Loaded up the car with all the gear I'd need and then some.
Backpacking stuff, snowshoeing stuff, XC ski stuff, paddling stuff, sled, snow shovel, etc, etc...
On the way to Grafton Notch on Rt. 2, you pass NH Rt. 16, which leads through Pinkham Notch. Pinkham Notch lies between Carter Dome and Wildcat Moutain, and the Presidentials. I've only been up Mt. Washington once, in the summer. Thought it might be neat to go up in the winter as well, but you need some mountaineering gear and more importantly, skills, that I just don't have. However, there is the auto road. Hmm. Unfortunately, it is still closed for the season, so it was a no go. Oh well...
View of the Presidentials (White Mountains, NH) from Rt. 16.
So anywho, that diversion failed and I continued on towards the Grafton Notch area, just over the border into Maine. Coming into Bethel, I spied the strangest thing. A huge tower of snow. What the hell? Turns out (I was told later by several people) that this is the biggest snow-woman in the world. Seriously, it's huge! That tree that is an "arm" is bigger than the average christmas tree. The other side actually had a face on it. I think it had car tires for eyes or something. Pretty wild...
Largest snow-woman in the world. Bethel, Maine.
Anywho, eventually got to Grafton Notch. I was thinking of heading up and over Old Speck (3rd highest peak in Maine) and on to Speck Pond Shelter or Full Goose Shelter via the A.T. The closer one would have been 8 miles or so, but up and over a big climb. I've done it in the summer a couple times, and it's a tough hike, so, since it was late in the day, and I'd be going slower, I decided to try something different. Instead of heading that way (south) on the A.T., I decided to go the other way (northbound, gasp!) and head up to Baldpate mountain. I wasn't packing much weight, but man, I sure did heat up fast and go slow! Winter boots and snowshoes really slow things down.
Easy part of the climb up Baldpate along an old road bed.
Made it uphill the 2.3 miles to the shelter to find 3 other guys there. Some whitewater guides from N.C. doing some hiking in their off season. Was hoping to have the place to myself, but no worries. I dropped off my sleeping gear and snowshoes (since the snow was mostly firm enough to go without them) and headed up to the summit of West Baldpate. Only another 0.8 miles, but man, steep! Not to mention I sunk up to my crotch in snow several times. Sure was feeling out of shape.
How the hell did I ever make it all the way to Georgia?!
Made it to the top of Baldpate. Not as nice of a view as I was expecting. The other time I was up here, in 2000, it was a during a wild hail/lightning storm, so better than that at least!
Sign pretty much sums it up eh?
Didn't linger up there too long, since it was rather chilly and windy...
Looking sort of west from the summit of Baldpate.
After descending a little bit, there was a pretty good view of Old Speck. You can't really make it out in the picture, but there's an observation tower up there. Awesome view from there, but there was some weather on the way, so it wouldn't have lasted long if I had gone that way.
View of Old Speck from W. Baldpate.
Made it back down to the shelter about 3x faster than it took me to go up. Sort of jumping and skipping most of the way down. Sort of felt like I was skiing at times. Anywho, you might remember that my trailname during my thru-hike was "CornDog". I was given that name by two goofy dudes who had named themselves "Porkchop" and "Jackass". I didn't really like the name, and didn't actually start using it until Connecticut since I hadn't been given another one. Well, this is the shelter where I was given that name. They had been working on a rap song called the Chili-Dog Song, or something like that, just goofing around, and decided I should be "Corndog" to go with it. And the rest was history... Never saw those guys after that, but I'm pretty sure they made it the whole way too (they were also southbounders).
Baldpate leanto.
Got back down to the shelter by about 5:30. The other guys had decided to follow my example and had headed up to the top as well, so I had the place to myself for a bit. Not much to do but change into some dry clothes and hop in the sleeping bag. I hadn't bothered bringing a stove or anything since I knew it was just overnight. So, chomped on some bread and settled in...
Nice and toasty.
A while later, the other guys came back, including their cool dog, which I forgot to mention. Awesome dog, made me want another one even more. I had been laying there in my sleeping bag and I think the dog forgot about me. After she'd been up on the platform with me for a bit, I stirred, and she got all excited again and started licking me in the face. Of course, I was all zipped up in my sleeping bag, so all I could do was squirm and try to roll over. Silly dog. It was funny. Anyway, not sure when I went to sleep, but it was probably before 9:00. Stayed pretty warm, but not used to sleeping on a hard surface anymore.
Woke up a bit after the sun, packed up, and headed back down. It had snowed a few inches overnight. No problem, but I was the first person on the trail since, so I had snow falling down the neck of my jacket all the time. Brr. Hopefully the other guys appreciated it! Fun stuff. Back to the car by around 10:00 or so.
Two Subys (the N.C. dudes and mine) in the parking lot at Grafton Notch. The "eyebrow" of Old Speck looms in the background.
Also posed for a picture of me in action. Then changed into dry stuff and headed off to Boothbay.
Abominable snowman?
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