Date(s) Hiked: March 7, 2008
Trails(s) Hiked: Old Tool Road & White Arrow
Total Distance: Roughly 4.5 miles RT
Difficulty: moderate overall, a lot of easy but crampon walking required being very careful as one wrong step in the wrong place could have proved very painful.... or worse.
Conditions: mostly snow, some ice & the cascade near where the White Arrows breaks out from the trees was frozen with feet of ice.
Special Required Equipment: crampons required. (Because the alternative is to bushwhack around the ice which many people had done but I won't recommend that due to the impact, just bring the proper gear.)
Trip Report: I had planned to head to the Whites on Saturday but since the early afternoon in Keene looked nice & I wanted to use my crampons this winter. The last two were snowshoe trips. Also, the idea of a 10 mile hike in sleet/rain & snow & then a 200+ mile ride home in the storm sounded dumb at best. From the top, I could see the clouds coming in. By the time I was headed across back to Keene on 124 in a couple of spots, I could see the summit was in & out of the clouds.
I make some silly decisons at times on hiking in the rain/snow, etc. but this was a smart & fun one for a change
Mike P.
mapaggioli4000@aol.com