Hikers: Pat, Millie, Stacey
Weather: zeros-teens, clear/cloudy, light snow
Miles: 6.2
Elevation Gain: 2600 ft
Duration: 5 hrs
It was one of the coldest days of the year so far on Friday. Highs in southern NH reached the mid teens with below zero temperatures at night. Saturday morning was very cold, below zero, but it warmed into the twenties during the day. The temperature display on my car said 5 degrees F when we reached the trailhead on Hurricane Mtn Rd at 9:30am. When we returned around 2:30, it said 19 degrees F. It was definitely cold, but the hike really wasn't bad because there was no wind.
I drove up with Stacey, a BAE employee, and met Millie at the trailhead. Stacey was a beginner winter hiker, though she did quite well. I think most beginners, Stacey included, wear too many clothes when winter hiking, even when you try to tell them to take off a layer. Temperature regulation is definitely one of the hardest things about winter hiking. You want to stay dry, so you don't want to have too many layers, but they you tend to get cold quickly when you stop.
We had a good hike and enjoyed hanging out in the glass enclosed lookout tower on the top. It was cloudy with some snow showers, so the views weren't great, but they were still good.
This was my first time hiking North Kearsarge. It was a good hike. Nice views, a pretty good climb (2600ft) and relatively short (3miles). I'd definitely do it again.
No comments:
Post a Comment