Winter Climbing 101 march 15

As my interest in hiking and camping grows I also look to find more to do in the winter other than just play video games. So, I started looking at classing n winter climbing and Mountaineering. Eastern Mountain Sports has a few classes of this ilk only an hour drive away in North Conway NH after a bit of debating and trying to get friends to join me (to no avail). I signed up for a class at the end of February, which, got canceled and I got bumped to a class at the beginning of March lucky for me there is still more than enough ice and snow to make the class worth it. Hell, as I write this weeks later there is still plenty of ice and snow.

The class only required me to have a backpack, proper clothing and food. The Mountaineering boots, crampons, ice axes, harnesses, and other gear are provided. The weather report was looking warm and wet but i still packed up all the winter gear suggested though I was fairly certain my down jacket and  maybe even my fleece would never leave the pack.

I got up at 5:00 to head out by 6:00 to get to the class by 8:00 I really did not want to be late, turns out I did not have to be there till 8:30 and well it only takes an hour to get there so I was an hour and a half early.

We met at the store in No. Conway and got outfitted and I met my classmate Chris, and Guide/Instructor Joe. Chris and I are both rock climbers and though my interest is more toward encountering we have similar expectations from the class. we all pile into my car and we drive off to Frankenstein Cliff.

we hike in along a railroad bed that is only used by trains in the winter. to get to an area known as a climb in the woods (or something like that I should have taken notes)

The area Joe chose has a steep slope for mountaineering style climbing and axe work and some vertical areas for full on ice climbing.

This is Joe

This is Joe telling us where to go.

We then learned how to walk in crampons to climb and rest and be stable as possible.

This is the climbing area 

Due to the fact that Chris and I are both rick climbers we already knew how to tie the knots (Joe did check our knots) and how to belay (Joe confirmed that too) we did not need that instruction so I belayed Joe as he set up the top rope. 

As Joe was setting up the top rope some other instruction groups arrived and set up 

Then using the new information I climbed up, and looked down on my crew.

Joe and I climbed that rout a couple of times and we moved over to the vertical area.

this is Chris and behind him the ice we are going to climb. 

Again Joe set a top rope repelled in and then I climbed. this time we used more technical ice axes and Joe was able to take some photos of me. 

I felt quite accomplished and it all seemed far less sketchy than I always thought ice climbing was. 

we took turns climbing and trying the different tools we had brought as well as putting in ice screws for anchors and taking out the screws.

After we had climbed around there a bit Joe gave us some instruction on self arrest and what to do in case of a slide as we moved on to another area up the tracks a bit. We came to an area with multi-pitch climbs and very blue ice and set up to just do the first pitch and then head out since we were running out of class time.

so we climbed up to dracula's cave and repelled out

 The view was quite nice

After repelling out Joe taught us a few advanced anchor techniques and we headed back.. It just started to drizzle as we headed back so our timing was perfect. 

All in all it was a great day lots of good information and good climbing I think I may want to do this again.

Stoney brook trail and Imp mountain overnight

It all started with the last camping trip where Dan and I did a nice little 1 mile hike to set up our tent and hammock, and have a nice little camping trip. To me wanting to do it again and make more use from my super warm sleeping bag. I set the date Feb 22nd. i asked if people wanted to go, Dan said maybe but prolly would not be able to and tow other friends said they would love to. So I sent out a planning email. As the date got closer and closer I heard nothing back Dan would not be able to go so I realized if i was to go I would be going alone. I noodled around the idea of where to go. I did not want to just go to the same place, I wanted to challenge myself, Push harder, hike further. but not to far. In looking at my maps I found a trail not too steep but steady and 3-4 miles in there is a shelter. The Stoney Brook Trail is just south of Gorham NH off of rt 16.

The weekend arrived. I prepacked most of my stuff Friday night with the intent of getting going early Saturday morning. Unfortunately I goofed and over slept and realized I had not packed some stuff and got out the door later than I wanted. On the drive up I realized I had forgotten the straps to attach my snowshoes to my pack and had not grabbed trail snacks or cash if I needed it to park. So, when I stopped for gas I got some snacks and in Conway I ran into EMS and grabbed some ties in case I needed to carry the shoes, and got some more cliff bars. Which in turn made my timetable even slower. This was having a real negative effect on my mood I was heading into a really dark grumpy place but i was determined to not let it stop me "Never Give up" is something I try to hold to. There was a great deal more traffic than I expected as well. As I rolled through Conway I realized that the skiing must be great today and thought maybe I will bail on the camping trip and just go skiing. but i did not bail I continued on.

I stopped that the Pinkham Notch Visitors center to check about parking passes at the trail and was told there was no fee there and was given strong, positive encouragement about my choice of hike. I was starting to feel better. Interpersonal drama was growing and I did not realize it.

Upon arriving in the parking lot I found just one van in the lot and it looked like it had been there a while. I have mixed feelings about this. I often prefer not running into people when I hike and such but I was feeling like I did not really want to do this alone. Alas that is a moot discussion. Here I am, so on with the pack and snowshoes.

 And off I go. The parking lot is glare ice so the crampons on the snowshoes are a welcome help. I cross the lot climb over the snowbank to the bridge across I go and up the trail.









This is a well hiked trail it seems and though I am seeing prints from people without snowshoes when i try to just carry my shoes i sink in for to deep to be worth it. I suspect my 45lb pack is to blame. So, the snowshoes go back on and off I go.

The temp is great I started out with a few layers on and very rapidly I feeling the need to pause and shed them so i don't start getting sweaty. I am later on the trail than I wanted but I think I am still ok to get to the shelter before dark and not have to push myself too hard. The lower part of the trail winds along the Stoney river which peaks its way through the snow here and there the snow cover is quite deep here and if I do try to step off the packed trail I am easily up to my knee even with the shoes on. The trail crosses the river and heads uphill. I pass a young family on their way down, I suspect they live in the area and were just out to play in the warm weather for the morning. We say hi and I continue on. I keep trucking up the hill and realize how hard it is. I keep taking rest breaks, short pauses leaning on my trekking poles. I need more fitness I keep telling myself. I see in the snow where other groups have stopped and taken sit downs and decide to let myself do that.

I have ditch my hat and flease i just have the stretch long sleeve zip up and a tee shirt I have taken to rolling up the sleeves while I am hiking as well.
I am about 2 or 2.5 miles in when I look down and see that my camera on a stick is not sticking out of my belt where it should be. Crap, mild panic. I drop the pack and do a quick pat search and confirm I must have dropped it. I leave my pack where it is and start down the hill in ultra light form, carrying only what is in my pockets and my trekking polls in hand. Hey, this is easy.. without the pack I am feeling so much better, maybe it is the down hill. I move on glad the camera is bright yellow and anticancer I will see it quickly when I come to it. about half a mile down i get to a branch I sat and bounced on for a short break I did around the snow and do not find the camera. Crap.. on I go.. thinking how I am wasting energy and time cause I was careless. another 1/2 mile down the trail I see it just laying there mocking me. Good thing it is waterproof. I have to pull out the cell phone and take a pic of it. Camera in hand I turn and head back up the trail. Again, this is really kinda easy, I am not laboring at all just trucking right along. maybe it is not all just fitness I need maybe I need to drop a bunch of weight out of the pack.. but what do I cut out?


I get back to my stuff and take a short sit down, I am not feeling winded or worn out from going back for the camera but I am sure as soon as I put that pack on I will start to feel it.  Pack on I continue up and up and up. I really feel the weight and the tired. I have to take a lot of standing breaks. If the others had said they would join me we prolly would have ended up doing a lighter hike because they would have talked me out of something so ambitious. I come to a fork in the trail.. I look at my map and there is no fork in the trail. I do not want to go the wrong way and do more than I have to. The paint blazes on the trees for this trail have been lacking and are quite faded so that is no help .. as I look up both options I  see an iceflow at the top of one of them. I choose to go the other way suspecting that the offshoot was to go look at the iceflow

It does not take long to see I am right and onward I hike. As I near the end of this trail and the junction with the Carter Moriah Trail the snow suddenly gets deeper and is showing up on the trees. it is looking like even more of a winter wonderland. There has not been a real thaw up here for quite some time. I stoop under a branch and see the Junction and the sign.

behind me I  almost trip on the sign for the trail I just came up.. I wonder how tall this signpost is? I guess I will have to hike it again in the summer

I am truly feeling exhausted now. The last few areas of ascent I had to really focus on each step. I was hoping to hit the summit of Mt. Moriah but that is an extra 2.8 miles of hiking and I do not have that in me. So, I turn to my right and head toward the Imp Mountain shelter.. The trail is broken but has not been used in a few days while I did not want to do this alone I also am not really feeling like meeting new people. As I press on I come to fresh tracks in the trail, looks like someone came down the trail in the last day and turned around and went back. Looks like I might be meeting new people after all. The trail winds around and it feels like I missed the turn off maybe that is where the other snowshoe tracks came from. Someone else trying to find the shelter.. looking at my GPS it looks like I am going the wrong way, so I double back to find the turn off. but don't find it.. The blaze marks on the trees are old and hard to find. I drop my pack and head back up the trail I can come back for it when I find the shelter. I head further up the trail, nothing the trail seems to go the wrong way. I am beat i decide to go back to my pack and find somewhere to pitch the tent. 

As I round the corner to see where my pack it I see another hiker, coming up the trail. He and his buddy are heading to the shelter as well and his buddy has been there before. They are going to be moving on to do the Carters tomorrow and are gonna be hiking for a few days/ somday i will have time to do that..They assure me it is right along this trail. so, I pick up my pack and head on. After about a hundred feet I let them go first. they are in much better shape and I do not want to slow them down as I will be taking more breaks. 

I loop get to the summit of Imp Mountain and pause to look around. The wind has started to pick up and is whipping across the exposed peak.

After a few photos I move on, press on. The trail forks, it looks like the trails to the Carters has not been broken yet  but the turn off for the shelter is clear, downhill, a godsend.. the effort is less but the knees are still sore on the down, not too bad though. I pass the outhouse and see the back of the shelter another hiker comes up the trail toward me. He asks if I am with the other guys who just got there. It seems that the the shelter is now full, he says maybe I could talk to the others and share space.. sigh, if I had not turned back and just pushed through trusting I would find the turnoff.. It is not worth worry about, I just say I will set up on one of the tent platforms, no biggie. He thanks me for giving space. I trudge off across the unbroken snow looking for a semi sheltered platform. I choose platform 3

My pack is too heavy and yet I do not have a shovel, and there is a good 4' of snow on the platform. I drop the pack and pull off my snowshoes and post-hole to my hip. I wrestle out of the snow and pack down an area to stand in next to the platform. The wind is still really blowing so I put on my down jacket to keep warm as well as my thicker waterproof gloves. to clear off the platform I take one of my snowshoes and start digging. I figure I will want a wind block so I use my new ice ax to cut chunks and blocks to build up around the sides of the hole I am digging. Putting the tent is a challenge in the wind. The tent spikes don't want to hold and the sack steaks are not working either, I am able to use the webbing to hook to the platform. To put the sides out I tie some para-cord between two trees I go to cut it and realize I don't have my Gerber. I try to cut the cord with my ice ax but it is not a sharp ax like that. Oh, well I can make it work. The wind is still strong, so I cut more snow blocks... err chunks and build a wall. There are no trees to tie the other door open I remember from my mountaineering book how to use the ice ax as an anchor. So, I try it, it seems to hold, cool. 

I unpack my stuff into the tent and prep for dinner.

As I crawl in to go to sleep I realize I should have dug all the way to the platform because my floor is not level. It is full dark now so there is no fixing it. I am tired, and sore and now uncomfortable. I am seriously doubting my choice to do this. A dark cold lonely night with the wind blowing one can find dark places inside ones heart. 

The night is long and I remember, that today is Ragnarok. Fitting I should be alone on a mountain. 

As soon as I start to see the mornings light I rouse myself and start to pack up.. I am so eager to go I don't even make breakfast. I head off. Originally I was thinking I would summit Mt. Moriah but as I start the climb out my legs scream at me like I had not taken any break. climbing to the summit today is not in the cards. The wind is still blowing as I cross Imp summit and finally start down. 

It is cooler than it was when I headed up and the trail is harder firmer. I meet a few people coming up as I head down. One fella I meet lives in the area and we chat for a few minuets about the state of various trails. it is a nice conversation to have. Twice during the trip my snowshoes have come undone. I poked and prodded at the strapping but I am still not confident in how secure they are. I need new snowshoes if I am going to be climbing more mountains. 

As I am descending I need to take fewer breaks as expected on one of those breaks I look up the trail and see something laying there. I had not seen it as i walked by a moment ago... and then I realize.. it is my tent, it has fallen off my pack.. I guess I am lucky I decided to take a break just then. I need to work on how secure stuff is on my pack in the future. 

I make it to the bridge and to the car. exhausted I put my pack in the trunk and head home. 

It was hard, but I did it. and for that I am proud. I need to keep pushing, but this is the last overnight for this season. I will get more practice this summer before I do more in the winter.

Winter camping first attempt. Jan 18 2014

It all starts with me needing to get out and do more stuff. Which leads to more hiking and the idea of motorcycle camping, but I do not have the gear. So, I start buying the gear and since I am starting from having very little I decide to go with backpacker weight and style gear... since I am buying this gear I think to myself , I could just go backpack camping.  But, then it gets cold and winter comes and I have not been able to try out my stuff at least any more than a night in a backyard.. so I get a warmer sleeping bag and toy with the idea of winter camping. But, I don't really wanna do it alone. So, I sit on my gear......

Christmas comes and goes and my friend/Boss Dan gets a winter camping hammock rig from his family. He pipes up with hey lets do this winter camping thing on the weekend of Jan 18th,  I have no plans so I say sure why not. The planning begins.

We are both trying out new gear and i have never done this and most of Dan's camping is of the car/snowmobile variety. So, we figure we don't wanna be far from the car so we have an escape rout. on my way back down from my Mt Meader hike I went through the closed Basin Campground and Cold River Campground. I figure that is about a mile from where we can park overnight lets try that.

The Friday before we are watching the weather and it is floating around 30 degrees and snow. if it looks like heavy wet snow we might not wanna do it, cold and dry is ok cold and wet could really suck. but we luck out and it gets colder. Dan is not available till after noon so we plan on meeting at the office around 12:30 or 1:00 and getting in his Jeep and heading up.

The snow is starting to come down as I throw my pack in the car we are right on schedule. Dan is going to swing by Dicks sporting good and grab something and look for a spatula I am going to swing by EMS and look for the same. I packed some eggs for breakfast and he had a fry pan. if we don't find one we can always boil the eggs.. The roads are getting kinda slick as drive over it takes me a little longer to get out to the mall than I thought. EMS had nothing I like and since the roads are crappy i don't look long and head over to the office. As I am heading along Payne Rd I see a white Jeep in my rear view, it is Dan, we get to the office at exactly the same time. We shuffle gear and I put my pack in the Jeep  there is not much snow so I am debating weather or not to bother with then snowshoes and warm boots as opposed to my hiking boost and Microspikes. Dan suggests to just bring them both and decide when we get there.. So, after all the gear is stuffed in the Jeep we head out, ok a quick lunch at subway but we are off. I can feel the Jeep sliding around as we leave the subway parking lot and Dan throws it into 4 wheel we are off. It is slow going out to Fryburg where we stop at the Citgo to top off the gas and use the bathroom. I really don't wanna have to do #2 in the snow if I can help it. Rt 113 is beat up north of Fryburg. Even though they have been plowing it there are thick patches of ice that bounce us around. and when they say BUMP then mean it the Jeep lurches sideways as we hit the heaves and dips.

As we roll into the parking lot we see a couple of guys with a golden retriever getting ready to head out they have Snowboards on their packs so I suspect they are not gong the same way we are. a quick chat with them and we find out they are heading up the closed section of 113 and to one of the trails off that and are gonna snowboard back down. They also have info about where they pay envelopes are for overnight parking there is one at this campground and one at the historic house just up 113 past the gate. I put on the warm winter hiking boots and to COA I hike up to the historic house to get that one and Dan goes into campground to get one there. The air is nice and there seems to be a good snow pack still up here. Much more than I expected given the rain and warm weather we have had. I did not realize, though it seem obvious that the closed part of 113 is part of the ITS snowmobile system i grab the envelope and head back. Dan is putting his snowshoes out and getting his pack ready when I get back to the Jeep he had sunk up to his knees getting the envelope he got so we are using the snowshoes to do our hike, good thing I brought them. We get suited up and head in.

We are both sporting 45lb packs. for the most part we are not sharing anything so we have quite a few duplicate items. I want to make sure I can carry everything I need since I will be doing this alone and need to carry all my own stuff. I also have about 4 liters of water and my MSR pump filter which I am sure is overkill but I have it so I am carrying it. Poles in had showshoes and pack on we start in.

There is a definite packed snowshoes trail up the road and some prints of people who hiked in with out shoes and those footprints are deep I pick back and forth trying to keep on a solidish area so I don't sink too much but away from the uneven area where the non snowshoe people have hiked. The only sound is the crunch of the snow under our snowshoes and our breathing.

We had gotten above the snorm (snow storm) but as we hike in the snow has started up again it is so peaceful and pretty. I am realizing how much more i need to step up my workout regiment if I am going to do more of this backpacking thing. It does not take long for me to start to feel winded, this is a lot of work. I am really only half surprised I knew it would not be easy but I did not think I would be winded this quickly. 

The basin lake and the gate to the campground is a welcome site. The other footprints have turned back or drift off toward the Lake. The snow is coming down more and clouds have covered most of the surrounding mountains. We decide to walk the full circle of the campground and look at all the sites before choosing one. There are no prints other than the odd bunny or squirrel. No one has been through here since the snow has fallen. There are a lot of nice spots, we need one with a nice flat spot for my tent which is easy, good trees for Dan's Hammock and some shelter from the wind. Well if there is wind, is is nice an calm now. We choose plot 14 there is a stream out back which burbles along and sounds great. 

Plot 14 you can see the leaning tree on the right.

The only issue is there is a very dead tree leaning precariously over where I want to put my tent.. Now normally I would not cut down anything and would only pick up dead fall for firewood but this tree will have to come down before the campground opens anyway so I don't feel bad "helping" it to the ground. With that done we hustle to set up before it gets dark. We still need to find firewood. but that we can do with headlamps if we have to.. My tent goes up nice and quickly. The "snow stakes" (canvas parachutists) don't fill me with confidence and the steaks are not getting much to grab so I use the freestanding option by putting my treaking pole in the ends. Once it is up I dig around it so I can get the streaks into something solid and I try to set one of the snow steaks.

Dan gets his Hammock up in about the same amount of time as it takes me to get my tent up and set up with the 2 camp mats and sleeping bag and all that. 

Tent and Hammock up light failing it is time to go find some firewood. it seems that everything is wet and wet on the inside as well we gather a bunch of deadfall and haul it back to the camp fire grill. I get out my stove and set up my stove to make some hot drinks and we set about making a fire. It is tough the wood is all wet and we keep having to take my inflatable cap seat to fan it to get it to flare up for a bit. we put most of our spare wood on top of the grill so it might cook some of the water out

now that there is fire... sort of at least it is time for food. Both Dan and I brought Mountain House freeze dried meals.. I also brought a kielbasa but that is a lot more effort in cooking maybe I will eat that with eggs in the morning. I use the water from my hydration pack since I suspect that it could freeze overnight and that would be bad for it, or it could be. The freeze dried meal is not bad.. I mean it is not a home cooked meal or anything like that but for camp food I surprised. It is lightweight and easy and 1 bag, which they claim is 2 servings is just about enough for me. I expect if I had been really hiking all day I would want some more or some supplemental food. I will be buying more of these. After dinner it is a bit more hang out time and fighting with the fire. We got it going well enough about midway through dinner I found some hanging deadwood that was dry on a pee walk. We ran out of gathered wood and so it is time to hit the sack, as they say. I wander out into the dark for one more pee before going to bed and see a light through the trees... that is odd, there is no house there.. I listen... not a snow mobile there is no noise.. then I realize.. it is the moon coming up.. looking up a few stars are peaking through the clouds the snow has been coming down most of the evening so I did not expect to see the stars or moon but there they are.. I call Dan over and point out the light, I hesitate on telling him it is the moon, it takes him a min too to realize it.. I do not feel so dumb. 

Photos are not working out in the dark so I just don't bother.

I crawl into my tent. pull my boots off and set them in the vestibule. I start to push around my gear in the tent I pulled everything in so it did not get lost if there was more snow overnight. It would be nice if I could have pulled my sleeping bag out of my pack without having to dump the pack now everything is everywhere. I get some semblance of order to the gear and get prepped for sleep.  I take off the shell pants and my jackets, stuff my down jacket and a water bottle into the bottom of my sleeping bag and climb in. after a little shuffling around I fall asleep. I wake up in the middle of the night and crap I have to pee.. maybe it will go away.. no I have to get out and pee. I grab my phone to check the time.. 11:30 really?? sigh.. the moon is up and it is much cooler then when I went to bed. I get back to the sleeping bag and fall back to sleep I wake up a few times one time the opening of the bag is wet with condensation so I curl it out of the way so I don't breath on it. another time I am way too warm and sweating a bit so I pull off my base layer and stuff it to the bottom of the bag.  I keep having to fight my camp mats to stay together and to keep my bag on them. I need to figure out how to fix that. 

Dan got up at 4:00 and was not able to go back to sleep  I heard him walk by but since he did not say anything I continue to doze on and off till about 6:00. I put some hand warmers into my boots to try to preheat them but did not wait long enough so they were not that warm when I put them on. good plan bad implementation. I crawl out of my tent, it is still dark, Dan is sitting on the picnic table reading with his headlamp. We make breakfast I have no inspiration to cook eggs so I make oatmeal and I forgot to pack real coffee so I do instant and burn my mouth.. The instant coffee is not very good not going to buy that again. Dan bought a Mountain House breakfast bag. which he said was pretty good. I really want to take photos of the campsite before we pack up but there is still not much light and my photos look like this.

with some photo fighting I get this

I suggest we go for a walk to the lake and along the trail a bit while we wait for the sun to come up. The wood are beautiful. and it is so peaceful.

 I follow Dan as he shows me where he walked when he could not sleep earlier this morning.

We get down to the basin lake and follow the trail along the bank till we get to the picnic area just outside the entrance to the campground 

After the little explore and the snow is starting to fall again so we head back to our campsite to take photos of our camp and to pack up. I have not tried my water filter yet and would like to. I will do that after we pack everything else up. 

Our hidden little camp

not a bad little camp for the first trip. Time to pack up. 

Tearing down and packing up goes smoothly and uneventful 

all packed up 

I pull out my water filter and am pleased to discover that the filter will screw directly onto my new insulated Hydoflask water bottle so I scramble down to the stream and drop the float hose into the stream and start to pump. I run some through and onto the snow to rinse it out before putting it on the bottle and pumping it full of water. It is not super quick but not bad I fill up the water bottle and climb back up I dry out the filter pack it up and pack it up... Dan has photos I will post them when he gets them to me. 

The hike back is downhill and easy. It has snowed on and off the entire time and it is again to see us out of the woods. I will do this again for sure. I need to push harder with my workouts and do things a little different.

1. bring less water and use the filter for more of the water making the pack lighter..

2. I will prolly not bring the hydro flask and just bring the Dromedary bag. 

3. resort my other backup kit bags so I don't have quite as much stuff. 

4. try to get going earlier so I have more time in the light when getting to the campsite. 

5. for the winter stuff I am thinking about a pull sled for my gear and if i do that I can bring a little dry wood and and it would be useful for gathering firewood. 

6. see if i can put a zipper in my pack so i can get my sleeping bag out without dumping the entire bag. 

7. bring a notebook so i can take notes for the blog right away. 

8. bring something to read in the evening. since night is so long.