Outdoor Diversion: A Cold Sunday Morning on Mount Tecumseh

Today would be a long drive for a short hike up Mount Tecumseh (4,003'). This is one of my longest drives to a 4,000 footer. Last Sunday was the shortest drive but a longer hike to Mount Cabot. The weather forecast called for clear skies and cold temps. I wanted to get an early start to beat the Waterville Valley ski crowd to the parking area close to the trailhead. My hiking route would take me up the Mount Tecumseh trail to the summit and back down the same way for a 5-mile round trip hike.

Just after 4:30 AM I left the house and was on my way. I hadn't gotten far when I saw two large moose beside the road, one was a big bull. I slowed down and they retreated to the woods. There were no more moose after that and it was a pleasant early morning ride through Franconia Notch. I arrived at Waterville Valley just before sunrise.

There was plenty of parking available near the trailhead. Other hikers were there before me and others were coming in as I was getting ready. Before putting on my pack I checked out the trail. It was well packed and I expected it to be that way up to the summit. I figured between no new snow and lots of hikers having been here in the last couple of days the trail should be easily hiked with microspikes. The snowshoes got left behind in the car.

Just as I got started the sun came up over the mountains. It was cold right from the beginning. I was using both toe warmers and hand warmers and was glad I did. Removing my mittens to take photos with just the inserts was bone-chilling. The fingers stayed cold for awhile even after putting the mittens with hand warmers back on.

The water crossings were no problem. The trail continued to be well packed. There were some hikers with snowshoes on but most either had microspikes or were just bare-booting. It was hikers preference for footwear. Snowshoes, microspikes or barebooting would've worked and there was no postholing in the packed snow. There was barely enough snow to even create a postholing problem.

I reached the summit and there was a couple with a dog that were just leaving so I had the place to myself. It was very cold. I hesitate to say frigid as I usually reserve that term for sub-zero temps before the windchill is considered. Although the windchill was definitely below zero my thermometer was indicating 3.9°F. I started having some vision problems and was wondering what was happening. I figured it out, my icy eye lashes were starting to freeze my lids together. My bare hands to the lids thawed them out but my fingers were now froze to the bone. I changed my outer layer to a down jacket and put on a warm, dry hat. That immediately felt better.

While walking around the summit to try and keep my feet warm I noticed tracks going down the Mount Tecumseh Trail toward the closed Tripoli Road. I normally don't see tracks going in that direction in winter conditions. I spent a few minutes taking some photos. The views were spectacular against the deep blue sky. It was not a day for basking in the sun and I soon began my descent.

It was a nice hike down. I tried to do some buttsliding but the conditions were not quite right for that yet. A buttsled would've been better but the trail still needs a little more snow. I did not meet any more hikers until more than halfway down and then there were quite a few coming up. The temperature was still cold when I returned to the trailhead. But the car would soon be warm!

I usually do this hike in a leisurely four hours. Today I hiked this in 3:16, the cold temps increasing my pace a bit no doubt. This was my last Fall hike before winter officially arrives on Friday. My previous hikes for the past month have sure felt like winter hiking. But I'm sure we can all expect the upcoming weeks to be even more wintry with increased snow depths and colder temps.

Enjoy the pics and video!