| Like reading the White Mountain Report every week? Why not get it delivered to your e-mailbox every Thursday? All you have
to do is subscribe. It's fast, painless, and best of all it doesn't cost you
a dime! |
| CLICK HERE... |
May 23, 2019
Hi Folks,
Like the rest of the country, we're in this weather roller coaster. But at this point at least we're not having tornadoes, floods or forest fires. So far! All we've have to contend with so far is rain. And as annoying as that can be, I can deal with that. I just have to be prepared and able to get out on the good days. [wry grin] This week the really good day was yesterday, Wednesday and of course I reached out to the boss, Brad White. And fortunately he was able to take the afternoon off.
I was thinking Humphrey's, but he had Lost Horizon on his list. And him being the boss, there ya go. We met up at his house off West Side Road at noon and headed out. I noticed the new No Drones sign on the kiosk at the parking area. It's apparently only for around that area, so Sundown and Lost Horizon will be fine. On the trail above the talus field I noticed a cool tiny little snake in amongst some wet leaves. When I put the camera nearby to get a picture, he actually shook his little tail at me! Go figure...
I've climbed out there a lot over the years and Brad was responsible for cleaning and developing the routes out there, so we know the area pretty well. he led up the nice little 5.4 on the far left side. It's a great little climb that's prefect for beginning leaders. Then I top-roped that and the crux section of the 5.10 at the overlap just right of it. It's hard, with pretty poor gear. We TR'ed the 7's and the 8 to the right of that and then pulled the rope and moved down to the 5.5 chimney, Ed Webster's climb. I led that and felt as always that it's not hard, but is very awkward. If you haven't been out there, I highly recommend it.
Here are some pix from Lost Horizon.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20190523/LostHorizon_1.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20190523/LostHorizon_2.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20190523/LostHorizon_3.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20190523/LostHorizon_4.jpg
The crux bolt on When Dad's Run Free!
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20190523/LostHorizon_5.jpg
PS - Here's a pic I took today of Elephant Head. Hard to believe how different it looks now!
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20190523/ElephantHead.jpg
There have been several recent rescues over the past 7-10 daze. All revolving around folks getting up on the mountains and getting into trouble with deep and unconsolidated snow. As I understand it, the most recent one involved a party on Franconia Ridge that required a helicopter rescue! Even snowshoes won't keep you on top of the crappy rotten snow that's out there folks. Be aware...
After I rode the Mt Willard and Tucks Trails this winter I decided I wanted to try to get in all the local notches I could early this season. After Hurricane Mt Road a few days ago I thought I was done. Then I remembered Jefferson. [sigh] I decided that today is the day since it was supposed to be nice this morning. However I was a bit concerned that since it's at 3000' it might still have some snow. Fortunately that was not the case. It's still gated and there's some debris, but they have cut and cleared the larger trees so it's good to go on the Bretton Woods side. I was distressed to see the trash and crap on the side of the road and at the trailhead tho. People can be SUCH asses! As I was starting back down I had an amazingly large and healthy looking fox run right in front of me. I wish I'd had the camera out for that!
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20190523/Bike_1.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20190523/Bike_2.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20190523/Bike_3.jpg
BTW Bear Notch and Hurricane Mt Roads are still closed. From what I understand they are tearing up the Chatham side of Hurricane, so that one may be a while!
Up on one of the Mount Washington Valley's finest crags and want to know what that climb you're looking at is? Or maybe you're on your way up from Boston and want to check out the Ice Report for your upcoming weekend plans. Or more likely, you're at work just want to daydream about your next adventure. Well if you have a smart phone handy, you can get to NEClimbs from anywhere you have cell service. While it doesn't offer every single feature of the site and it's not an "app", in mobile form, it does do a whole lot and is very useful. Here is the live link to the mobile version of NEClimbs:
http://www.neclimbs.com/mobile
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
Join us and LIKE us on Facebook. I'll try and post interesting pix every Thursday and the latest Ice Report in the season, tho certainly not the whole Report. Here's where you can check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/NEClimbs/
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
| The solitary ascent of the Dru had the immediate effect of expanding the horizons of my ideas about mountaineering. It made me aware of possibilities well in advance of the times, which were characterized by very restricted mothods. This was how the suberb pyramid of K2 surfaced once more in the list of my projects. But I chose K2 as a way for giving concrete form to my new concept of mountaineering: to climb the second highest montain in the world solo, alpine style, and without oxygen. |
| Walter Bonatti |
|
