Today was my second winter attempt at Allen. First the good. The trail was very well packed by at least a dozen people Saturday, and by the end of today at least another dozen will have gone up it.
We started the day with a little miscommunication. I said I was at Loj, and my hiking companions took it literally and went over to the actual ADK Loj, while I was sitting there waiting at the High Peaks Information Center (HPIC). We found each other though and started the hike on the VanHovenberg trail. There was a sign at the trailhead that said there was enough snow, that snowshoes were legally required starting here. So, the shoes went on.
Yesterday, I went and tackled Dial and Nippletop for winter credit. The last time I attempted this, I got about 3 miles in and couldn't get my heart rate down, even when relaxing on Noonmark's shoulder, so turned around. This time I was solo and got was feeling much better. Started the day with the 1.6 mile road walk to the trailhead in bare boots. At that point, I put my spikes on and started up the HG Leach trail. This was thinly covered with snow and spikes were just fine for the first half mile or so.
We started off the day at the AMR lot and I had jokingly said to someone going to sawteeth that we're doing the disappointing peaks today. It's not totally true or false, but Blake is not 4000 feet (3960) and Colvin is not much higher at 4057 feet. So we're planning to do a long hike (planned route was about 14 miles) with a lot of elevation gain (over 4000 feet) for one peak that's just barely 4000 feet that does have some nice views, and a peak that is under 4000 and has zero views.
Hiked Lower WolfJaw today. I know that it was hiked and broken out on Saturday, but we have had snow since, and nobody had been on the trail since the snow. Bare booted on Lake Road and once I crossed the bridge heading over to the Canyon Bridge and West River trail, I saw a lone set of footprints that stopped just past that first bridge. So, I threw on the snowshoes, and they stayed on until I reached the gate on the way out.
A while ago, a friend from my ADF days and I were talking about hiking as she had started hiking the Whites in New Hampshire, and I had already finished my 46er. I told her that I would love to show her "my" mountains some day, whenever she wanted to. Well, this memorial day was the time for me to show her. My original plans were to come in from the south, backpack into the Lake Colden/Flowed Lands area and grab some peaks out of there like Marshal, Marcy, Skylight, Grey, and Colden, but the one place she had to go was Avalanche Pass/Lake.
This day, I attempted to do Dial and Nippletop. The day started out as usual, with a quick walk up to the trail register and down lake road to the turn off for the Leach trail. Going up the Leach trail is not bad, but there were a few icy spots that made it adventerous. After the icey spots were over, switched over to snowshoes for the climb up Noonmark's shoulder. This climb just killed me. I couldn't get my heart rate down, and was really struggling.
The plan for the day was to start early and go up the Beaver Meadows trail to get Gothics and Armstrong. If we felt good about it, we would continue on to Upper Wolfjaw and Lower Wolfjaw if we were feeling it.
First hike of the year from AMR. We went for one of the further ones and did Sawteeth up and down the Weld trail. Early start and up and down the lake road with no big issues. I was getting a little tired with the fast pace, but I pulled through. We crossed the river, stopped and looked at Rainbow Falls a bit, and then it was up the mountain. Once you start climbing, it keeps going. The trail was already broken out, and we just packed it down better. The trail was smooth, and no rocks. It was everything I like about winter hiking.
