Hiked by Tim & Val on 3/13/2009 via York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, and Mt Cabot Trail
We started around 10am from the parking lot in the Berlin Fish Hatchery. The sky was completely blue and the sun was bright. It was only 15 degrees, but that's 17 degrees warmer than the next closest start this winter. The snow was solid and crunchy. We left the snowshoes in the car and walked in our Stabilicers to start the trip.
Tim thinks this scat belongs to a coyote. More interesting than the scat were the streaks in the snow where he apparently "wiped his paws"(?).
We quickly reached the end of our time on the old road, and turned off into the woods.
As we walked through Bunnell Notch, along the brook, we could see that there was about four feet of snow. If you look into the hole here, you can see the summer bog bridge.
After a few miles, we caught our first views through the woods. Franconia Ridge and Cannon Mtn are white-capped in the distance.
The trail started to open up, and soon we were at the view. There was a crusting of ice on everything here, so we were careful.
It was really obvious that there had been a lot of freezing rain at the top. There was a thick crust that had been broken up by previous hikers. It felt (and sounded) like walking in a trail of broken glass. We got to the cabin near the summit, changed our jackets and mittens, and had a snack.
The trip out to the summit was short and easy. We got this great view of Mts Adams, Jefferson and Washington.
At the summit, we laughed at how low the sign was. In our trip from Sept 2007, the sign was above both our heads. The trees were coated in ice from the freezing rain, too.
Tim was convinced that this snow drift was higher than the summit, so he wanted his picture taken here too!
Back at the cabin again, we re-dressed for the trip down. The picture isn't too clear, but we tried to capture the look of the ice on the cabin. The view from the cabin looks out to the west.
The hike down was not technically challenging and we were in good spirits. The temperature climbed to about 30 degrees F. Tim went in his bare boots because the Stabilicers were uncomfortable after a few miles. Valerie stayed in the Stabilicers for the entire trip just because she felt better with the extra traction. About a half-mile before the car, we looked back to take a picture of what we'd accomplished that day. It really does look a long way away and very tall.
We made our way back to the car by 4:30PM. Lots of light and no worries this time of year about the gate at the Fish Hatchery being closed at 4PM. It was 9.6 miles round trip with 2400 feet of elevation gain in 6.5 hours. Not bad for winter!