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.