Hiked by: Tim and Valerie on March 18, 2008 - via the Glencliff Trail (AT)
Conditions: We chose to do our last Winter 4K today because the weather looks like it's going to be perfect: 37 degrees F, 3mph wind, and sunny at least through noon or so.
We started the day around 9AM, with gorgeous conditions and blue skies. The walk through the woods was easy for the first couple miles. We saw and heard the usual suspects - chickadees, juncos, woodpeckers and even a flock of waxwings. The trail was solid and we hiked right up in bare boots. No issues. The woods were gorgeous with filtered sunlight first making its way easily through the leafless deciduous forest. Later, as we moved into the evergreens, the trees got shorter and the sun got higher in the sky. The dappled effect on the snow in the woods was just beautiful. When we'd been hiking for about 2.5 miles, it started to get steeper. Still in bare boots - no issues there, but a long uphill. Eventually, we reached the talus field. We had great views from there to the west. We believe that the visibility was between 80 and 100 miles. Also, all the rocks were completely covered in sheer ice. We could see that there were clouds approaching from the west also, and haze, so we wanted to make haste for the summit before it became shrouded in clouds.
After Tim climbed up on the talus to take the pictures, we continued on our way, and within minutes we were at the junction (3.0 miles) with the Carriage Road. This was the intersection where we had expected that we would need to put on the down coats, balaclavas, goggles, and mittens, but it was almost 40 degrees with no wind, so we continued on our way. Here, the trail is very open and the trees are even shorter than usual when there's 5 feet of snow on the ground.
Finally, along the Carriage Road, we can see our destination. It still looked a long way away, but it was great to be out in the sun! We could feel it on us. Still no wind. This is crazy! As we got closer to the summit, we came across great ice fields. We donned our crampons for the final 0.2 miles.
At the summit, for the first time ever on one of our Winter 4K's, we got to take pictures and eat a snack in comfort and sunshine. We stayed for over 30 minutes! The views to the east were incredible. The Kinsmans & Cannon, then Franconia Ridge, then the Bonds behind that and eventually the Presidentials were all laid out in front of us. Just one other set of hikers joined us on the summit after 15 minutes or so. They had come up via Beaver Brook and said it was a rough trip.
The trip down had two major highlights: Golden-crowned kinglets and a snowshoe hare! We used the crampons for most of the way, just because the steep portions of the trail are much harder to navigate when we are descending. By the time we got to the car, the entire sky was clouded over. We were so lucky to have the experience that we did.
All-in-all, this was a perfect day out!
Stats: 8 miles RT, 7 hrs with a long stay at the top