Here's the final video from my trip up to the Whites at the end of December. I wasn't sure if this hike up the Osceolas was going to happen as my knee was hurting in the morning as I hiked out of the woods from my hammock attempt (see previous video). But after resting at the car for a couple hours I decided to give it a shot. The knee ended not being a major issue and being the first one on the trail meant I got to hike in 1-2 inches of fresh powder which was lovely.
The wind was frigid but thankfully most of the hike was sheltered from it. There were some nice views from Mt. Osceola but unfortunately most of the footage was corrupted.
Besides being #22-23 for my winter list the other reason I wanted to get this hike done was to wrap up my goal of 300,000 feet of elevation gain for 2020. I didn't relish the idea of returning home and trying to grab the last 3000 feet of gain doing hill repeats over two days. So this was a satisfying way to wrap up the year.
I've been aggravating the knee pretty much after every run since then so I've take the last week off. Hopefully I'll get back to running this weekend. Enjoy this short video!
After previously testing my hammock out on top of my hill I
was excited to give winter camping a shot when I ventured up to the White
Mountains last week. I had a lot of day hikes planned as I continued to work on
completing my winter 4000 footer list (now currently at 23/48) but I also
wanted to spend a night in the woods. I ended up planning hikes around the
Lincoln, NH/Kancamagus Highway area as it provided easy access to lots of peaks
as well as a good spot to set up my hammock without driving hours around the
Whites.
On my second day I hiked the Tripyramids in the morning and
then I relaxed in Lincoln for a couple hours before returning to the woods
around 3 PM. I found a nice spot near a stream about 1/4 mile from the car.
While I backpacked in with all my gear I also used the short distance to return
to the car to grab some extras such as booties and another quilt. Maybe the
hardest thing for me was going to bed so early as I normally go to sleep around
10:30. But once it got dark I settled in to the hammock and actually fell
asleep pretty quickly.
This worked out because after midnight it began to snow. It
was extremely light and fluffy and almost seemed like rain at first. For awhile
things were good but then the wind picked up and at that point my tarp failures
became evident. I dozed again and woke to snow covering my quilt. I hemmed and
hawed about what to do before finally deciding to pack up around 4 AM (I
normally wake up between 4:30-5:00 so I was pretty much up anyway).
While my tarp issues are pretty evident in the video I was
super pleased with how the underquilt/sleeping bag performed. Granted it was
only about 22 degrees so not super cold but I was cooking in there and even
when I decided to pack up my feet were only at the very beginning stages of
cooling off. I went to bed with a hot water bottle but removed it around 10 PM
as I was just too warm. Overall I consider this a positive test of my gear. Now
I need to focus on my tarp in order to ensure I have success in the future.
Here's the video:
Last Monday I hiked the Tripyramids via the Pine Bend Brook trail as part of a three day White Mountain getaway. I got to the trailhead around 6 AM and began hiking in the dark. There was little snow on the trail from the get-go so I opted to not wear spikes for the first two miles. This proved fine except for a water crossing about a mile in. A combination of icy rocks and darkness led to a poor crossing attempt and I ended up submerging one of my boots. By the time I pulled it out my sock was wet. Disappointed, I then saw a big tree that I could have used to cross. Once on the other side I dried off my foot as best I could and put on a dry sock. The temp was around 30 degrees so thankfully it wasn't too cold.
A half mile later I rung out my new sock and attempted to dry out the inside of the boot as best I could. Despite my foot still being wet it wasn't cold so I pressed on. Once the trail started the climb it was time for spikes but there was still plenty of exposed rocks that made wearing the spikes annoying. Around 2.5 miles the trail finally had enough snow/ice to justify the spikes completely. Not the winter hiking I had envisioned but these were the conditions we had after the Christmas rainstorm.
There were no views to be had today and the wind was gusty near the top. At Middle Tri I swapped out my wet sock for the other dry one. The foot started to get an inkling of cold after this transition so it was time to make my way back down. I considered taking the Sabbaday Brook Trail down but it would have added a road walk and I decided the devil I knew was better.
Began to encounter folks heading up as I descended. The water crossings were easier on the return - the ice on the rocks seemed to have melted or been cracked by other hikers in my absence. My knee began to ache with a couple miles to go. It's been an issue with my descents lately when I've been up there. It made me wonder if I would be able to hike the Osceolas the following day as was my plan. A few flakes of snow were falling over the last couple miles and just after I got back to the car it really started coming down.
I turned around and headed back towards Lincoln. By the time I reached the high pass of the Kang the road wasn't great. I was happy to arrive in town and promptly ordered a burger from Black Mountain which I gladly ate in my car before taking a nap in the back. I can't say I loved the Pine Bend Brook trail. Certainly the conditions after the rainstorm were not great and soaking the foot was a bummer. Luckily the temps never got too cold and the foot was never an issue. I'm looking forward to returning one day to the Tripyramids via the slides, which I've never climbed. For those interested see below for a video. How much you enjoy will depend on how much you enjoy my goofy singing.
