Saturday, 2/11/17, 9:39AM
Slow, slippery drive to Highland Center. Cold and windy in parking lot, but not bad on the trails. Met John and Pepper on Mt Tom Spur, so we hiked Field and Willey together, breaking trail on Willey Range Tr from A-Z Tr to Avalon Tr. Many tree branches hanging over trail so we had to fight our way through, and even crawl through a tree tunnel on one short stretch.
The trail down from Mt Avalon was tough on my ankles because the crust was post holed. Once we passed the miscreant (a nice guy from Indiana) the going got much easier. At the start of this winter, I didn't understand why people got so worked up about post holing, but after my Owl's Head bushwhack and today's desccent on Avalon Tr, I get it.
Apres-hike, I had a fun evening at the Highland Center: social hour followed by a concert of Celtic folk music, then early to bed. The next morning I shared breakfast with 5 hikers that I met on the trail to Mt Tom. We were all struggling to stay on the off camber trail without slipping down the ravine and into the stream.
An overview of my Single Season Winter 48 with links to all the trip reports is here.
Mt Tom summit. No views again today.
I met John and Pepper as I was going up Mt Tom Spur and they were coming down. We agreed to share the trail breaking on Willey Range Tr once I caught up with them.
Here we are on the summit of Field.
Pepper is easily recognized by his University of Michigan sweater.
The Shapleigh Bunkhouse has a nice common room and kitchen with microwave and refrigerator.
The bunks are comfortable, but could use more hooks for hanging wet hiking gear.
I call shenanigans.
"Social hour" offered a cash bar and free crudites, cheeses, and wings.
Some of the North Country musicians. They performed a free concert of traditional music from Scotland and Celtic countries.
Slow, slippery drive to Highland Center. Cold and windy in parking lot, but not bad on the trails. Met John and Pepper on Mt Tom Spur, so we hiked Field and Willey together, breaking trail on Willey Range Tr from A-Z Tr to Avalon Tr. Many tree branches hanging over trail so we had to fight our way through, and even crawl through a tree tunnel on one short stretch.
The trail down from Mt Avalon was tough on my ankles because the crust was post holed. Once we passed the miscreant (a nice guy from Indiana) the going got much easier. At the start of this winter, I didn't understand why people got so worked up about post holing, but after my Owl's Head bushwhack and today's desccent on Avalon Tr, I get it.
Apres-hike, I had a fun evening at the Highland Center: social hour followed by a concert of Celtic folk music, then early to bed. The next morning I shared breakfast with 5 hikers that I met on the trail to Mt Tom. We were all struggling to stay on the off camber trail without slipping down the ravine and into the stream.
Stats:
- Peaks: Tom, Field, Willey
- Weather: 15F, 15mph, light snow.
- Parked: Highland Center, spent Saturday night at Shapleigh Bunkhouse
- Trails: Avalon Tr, A-Z Tr, Mt Tom Spur, Willey Range Tr, Avalon Tr
- Time: 5h36m
- Distance: 9.4mi
- Track: GaiaGps
An overview of my Single Season Winter 48 with links to all the trip reports is here.
Mt Tom summit. No views again today.
I met John and Pepper as I was going up Mt Tom Spur and they were coming down. We agreed to share the trail breaking on Willey Range Tr once I caught up with them.
Here we are on the summit of Field.
I first met John on January 7 and hiked with his group for stretches while summitting Jefferson, Washington, Monroe. Then we bumped into each other again the next day on Moosilauke. Today was my first opportunity to hike several hours with John and Pepper. The miles flew as John shared stories about some of the colorful hikers he knows.
A couple of French Canadians came up Avalon Tr so we had a track to follow fromm Field to Willey. Their track didn't always follow the official trail (of course John knew where they deviated) but it got us there.
After this summit selfie, John pushed his way into thick trees and unbroken snow. Thinking he was taking a bio break, I walked a few yards down the path the French Canadians had set towards Willey. Time passed--5 or 10 minutes--I checked a couple of times and could see John standing in the trees but I didn't want to disturb him. Finally, I called to see if he was OK and he called to tell me to come out to him. He thought I was eating lunch and I thought he was taking care of business. In reality, he was following the official trail and I was planning to follow the broken trail. Pepper was the one who suffered from this miscommunication. He needs to keep moving to keep warm, and starts shivering if we stand around too long.
Summit of Willey. Many places, the tree branches were bent low over the trail and we had to fight our way through. For one short section we pretty much had to crawl under a tree tunnel.
Summit of Willey. Many places, the tree branches were bent low over the trail and we had to fight our way through. For one short section we pretty much had to crawl under a tree tunnel.
Pepper is easily recognized by his University of Michigan sweater.
The Shapleigh Bunkhouse has a nice common room and kitchen with microwave and refrigerator.
The bunks are comfortable, but could use more hooks for hanging wet hiking gear.
I call shenanigans.
"Social hour" offered a cash bar and free crudites, cheeses, and wings.
Some of the North Country musicians. They performed a free concert of traditional music from Scotland and Celtic countries.
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