Outdoor Diversion: Hiking When Hale Freezes Over

There's been a long spell of frigid weather and today would be no exception. Saturday was even colder with a howling wind. It was a good bet that there would be very few trails that had been broken out from the recent snowstorm. I would be hiking to Mount Hale today with fellow hikers Jill, Mark, Jim, Amy D, Amy L and Robin. Our route to the summit would be via the gated Zealand Road to Hale Brook Trail. The road walk makes a 4.4 mile hike into a 9.8 mile hike.

The outside temperature when I woke up was hovering around -20°F. As I packed up the car I was thankful there was no wind like yesterday but it was still bitter cold on any exposed skin mainly the face. Today would be a good test of my winter gear as well as my stamina in frigid temps. The drive to the Zealand parking area was icy roads the entire way. It was a slow, careful drive.

We all arrived at the parking area just before 8:00 AM. The lowest outside car temp was registering -24°F. This was the coldest that any of us had ever hiked in before today. My clothing consisted of two layers under my Endo pants, toe warmers with two pairs of socks, mittens with hand warmers, two base layers under a fleece with a down jacket over those, warm hat, balaclava and goggles. I thought I might be overdressed but I wasn't. Some of us brought buttsleds for a possible sled ride back down the trail.

Ready to go we walked down Route 302 to Zealand Road. The entrance to this road is a groomed snowmobile trail that turns into the woods on the other side of the bridge. We all put snowshoes on before continuing up the road. This would be the first test of our gear in frigid temps as we struggled to put our snowshoes on. The rubber straps were very stiff and made it difficult to get them tightened. I actually thought my straps would break but they didn't and we were soon on our way.

The road was slightly broke out with one of the hikers ahead of us bare booting. The postholing created by not wearing snowshoes made it tough going. This would continue for most of the hike almost to the summit. With all of the new snow it was a beautiful hike to the trailhead in full sunshine that didn't do much to warm the temperature but it "felt" good.

We reached the Hale Brook Trail and took a brief break. I changed into a light jacket anticipating some sweating on the way up the trail to the summit. Shortly after starting up the trail Jill's toes and feet were becoming cold and numb. She made the smart decision to turn aound and return to the parking lot. We were not even halfway through the hike and further exposure to the frigid temps could have easily lead to a case of frostbite. Amy D went back with her.

As we got higher up the trail the snow got deeper. At one point I got off the trail and fell into the deep snow. I used up a lot of energy getting myself out. The bare booter was just ahead of us and punching some serious holes in the trail making it very difficult in the soft snow. It was at this point that I was thinking of turning back as I was having a tough time maintaining a good pace in order to keep my toes and feet warm.

The bare booter was just up ahead and once past him the trail smoothed out nicely. He did apologize when I went by. I caught up to Mark who maintains a nice, steady pace and followed him to the summit. Jim was up ahead of him who was just behind skiers that were skinning up. Amy L and Robin were right behind me. It was actually the skiers that broke out the trail to the summit. The skiers were by the summit cairn when we arrived. They were ready to make their quick descent and soon departed.

There was bright sunshine and no wind on the summit but it was still very cold. I changed back into my down jacket and thought some of adding fresh toe warmers but did not want to take my boots off. I figured a quick pace on the way down would warm my toes back up again. I had brought some hot oatmeal in a new thermos just to try it out. The oatmeal was still warm but somewhat dry and it went down kind of hard. I'll use extra water next time when making it and see if that works better. A few pics and a video and we were on our way back down.

As I was hoping the quick pace down warmed up my toes nicely. There was a lot of snowshoe sliding in the deep soft-packed snow. At one point Mark hit a posthole and went down into deep snow. He struggled to get out and Jim lent a hand. That would be the last big fall for any of us as the snow was less deep and better packed as we dropped down lower.

Back at the trailhead we still had 2.7 miles of road walk to do. The combination of wearing snowshoes, soft snow and a heavier than normal pack made for a very long and tiring walk out for me. I was sure glad to see the bridge that goes over the Ammonoosuc River at the end of Zealand Road. The snowshoes came off and it was a short walk to the parking lot.

The cold temps and soft snow was definitely a test of me and my gear. There was the stiff rubber straps on snowshoes, water freezing in my insulated carrier, hand and toe warmers not working well, camera lens protector not opening all the way and moisture on the lens. Even the Gatorade I kept in a hard-case, insulated cooler in the car in the sun had turned to slush...now that's cold! For the most part my gear worked well but I do not wish to test them in extreme frigid temperatures on a routine basis. I was also satisfied that my stamina held up better than expected.

Between cold temps and soft snow conditions it's been a tough winter for hiking so far. I'm looking forward to hiking in normal seasonal temperatures but expecting a return to frigid temps before the winter is over.

Enjoy the pics and video!