winter in the whites

2:30 am. 18 degrees F according to the van's thermometer. a brief discussion about the likelihood of seeing a sunrise above the treeline versus a few more hours of sleep only serves to wake me up completely. wool socks, wool tights, gore-tex pants. fire up the coleman double-burner for soup. wool base layer shirt, wool sweater, heavy softshell, and while we're standing around, the bulky mil-surplus parka, since i brought it with me. turns out, condensed broccoli and cheese soup is not the best choice for breakfast. much learning to be done today.

this is my first time hiking in snow/winter conditions, first time in the whites, first time eating cold condensed soup at 3:30am at a trailhead.. i could go on. point is, i'm not particularly experienced in this field of outdoor exploit, and my friend stephen wagner has agreed to be my informal guide on this trip. with his help, and borrowing his boots, and his ladyfriend's goggles and super sweet mitts, combined with my random pieces of outdoor gear, i find myself at the present, in the appalachia trailhead parking area, now pouring soupy water into a thermos for consumption later on. our planned route for the day is, from the trailhead, climb the airline trail to above treeline, along-side king's ravine, then cut southeast to the madison hut. summit mt. madison, then over to mt. adams, and back down to the trailhead via the west side of king's ravine. this is going to be a sweet hike, and i have been buzzing for a few days now. what to bring, what's the terrain going to be like, what if there's an emergency, what if, what then, whatever.. you know how it goes. it'll be fine, though. we have enough snickers bars to fully wire a little league team.

we'll be fine.

final checks made, layers carefully selected, we head out around 4:30am. within 15 minutes or so, we are both soggy messes. underestimating the heat generated while hiking in the snow, even on a well-packed trail, with a load, i have over dressed. first off is my neck gaiter. then the ear flaps on my hat. and my gloves(down to glove liners now). unzipped, then removed softshell jacket. wool sweater. and finally, a grand stop that sees both of us in skivvies from the waist down to remove tights, that of course requires removal of gaiters, spikes, boots, etc. lesson learned. at the end of the day, i wound up hiking in just my gore-tex pants and underwear on my legs, wool base layer and sweater uppers, for most of the day. though, it was reassuring to have all the additional layers, in case of inclement weather. less talk, more show:

attempted night photography. fail.

first glimpse of sunrise. and thumb.

just above treeline. sunrise over mt. madison.

your's truly.

looking up towards j.q.adams.

samesies.

from above, looking down at the treeline.

wind-shaped ice formations. mt. madison

mt. madison summit.

stephen has a goal to summit all 4000ft peaks in the whites, during winter, and i was pleased to be present of his first summit of  madison. at just about the time we started up it's steep slopes, the clouds broke, and we had blue sky and sun for the views from this 5367' peak. absolutely stunning. great views of the carter moriah range to the east and, across the great gulf wilderness, about half-way up the auto road to the summit of mt. washington, which would remain shrouded in clouds for the duration of our hike.

don't step off the trail. lesson learned.

from the madison hut, again, after a lunch break, we set off to the west for mt. adams, the second highest mountain in the area, at 5774'. we decided to take the more scenic, and less traveled, route past star lake, to approach the summit from the south. even though we got lost, and i fell hip-deep into the snow, and we had to back-track a few times, this was, i think, the best course for us on several levels. the lack of any defined path for most of the route, as the cairns were well buried in snow and ice, required us to use compass and critical judgement, which added satisfaction and excitement to my hike, fer sure. the expanses of untrammeled snow and stunted trees gave the sense of wildness that i find is rare to feel, even on the remotest hiking trails. at one point we even stopped to follow big cat and snowshoe hare tracks around, until they met in an area of disturbed snow. the cat tracks, a little smaller that the palm of my hand, were in fine relief in the wind-crusted snow, and t-boned the hare tracks at a spot where the tips of a few scrawny pines were just poking out of the deep snow. beautiful.

coming up the south side of mt. adams.

mt. madison from mt. adams.

stephen nearing the peak. mt. adams.

as we got near the summit of adams, we lost the trail entirely as clouds socked the peak in once and for all. it began to snow, and the wind picked up. this was fine, ultimately, since i felt pretty grateful to get the views we did from madison, and even the southern slopes of adams. i find when hiking, variable skies can be a blessing, as the clouds breaking at just the right time can reveal a scene, or change the lighting just so, creating a moment or impression of a world constantly in flux. gotta remember to stop and look around. note to self.

what is this 'selfie' you speak of?

i'd say this was one of the all-time best hikes i've ever done, and super rewarding. according to my gps, the total time was around 10 hrs to move about 10 miles. that included all rest and food and navigational breaks, getting us back to the car around 2:30 pm. not too shabby! 

i think my gear worked pretty well, and it must be said that the weather was quite favorable for us, dropping to only negative single-digits, including wind-chill, at the summit of adams, with not much precipitation at all. with the borrowed black diamond mitts and stephen's double-wall boots, the only part of me that ever felt cold was my face in one instance, standing on top of adams, getting our bearings. since the hike, i got my own pair of the same gloves, and ordered a pair of lowa boots for the next hike. i also replaced the mil-surp parka with a used down parka i found over the holiday. you can always lighten your load.. i'll bring binoculars or a scope next time, as a few times they would've come in handy for navigation, but that was a small matter. there were also a few birds flitting about or flying over. i will need to figure out how to keep my camera battery charged for next time, along with my watch/gps. some combination of a USB battery back-up and stick-on hand warmers over the battery compartment of the camera.. i'd pull the camera out of my pocket with a full battery, take two photos, and have the low battery warning flashing at me.. back in the warm pocket for a bit, repeat. 

the only real discomfort came in the form of swollen shins where the cuff of the boots hit. that spot was uncomfortable from the get-go, but i figured it'd work itself out as the hike got on. i wore good wool hiking socks this time, but next time, i will try a ski sock with a padded front, and take more time to adjust the cuff as necessary. not a big issue. 

next trip, possibly an overnight.. stay tuned!

-josh