Winter Hammock Camping in the White Mountains - first attempt

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: 

The Tripyramids - December 28, 2020

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.

Franconia Ridge - December 27, 2020

I've been looking forward to get back to the Whites for some winter hiking (both official and otherwise) and was able to get up for three days after the Christmas holiday. Sadly, it was a 2020 Christmas which among other things brought a ton of rain to New England - stealing pretty much all the snow here in Rhode Island that we had accumulated the week prior. The videos I saw from the Whites showed impressive river levels which had me worried about the conditions I'd face. The trip reports I viewed the night before I left gave me a bit of hope but I departed for this trip in a weird headspace. I had wanted to get in several day hikes and also wanted to take a stab at hammock camping. I had got it in my mind to camp on Night 1 which was making my drive/gameplan stressful. Before I even filled up for gas I made the decision not to camp on Night 1 which made me realize I had more flexibility on where to hike. Suddenly I was looking forward to the trip again.

Looking at the weather reports, I decided to attempt the Franconia Ridge on my first day in part because it's a straight shot up I-93 and I had read a promising report on the Falling Waters trail. The primary reason was that the first day looked to have the mildest wind and temps. I figured if I was going to get above treeline this was the day to do it and then I could spend the bulk of the other days in the woods.

The lot was about half full when I pulled in at 11:30. I was happy to find that spikes worked well the entire way up the Falling Waters trail. I had never been on this trail and the falls were suitably impressive, especially with the ice formations that covered them. A good number of people appeared to have made the trip to the falls. There was indeed not a ton of snow but the spikes gripped well on the crunchy ice left behind.

Once I got up to the ridge, I quickly decided to take off the spikes. There was a bit of ice along the ridge and a couple near slips but for the most part it was bare rock and I would have destroyed the spikes in the process. Barebooting worked well. No views today - it was all clouded in - but the trail itself was visible and there was almost no wind. It was very quiet at times and since I started so late I didn't see a soul on my ridge walk.

The descent down from Lafayette was not as enjoyable as the ascent. Spikes were necessary for the initial descent but there was enough bare rock to be annoying. Eventually the spikes came off again as I approached treeline. I passed a few intrepid folks still ascending but most of the folks I encountered were on their way down. The best views of the day came as I descended below the clouds. I could see open skies to the south. The setting sunshine was poking through the clouds closer which made for a beautiful scene in the late afternoon.

The Old Bridle Path seemed to have much less snow/ice than Falling Waters and trying to avoid rocks and dirt grew wearisome. I finished the hike just after nightfall and drove to Lincoln to grab some grub before making my way to my motel for the night. All in all, an enjoyable return to winter hiking and I was very happy with my time above treeline. These were #18 & 19 for my winter NH48 list.  Here's the video:

Lantern Hill Snowshoe Run

We've finally gotten some snow!  Was able to strap on the snowshoes for hill repeats up Lantern Hill.  I now have 14k feet of elevation left to hit my year goal of 300k feet of elevation for the year.