Hiked April 19, 2008 by Tim and Valerie and 4000 other people
Conditions: The trip started well. On the drive up to Pinkham Notch, we saw a ruffed grouse in Ashland, two wood ducks in some water near Moultonboro and an otter on Chocorua Lake. That would be the last wildlife of the day... although we did see a lot of the "wild life".
Driving through Jackson, we came across many members of the Inferno Pentathlon who were bicycling up Route 16. It was hard to avoid them in the road, as it twists and turns up through the mountains.
As we arrived at Pinkham Notch, we expected a crowd. We did NOT expect the crowd that was there. We ended up parking in the lot for Wildcat ski area - probably 0.5 miles from the start of the trail. We walked along the road to Pinkham Notch Visitor Center before starting our trip. The volume of people was overwhelming. We dreamed of getting this kind of turn-out for Seek-the-Peak!
We put on our Stabilicers almost immediately upon hitting the trail and left them on all day. The snow was soft and sometimes slushy, but there was no postholing unless you left the very wide trail. We were in a train of humanity from the Visitor Center to the Hermit Lake Shelter. It was about 10AM when we started.
At the shelter, there were people *everywhere* and the smell of suntan lotion was thick. It was like being at the beach. This isn't the only time during the day that we'll make that analogy. There were beautiful views from the shelter, even if a hiker chose not to continue on to the bowl.
Once we passed the shelter, the hiking slowed down. The trail was thinner and there was very little room for passing other hikers. This was an interesting part of the hike because if a "racer" was coming up behind you, then you needed to make way for him/her. Stepping off the trail was a 50/50 shot at going in hip-deep. Everyone in line just took a deep breath and stepped off and hoped.
We got into the bowl a little before noon. There were already so many people there.
The rangers were warning everyone about the dangers of falling ice, and they suggested that we stay to the left in the bowl. We were fine with that, not wanting to become one of the rescue stats for the day. We found a nice spot on the hill and spread out our mat. Tim went for a walk to take pictures while Valerie just enjoyed the views, the skiers, and the sun.
Here's Wildcat ski area, across the highway
Tim walked over to Lunch Rocks to take these...
Where's Waldo? I mean, Valerie?
The rescue helicopter only came once while we were anywhere near the bowl. It picked someone up off the top of the headwall. Considering some of the extreme falls that we saw, it is amazing how many people get up and walk away.
One crazy person climbed up onto this shelf in the middle of the bowl, then skied off it. We didn't get any pictures as he came off the ledge... we were too busy watching to take pictures.
We saw lots of good skiers who made it down safely (and made it look easy). We saw a few daredevils coming over the rocks that you see here and come all the way straight down without a turn. One crazy person came over the lip on a tube. He didn't last very long on it, but got up and walked away.
In these pictures, you can just get a feel for the number of people and the gorgeous day. People were "tailgating" with real food and lawn chairs that they carried all the way up. People were playing Frisbee with their dogs. Guys were shirtless and girls were in bikini tops (and ski boots). The woman sitting behind us caught our attention because Tim's neck was burning. She gave us some suntan lotion.
Tim stitched together a couple pictures to make this picture of the bowl. It's big, but I thought it was worth keeping it that way so that you could see some detail.
Overall it was an incredible day. We were absolutely speechless over the size of the crowd, but the camaraderie was good and everyone seemed to be having a fun time. The trip down was extremely quick, and we were at the car in no time. The trail was getting pretty sloppy - like walking through sand, but the Stabilicers helped and still no postholing.