Saturday February 19, 2005

Tom- Field - Willey

Today we joined a hike led by Sherpa John to the summits of Tom, Field, and Willey.

This is the route we took today.

Directions to the trailhead: Rte 93 north to Exit 35. Follow Route 3 East to the intersection with Route 302 in Twin Mountain. Take a right onto Route 302 adn follow it Wotuh for @ 10 miles. The Highland Center and Crawford Station will be in your right.

This is the profile of the hike to the summit of Mt Tom from the Highland Center.

This is the profile of the hike from the col between Mt Tom and Mt Field to the summit of Mt Field.

This is the profile of the hike from the summit of Mt Field to the summit of Mt Willey.

A 3-D view of our hike to the summits.

A 3-D view of our hike showing the descent and Crawford Notch.

We met up at the AMC Highland Center in Crawford Notch at 7:20 with temps at 4 degrees below zero under cloudy skys. Sherpa John and Sarah followed Geri and I to the Ethan Pond trailhead where we left our vehicle.

The group today consisted of Sherpa John, Sherpette (Sarah), Jim Lombard, Danette with Dugan, McRat and his friend Dennis, and Geri and I. Some donned snowwhoes at the cars, while others first crossed the tracks and put them on at the trailhead behind the train station.

We started up the Avalon trail was well pakced out from previous hikers. Jim entertained us with stories of a trip to Kenya. Although the temps were cold, we quickly warmed up.

By our first water break several removed outer layers. Here is Sarah, Geri, and McRat.

While some of us added water to our systems, John got rid of some :>. You can see how deep the snow was off trail. Even with snowshoes, John was up to his waist.

We made good time and enjoyed some great views along the way. McRat's friend Dennis was on his first Winter 4K hike. As McRat catches up to Danette, Dugan thinks about building a snow cave and taking a long nap.

Our first peak was Mt Tom where we spent over 30 minutes enjoying the views and snacking.

John & Sarah - John - why were you always hiding behind that mask ?????

Here we are ready to began our descent and journey to Mt Field.

Jim Lombard heading out.

Geri leaving the summit.

One last look.

The trail over to Mt Field was not broken out as well - It was much narrower and looked like there was one hiker in front of us who was post holing the trail.

By now the clouds were gone and we were hiking under blue skies. With Geri in the lead we approached the summit of Mt Field.

Danette and Dugan on the summit of Mt Field enjoying the sunshine. This was Dugan's first Winter 4K hike.

Dugan is a fun dog to hike with. He loves attention, and cheese!

ALthough the summit of Mt Field has trees, there are a couple of lookouts with great views.

Some of the group on the summit enjoying a quick snack.

McRat headed back at this point to find his friend Dennis who had turned back before reaching the summit.

Just before we headed out, three Gray Jays showed up. Also known as the Canada Jay they are fearless and have a venturesome behaviour towards people.

Mr. Manly Hardy, in a special bulletin of the Smithsonian Institution, stated, "They are the boldest of our birds, except the Chickadee, and in cool impudence far surpass all others"

The trail over to Willey had been broken out by two hikers that had caught up to us on Mt Field, but still required a lot of work as we made our way through large snow drifts.

The views of the Presedential Range to the East were breath taking.

Mt Washington, rising above the clouds seemed close enough to touch.

Here is Geri with the two that broke the trail in fornt of us.

Sarah and John. John finally removed his face mask for his bear hat.

Her is MEB from VFTT and her sister Rachel who had passed us on the trail from Mt Field.

Meb enjoying some hot tomato soup.

Geri and Jim enjoying the views in the warm sunshine.

One last look before head out for the Ethan Pond trail where we had left our car.

After leaving the summit of Mt Willey, the trail descends steeply. One section has a series of ladders. This one was partially uncovered. Here is John explaining to Sarah the best way to descend this section.

apparantly John isn't the best teacher! Sarah was going to butt slide down it, but soon found herself flying through the air.

Luckily there was a tree to stop her.

John figured he would show Sarah exctly what he meant for her to do - guess he didn't learn anything from what had just happen :>

Luckily both Sarah and John were fine and we all had a great laugh.

Jim and Geri decided that maybe removing their snow shoes would be the better method. Jim even cleand the steps off for others as he moved down them.

An hour later we were at the fire road above the trailhead. Here is John, Sarah, and Geri with Mt Willey behind them

As we drove back to our motel room in Twn Mountain we enjoyed one last look at Mt Washington.

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