A couple of weekends ago, Mark and I went up to northern New Hampshire to do some winter hiking. We are both new to it. We used to shut down as soon as the first snowfall rolled in. Mountains were, effectively, closed when winter began. So it's been liberating to realize we could still hike in it.
We planned the day around hiking Mount Willard in Crawford Notch. When we arrived, the parking lot was packed but nothing felt crowded like it is in the summer. Everything is so much more quiet and mellow with the snow keeping the "convenience-above-all-else" tourists away.
We made it to the top of Mount Willard more quickly than we planned. It had taken us over three hours to drive here and only an hour and a half to make it to the top. On the trail we passed a family who were toting sleds with the intention of sledding down the entire trail. Apparently they do this every year.
It was a gorgeous day in a winter way - blustery, semi-cold and windy, with scattered snow storms. The sort of weather that grabs you by the shirt and shouts "Pay attention to me!" Throughout the day snowstorms would plow through the area and then break up for brief periods of sunshine. The snow was light fluffy powder like they have out in California so I didn't mind.
Here I am doing my best to emulate the people in snowshoeing commercials. They make snowshoeing look so easy and fun! Almost as if the shoes have springs in them that make your feet bounce over the snow, like on a trampoline. Don't believe the hype. After this shot was taken, I had to stop and put my hands on my knees to catch my breath.
After eating a quick lunch, we decided to hike back down to the fork and take the trail up Mount Avalon. We didn't drive six hours round-trip to hike three miles. With the ascent of Mount Avalon and Mount Willard, we would be more than doubling the length of our hike to seven miles.
Being friends with a photographer makes you realize the lengths to which photographers will go to get a good shot. Mark ventured off trail in snow up to his waist....
to get this shot.
Sometimes I think photographers should hire photographers to take pictures of them taking pictures. I knew Mark sometimes trapped wild animals to photograph them. Okay, fine, a little weird but whatever. But what I didn't realize was that he would stick his head and body into the cage so the bars wouldn't show in the photo. Doing that this past fall produced this photo:
I think you get a whole new appreciation for photography when you think of where the photographer had to stand or what they had to go through to get the shot. This picture is, literally, staring into the face of a cornered animal and hoping to God that it doesn't go berserk.
The trail up Avalon got very steep in some sections. The trail itself was packed down enough that we could have gone without our snowshoes but the crampons built into them were necessary. It made for slow going when we were ascending and it was like riding a sled on the way down. I don't think I've ever had so much fun as when we were running and sliding down this section.
The summit had some great views. From our vantage point, we could see where the storms were rolling in on the surrounding mountains. The sunlight mixed with the cloud cover to make some dramatic colors.
I think I like hiking in the winter more than any other season.
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