, but could I finish in time to meet Ed at the trailhead for Cannon at 2:00? I was joined by two other hikers today: Vinnie and Jeff. Jeff hasn't been feeling well and this was his first hike in about two months. We've missed you, Jeff. Glad to have you back! There was also a group of seven who started out just behind us. I knew three hikers from the group: Stacy, Ed Watson, and 'Whip'. We left at 7:30.
This hike starts off easy enough with a 2.5 mile roadwalk which we covered in just over an hour.
Now the hike can begin.
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It wasn't broken out, but we did have a rain event a couple days after the last snowstorm so it must have consolidated the snow some. We only had to break through a couple inches.
Vinnie on the Hale Brook Trail
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As we climbed my final winter four thousand footer, Hale refused to go down without a fight. The higher we went, the deeper the snow got. We were soon having to break through 6 inches, then 10 inches, then a foot, and more in some places. I stayed out in front for most of this hike, determined to get both peaks in today. Finally, the cairn at the top came into view.
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Vinne and Jeff nearing the summit
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"You're the birthday boy," said Vinnie. "Get up on those rocks so I can take your picture."
It wasn't my birthday, but Vinnie was referring to celebrating the completion of my winter 4s. Here I am with Jeff on the 4054' summit of Hale
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48
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As great a feeling as it was to finish my winter fours, it was not the true prize that I was seeking today. This was #47 for my 48 in 1 winter season. The big celebration would be on Cannon this afternoon. But one thing at a time. I decided to enjoy the summit of Hale for a few more moments.
I noticed something on Hale that I'd never seen before, another cairn. Only this one wasn't made of rocks. It was made of blocks and chucks of snow. I figured it was some type of igloo or shelter, but as I walked around it, I did not see an opening. Just then the group that started behind us reached the summit. Each one thanked us for breaking trail and congratulated me on my finish. They were just as curious as I was and went to investigate the snow cairn.
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Then one of them stood on the top and said, "I can see Washington."
So that's what that is for. If you climb the rock cairn you can get a glimpse of Washington, but this snow cairn was quite a bit higher. I climbed the snow cairn and got the best view that I had ever gotten while on Hale. This was somewhat of an anti-climatic peak to end on, so this nice view of Washington poking up above the clouds helped make up for it.
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Vinnie and Jeff knew that I had a deadline for my second hike, so they let me head out at my own pace. What a difference between breaking trail going up and then heading down after 10 people had trampled out a nice path. I saw Dexter who I had met on the Osceolas two weeks earlier. It was good to see him again. Down, down, down I went, getting more excited with each step. By the time I got to the bottom, I knew I was well ahead of schedule for my 2:00 meet time for Cannon, so I took my time on the road walk.
I stopped for a second to take this picture of the Zealand River with Mounts Oscar and Rosebrook, a couple mountains with no hiking trails. Maybe some day I'll hike them from the ski trails on the other side.
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I got back to the parking lot a few minutes after 1:00 where Ed was there waiting to congratulate me. He handed me several newspapers where there was a picture of me that Jeremy took the week before with the moose encounter near Zealand Falls Hut. Well this has been quite a week for me. I made the paper, Tim Seaver helped make me 'famous' with the snowshoe tapdancing contest (although Cath's talented footwork and funny arm movements stole the show on that one), and now I've finished my winter 4s. But the best was yet to come, the finish of my 48 in 1 winter season.
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