Searching for Winter

Fall starts to drag at this point of the year. The leaves have mostly fallen. The days get shorter and shorter. Nothing but cold and rainy weather.... Preparations for the ski season ahead continue but - in the dark and cold it's sometimes hard to believe it will ever arrive. I have a series of 3 running races I help out with(on consecutive weekends) through this period of the fall and they prevent me from taking long weekends in the mountains but sometimes I can get away for a quick day trip. With 2 of the 3 races in the "bag", so to speak, I decided to head down to the Adirondacks on Monday. The weather forecast was grim for first thing in the morning but showed signs of potential improvement throughout the day. I normally would steer clear of a forecast like that as the mountains tend to hug clouds like a small child hugs a bear at bedtime - with a strong grip that lasts longer than you'd think. Still, I had the day off and things were looking no better at home... so off I went. It would be a good chance to pull out some of the "winter" gear as the colder temperatures meant that the rain down low might be snow up high. I had of course carefully stowed my winter gear last spring so everything would be easy to find... well... I found some of it anyway - enough to be reasonably safe. Hints of winter I like hiking in the late fall. Most might think -with the colours mostly gone - that the attraction would also be gone. Certainly the days are much shorter so - without a headlamp - you have to pick shorter hikes. Add to that some extra care should you be hiking where the deer and the antelope... umm, get shot (wouldn't want to join them). With that in mind though I find that mountains are a nice harbinger of things to come. Often, warm fall weather down low can transition (ever so subtly) to wintery weather as you ascend... and once you top out you can face the full brunt of winter storms and cold temperatures. On the drive down I had my fingers crossed but the rains kept coming. I pulled into Saranac Lake and pulled over to plan (or perhaps re-plan) my day. The weather was easing but none too fast and - at 5C and pelting rain - it was not too conducive to a pleasant hike in the mountains unless hypothermia is your thing. There looked to be some promise though so I decided to stall a bit. Taking some scenic drives in and around, checking out a few trailheads, seeing the lay of the land and in turn biding my time - ever hopeful that the clouds would roll on. By 11 the rain had almost stopped and as I ate lunch the clouds started to withdraw! Angry clouds start to thin Half the day was gone now and I had to plan something a little less ambitious with less daylight at my disposal. Cascade and Porter were close-by so I decided to head there. The trail itself was muddy to start. A dark, black, coffee colour with no hint of the warm, brown, boot-sucking mud the ADK is known for in summer. There were a few people already on trail when I arrived but I still had a pretty quiet time hiking up this popular route. No doubt most who might have hiked on a Monday were put off by the early rains and found something better to do with their day. As I got higher the snow started to get thicker beside the trail and finally at about 3500 feet the trail was indeed snow covered itself. I continued bare booting up the trail as the snow wasn't too slippery but it’s often easier to ascend slippery snow covered rock than descend. By the time I got to the summit block of Cascade the winds were howling over my head and the snow and ice was thick so I dropped my pack, strapped on the µspikes and put on a dry layer or two before exiting the trees. Limited views on Cascade My timing was poor though and I exited the tree line straight into a cloud. The long ranging vistas from Cascades summit would remain hidden today but the clouds were moving fast so I was still hopeful. Back to my pack and then the short walk over to Porter where I arrived to blue skies! I could see now that Cascade was clear but the Great Range to my south was still clinging to the cloud deck. Still it was an impressive view and I filled the camera with as many shots as I could. Sadly winter (like) ascents mean that summit time is often brief. Even with my puffy down "summit" vest I started to chill down after 20 minutes or so and was soon headed down the trail. One last glimpse at a little ledge on the Cascade summit trail and then it was back into the trees for the return trip down. The µspikes did their job and I had no trouble descending the upper reaches of the snowy trail. Soon enough I was happily walking back to the car under warm sunshine and colourful leaves (on the ground). Finally the clouds start to lift But the Great Range resists the clearing trend A quick shot of Whiteface as I drove through town, an awesome roast beef sandwich from my favourite deli and then the satisfying drive home. Winter IS coming. It may be a few more weeks - even a month or two - but it WILL arrive. I can tell myself that repeatedly as the days get infernally shorter and the cold, wet fall marches on. It's always nice to have reassurances though - and finding winter at 4000ft is a nice confidence booster. It will inexorably march down the hill to meet us - even if I have to march up the hill to visit with it for the next few weeks. Whiteface starting to look snowy!

Colourful leaves

Colder days have arrived and there’s even the occasional snowflake spotted floating around. Can’t be long until ski season arrives but until then there has been some good hiking to be had. Earlier in the fall, while it was still quite warm, I managed to get a few days off from work and decided to head down to New Hampshire to hike a few high peaks in that neck of the woods. The weather was forecast to improve all week so I hoped for the best and headed down on Tuesday. After a pleasant drive, I got to Greely Pond trailhead at about 3pm. In spite of the relatively early hour, the hours of daylight have really taken a turn for the worse so I knew I would be pressed for time... but figured I could still get up Osceola and back before darkness. As it turned out it was a tight squeeze and I was perpetually checking my watch and pressing onwards. Not much time to take in the views but luckily (really?) there weren't any views to be had as I climbed into the clouds at about 3000 ft. That meant a short stay at the view points to get a quick drink and move on. Ran into the first snow of the season as I got to the top of Osceola - not enough to justify the skis just yet but it was nice to see and probably the earliest I've seen it in any fall in recent memory. From there it was a quick descent back and a short jog down the Greely Pond trail to get to the car about 6:30pm - still 30 minutes of daylight to spare. Close up "views" today - in this case a rocky crag to scramble up Drove back to Lincoln to get some groceries before bedding down for the night. I was in Lincoln a month ago and it was a bustling metropolis with a grid locked main street and people everywhere at this hour. Tonight, I was the only one driving the main street and the stores were all shut tight - except for the 24 Price Chopper. Clearly summer was over in Lincoln... and I was still a little early for the rush of leaf peepers which came closer to Columbus Day. Low cloud deck over the Whites today After a good night's sleep I awoke to cloudy skies again. Apparently the low pressure system over Nova Scotia had been obstinent and was not moving on as the weather folks had predicted. I drove past a few trail heads debating what to hike and wishing for clearer skies. Having such a long list of hikes I want to do down here gave me a lot of options and I finally decided on the Carter range (in part because I had driven past almost everything else!). To my surprise, just as I was paying for my parking permit, Geoff drove up. He had been one of the regular volunteers I got to know on the Mount Adams firetower project. I had been aware he and a few others had been down here on the weekend - working on a “Presidential traverse” - but I hadn't clued in that he was staying the week with a full agenda of hiking. In the end it couldn't have worked out better if we planned it so we joined forces for the Carters. Carter Notch hut and the next objective - the climb to Carter Dome The hike up to the Carter notch hut (our first stop) was pleasant and all was quiet when we stopped in for a visit. I think we had passed the hut master headed out for his day off so we had the place to ourselves. Looks like a nice place to stay and hike a couple of nearby ridgelines. After a short break we packed up to head up Carter Dome – the ridge to the north of the Carter notch. The wind was howling in the notch and I feared it would be a cold traverse... but 30 seconds up the trail we entered the woods and the (REALLY) steep climb quickly warmed us up. After that first pitch the grade eased and we were now in the clouds so there was no views. We stopped along the way to check out the site of the former firetower on Carter Dome. In truth there isn't much left except the foundation blocks... but for some reason firetowers draw our interest. Soon enough though we were headed along the ridge to South and Middle Carter. I had expected more open areas along this ridge but - apart from the occasional open ledge the trail stuck to the trees. Again the ups and downs were mostly mild so we had no trouble and took quick breaks so as not to cool down too much before heading down the Imp trail to complete the loop. Today's grey weather was certainly a good day for some company so it was an amazing coincidence that Geoff and I met up at the start of the day. Unfortunately our agenda's were headed in different directions for the next day so we parted company here but it was great to see him. Some summit colour replaces the scenic views today Another good night's sleep and - finally - the day dawned sunny and clear. I headed over to the Franconia notch, parked at the Basin and headed up the Flume slide trail. This is purported to be one of the steepest trails in the White mountains and it certainly lived up to its reputation. Lots of scrambly fun though with only a couple of WTF moments along the way. I lost the slide a little closer to the top... but found a good herd path and, after a few more minutes pushing up through the trees, was back on the slide(!) I had lost and then finally crested the ridge. Blue skies and warm sunshine greeted me!! The last rocky scramble to Flume Mt. I took a good rest on Flume before heading over to Liberty. Originally I had planned to carry on up the ridgeline to nearby Lincoln and Lafayette but the warm sun and the prospect of a long drive home at the end of the day convinced me to enjoy some extra summit time on Liberty before making the early descent down Liberty Springs trail. I think this is the 4th time I've been up on the "rim" of the Pemi... and it was the first time I could actually see anything (more than the inside of white clouds) so I wanted to cash in those cards and enjoy the view for a while. Looking over the "Pemi" A full set of pictures from the NH trip are located HERE Leaving Liberty Mt. - I'll be back one day for Lincoln Mt! A couple of weeks later Mike and I organized a trip in the Adirondacks. I had probably missed the peak of leaf season but things were still pretty colourful. We ended up picking the “Soda” range which is a nice loop hike around a cirque of little peaks. The trail is a beaut with all kinds of little view points to stop along the way. An excellent choice for a leaf peeping hike. We took our time and took lots of pictures. It probably was the last warm sunny day of the year for us to hike so we were in no rush. Certainly a good chance to fill the retinas (and photo cards) with colour before the long, monochromatic winter rolls into town. A full set of pictures from that hike are located HERE Perhaps past peak but colourful none the less Still managing to get a little riding in although the colder temperature means more and more layers. The “late” turning leaves are still pretty colourful but it will probably only take one big storm to bring the rest of them down. We’ll see where we go from here as the days get shorter and the first snows (Nov 17th – mark my words…) arrive. Yep, leaf season is all done...