[Bill Menke’s
journal entry for January 20-21, 2006]. Six of us undertake an overnight hike
to Zealand Falls Hut in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Dallas and I are joined by Dallas' cousins,
Paul and Gigi and their two friends, Al and Sue. All of us are experienced hikers. Al is the oldest, at 78, and I am the
youngest, at 51,
We
arrive at the trailhead at about 11 AM on the morning of the 20th. The weather is predicted to be warm, somewhat
above freezing, and with a chance of rain or sleet. The day is indeed grey, though bright enough
to offer some hope of large vistas. The
snow conditions are poor; thin and icy, after rain earlier in the week. We
forsake skis, debating whether even to take snowshoes. In the end, we decide to take only two pair,
and to rely mainly on crampons. We also
take two homemade tote sled, because we are carrying
some fairly heavy supplies, including two large containers of spaghetti sauce.
We have used these sleds successfully in previous yeas.
Nevertheless, we recognize that they might present problems in the steeper
terrain because of the thin snow cover.
Dallas and I start out with four-point instep crampons. I wear only a long-sleeve undershirt for a
top.
We meet
two women hikers as we crossed the bridge over the Ammonoosuc
River. They take our photograph. The
park access road has been plowed and partially sanded recently, so we have to
travel along its edge. Apparently,
trucks need to access the Bethlehem water works facility every time the weather
thaws.
We have
some nice views of Zealand Creek as we hike along the road. One section has an impressive meander that
threatens to erode away the road. I note that a second creek access point
sports a stone levy and a park bench for viewing. Today is the first time that I notice these
features, for although this is my fifth hike to the hut, I have done it only
during previous winters when the snow was much deeper. The rain has broken up the ice on one of the
creek's tributaries. It overflowed the
road, leaving impressive, thick plates of ice on its surface. Some of the rock
outcrops along the side of the road sport pretty icicles. Many of the trees along the side of the road,
and especially the birches, are doubled over and broken from some recent ice
storm.
Visibility
is excellent. We can see neighboring peaks, such as Sugarloaf, very well. We chat with a man carrying skis. He says he is one of the Zealand Falls Hut
caretakers. He has fallen several times
on the ice while skiing, and has given it up and is hiking out. He says that his shift is over, and that we
will meet another caretaker, Jess, when we arrive at the hut.
Gigi and I are the first to reach the upper parking lot,
which is about halfway to the Hut. (The Hut is six miles from the car). Our route follows trails from there on. I set up my MSR stove and boiled water for
rice and beans and for hot chocolate.
The stove gives me trouble at first, It needs to be thoroughly
cleaned. But it suffices to boil the
water. The rice and beans take rather
too long to soften up. I wind up eating them as we began the second leg of our
hike.
I switch
to snowshoes and rig tethers to the rear of the sleds to assist lifting them
over rocks and streams. We then take
them up the trail. It is pretty rough
going, as we need to constantly lift them past obstacles. Dallas gives up on her sled, opting instead
to carry her pack. I take her excess
baggage on my sled, and Al decides to try her sled, loaded just with his
pack. I break one of the tow bars of my
sled, which are made of PVC pipe, while carrying it across a particularly wide
and rocky stream bed. Fortunately, a
quick repair made with black electrical tape works fine.
The
highland marshes, covered only with thin ice, are very interesting. I am surprised by the number of beaver dams,
arranged one after another every hundred yards or so. I have completely missed their existence in
previous years, because of the deeper snow then. One beech tree on the trail is newly
beaver-chewed, I guess, for I surely would have spotted it before? To our surprise, we spot a largish beaver
slowly swimming in an span of open water in one of the
marsh pools. It gives us absolutely no
notice, even though we are only fifty feet, or so, away. We wonder whether its behavior is normal, or
whether it is suffering from some disease or abnormality.
Whitewall
Mountain, to the left, and the ZeaCliff, on the
right, come into view, indicating that we are approaching our destination. But we have two more difficult stream
crossings before reaching the ski rack at the bottom of the hill on which is
built Zealand Falls Hut. We empty both
sleds, and leave the unbroken one at the rack.
I carry the broken sled to the Hut, for repair.
I view
the falls from a vantage point down a short side trail. This is the first time I have viewed it from
below. Once again, the deeper snow in
previous years had put me off. It is
largely ice covered, but has a slot though which a torrent of water pours.
I arrive
at the Hut 4:48 after leaving the car. The going was very slow this year. Last year
Hannah and I did it in just 3:05! But I
have seen quite a bit more than ever before, and have had time to take
photographs, as well.
We take
photos of the Hut's absolutely spectacular view of the distant mountains. We all agree that here is the best view in
the White Mountains. I don my TheNorthFace Himalayan
suit. Its two-inch down is a bit of
overkill, as the temperature is not all that cold. Still, now that we are
inactive, the damp air feels quite chilly.
I also repair the sled, using the awl tool from Sue's Swiss army knife
to bore holes through the PVC, then connecting the ends with nylon cord. The result looks pretty trustworthy.
We meet
Jess, the caretaker. She says we have
the Hut all to ourselves, tonight. No
one else has signed in. A pity, because we often meet very
interesting people. We all sit around talking, drinking hot,
rum-flavored cider and eating snacks, while the spaghetti sauce warms up on the
Hut's stove. When it’s done, we eat dinner. I’ve brought the big stainless steel mixing
spoon that I found yesterday in Tallman Park. We use it, and donate it to the
Hut. Jess joins us for dinner. She is a graduate of Oberlin College, and had
studied Visual Arts, as well as some earth science. She was advised by one of Dallas and my
colleagues, Bruce Simonson. A small
world! I spend some time outside on the
porch, looking at the night sky. Orion
is visible through a hole in the clouds, high in the sky. We talk until about
9:30 PM, and then get ready for bed.
I have
taken my zero-Fahrenheit Maxwell Daemon sleeping bag, leaving my minus-twenty
bag at home. Its keeps me plenty warm,
given the warm - well, about freezing - temperatures in the bunk room. I wake
about 7:30 AM, and eat hot chocolate and slices of Gigi's
Christmas Stolen for breakfast. Gigi and I discuss whether to attempt to hike to the summit
of Zealand Mountain. Jess gives us the
weather report that she has received via radio.
Rain and high wind is predicted, and poor visibility, too, so we decide
not to try. Gigi
is disappointed, for she had hoped to bag another "winter
4000 footer".
I
accompany Gigi and Sue as they retrieve water from
the hand pumped water well, which is located a few hundred feet up the trail
above the Hut. Jess accompanies us, so
she can inspect a crack in the well casing.
She describes the various exercises that can be done while operating the
hand pump. I carry one container - the
largest - back to the Hut. The trail is
icy and trecherous.
Next time I will wear crampons.
The
weather is looking good enough that we decide to risk a hike up to the ZeaCliff, which is about a mile up the hill. Jess decides to accompany us, at least on the
outward leg. My biggest worry is being able to cross Zealand Creek, because the
ice on it is broken up, at least near the Hut, and it looks pretty
dangerous. But it is narrower at the
trail crossing, and though the rocks are a bit slippery, we help each other
across without incident. I am wearing my
full 10-point crampons.
We come
across a set of largish animal tracks, an animal with paws that are one and a
half inches across. It has traveled over
the snow in leaps, as groups of four closely-spaced footprints are separated by
five or six feet. We wonder what kind of animal made them. We also spot a tree
that a moose has used for polishing its antlers. The bark has been stripped
off, with vertical scratches left behind. We see no moose, though. As we are
hiking, the sky clears, which is pretty remarkable, given the forecast!
It takes
us about an hour to ascend the hill.
When we reach the ZeaCliff, the sky is blue
and the sun shines brightly. The
dramatic white profile of Mount Washington is visible, as are the nearer peaks
such as Whitewall Mountain. Jess head on
off, taking a different trail back than us. We loiter on the cliff, taking
photographs. I am wearing only a long
undershirt for a top, and begin to chill.
So I take the lead heading back.
But before leaving the area of the cliff, I find a rock that looks out
in the opposite direction, across beautiful, but dwarfed, evergreens, towards a
mountain with a prominent avalanche scar on its wooded side. Gigi and I the race
down the hill, with the others well behind.
We wait at the creek crossing for them, eating hard-boiled eggs for a
snack, and help them across when they arrive.
The
Saturday crowd has begun to arrive at the Hut.
It is a full house, tonight. We
pack, and head on out. I carry the two
sleds, intending to deploy them only when we reach the upper parking lot. A
light rain is beginning to fall. I take
out my rain jacket, but clip it onto my pack, preferring to wear just the
undershirt for now. This proves a
mistake, because it falls off along the way.
Al and Sue, who are behind me, see it on the ground, but not realizing
it is mine, leave it behind. I spot some
moose tracks along the path. They were
not there yesterday, proving that moose are nearby.
I
transfer my gear to the repaired sled when I arrive at the upper parking
lot. The rest of the party
arrive, first Al and Sue, and then Paul, Gigi
and Dallas. Paul is carrying my lost
rain coat. Gigi
had spotted my name on its collar as she passed it by. This is lucky fortune, for the rain is
growing heavier and the wind is picking up.
We meet two skiers at the upper parking lot. They are on their way back from the
falls. They say that, while the snow is
not the greatest, they have nevertheless found some spots where they have had
good runs. We continue our trek, with Gigi and me in the lead.
We
experience a short, but intense gale, complete with wet hail and thunder. We have to bow down low to prevent the
wind-driven ice from blinding us. I find
the chilly wind on my neck rather unpleasant.
But it is over in a few minutes.
A tree has fallen over, right near the end of the road. Gigi tries to guide
my sled over it, but I lose my balance and fall. Nothing bruised, fortunately, but my dignity.
We reach
the parking lot at about 4 PM, so the total trip time was about 28 hours. During this time we hiked 14 miles, 12
between the car and the Hut and back, and 2 from the Hut to the ZeaCliff and back. 28:00.