April 30, 2010 Hike #2
I took a couple days off from work to see if I could finish my April Grid. I needed 4 peaks in two days. It sounded easy enough. Ha! A spring snowstorm hit the Whites dumping a ton of snow. I managed to get Mount Hale yesterday after breaking out 18" of snow above 3000' feet. Then I got the Osceolas this morning which had much less snow and had already been broken out. Now all I had left for April was Moosilauke. I really caught a break when I arrived at the Ravine Lodge Road and found the road open. This would save me 3.2 miles roundtrip.
There was a couple inches of snow when I started the hike.
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I met two sets of hikers coming down. I asked each of them if they needed snowshoes. The answer was "no", so confident that I wouldn't need them, I ditched them behind a tree to pick up on my way down. Up I climbed.
Nearing treeline.
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Nearing the summit
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Almost there
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Looking across the Whites to the Presidentials
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Here I am on the summit completing my April Grid and 8th complete loop of the 48.
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Looking south
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Looking east
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I headed back down the way I came, making sure to remember to pick up my snowshoes. I got down to the sign at the base of the mountain.
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There was a section of the Asquam Ridge Trail that I had never done so I decided to do a little redlining (hiking all the trails in a given area).
Over a bridge
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I came to a trail junction and found the sign laying on the ground. I picked it up and piled some rocks around it. I would return to this spot in a little while.
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Over another bridge
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The trail then took a sharp right hand turn heading up to the junction with the Al Merril Loop. I had been here before so my redlining in this direction was complete.
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I returned to the previous trail junction to begin my final section of trail which brought me over another bridge.
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Well my April Grid is complete, but I don't get much of a chance to rest. Tomorrow is May 1st and I need 20 peaks.
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