Mt Hale 3.4.6

[MtnMagic]

Date Hiked:
March 4, 2006.

Trail Hiked:
A walk on Zealand Road, Mount Hale.

Total Distance:
9.8 miles with 2550’ elevation gain.

Difficulty:
A moderate, full day hike in the snow of winter.

Conditions:
More than one foot of fresh powder fell continuously throughout the day covering hard pack and ice. The trail and road are now broken out nicely.

Special Required Equipment:
Snowshoes, crampons, trekking poles extremely helpful. Full winter gear always.

Trip Report:
Our hiking group made plans to summit Mount Jefferson on this snowy and windy day. Ghostdog and I waited to meet the group and take two SUV's to Jefferson Notch Road to ascend via Caps Ridge Trail. When Wildpeaks arrived, he related that the group decided to hike to Mt. Hale alternatively. A last minute change in plans -- let us be spontaneous! It was a wise choice too, as the less experienced would have endured high winds for 2 miles on open ledge for several hours in the climb up Cap's Ridge.

Driving to the Zealand winter parking lot across from Zealand Road on Route 302, we geared up, while conversing with over a score of other hikers who had wisely changed their original summit plans. At 9 am, we hit the trail and took the snowmobile trail shortcut to avoid the uphill elevation gain on the road, and also saving time. Merging back to Zealand Road, an AMC group x-c skiing to the hut, that left 15 minutes earlier, soon passed us as we said hello one final time.

When we arrived by foot and snowshoe at the Mt. Hale trailhead, a group of four AMC hikers we met in the parking lot, who originally planned to go up Madison, had stopped to rest before continuing. We introduced ourselves, merged into one group of ten and started the ascent, taking turns breaking trail in more than one foot of snow. This hike that started easily became more challenging before the final stream crossing. Snow, more than a foot deep, gave way on the thinnest and steepest section of the trail causing many of us to slide off the trail several feet down the slope. We found Mt. Hale (4054') to be uncomfortably breezy so we ate lunch leeward, then descended to our vehicles, enjoying delightful fellowship on the way.

The fairly level road walk was 5.4 miles, the trail to the summit 4.4 miles, having a round trip of 9.8 miles, with 2550' of elevation gain. A great day to hike to Mount Hale with Freddi, Julie, Erica, Kathy, Dave, Wildpeaks, HikerB, Pilgram, and Ghostdog that continued for 8 hours. I counted 21 hikers just on the Mt. Hale Trail, 4 dogs, with an additional 9 skiers on Zealand Road. Some of us wished we brought our skis to enjoy over a foot of new powder. Our adventure continued at the Eastgate Restaurant in Littleton with Freddi, Julie, Dave, and Tom, where we feasted on delicious salad, salmon, swordfish, pork loin, prime rib, and engaged in fine conversation. A perfect ending to a perfect day!