1-15-12 Heralding Winter's Arrival at the Observatory (photos are from the Mt. Washington Obs webcams)

On Saturday afternoon at 4 pm the summit of Mt. Washington was clear. At the time the temperature was -11.0 degrees F and the wind was from the West at 58.1 mph and a windchill of -48.6 degrees F.

View North from the summit of Mt. Washington at the same time the top image appeared in the Observatory's Bretton Woods webcam.

View North at 4 pm on Sunday, 1-15-12.

About 24 hours later the cold temperatures persisted along with elevated winds. At 3:15 pm Sunday the temperature on the summit was -13.3 F with the wind from 316 degrees West at 60.6 mph and a peak gust over the previous 24 hours of 110.4 mph. The windchill Sunday afternoon was minus -52.4 F. Pretty cold! Windchill was expected in the -50 degree range throughout the forecast period. By Monday morning, 1-16-12, the windchill was + 2.6 degrees F with almost no wind but then decreased during the morning to stabilize around -13 degrees F as the wind increased. It will probably warm up in the next few days.

Snow fell on a few days last week with the summit posting 27 inches of snow on Monday, 1-16-12. New snow accumulation at the huts that are open for the winter is in the average of 18 inches. Winter is finally here. Time to get out an enjoy it.

1-7-12 Happy 2012 As We Await Winter's Arrival

I had planned a quiet Christmas without a tree or a big meal. My oldest daughter, Julia, was working both days of the weekend and Lizzie was planning to stay in Tahoe, CA, where she was praying for snow. She called Thursday evening saying that there "wasn't a single flake of snow in the Sierras" and she was homesick and wanted to come "home for the holidays." Friday morning (12-23-11) she called to say she was driving and was going to try and get home by mid-Christmas day. I had wanted to hike at least one day of the weekend, preferably up North and I was going to choose the day based on which had best weather. With Liz on her way I was left me with only Saturday to hike. I was thinking: Ammonoosuc Ravine to Lakes of the Clouds and on to the summit. I set the alarm for 5 a.m.....

The view north from the summit Christmas Eve morning.

But in the morning I checked the Obs' weather and at 5:30 am the stats read: 0.5 degrees (F), wind 34.4 mph with gusts up to 86.4 mph and windchill of -26.5 degrees (F)(below zero). One good thing was the visibility was 120 miles. The day's forecast posted by Observer Ryan Knap didn't sound all that enticing and with Liz on her way (my excuse) I had to buy and decorate a Christmas tree and food for Christmas dinner. Liz explicitly asked for Tamales, a Christmas tradition, from a local Mexican restaurant and I'd have to buy them before 3 pm Christmas eve.

It was probably a good decision to stay home as by 4:30 pm the weather at the summit had not changed much. It was a gorgeous day but the windchill had stayed around -27 degrees below zero (F) as the air temperature dropped and the wind picked up a bit.

I'm including this shot from the Obs' North camcorder from 1-7-12 just to show the contrast in snow depth from two weeks ago. There's a little more snow but there's still not very much anywhere in the north country as of 1-8-12. It's a cool photo.

So for Christmas, when we finally celebrated on Monday, I got my best, best present of all in having both my daughters at home and together for the first time in what felt like ages. Liz had pulled into the driveway a few minutes after midnight Christmas night after a 3-day drive from Tahoe via Colorado, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc.

Another present I received worth mentioning is this history of the early British expeditions to Mt. Everest which is huge in its coverage as you can see by the title. It's astonishing in several ways. It's very well written and exhaustive in detail. It creates the sensation of actually "being there". It covers the 1921, 1922 and 1924 British expeditions to Everest particularly the long, desperate period with the 1921 expedition, made up of mostly military personnel, when they were trying to find a route to the summit from the north side of the mountain. Davis' account is epic and, for mountain and Everest buffs, it fills an enormous gap in the details about the arduous exploration and mapping in Tibet and northern Nepal that was necessary just to get to the base of the mountain. It paints extraordinarily detailed portraits of the members of each expedition and particularly of the enigmatic & charismatic George Mallory.

The book is also noteworthy for its attention to natural history particularly in the regions of Tibet traversed by members of the expedition which included the high plateau as well as the foothills up to 21,000 feet. The author is a well known botanist and natural historian and writes about these things well. His descriptions are astonishing, really, as are the images created of the people along the routes they explored. He obviously did a lot of research including retracing all of Mallory's steps. As you can tell, I'm recommending the book to one and all.

Over the holiday I also read The Challenge of K2; A History of the Savage Mountain by Richard Sale which is somewhat redundant in its recounting of the major expeditions. It was frustrating for me because it drags the reader through the controversy that flared up around the successful 1954 Italian expedition involving climbers Lino Lacidelli and Achille Companoni, who were the first to summit K2 in 1954, and the treatment of team member Walter Bonatti just before and during the last hours of the summit attempt. Like the French Annapurna expedition in 1950 that was rife with political intrigues, nationalistic and otherwise, the Italian K2 organization also had its share. The competition, favoritism, political alliances etc were mainstays of almost all of the larger expeditions of the 1920s, 30s up through the 1960s. Wade Davis' recounting of the early Everest expeditions details exactly the same situation that occurred on K2 in 1954 occurring in the 1922 and 1924 Everest expedition that involved Mallory. The large scale expeditions were similar to military exercises in the time of war with hierarchies and leadership stretching back to national capitols and the involvement of hundreds of people most of whom had never seen a mountain much less climbed one, and where failure was not an option.

Lino Lacidelli, on the left, with Loofa, in their Yin-Yang pose, slept through the holidays.

I know this is a long way from the White Mountains and natural history but while shopping for food Christmas eve I ran into Tracy Hightower, a well known valley farmer who, with her husband and business partner, John Reid, operated BioShelters, Inc. in Sunderland, MA, for several decades. On about an acre of land they were able to produce thousand of pounds of fish every year along with other types of food grown hydroponically. There are myriad details about the sustainable aspects of their operation, but it was forced to close when the land owner wanted a dramatic increase in the price of their lease; an all too familiar story. Now the buildings are unused, empty and falling down so it's a sad story as well, but it was refreshing to talk to her. In the past I, too, farmed here in the valley and helped start a valley-wide organization called CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) that nurtured a community-wide dialog on farming, farming practices, food, food safety, environmental issues linked with farming, aesthetics as in open space, etc., and that sought innovative ways to increase food production. CISA, Tracy noted, has evolved into a marketing organization and she quipped that "selling the food is easy. Growing it's the hard part," as she talked about the continuing need to help farmers find new ways to grow more food annually and make more money. In the photo above a barn on Michael Docter's farm in Hadley, MA, is covered with solar panels. He sells "food shares" directly to families (consumers) for fresh produce, an enterprise called Community Supported Agriculture or CSAs. Michael, a famously innovative farmer, has also been innovative in the use of his barn roof so that families receive food AND electricity. Michael was the farmer-manager of the Western Mass. Food Bank Farm for many years and is one of the premier organic farmers in the Valley.

His land is wintering, but one thing Tracy and I talked about was getting some funding for studying ways to extend the growing season in those years when the winter isn't as mild as this one has been so far. There is a huge demand here, in the Connecticut River valley, for more fresh, local, organic food by large markets like Whole Foods, Super Stop and Shop, etc. Several local farmers have begun exploring ways to extend the growing season at both ends of the growing season. We talked excitedly about organizing a Farmer-to Farmer meeting this winter to bring in farmers from Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island to talk about ways to extend the growing season and strategies for what is called "vertical agriculture", similar to permaculture, where multiple crops are grown in "stories", one above the other, to maximize space.

This is one of local dairy farmer Gordy William's hay field with the east end of the Holyoke Range in the background. Yesterday the temps were in the low 50s here. It was a stunning day. The light was gorgeous and it felt and smelled like spring. Today it was in the low 30s but the light, as in this photo, and the colors were wonderful. It was windy on top of Mt. Skinner. When I can't get up to the Whites I can run-hike many combinations of trails along this ridge to get a good workout.

The light at this particular place on the ridge just
below the top of Mt. Skinner is always striking.

One thing I've been thinking about doing for a while and am now planning for the coming summer is a pretty long, 2 or 3 day bushwhack-traverse (completely off trail except trail crossings) of the Pemmigewaset Wilderness starting at the lower southwest corner, perhaps at the bottom of Mt. Flume, and then heading diagonally northeast over Franconia Ridge, down to Lincoln Brook, up over Owls Head, down to Franconia Brook, up the west side of Guyot, down into and across Zealand Valley, over the Willey Range, and out to Rt. 302 above Crawford Notch. It sounds pretty crazy doesn't it?

Winter trees waiting for winter (like the rest of us).

At any rate it's good incentive to get in really great shape again which is another reason I'm fortunate to have the Holyoke Range even though it only offers a small uphill gain. I used to train for running the mile by doing speed work on the track. I would run a 60 second 440 (quarter of a mile) rest for 60 seconds and then run another one, and another, etc., 16-20 times, to build core strength as well as speed. On Mt. Skinner there's one trail that has several steep sections but they are only 75 to 100 yards long. I run up them as fast as I can, jog back down, run up, etc. Bodie Miller, the Olympic skier from Franconia, NH, (I heard) use to fill a wheel barrow with big rocks, and then push it up one of the ski trails at Cannon Mt. as fast as he could go. That sounds like a good workout for the hut traverse. By the way, in Wade Davis' Everest book there's mention of traverse in the English Lake District that's 57 miles long with 23,000 feet in elevation that one of the 1922 Everest expedition members completed in 1905 in 22 h: 30 m. It sounds familiar.

Late Sunday afternoon hikers on Mt. Skinner.

12-11-11 Mt. Skinner (Hadley, MA), Solstice sunlight

I spent part of the afternoon today running some of the trails on the nearby Holyoke Range, Mt. Skinner particularly because of it's steep terrain. Around 3 pm I was coming back up to the summit when I found myself bathed in this luxurious light and it reminded me it's only 11 days until the Winter Solstice when, happily, the days will begin to get longer again--pointing us towards summer but hopefully not before we get to enjoy the holidays and a long winter with lots and lots of snow.

The green in the background represents the dense stands of hemlock along Mt. Skinner's summit ridge and that sweep down across its north face.

It was in the low 30s all day keeping with the mild fall we've been having, but below freezing night-time temperatures have finally put frost in the ground and I hope the same is true for the White Mountains. It would be great to have at least a couple of inches of hard frost before the deeper snow arrives.

At any rate, I just wanted to share this lovely winter sunlight. It's reminiscent of the light I was hiking in last Saturday on Kinsman Ridge.

12-6-11 Editorial: The Hut Traverse as a Unique, Challenging, Local Treasure

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Whenever I mention the hut traverse I get myriad comments and emails from readers. A case in point is the 11-24-11 article, Zealand Falls Thanksgiving, in which George Heinrichs’ 12h:38m time on a recent traverse was noted. I received several comments regarding George’s traverse including one that asked whether it was on the same course I completed in 1963 or whether George had taken the “easy” route.

The traverse is a lovely, unique, and extremely challenging hike/run that not only traverses the AMC hut system, but also traverses one of the most beautiful mountain regions in the United States. It offers enticing varieties of weather, topography and physical environments ranging from Alpine to Northern-forest-wilderness. It has pre-established way stations, the huts, that can be used to cache food/liquids/clothing and are equipped with two-way radios in case of emergencies.

We, and I mean all of us who love trail running, distance trail running, and marathon hikes, are unbelievably fortunate to have this course in our backyard complete with its 80-year history. It’s also noteworthy for its potential to expand into a much longer course by including the Carter-Moriah and Mahoosuc ranges in the east and the Kinsman-Moosilaukee trails in the west. It may even be possible to create an outstanding100-mile course with the traverse as its centerpiece.

The lovely view towards the west (taken in 1967) from the summit of South Twin. Those who do the traverse going east to west are roughly 3/4 of the way at this point and often find this view mortifying because Garfield and Lafayette look so impossibly far away!

The traverse is never easy and there isn’t a separate, easier route. In the first 35 years that the traverse was part of hut history the course generally included Pinkham Notch Camp as one of the huts. Since the 1970’s the traverse became a straight line from Carter to Lonesome Lake or Lonesome Lake to Carter after the visit to Pinkham was eliminated.

The detour to Pinkham impacted the total distance and time factor and would have been a factor in my 1963 traverse except that I started at Madison and went first to Carter by descending Madison Gulf to the Glen House and then running up the Aqueduct Path and Nineteen Mile Brook Trail (hut to hut: 8.7 miles). I went over the Wildcats to the ski area and slithered down a ski trail to Rt. 16 and ran along an abandoned trail (that used to ferry skiers from Pinkham to the old Wildcat Ski Trail) to the old Trading Post at Pinkham (4.4 miles) where I gulped my first food. I then ran up Tuckerman Ravine and Crossover trails to Lakes before heading west.

George started his recent traverse at Carter and went to Madison via Madison Gulf and took Gulfside and Westside to Lakes before heading west. If you do the math (and use the 1960 AMC guide book distances for my traverse) you’ll find that George covered 16.7 miles to reach Lakes and I covered 17.8 miles, a difference of 1.2 miles (even though I included Pinkham). At the western end, after Lonesome Lake Hut was moved to the other side of Lonesome Lake in 1965, the traverse picked up a quarter mile so the difference between George’s and my traverse is about one mile. At 4-5 mph that’s about 15 minutes a mile and means that George’s most recent time is only 27 minutes behind my 1963 time, less than half a minute per mile over the course.

The author (2nd from left in front) in his Adidas, fresh from the hut traverse, starting a fresh cross country season.

I’ve reported that I was in superb shape when I did the traverse in 1963. I was training for something larger in scope than the traverse and was a fiercely dedicated athlete. This is how serious I was: everyday throughout high school I ran a hilly 9.8-mile course and then put in some rigorous speed workouts on the track that added 4-5 miles to my day. I took a blood sample and titrated it for lactose acid content every day before and after practice and every 2-3 months I rotated my diet regimen using the titration data in an attempt to fashion a special diet for distance running (trying to follow in the footsteps of the Australian middle distance runners, like John Landry and Olympic miler Herb Elliot, and their remarkable coach, Percy Cerutty).

Those who attempt the hut traverse with a focus on time really need to think about diet. A fast time is about speed, strength and endurance but efficient energy uptake and hydration, along with pacing, are equally important. (Sorry, I know I promised not to preach.) At any rate, George’s cool, methodical nature is definitely a plus in helping him achieve a fluid pace with good hydration. His recent time of 12 h: 38 m is a good indication that he's in superb shape and may be able to break the 12-hour time that I was trying to break way, way back in 1963. I hope he does.

12-3-11 Kinsman Ridge (complete)

South (long ridge on the right) and North Kinsman (looking taller than South Kinsman on the right) above Lonesome Lake. South Kinsman is 4358 feet in elevation and North Kinsman is 4293 feet in elevation.

As I drove North on I-91 early Saturday morning I wasn't sure of my destination. It was forecast as a lovely mountain day and I was thinking about Mt. Adam or Mt. Washington, but they both engender two extra hours of driving when coming from the West. I thought of Franconia Ridge but with the perfect weather the trail was going to get crowded. I had a yen to hike somewhere quiet and out of the way; somewhere I hadn't been for a while. As I drove over Sugar Hill, in Franconia, I looked over at Cannon Mt., the Cannon Balls and the Kinsmans and decided that Kinsman Ridge would be a perfect hike on such a perfect day. It's been at least 30 years since I've been on the Kinsmans and I have fond memories of previous forays into this little known realm.

Getting to the Kinsmans from the east is easiest via the Fishin' Jimmy Trail that starts behind Lonesome Lake Hut which, in turn, is about 1 1/2 miles from I-93 in Franconia Notch via the Lonesome Lake Trail.

It was astonishing to not see more snow. The lake ice was still thin but is smooth enough for skating later, when it gets thicker. Hopefully it will be smooth as glass and a foot thick by New Years Eve! Franconia Ridge, with Mt. Lafayette on the far left, Mt. Lincoln (center) and Little Haystack (to the right).

Cannon Mt. with Coppermine Col (deep notch to the left) at the north end of Lonesome Lake.

The Fishin' Jimmy Trail starts at Lonesome Lake Hut and in 2 miles gains a saddle on Kinsman Ridge at the bottom of North Kinsman where Kinsman Pond and Kinsman Shelter are located. The trail is steep and rough in places but threads through a primeval landscape, including this dark forest where only a small amount of light reaches the floor.

The forest quickly alternates with more open areas like this birch grove where a lot of sunlight reaches the floor. Certainly one of my primary objectives in hiking the Kinsmans was to become immersed both in solitude and this rich, buttery, winter sunlight, now close to its ebb, and enjoy the colors and the stillness.

An open grove of young and old balsam firs that is flooded with sunlight. (This might be called a perfect picture of biotic succession with healthy young and old trees and lots of nutrient represented by all the detritus, e.g. dead wood, on the ground.)

A glacial erratic that looks just like half loaf of bread. It's large; about 8 feet high by 10 feet across at the face. It's mentioned in the guide book as the beginning of the steep section that extends up to the ridge. It made me want some french toast! With lots of butter and maple syrup.

In 30 years I had forgotten a lot about the Fishin' Jimmy Trail including how steep it is. This icy pitch is an example and was steep enough to require some rock climbing techniques.

Icicles on a rock face next to the trail catching the early morning sunlight.

An oasis.

In between steep sections there are short, level places where you can stretch out your calf muscles, but.....

quite quickly another steep section presents itself. I didn't photograph all the steep bits because I was too busy with hands and feet but this is one example of a long stretch of granite slab at about a 45 degree angle and 40 yards long. Towards the top you can see a set of steps placed magically

on the rock and tilted to one side so water can run off. In spite of the intent the steps were still icy and a little hair raising as you aren't quite sure what is holding them up.

I call sections of trails like this "escalators" and I prefer them to the wood step affairs because they're good and solid and offer better purchase in ice and snow.

Below the ridge the forest became dense and coniferous, or boreal in structure and specie, and with a light edging or rime in the December light they were jewel-like. The photos that follow are examples of the lyrical quality of the low-angled sunlight.

Photo taken in the vicinity of Kinsman Junction where the Fishin Jimmy Trail meets the Kinsman Ridge Trail. The woods were enchanted...

with rime coated scenes like this....

and this.

The ridge was a warren of shaded dells carpeted with thick sphagnum moss.

A close up of the rime which is really tiny ice pellets that are formed in wind that, due to its velocity and the ambient air temperature, has become super chilled. The tiny ice pellets become glued to everything the wind brushes. Rime formations are sometimes dramatic and are icons in the areas above timberline in the White Mountains.

This is the new Kinsman Pond Shelter constructed in the summer of 2011 and it's quite spiffy. Shelters made from local materials last about 25 years in severe high mountain environments. This one was designed to last a bit longer with it wide eves and steep roof to move the water away from the logs walls.

A side view. The shelter, like the one it replaces, can comfortably hold 12 people although there will be nights when it will shelter 20, or more. In addition to the shelter there are four large tent platforms nearby.

Kinsman Pond looking towards South Kinsman (4358' asl) with North Kinsman (4293' asl) to the right. I sat on a wide ledge of granite on the shore line and spent a wonderful hour there eating lunch and basked in the surprisingly hot sun in a vast silence. The only sounds came from occasional bands of garrulous chickadees darting through the spruce and balsams near the shore and the mysterious cracking of the ice.

Just below the North Kinsman summit.

The Kinsman Ridge Trail heading north has a wild, lonely appearance with its old log "bridges" that protect the bog-like ground. The Appalachian Trail (AT) descends the ridge via the Fishin Jimmy Trail so that the Kinsman Ridge Trail, of the two, is the one less traveled. It's a lovely trail with wild, roller coaster undulations as it rolls over the Cannon Balls and Cannon Mt. The clefts between these lesser, rounded summits, are steep and deep making legs groan and spirits flag.

There are rare glimpses of surrounding mountains like this one from the second Cannon Ball of towards Franconia Ridge in the distance and Cannon Mt. on the left where you can see the top of the summit building.

This is what I meant by primeval landscape. The only logging that has ever been done along this part of the ridge is by the fierce winds that come down out of the northwest and first strike this ridge before plowing across the successive ranges and only Mt. Lafayette gets the full bore of the wind that the Kinsman Ridge experiences.

This may be close to what the northern boreal forest looked like until the 1880s when the methodical butchering of the forest began in central and northern New Hampshire (all of northern New England is more accurate) as mechanized logging was introduced and continued into the early 1920s. If you enlarge this photo and the one below and just look at them for a moment and consider the beauty that's there, and wonderful sense of wildness and timelessness evoked by the interplay of light in the trees, the forest floor, the roots and the stones along the beckoning path.

Looking back and the Kinsmans from the second Cannon Ball.

On the last Cannon Ball I found this wild scene (above photo and below), also primeval, of a wind devastated forest coated with rime.

It was hard to tell when this damage occurred but it was from a storm that approached the ridge from the north, possibly from the northeast, but the repairs to the trail were minimal.

The Lonesome Lake Trail joins the Kinsman Ridge Trail at the bottom of the last cleft, or notch, between the Cannon Balls and Cannon Mt. I was happy to see see it. With all of my rejoicing about the winter light I had also been a little on edge because, judging only by the sunlight, it felt like it was quite late, almost evening, when it reality it was only 2 pm, or so.

As fair warning, two of these notches, this one between the last (or first going south on the ridge) and Cannon Mt. itself in particular), are very steep and require extra time in trip planning. They can be run quickly using hands and feet but with packs they require extra care. On my traverse there was some ice on the steep sections but navigable without traction. In winter you should expect a good bit of ice on the trail throughout.

The descent from Coppermine Col to Lonesome Lake is rapid. The trail is basically a brook wending its way under and around these large felsenmeer like blocks of granite. The geology of this region is fascinating and well worth perusing. There are a number of texts available. Charles R. Williams, a student of Marland Billings at Harvard, published Geology In the Franconia Region, and edited version of his doctoral thesis, in the June 1934 Appalachia. It sounds technical but it's a good place to start if you're interested in the glacial history of the Kinsmans and Lonesome Lake area as well as the local geology.

Speaking of glacial history this is an extensive area of muskeg that's in slow succession and may be reminiscent of the landscape here at the close of the last glacial period 11,000 years ago. I timed my hike to return to Lonesome Lake as the sun completed its arc here and descended behind the Kinsmans to enjoy the sunset from the lake shore.

Looking east across Lonesome Lake towards Mt. Liberty in the distance.

Looking back up at Coppermine Col and the steep, southwest side of Cannon Mt.

The "Round the Lake" Trail utilizes these board walks for much of its circling around Lonesome Lake and particularly the west side.

Looking down towards the south end of Lonesome Lake from the lake trail.

Franconia Ridge at sunset from the west side of Lonesome Lake.

The Kinsmans at sunset.

The fast ebbing of the lovely, last bits of light (reflected from the lake) along the trail down.

I had the great pleasure of hiking back down to the highway with Beth and Mack who were at Lonesome Lake Hut on some official business. Beth has the highly coveted position of Hut Checker for the winter which translates into being a 'professional hiker' as she makes regular, unscheduled visits to all the huts that are aimed, hopefully, at reducing vandalism. Mack has worked in the huts for several summers and is on his way West for the winter, possibly Colorado or California, looking for snow.

Bib: Charles Williams, Geology In the Franconia Region, June 1934 Appalachia. Email macphail.alexander@gmail.com to request a copy.

Paul Jenks, The Fishin' Jimmy Trail, December 1930 Appalachia