Almost Mt. Adams - Nov 28-29, 2003

[MichaelJ]

Date(s) Hiked:
November 28-29, 2003

Trail(s) Hiked:
Lowe's Path, King Ravine Trail, Spur Trail

Total Distance:
9.5 miles rt

Difficulty:
Fairly difficult, with some darned hard sections.

Conditions
Wet and slippery. Step carefully.

Special Equipment Required
Windstopping layers. Poles helpful. Not enough snow or ice for crampons yet.

Trip Report:
Every year on the weekend after Thanksgiving I go for a backpack. I wasn't sure where I was going to go this year until Max suggested going to Crag Camp.

Friday morning I got up at 5am, drove up to Concord to meet up with Max, and arrived at Lowe's Store just past 9am, where we crossed the street and started up Lowe's Path. The weather was fine; warm, even. The trail was in good condition, dry with secure footing, and easily climbs the 1,200 ft to its junction with the King Ravine Trail over 1.8 miles.

As we continued up the King Ravine Trail, the weather got strange. We could feel gusts of warm, moist air being blown from the ravine, while the ground was covered with snow and ice. This made for a lot of fog, which we would eventually rise up above, into the layer between the undercast fog and the overcast sky, as we ascended the Spur Trail, a vicious 1,300' in only 0.9 miles. Fortunately, the footing wasn't slippery and there were plenty of steps. Still, my legs were just about to mutiny when we arrived at the cabin.

The weather was both pretty and scary. The winds were whipping through the ravine, visibility at the higher elevations looked poor, and it was starting to rain. Max and I decided to just hang out at the cabin for the afternoon, rather than attempting any summits. Ironically, the quarter-mile along the path to the spring to get drinking water had the worst conditions - a lot of ice under puddles of water. As we claimed our bunks, the clouds started to close in and the rain came down more seriously.

So we hung out, cooked up some hot food, and talked with the other hikers there, including NHTrekker. Great stories passed between him and Steve as night fell and the winds started pounding the side of the cabin. You could feel the floor shake as the 40-50mph gusts came down off the ridge, and the rain sounded like a machine gun on the windows and roof. Never has an unheated, uninsulated cabin felt so cozy as that night.

Dawn came slowly, as we were on the west side of the Presidentials. As the sun refracted through the suspended clouds of ice crystals, wonderful colors shone in the sky. It wasn't long, though, until those clouds closed in and the snow started flying. After a quick breakfast, Max and I continued up the Spur Trail, which remained relentlessly steep until arriving at treeline.

It's always a thrill to pass by the "Worst Weather in America" signs and get above treeline in the Whites, and Saturday was no exception. There was a light snow falling, being driven by winds of 20-30mph, gusting to the 50's. We trekked across the headwall of King Ravine with several hundred feet of visibility and no real threats from the weather. The conditions were a bit tricky, though - with enough snow and ice on the ground to be treacherous in spots but not nearly enough for crampons. On the whole, though, it was nice to be there not needing any special gear.

As we came across the ridge, however, we passed out of the shelter of a nearby crest and were more fully exposed. We could see that the weather was going to turn, but were not sure when. Since the cairns on Mt. Adams are not easy to follow in reduced visibility, we chose to turn back just short of Thunderstorm Junction at 5260'. While I regret not having been able to reach a summit, it would turn out later that we'd made the right decision. The snow was continuing to fall, and descending on snow-covered rocks without the aid of crampons or some kind of traction control device was going to be tricky and slow.

Back at Crag Camp, we ate lunch while watching the snow and wind come in and out of the ravine. The decision was made to not spend a second night, but to head back home, so we packed up and started back down the Spur Trail. What had been a hard, painful ascent was now going to stretch my quads like springs. There was even more snow on the middle elevations of the trail; fortunately, there wasn't an ice layer underneath - the previous night's rain had melted that. About this time, the wind started to really come in along with more snow. The Mt Washington web site shows that winds jumped from 50 to 80mph around this time.

We encountered several hikers heading up to Crag Camp for the night, including a group of ten. This encouraged our decision not to stay - a full cabin isn't nearly as pleasant. And the weather was continuing to worsen. When we got back to Lowe's Store, crossing Rte 2 we found a slippery road surface, nearly a sheet of ice outside of the travel lanes. Right on the road I almost got blown over by a gust of wind, and visibility plummeted as suddenly we were surrounded by horizontal snow. It was a rough drive but cleared as soon as we dropped in elevation, then got bad again as we came into Twin Mountain. This was as good a reason as any to stop at Pizza Pub for dinner.

It was a long drive home after that. The road conditions were terrible - nothing in the area was plowed, salted, or even sanded. Rte 3 was shut down, and we had to detour all the way up Trudeau Road into Bethlehem and around on Rte 302, all at about 20mph. I-93 wasn't easy, either, until we got south of Franconia Notch. From there it was finally a clear shot back home, a good night's sleep, aching quads, sore calves, and an overly stressful Patriots game.

[Max]

Yeah, what Michael said! Not much to add except that it was a fun 2-day trip even without a summit. Seemed like all the time we were out there, everything we did was timed to perfection. Had we arrived at Crag Camp later in the day on Friday, we would have gotten drenched with rain. Had we gone to the summit of Adams on Saturday, we would have gotten pounded with the increase in wind speed. Just reaffirms my philosophy that the decisions you make on the spot are the right ones for that moment in time. No regrets whatsoever!

Even the cookies were good! And thanks to Michael for providing me with a new pic to use for my avatar.

Max

[Greg]

Great report! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks!