This one took place in late October, hardly the dead of winter. The group made up of 5 people, all of us members of the Northeastern University Outing Club. For some it was the first attempt at a winter overnight in the Whites. Technicaly it wasn't winter but above tree line in the White Mountains, calendar dates have little relation to weather conditions.
We left Boston Friday afternoon, made a quick stop in Concord to buy food and another near Twin Mountain for dinner, and started from Appalachian trail head already into the night. The snow was pretty deep already even though it was only October but the trail was frozen hard. It was dark on this particular night but not too cold. Just enough for one layer, top and bottom.
We set up camp in deep powdered snow on an unmarked tenting area about two and a half hours out. Both tent platforms were already taken so it required some flatening and shoveling but with 5 people working it took us little time.
Personaly I didn't have a good night of sleep. I usually never do in my first night out. It snowed some overnight and in the morning it was still snowing. We had a quick breakfast and melted plenty of snow but everyone was kinda slow getting ready. We didn't hit the trail again until about 9AM. To make things worse, the other group that had arrived earlier last night stayed at camp even after we left so we had to break trail through waist deep powder. It was hard... very hard, and steep.
About 2 more hours and we reached Madison Hut, closed for the winter, tucket on the col between Mt.Madisson and Mt.Adams. We're above tree line here and the cold wind is still raging pretty hard. At least it had stopped snowing. We start up and around Mt.Adams but the snow cover is too thin and soft to support anybody. We fall through the gaps in-between rocks and shrubs, and stumble over deep snow banks. The moving is really slow and it demands enormous amounts of energy. And I'm not even in good physical conditioning. After training for Rainier last July I kinda slacked down a bit on my exercising routine :-)
Two more hours to move up one miserable mile. We reach Thunderstorm Gap, the moment of truth before pushing forward accross the long and narrow exposed ridge over the Great Gulf that links Mt. Sam Adams to Mt.Washington. We take a break to ponder upon our choices, and get some food. We're now in the middle of a massive storm, with high gusts of wind and horizontal snow. The visibility is very poor. Some of us make the dash up Mt.Adams just for the heck of it. I'm really tired, mostly I think from lack of sleep last night. My leg falls through a gap between two rocks and I almost break it. My knee is hurt but I walk it off. On the way down I can see accross the gap to Mt.Sam Adams. I look to the left and I can follow the ridge line all the way to the top of Mt.Washington. The clouds are clearing up. It looks like we're getting a break after all.
No such luck. Thick clouds roll in again as quick as they cleared. The wind is still strong. We decide to abort the traverse and set up camp right there on the exposed col. If we're not gonna make the traverse, at least we can experience what is like to spend the night above tree line in such brutal weather.
With night fall comes calm. The wind dies and the the sky clears. We can see the lights way down, more than 2,000 feet below. We bomb proof our tents and get set for the night, knowing that by morning the blizzard would return but hoping for better luck.
It doesn't happen but at least this time I get a good night sleep. In the morning I can only hear the roar of the wind outside. Oblivious to what really is going on and knowing that we'd not be making the traverse I let myself stay in my sleeping bag. I'm the last one out and when I zip open the tent door the wind's fury is unbelievable, blowing snow inside the tent through every little possible crack. Staying up facing up wind is virtually impossible. The snow feels like thorns hitting the bare skin which needs to be covered immediately to prevent frostbite. Taking down one tent requires cooperation from everyone to avoid it getting blown down the mountain.
After much work we're ready to retreat. We traverse the North face of Mt.Sam Adams and head down the ridge to the shelter of the trees. Once below tree line the weather is completely different. It's beautifull down there. Waist deep, fresh, white snow covers the trail and the top of trees. It's a landscape worthy of the month of February but it's only October. We hike down the rest of the day and are back at the parking lot by mid afternoon. A quick stop at BK and I'm back in Boston by 8 o'clock. Despite the failed attempt at a prezy traverse, it was still a great weekend.