Mt Whiteface - the trip report

“Wall Man (now posting as MouseSpray) and I arrived at the Ferncroft parking lot after 11am, put our packs on and headed up the road to the Blueberry Ledges trail that would take us up 4,020’ Mt Whiteface. It was a bright sunshiney day, blue skies, moderate temps (low 20’s probably) and little wind. The trail was packed fairly well and we booted it the entire way. The views along the trail were incredible; it seemed we could see forever.

There was much whining on my part about the upcoming ledges and “very narrow steep ridge” as described in the guidebook (and a couple of outright “don’t you think I’m going up THERE!” accompanied by much laughter) all to give Wall Man a hard time. He insisted I trust him to plan the trip and not look at the guidebook or trip reports (yeah right!) – only the second trip in 15 years that I didn’t plan myself. However, I was pleasantly surprised when we came to those places that they were fun little scrambles, with little challenge to get up. The Blueberry Ledge was a sheer drop off for sure, but vertigo wasn’t with me this day and I got to look over the ledge and the following ridges and admire the gorgeous views all around and of the basin between Whiteface and Passaconaway.

We had a great hike up, about 4 hours in total to the peak, and then began the “piece of cake” 2.5 miles on the Rollins trail to the Rich campsite (?). As I hiked along, I realized that I kept loosing Wall Man – his height and external frame pack made it difficult for him to move on the trail and he spent much time wrestling with pack grabbing trees. I didn’t know that was happening, and would hike far ahead before I would notice that he was no longer behind me. One time I realized I hadn’t heard him for some time, so I stopped and waited as I had before. However, it seemed I waited a very long time, and was getting worried, as some sections of the trail were right on the edge of drop offs that seemed to go all the way to the floor of the basin, and I remember thinking as I hiked them how easy it would be to slip and fall. I started hiking back again, and this time I hiked back quite away before I saw him.

What I feared was just what had happened to Wall Man – he’d won a wrestling match with a tree, but lost his balance as a result and fell down the bank. I arrived on the scene just as he was pulling himself and his pack up onto the trail. I felt like a pretty inconsiderate hiking partner at that point; since I should’ve been close enough to my partner to know he was having difficulties and to assist him in getting back on the trail. Once he recovered and we were on our way again, we stayed together.

It was getting dark by now, so we decided to just find a place to pitch the tent, and at 6:15pm, we found a nice spot and Wall Man put up the tent. I just watched him do all the work.

We crawled in the tent, I unpacked, dried off and changed my damp shirts – it hadn’t been that cold out and I hadn’t sweated much, but a change of clothes felt good. Wall Man had climbed right in his sleeping bag, coats and all and started snoring away. I got in my bag, but was shivering – I knew I needed to get up and eat, but wasn’t really hungry, and thought Wall Man was down for the count. Looked like a long night ahead, and I decided that this was not fun!

Wall Man came back to life after a bit, making fun of the way I was all balled up in my bag – I was considering asking if I could use him as a mat, since the only thing stopping me from being toasty warm was my body on the sleeping pad on the snow. (that felt really weird, getting in a tent on the snow) Anyway, next time I’ll bring two pads as AmyG recommended. I changed my pants – which helped tremendously – and started some chemical heaters for my cold spots. Once we got the candle lantern going and started melting snow for supper and hot chocolate, we were fine – I announced that we were staying up all night, it was so much more comfortable than trying to sleep, and we were toasty warm. I was also very pleasantly surprised when Wall Man brought out a bottle of wine! We reminisced about the day’s adventures and sipped wine until it was gone, then hit the hay, must’ve been around 10 or so and I slept like a baby.

I had a bunch of my clothes stuffed in my sleeping bag with me – to keep them warm for morning and to dry some of the wet stuff, and had my boots, the stove fuel and water bottles in the very bottom of my survival bivy, which I had pulled over my bag earlier. I dropped right off to sleep and awoke around 4am to what I thought was rain (was actually snow), and damn near had a claustrophobic fit trying to find the opening of my sleeping bag. I just started using mummy bags and am still having difficulties with that closed in feeling, especially around my feet and legs – and head – all over I guess, lol. It snowed about 2-3” which was very pretty.

We cooked breakfast and packed up, heading out in skies that alternately cleared and clouded up. After 15 minutes we found the trail junction that would have taken us the additional .2 miles to our campsite and also the Dicey’s Mill trail, which is the trail we took back to our cars.

It was a great trip - my first in a tent in winter – and a memorable one. It was a great hike, one I intend to repeat in the warmer months, and I do believe I’d tent in winter again. Not in FYAO temps maybe, but it was fun! I got to witness one of Wall Man’s misadventures firsthand and he got to see me throw my pack up and over – on time it went all the way over – I got tangled up in my snowshoes and it was me or the pack, so the pack went. To innocent bystanders I’m sure it looked like I intentionally just picked my pack up and threw it over my head.

pics”

“you're hard-core, Eater-of-Twigs! :-)”

“man those views are really something! beautiful!”

“Great report Twiggy and fabulous pics. It's always tough to know how far ahead to go when its just two people - the important thing is that you went back for Wall Man. It's hard to stop and wait in the cold, and hard to give back ground you worked for by turning around.

I did an overnight loop through Whiteface, Passaconway, Camp Rich and the Trypyramids last September - there are some beautiful places there. It was great to see what the winter does to it.

I couldn't talk my kids into an overnight - so I just did a day hike yesterday not far from where y'all had been. My older son (Express) and I hiked the Osceolas from Kancamagus yesterday. It was gorgeous and warm enough that we spent almost an hour atop Osceola.”

“Love that photo of Mt. Washington!”

“Glad to hear you got out for a dayhike Pedxing, sounds like you had a great time! I'm not too familiar with the White's so I'll have to check my book to see where you were at.

I've got a four day weekend coming up in April that I'd like to plan a trip for. Course it's Easter weekend, but I'm willing to give up that one day of family fun for a few nights on the trail. :)

Any ideas for a good trip? I'll check my book and views from the top as well.”

“Killer pics and trip report Twiggie! I agree, that photo of Mt. Washington is awesome! :-)”

“Nice report.
Yea, you need two pads on snow.
I use a 6' x 24" closed foam pad with a 3/4 thermorest ultralite for snow sleeping. This was good down to 14 degrees.
I got to see your "over the head" pack procedure sometimes. ;)”

“Nice pix and trip report! Did you wear your snowshoes inside the tent?”

“LOL @ Bobo, you really liked that pic didn't ya! me too :)

We'll be on a trip together someday Stomper - and I'll try not to wack you with my pack. :) I don't know what the temps were Friday night, but I think the low was predicted to be zero.”

“I'm really disappointed Wall Man wasn't enough of a gentleman to notice you were cold in your sleeping bag.
Any Southern Gentleman would have offered to be your "snuggle buddy" to help you stay warm. Hee Hee.”

“Twiggy: Osceola is about 6-7 miles West-Northwest of Whiteface. It's sort of two 4k footers away... the Trypyramid peaks are the only ones in between the two.

For April: If trail conditions allow (I really don't know what to expect there), I'd suggest the Bonds for a trip in April. It could be done as a traverse if you position a second car, as a loop (a little less than 30 miles) or a round trip. The Bonds are as spectacularly beautiful as you can get in the Whites, but without the crowds of comparable places (the Presidentials and Franconia Ridge).”

“Dave, Osceola must have been a good hike given the weather that day. Did you have any problem getting up the "chimney" just east of the main summit?

Twigeater, I second the Bonds. There have been enough trips as of late so the trail is well packed. You can either come in the Lincoln woods way (south) or go in by way of the Zealand Hut. Either way it is the quintessential Pemi hike.”

“Ok, I'll check out the Bonds, wahoo! anybody wanna go?
(eeek! it says "narrow ridgeline" hehe)

LOL @ Stomper, snuggle buddy...”

“Twas a beautiful trip. Formerly "Wall-Man", and a NYC dweller, I haven't posted in more than a year and a half (since 9/11), but I've kept in touch with Twigeater & we threw this trip together.

It's too bad twig was havin' so much trouble with her camera, due to the cold, cause the views just kept gettin' better. It never got out ot the teens on Friday, and the straw to my camelback froze solid in the few minutes we took gearing up in the parking lot, but the cold temps meant the snow stayed hard enough to bare boot it the whole way up Whiteface. We needed snowshoes on the other side though, and again for every bit of the trail on Saturday as the temps went up.

I've hiked all over the U.S., and spent more than 10 hours climbing up & down a full glaciated peak in Washington (Adams), but this was my first true winter overnight in a tent, and my first time ever wearing snow shoes. Of course, I make dorky mistakes on every trip, usually leading to some of the most ridiculous adventures, and although I thought I had all the bases covered, well it happened again...

I only have an external pack, and never anticipated that the height of the snow and my height(~6'1") would have me going through tree branches that usually pass by overhead. Going up Whiteface this was not a problem - I was cruising, even cheering the straight up strenuous trail without switchbacks. Near the top it was awesome - the trail came within 5 ft of a bare, snowy ledge that just ended into oblivion, with I'm guessing what must be more than a 1,000 ft drop (didn't get close enough to peer over it, however). I was kinda worried that twigeater might freeze up on me there, as she did let out a yelp and moved up to the safety of the trees for a calmer view (I think one of the pictures she posted is of me near that ledge). Anyway, on the other side of Whiteface is a 2.3 mile stretch in the col between Whiteface & Passaconaway - an easy "cake-walk". But the snow was much higher in here, and every few steps had me in a wrestling match between a tree, my external pack, and my sleeping pad (strapped to the top of my pack and gettin' torn to shreds), all the while handicapped by these friggin' clown shoes that I'd never experienced before. I gotta admit - this sissy trail absolutely wiped me out!!

After fighting this damn trail and my mental condition for a couple of hours (the whole thing shoulda taken us no more than an hour & a half) I took my fall. Walking alongside this particulary steep ledge that dropped off to the right, but wooded thank goodness, I got mildly tangled on the left by a tree. So I grabbed a branch with one hand, and gave a little tug with my body. I came free immediately, and the branch I was holding broke off the tree, sending me, now head first, down this friggin slope, with the branch still in my hand. I only went down about 15-20 ft, but of course one of my poles travelled 25. Fighting my way back up this thing, pushing my pack up one tree at a time, was a huge struggle, cause as I eventually realized I was actually on the side of a boulder, and my flailing exposed the layer of ice that kept sliding me back 1 ft for every 3 feet I would gain. The snow shoes too kept gettin' tangled in my battle back up, but the snow was so deep I was afraid to take 'em off & sink to god knows where. By the time I had gotten back to within a couple of feet from the trail, Twigeater had returned, wondering where the hell I'd been. At this point I believe I was just lying motionless face down in the snow - wiped out beyond anything I've experienced.

Despite the trouble, the whole ordeal was funny and in between my cursing I was laughing, and we had a lot of fun chattin' about our hike in the tent over wine and hot meals. Saturday's hike out, refreshed, and now with a little snowshoeing experience under my belt, we quickly descended to areas where the snow was not piled so high, and we managed to do the 4 miles to the car in about 2 hours.

Great time!”

“The trail leading to Bondcliff and West Bond is slightly narrow, but nothing to worry about. If you are doing this hike after the weekend of April 12th, I might be up for it.

And friend and I are thinking of doing the Bonds sometime after the weekend of the 12th. There will still be snow on the ground, but it should be well packed.”

“Pedxing - I did Ocelea Columbus Day '01 from the ponds, going up the chimneys rather than from Tripoli - Fun!!!

I went up to do the Bonds this past Columbus Day, but we got hit with bad weather and I ended up doin' a couple of day hikes instead. They definately will be my next hike though, as I hear they provide some of the most beautiful views, especially at sunset.”

“Thanks Wall Man! (sorry, but you'll always be Wall Man to me :)

I've never frozen on a hike, no matter how bad vertigo gets me. I've never cried either although I often threaten to. I just think the image of me crying while hiking is hysterically funny. :)
I do feel bad that I was not there with my camera to capture that tumble off the mountain though. (just kidding! lol)

It's April 19-22 that I have off. I still need to read up on the Bond's MadRiver, I'll let ya know!”

“Just makes me want to get out even more. Great pics and report!”

“Twig: The loop route I took through the Bonds was: Lincoln woods trail to Wilderness Trail to Bondcliff Trail (with a worthwhile detour to West Bond) then back to Wilderness via the Twinway and Thoreau Falls. I'll send you a trip report if I find it on my computer. I'm not sure if I ever posted it.

Mouse: That's exactly the route I took. I'd done the route from Tripoli in the summer a few years ago with my kids, but only went to the main peak.

Mad: There was a bit of a scramble on the chimney but it wasn't bad. I did a bit of a butt slide on the way down. The return route was very slippery, because a group of three apparently butt slid down much of the mountain which froze and hardened between their return and ours.”

“Thanks for the report and the pic's! Madriver it is great to see you posting, you to Ped, we should do a White's trip this spring/summer over a weekend.”

“Hey Pete: I'd definitely want to hike with you ifn you were to come up to New England.

Also: I'm really trying to get two weeks this summer to hike the AT from Grafton Notch, ME to Norwich VT - or how ever far I get. Depending on how things go, I may post this on the trips section as plans firm up. If you are interested in doing all, or a piece of it let me know.

BTW: Mad and I hiked together for the second time 10 days ago - it was great fun, but at one point we were swimming in four or more feet of very light powder - post holing even with snow shoes!”

“Great trip reports! It looks like quite an adventure and I'm glad you survived. Mouse Spray - how'd you survive Twigster's snoring. Oh wait, I see the picture of the empty bottle of wine by your head. ;o)

Nice pics Twigster! The one with Mt Washington in the background is super. Nice framing.

I can't do anything in NH Easter weekend, but something in the summer sounds good.”

“I DON'T SNORE! It can't be true, LOL!
Actually I think Wall Man was telling me about this dream he had about bears - it was prolly them and not me at all...hehe!

Thanks all for the compliments on the pictures! I need to start keeping my batteries warm so I can get those great pics I've been missing.”

“Actually Twiggy - there were some west bound backpackers who told us that they had heard a lot of thunder the night before... the mountains seemed to shake so much that at first they thought it was an earthquake. I looked at them like they were crazy... there weren't even clouds at, let alone thunder or lightening. Now I feel badly about this. I didn't realize what must have happened until just now.”

“Hi Pete.

I have several trips planned for this spring, summer, and fall. Just let me know when you are available.

Here are some:
An overnight in June to 13 falls with my wife and sister.
An overnight to do some trail mantenance on the Davis Path in Late June with a trip into the Great Gulf.
A three night trip through the Pemi.”

“You are so fun-neee ped! don't forget we'll be in the same lean-to in May. I bet if you ask wolfman's brother he'll tell you exactly how much the sound is amplified in the enclosed area.
=D”

“Yikes! =;)

OK - I snore sometimes too. Mebbe if we're lucky the lean-to will amplify the vibrations enough to shake the snow and ice loose from Katahdin.”

“Twigeater,

Here are a few photos of West Bond and Bondcliff that a poster from the AMC board sent me.

click”

“Great pictures Mad!

I had a close one this weekend - seems my office worked Saturday and Sunday and my boss was trying to reach me.
1-800-IM-IN-THE-WOODS didn't work, go figure!
:D”

“As you can see, the ridge line between Bond and West Bond is slightly narrow, but nothing to worry about.

One advantage to not owning a cell phone is no one ever tries to reach me in the woods.”

“I don't have a cell phone either - too cheap and I hate a ringing phone!”