We called this event Another Winter-ish Backpack with emphasis on the “ish” part because, to be accurate, this Backpacking event was fully in the spring. Winter turned to spring at 5:01AM on the 20th of March. This was a couple hours before our guest was to actually show up at our Basecamp. That said, up there in the mountains, complete with four inches of new snow overnight, it was still very much a winter experience. The team, one guest and guide, was led by Redline Guide Debra McCown. We could go on-and-on about this awesome trip, but we won’t. We’ll let Debra have that honor in the following summary and photos.
Le Printemps et l’Hiver
On Thursday we had sunshine, warm weather, and all the spring trail conditions: unstable monorail, wet ice, soft snow, deep postholes, and obstacle-course trees. On Friday, we woke up to cooler temperatures and 4 inches of fresh snow — enough to bury our snowshoe tracks from the day before and blanket everything in a beautiful layer of fluffy white.
Though technically the first and second day of spring, it was like a season sampler for my French-speaking guest, who in two days, got to experience both le printemps (spring) and l’hiver (winter) on the trail.
For her first-ever backpacking trip, she chose the route: a loop including the summit of Mt Jackson and the Nauman Tentsite, where we spent the night, with the option to add the summit of Mt Pierce (which she ultimately decided against due to the stormy weather).
Going up the Jackson Branch of the Jackson-Webster Trail and down Crawford Path were pretty straightforward, but the in-between trails — the Webster Cliff Trail, a section of Appalachian Trail, to Nauman and the Mitzpah Cutoff to Crawford Path — were less so. Navigation kept us on our toes both in the spring slush (Thursday) and the fresh snow (Friday) as we scrambled and crawled our way through scores of blowdowns.
As we broke trail through fresh snow on Mitzpah Cutoff, we talked about tips for navigating in the snowy woods: paying attention to characteristics of the trail, looking for blazes, noting subtle signs of previous use, and being aware of what’s behind you — in case you make a wrong turn and have to go back to your last known position.
Overall, it was a fun overnight! And a great chance to experience the full spectrum of spring in the White Mountains. —Debra
Photos from Day One — Before the Snow
Photos from Day Two — After the Snow
