First snow.

[tdoczi]

Good point I forgot to address... no actual "groomed" trails in Harriman AFAIK. And I have the exact same philosophy to avoid set tracks whenever possible, but if there's no option, well, I've done what I can and a good skier can still navigate them no problem.

i have no idea what the diff between groomed and "groomed" is or if these things are officially sanctioned by the park or what the explanation is but there are trails that are signed as being for cross country skiing. not many, and i think in only one area.

[peakbagger]

I broke out a cross country ski track on the Eastern trail one winter. It's a gas pipeline right of way. Next day I went back to ski and somebody snowshoes up my ski track. I broke out another ski track and some moron illegally drove a snowmobile down it. I gave up after that. Too many bidiots in Biddeford.

Before I realized I could go much farther uphill with BC skis before the downhill slope exceeded my crappy skiing skills I used to ski around the local area. There was a major snowmachine trail going through land posted no snowmobiles on either side of the trail. I would use the trail to get to an interesting point and then head out in the woods with my skis. The area was in regrowth with pretty dense trees and old logging paths that were growing in. Many of newer snowmobiles are built for speed but have lousy flotation in fresh snow. I frequently would find that my ski tracks packed the snow down enough so that the machines would follow me onto the posted land. After observing this a bit I would head down one of the grown in roads until I was out of sight of the main trail and then I would head into the dense woods where the machines could not follow. On more than few occasions I would ski by later on in the day past that spot and would see where a snowmachine had gotten stuck in spot where they could not turn around. Usually lots of footprints and broken branches and once I saw where someone had blown a seal on their sled trying to rev it up enough to get it out.

Sleds can usually follow moose tracks in deep snow and on occasion folks will get busted chasing moose on a sled which can be death sentence for a moose in winter.

[Frogger]

Raf and I climbed Smarts Mountain yesterday and spent the night in the Ranger cabin. This is what we woke up to this morning and that's only at 3200 feet. After a short discussion, we decided it would be best to head back down rather then continue on the Hexacube shelter and spend the night there all wet and cold and freezing. Yep, call us wimps, but we weren't really geared up for this.

Oh and we meet two SOBO flip floppers who hope to make it to Harpers Ferry - good luck!


Attachment 43786

Thanks for the trip report. I'm trying to do a 5-ish day hike in the whites starting in a few days and this is a useful data point.

Another useful data point was seeing the weather forecast for Mount Washington

At this point I'm thinking of starting near Moosilauke and hiking up to Lonesome Lake, and hitting peaks along the way as weather allows.

[Slo-go'en]

The summits have been picking up snow all week, with rain lower down. With temps dipping below freezing the next few nights (and snow flurries predicted) ice is going to be forming. Just enough to be deadly, but not enough to want to put on microspikes. These early winter conditions are the worst and most dangerous to hike in, be careful!

[Slo-go'en]

27 degrees and the snow made it's way down into the valley this morning. Windy out too, feels like about 10 degrees. We might have a real winter this year

SAM_4388.JPG

[Puddlefish]

27 degrees and the snow made it's way down into the valley this morning. Windy out too, feels like about 10 degrees. We might have a real winter this year

SAM_4388.JPG

Days like this annoy me. I don't want to wear the microspikes, but I kind of need them every once in a while.

[Slo-go'en]

Days like this annoy me. I don't want to wear the microspikes, but I kind of need them every once in a while.

The walk down the street to get the paper this morning was a bit crunchy - and damn chilly. Well, its suppose to warm up into the 50's tomorrow so this will all melt. Then it goes back into the 20's so it will all freeze again. Yep, late fall/early winter conditions are really annoying. Time to wait until there is enough snow for snowshoes...

[kestral]

I’m sweating with ac blasting. Pick your poison! Wish I was there��

[Slo-go'en]

27F and 1.5" of snow yesterday, 60F out today. Summits are still white though. Crazy weather swings.

[fastfoxengineering]

27F and 1.5" of snow yesterday, 60F out today. Summits are still white though. Crazy weather swings.

Hows the waterville area? I was thinking about doing the welch dickey loop as a night hike with some friends.

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[peakbagger]

I drove up last evening and the snow line was around 2500'. It was warm today an expect Welch Dicky with its good exposure should have mellted off if there as any one it. Still plenty of snow up high.

[Slo-go'en]

I drove up last evening and the snow line was around 2500'. It was warm today an expect Welch Dicky with its good exposure should have mellted off if there as any one it. Still plenty of snow up high.

But those ledges are steep and scary and if wet, treacherous. Well, I guess if you do it as a night hike, you won't know how close to dying you'll be.