October 30, 2010
I thought the weekend would never come. Early in the week I got an invite from Sabrina to do some red-lining in the Dry River Wilderness. This gave me the opportunity to finish off the remaining miles that I needed in there. Sabrina, her dog Terra, and I started about 7:15 after spotting her car at the Highland Center. Why don't I have Madison? She has a cut on her ear that hasn't been healing. She is doing fine but the veterinarian told me not to take her hiking until it completely heals. She is very sad.
I didn't bother with any pictures for the first five miles or so since I just hiked this section of the Dry River Trail a little over a month ago. We reached the junction with the Mt. Eisenhower Trail. The last time I was here I took a left, but today I took a right, staying on the Dry River Trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dry River Falls is approximately .3 miles from this intersection. Unfortunately we missed it. I had thought that the trail went right by it. I later read in the AMC White Mountain Guide that in order to get to the falls you have to take a 40 yard obscure, unmarked, unsigned path off the Dry River Trail. No wonder we missed it. This is a seldom travelled trail and with all the blowdowns and leaves covering the trail, just staying on the main trail was tough enough. I'm not sure we would have seen that herd path even if we were looking for it.
We had several watercrossings. There was just enough ice and snow on the rocks to make it extra tricky.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We reached Dry River Shelter #3
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
So where are Dry River Shelter #1 and Dry River Shelter #2? The guide book states that because #3 is in a wilderness area once major repairs are needed the shelter will be removed. I must assume that #1 and #2 have already met with that fate.
Although we had hiked about 7-8 miles we hadn't gained in elevation significantly. By the time we reached 4000 feet there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground. The trail got steep so we put on some light traction.
I missed having Madison, but it was great to have Terra along.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The trickiest part of this climb was this small scramble coated with ice.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Terra had gone off trail in the woods. We lost sight of her for a couple of minutes.
Then she popped out above us.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was a winter wonderland.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We left the Dry River Wilderness, but we would be back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The windiest part of the day was the 2 tenths of a mile across the ridge until we reached the Lakes of the Clouds Hut. Here I am at the end of the Dry River Trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We met two hikers at the hut. The only people we would see all day. They had made an attempt to climb Washington but the wind and low visiblity forced them back. They were going to go after Monroe instead.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sabrina had never hiked the trail around Monroe, so that was what we did. Given the high winds, I had no problem not going to the summit.
Sabrina did a great job navigating as we headed down the Crawford Path in near whiteout conditions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Junction with the Mt Eisenhower Trail, time for more red-lining.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was great to be out of the wind and back into the safety of the trees.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We entered the Dry River Wilderness . . . again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Down we went to the junction with the Dry River Cutoff.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
My red-lining mission for the day was complete. . . but not Sabrina's. We dropped our packs, hiked down the rest of the Mt Eisenhower Trail (.3 miles), turned around and came back up. I had done that small section a few weeks ago. Now we headed up the Dry River Cutoff before taking the Mount Clinton trail to Mizpah Hut. Just before the hut I stopped briefly at the Nauman Campsite since I had never been there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This was where the Dry River Cutoff ended and concluded Sabrina's red-lining mission for the day. But despite hiking about 16 miles or so we had yet to bag a peak. Sabrina needed Pierce for her October Grid and her fall list so up we headed. We reached the 4310' summit. Wow! Talk about taking the long way to a summit. As we left the summit we were briefly above treeline. Fortunately the wind had completely subsided.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We headed down the Crawford Path. We ran out of light and had to use our headlamps for the last mile or so. We reached the Highland Center at 7:10. Our mission completed in just under 12 hours. Sabrina, thank you so much for joining me on this adventure . . . Terra too!
| 
