Back in the White Mountains

It was really nice to be back in the White Mountains even if it was only for a long weekend backpacking and snowshoeing trip. This trip was the last trip of the winter season in our search for snow. We finally found some, which was great if a little on the wet side, but at least I was able to play with the snowshoes I was testing. A small group of us left out of Lafayette campgrounds and hiked up to the hut at Lonesome Lake. The views were amazing and we had a great time. Once we arrived, we had more fun running and making tracks around the lake, and soaking up some sun with the great views. We were scheduled to stay that night in the hut before moving on to another shelter for the following night. The hut was great and we had fun playing some games and relaxing. The next day we hiked out to Kinsman Pond shelter and soaked up a lot more sun as well as played on the frozen pond, took some macro shots of lichen and mosses. We eventually all made it up to the top of North Kinsman mountain and the views were even more amazing. I had a chance to do some glissade back down to the campsite and had a great time doing it. The last day saw an overcast day with the threat of rain. We actually got the rain just before we hit the hut again. We ducked in for some warmth and to eat a quick snack. The stop over turned into about a 2 hours stop with us helping to eat some of the deer with bacon wraps that were left over from the party that had occurred the night before. Too bad we couldn't have joined in the party as it sounded like it was a blast. The hut was too full for us to spend another night as they had booked well in advance of us and filled the bunks.

WV high point hiking

A friend set up a car camping event that I and a few people I knew decided to go on. The goal was to drive up as close to the peak as possible then hike the rest. Given the wintery conditions the hike could have been anywhere from 14 miles down to 1 mile. Although there is a road that does go right to the summit, we were expecting the roads to be in bad shape due to all the snow. We did have two AWD vehicles just in case the roads were that bad. In the end, although there were some drifts across the road, the road was actually passable all the way to the summit. So our difficult hike turned into a quick stroll to the summit. That was about the only easy part of the whole trip.

We arrived to the campsite late Friday night and had to scrap back snow to set up the tents. Once set up we were still a little hyped up from the drive and snow removal that we stood around for a while talking and freezing out butts off. The temperature was already reading well below 0 F. Deciding it was late enough, we all went to bed around 1:00 am. The following morning was a late morning and due to the cold temperatures, we had 2 people decide to leave the next morning. The remaining 6 decided to stick it out. We drove up to Spruce Know and 'bagged' our high point. The temperature had been quite cold in the morning but climbed steadily all day long to a high of about the freezing point. We then did another hike in the area and I had a chance to finally play with my new snowshoes. Yeah! Not quite enough snow but it was still fun. We got back to camp while it was still light, meaning 4:00 and got a fire going and split some of the wood we had. Saturday night was much warmer then Friday night and most people slept warmly that night. Hot water bottles in each sleeping bag also helped. Sunday dawned clear and bright. We left camp to go on a secret hike which turned into a caving exploration, totally awesome. We will have to go back better prepared. Due to the stream running through the cave, we couldn't hike in too far without getting cold and wet. We found out that day that the low for Friday night had been -24 F. I have never camped out at that temperature before, but at least I now know I can do it in a car camping situation. Question is, could I do it while backpacking. We ended up having a 50 F degree temperature difference over the weekend. No wonder Saturday night felt so warm.

Hiking was a bust

I was actually up and at the meeting point for the hiking this morning but I couldn't find any of the other hikers. I did find the photography meetup and a backpacking meetup (which maybe I should have asked them for more info before running off, looked like an interesting group) but alas, I did not find the dayhike group. I decided to go snowshoeing instead as a last push on the snowshoes, but alas, there was no snow to be had. So in the end, I went to the beer store for supplies for the nest batch and then I went and joined the movie meetup.

I decided that the next batch of beer was going to be a honey cranberry white. The hoeny white turned out nice if a little strong and the tentative tastings of the cranberry white seemed promising. So I decided to combine the two recipes into one 5 gallon recipe. I also found a cranberry concentrate syrup that I will use to flavour the beer along with cranberries. I can't wait to get this batch going to see how it turns out. While this is still not my own recipe, I find that I am now experimenting more and getting further from the recipes I have found online. I am looking into getting the book "Designing Great Beers" so that I can branch off completely on my own and try to come up with something unique that I like.

Cow sock

Cow sock
Originally uploaded by Canadian Loonie.

I finally had a chance to get out and try the snowshoes. I was a little worried as I was driving out to WVA as there was no snow on either the roads or the fields. My hiking partner called ahead and they said the trails were open with fresh powder so off we went. It wasn't until we were heading up into the hills that we finally encountered snow. The going got a little slippery but nothing that a little cautious driving couldn't handle. When we finally found the place, the wind was really up and the snow was coming down. After stepping outside, dressed for DC weather and a warm car, it was cold out. We basically ran to the warming hut to put more layers on and get another pair of snowshoes. I ended up peeling about 10 minutes into the hike after we hit trees. The day was nice and I had a lot of fun snowshoeing. I really can't wait to get out again. I have a report to write up on these and a cool pic to go with it.

We passed this really cute cow shaped wind sock on our hike up to the trail. It was really windy and we had not built up any heat so the picture was taken on the way back. At that point, I was sufficiently warm to stop and take a few pictures. I nearly froze my hands off though, that wind was really biting. I had my film camera with me and snapped a few of the cow, thought I would try the blue filter I got off Freecycle. I am interested to see what it dows to the picture. As I didn't notice the mountains behind me, I had to pull the camera out a second time and snap a few more pics, freeze my already cold hands some more. The drive back was interesting as once we were coming down from the mountains we left the snow behind and the sun even came back out. The weather was great in DC.