Back in the Whites! (PedXing)

“Thursday May 23rd: First backpacking in too long a time.

Hike: Sandwich Mtn, Jennings Peak, Black Mountain (Sandwich Range, NH White Mountains). Total distance: 12 miles.

Old Gear (partial list):
*Lowe Alpine Contour IV: (heavy 6’ 8” and too big, but comfortable, reliable and still like new after 100s of miles)
*Walrus Zoid 1.0
*Pur Hiker
* Frisbee (dog model) for play and for food/water bowl for Gorgy.
*Extensive first aid kit

New Gear:
*¾ length Z rest
*Dog back pack (Gorgy carried her food, a leash when not in use, and 20oz water)
*Marmot Precip

Key things left behind: Stove, Trekking poles

Total weight was 25 lbs with 1 ½ days food and 2 liters of water.


I had arranged a trip with my sons for the following Sunday, but with final grades turned in and other end of semester duties taken care of, I was champing at the bit to get out into the mountains. So I made a few arrangements, packed up my gear and headed to the White Mountains with my dog “Gorgy,” who is 9 ½. Two rounds of surgery in 2001 and the relative inactivity of winter had left me feeling pretty out of shape and I was eager to get my trail legs back.

With last minute business, I got off late in the day and it was about 4 PM when I finally hit the trail. Driving by Mad River’s house on the way brought back great memories of hiking with Mad, Sir Pete, AmyG and Xpress (my older son) last summer.

Drakes Brook was high with the melting snows and Gorgy needed help dealing with some of the currents. The trail was steep, but not rough and we had great views of one of the snow covered Presidentials. About 3 miles in I had seen enough snow to know that the nights were still pretty cold at this elevation. We found a great bit of land to set up camp. Gorgy was happy and had tons of energy, she was more interested in playing with the Frisbee than eating out of it. After hanging the food, we wandered out to a wide part of the trail and she happily caught the Frisbee even though I didn’t throw it farther than 15 feet.

The morning was slightly overcast and we set out promptly towards Sandwich peak (3993 ft.). The trail is on the north face of the mountain, and as we approached the peak, there was more and more snow and ice. Just after Smarts Brook trail, about ½ a mile from the peak the trail was totally frozen over. It became a pretty challenging scramble. There were a lot of obstacles on the trail… a winter’s worth of blow downs I suppose.

One of the joys of hiking the trail with my dog is working together to figure out how to get past obstacles. She trusts me to help her pick a path under, over or around blow-downs – across streams and rivers… up or down steep, jagged and boulder littered trails. At every obstacle, she stops and waits for me and we watch and encourage each other as we get past them. She takes great pride in her ability to get through difficult spots. I made heavy use of roots, rocks, trees and anything else I could grab on to. At one point, I had to crawl along the ice to get under a large pine tree that had fallen across the path. By the time we reached the peak, it had started to clear and we had a pretty good view of Welch-Dickey, the mountains of Franconia Ridge and the Sandwich range. Not ready to turn back, we wandered down the Bennett Street trail a while and returned to take the Algonquin trail to Black Mtn. It started to rain lightly during the return trip and I began to dread coming down on the ice and snow along Sandwich Mtn.

One important backpacking skill for the mountains, which is seldom discussed, is the art of falling so that you come down on your ass as gently as possible. Maybe people don’t talk about it, because they aren’t proud that they’ve had much experience. By the time we got to the north face of Sandwich Mtn, the surface of the ice was wet and slick. Well, I’m proud to say that I did an excellent job of landing on my ass twice! The second time, I slid at least 6 feet and got up with a mild case of frozen butt.

About a mile after heading back down Sandwich Mtn. we took a side trail to Jennings Peak (.4 miles round trip) on the way back. A short distance later we left the Sandwich Mtn trail to take the Drakes Brook trail, a longer but more gradual route back to the car. My feet were not doing well. I always have trouble getting hiking boots because my feet are so wide (3E) and I had finally discarded some very comfy LL Beans that had started to disintegrate after about 6 years. I’d decided to wear some old New Balance Mt. Rainier’s that I’d used mostly for day hikes. For some reason these tore up my feet pretty badly. I’d also done 12 miles after months without backpacking and was a little stiff here and there. I was glad to reach the car and take my boots off. After I loaded the gear into the car, I tried the Frisbee test. In this test, I pull out the Frisbee and see how eager my dog is to chase it and catch it. She was into it. She was only a bit slower than when we started out. Not bad for 9 ½ years old. As I looked at the blisters on my left foot I thought “damned dog, I’ll have to load her pack up next time.””

“weird to think there's still a bunch of ice and snow up yonder! the art of falling on your ass softly, LMAO!!

pee s. i'm sure God was punishing you in advance for making fun of my love affair with Blueberry Harvest Bars. ;-)”

“LOL! Lyra.

The ice seemed to get heavy around 3600 feet.

Additional thoughts:

The Zoid 1 really is too small for me and my dog. If I was rich I'd get the MSR titanium Zoid 1.5 and sell the Zoid1.

The dog backpack worked great.

I will not take the New Balance Ranier's backpacking again.

Trekking poles or crampons are essential when the trail is likely to be iced, even for 1/2 mile.

I ordered a Mountainsmith Auspex using the REI 20% anniversary discount. The ContourIV is just too much pack for the way I hike during most of the year. As much as I like it, its just nuts to have more than 25% of my maximum weight be the pack itself.”

“You forgot your stove?”

“Nope, I didn't forget the stove. I decided not to cook. I only bring a stove when I'm with someone who prefers cooked meals, I think its going to be really cold, or I'm going a long distance and need the variety.”

“cool Ped. We ought to get together this year!”

“Ped,
Thanks for the trip report. Sounds like you are getting warmed up for a season on the trail. Hope we can hook up in July.”

“I was the same way until I bought my 3 oz snow peak Ü”

“Great to hear from you! I was wondering where you've been hiding.

Gorgy -- is that from the Black Caldron?

Did you bring a sleeping bag? If so, what kind? What kind of temps did you have?”

“Thanks Ped! Sound s like fun”

“Sounds like you & the dog had a blast. I wish I lived close to the Whites. I'd be there every chance I got.”

“did you eat a sandwich on sandwich mountain?”

“Damn dewd I shoulda brought a sandwich.

Oh yeah the bag was a Marmot Arroyo (the lightest bag in the arsenal, at about 22 oz).

My boys named the dog. Gorgy is short for Gorgonzola (they read a story about the moon being made of Gorgonzola cheese).

Anyway, come on up and hike y'all. I'm looking forward to meeting Dunadan, and it'd be way kewl to do some more walkin with Pete, Dude and Jer. And Lyra, Biz (and her 3 oz snow peak Ü), Sunny and the Dewd are more than welcome too.”