Avalon, Field, and Tom (2/20/23)

February break means hiking opportunities! The question was what to hike? The evening before my hike, I was scrolling though options, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I thought about Washington or Franconia Ridge, my perennial favorites, but the weather conditions didn't look quite right for them. I considered North Kearsarge, but I wasn't sure that it was worth driving to New Hampshire for. I decided on Crawford Notch, as I hadn't hiked the Willey Range in five years.

I got up at 5:30 AM and was on the road about an hour later. I stopped at Big Dave's Bagels in North Conway, and they were busier than I had ever seen them. I wasn't sure if I was running late, or if that was the result of stopping in on a weekday. I did get my bagel and continued on my way. I got to Crawford Notch and parked on the road near the train station. I decided against carrying snowshoes, and I got on trail about 8:40.

On the road (trail) again...

The trail itself was fantastic this day, perfect for spikes. It was frozen solid, but not icy. It made for the easiest winter hiking, and maybe the easiest hiking period, that you could do.

Early on in the hike, I passed the turn-off for Mt Willard. The basic route I had planned was to go up Avalon, continue on to Field, then turn right towards Tom, take the Tom spur to tag that peak, and head back down to Crawford Notch. Willard was one of two optional extensions that I had given myself for today's hike. The other one was Mt Willey. Willard would add three miles to the hike, and Willey four.

I decided to take the turn-off for the cascades. There were two of them, and it was a short side trail that then connected back into the main trail. Unfortunately, the cascades were frozen, so there wasn't much to see. A guy with a dog passed me while I was looking at the frozen cascades, and he will re-enter the story later.

Someone made some snow art with their poles!

The hike up Avalon was much tougher than I remembered. I think I was also struggling because I am still getting over the congestion from a recent cold, and of course pack weight remains an issue with winter hiking. I simply don't get out enough anymore to maintain good conditioning. I know I need to do better, but it's hard to make the time given other obligations.

Of course, there's also the fact that Avalon is just steep, especially as you approach the summit. It's worth it, as it has a beautiful view in both directions, but it is a tough climb. Technically, Avalon isn't right on the trail, there's a 100 yard spur trail that leads to the summit. I only mention this because I managed to get lost at the summit for a couple minutes; I had a hard time finding the trail back down. Obviously I eventually found it, but that would be a recurring problem all day. A lot of people had made their own herd paths, and that made it hard to follow the footprints on the actual trails.

Even Mt Washington isn't totally white this winter.

From Avalon, I could look back down into Crawford Notch. I checked to make sure my car was still there. Reassured that it was, I continued over to Field, which would be another thousand foot climb in a mile. Part of the reason that I was struggling is that I was having a hard time finding interesting podcasts to listen to, and music wasn't doing it for me on this day. Zoning out helps a lot on tough climbs, and nothing was helping me zone out.

Still, I eventually made it to the top of Mt Field, and I took the hundred yard spur to the summit. From there, I was able to get a nice view of the Mt Washington hotel and resort. I can only imagine how expensive it must be to stay there. It certainly looks large and fancy.

I learned recently that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were both created at a conference held at Bretton Woods in the 1940s. I don't know this for certain, but I would be shocked if that conference was held anywhere other than Mt Washington Resort. It looks like the type of place where you would hold an international conference.

The hike from Field over to Tom wasn't bad, as it was mostly downhill. Once I got to the Tom spur, it headed back uphill, and this was a much longer spur than the others, about half a mile. As I hiked up, I was passed by the aforementioned man and dog. I pulled over to let them by, as they were going much faster than me.

When I finished climbing, I was having a hard time navigating my way to the actual summit. Again, herd paths were the culprit here. It was hard to figure out where the actual trail went, and I took a few wrong turns. Nonetheless, I eventually found the summit, and visited with the man and dog, who had beaten me there.

We got another visitor as well, a gray jay. Gray jays are birds that you find near the summits of certain mountains in the Whites pretty much all year long. I think they're most associated with Mt Jackson, but I have seen them on other peaks such as Galehead. Gray jays are almost always beggars, as way too many people feed them, and they have learned that humans are food sources. I practice Leave No Trace, so I did not feed the gray jay. That said, it did manage to find some crumbs of my Nutri-Grain bar on the ground, but that's sort of unpreventable.

The jay was quick, but I managed to snap a picture.

As it always is, especially in winter, the hike back down was easier than the hike up. Still, it did have a couple problems. For one thing, even though I was wearing liner socks to prevent blistering, the bottom of my feet were so hot that they almost felt like someone was holding a flame to them. With hot spots like that, I knew I was going to end up with some blisters, and sure enough I did. Unfortunately, with the temperature as high as it was, it was hard to prevent. In fact, the temperature got into the mid 40s, which is insane for February in the White Mountains.

My other issue was that at one point I noticed that my right gaiter was missing. Considering that it was pretty well secured, I couldn't figure out how it could have just disappeared. I looked at the situation more closely, and realized that somehow my pants leg had managed to go from being under the gaiter to being over the gaiter. I have no idea how that happened, as it shouldn't have been physically possible without removing the gaiter. I stopped for a moment and fixed my gear, and then continued on my way.

By the time I finished the hike, I knew there was no way I was going to add any extensions. I was dehydrated, yet I had been drinking a good deal of water. I was also feeling calorie deprived, but I had been eating plenty of food. I realized that hiking while not at 100% might not have been a great idea, but at least I was able to get out and get some exercise.

Always remember that just like a gray jay, you can't take flight until you spread your wings!