This week Reba, Buck, Lindsey, Cooper and Benson climbed Red Hill in Moultonborough. We have hiked this many times but it was Bucks first time. It was a sunny morning and no snow on the ground. Just some ice in spots. It was nice not to have to worry about snowshoes, microspikes and all the other things that go along with winter hiking! This hike leads to a fire tower that provides great views of the surrounding lakes and mountains. It is a short hike just 3 miles round trip, and also an easy hike so Lindsey and I had to the chance to chat and catch up.
On Wednesday I hiked Mt Monroe which is part of the Presidential Range. I was accompanied by my uncle Bill, his friend Peter, Jen and her friend Betsy, Kathie and Bodhi and of course Reba. The weather was forcasted to be partly cloudy and lows in the 30’s and breezy. We started up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail and the weather was sunny, warm and no wind. About an inch of new snow had fallen over night, but not enough to need snowshoes yet. This trail starts off nice and gentle then it starts to get steeper and steeper. We started to find that there was a lot of ice under the newly fallen snow and microspikes were almost not enough, crampons would have made it much easier.
Once we started to get above tree line the ice increased making even the smallest inclines hard to manage. We had to make our own trail at some points just to avoid the ice. At this point Kathie and Betsy decided they had had enough and turned back due to the ice and the clouds had moved in and snow showers had started. The rest of us wanted to continue on to the Lake of the Clouds Hut and decide what to do from that point. It was slow going on the ice but the snow stopped and still no wind. Once we made it to the hut we had a snack and debated on if we should attempted Monroe or not.
When looking up from the hut at Monroe it looks like a quick hike to the top and should be no problem. So we decided to give it a try, the Crawford Path had not been traveled so we had to break trail to the Monroe Trail. It was a mix of ice and snow drifts but it was just a short distance. We started up the Monroe Trail which was easy to follow at first, we could see the cairns the trail was exposed for the most part. Then we came to a spot that left you an option to go right or left. The snow had drifted quite a bit making finding a cairn impossible. I tried to go right because it seemed like the way to go. But the snow had drifted in such a way that as you walked the snow seemed like it was going to give out underneath you and send you sliding down back to the hut! Not a comforting feeling I decided to turn around and Bill tried to go more to the left. But that lead you to a spot that you would have to have crampons and an ice axe to get to the top. At that point we decided to call it and head back down. It was the right choice but so frustrating since you could literally see the summit and it was so close to us but unsafe to get too.
We had a good hike back down with lots of butt sledding since it was the easiest and safest way to get down what we had just climbed up! Monroe is not going anywhere and I will make it to the summit next time! Maybe when the snow and ice melt!!