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December 24, 2005 |
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Under cloudy skies we started up the Valley Way trail along with Mtn Magic, Ghost Dog, Christine, Mark, and his young friend Carl. The trail was well packed out so we carried our snow shoes in case we would need them - which we would.
Young Carl, who us recently out of the service (Army Ranger Medic) decided to show us what he had and started running up the trail, as the rest of us continued at a comfortable pace. We found Carl waiting for us, smoking a cigerette 30 minutes later, chatted and enjoyed a water break before he continued on with us behind. The next time we saw Carl was @ 20 minutes later where he realized he had burnt himself out and was having a hard time keeping up with us old folks :> After some food and a rest he managed to stay with us and soon we were at the Madison Hut. We had now broken through the clouds and had good views of the summit. We decided to leave our packs at the hut, only taking cameras and water with us for the short hike to the summit. We were suprised to find light winds and some sunshine as we made our way through the rocks. At the summit Mt Washington poke through the clouds now and then, but we realy didn't have any views. After making our way back down to the hut we enjoyed lunch and decided that we would head over to Mt Adams next. Starting out on the Gulfside trail we continued to bareboot it, but after crestig the first ridge we ran into deep snow so we donned the snow shoes. We followed the trail for a little while longer, but then decided that instead of following the trail over the large rocks, we would continue upward on a large gulley filled with snow until we were high on the shoulder, then head over to the summit. This worked well with quick progress. As we crested the summit we were suprised to find Mt Jeffersona and Washington fully above the cloud layer. The views were amoung the best Winter views we have had. It was @ 4 PM when we started packing up for our ascent. The begining of sunset borugh beautiful colors to the sky, almost pleading with us not to leave. Here the group had a discussion on the best route to return to our cars. Although we all wanted to do something other than Valley Way, we decided it would be safest to return the way we came since we knew the condition of the trail. With a well packed trail we made fast progress back to our cars, the last hour with our head lamps on. Another great hike with fun people. |
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Directions to the trailhead: From Twin Mountain take Rte 115 East to Rte 2. Follow Rte 2 East, past the Water Wheel (good breakfast spot). Just past Lowes store/gas station, park at the Appilachia parking lot that is well marked on your right. |
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and our