Trip Report - Crag Camp, Mount Adams, Mount Madison - May 6-7, 2000 =================================================================== Summary ------- Where: Rte 2 (1300') to Crag Camp to Adams summit (5800') Who: Dave M, Jim A, Bob M, Mary B, Laurie and Brenda B, Tim and Ben D Temp: Low 30s - Mid 50s Weather: Sat - Cloudy; Summits in and out of clouds; Rain in early evening; Visibility less than 50' Sun - Cloudy; Winds around 60 mph; Visibility less than 50' to clear Trail Conditions: Bare trail to 2300'; Mixed snow, ice and bare trail from 2300' to 4300'; Snow and ice from 4300' to treeline; Mostly rock above treeline, some snow and ice; Lots of run off on trails, even above treeline Trip Report ----------- We made it to the trail head in great time, arriving at 8:00 am. There was a little bit of last minute confusion as one car ended up at the Appalacia trail head and the other at Lowe's. A round or two on the cell phone cleared things up. Jim, Bob and Mary would go up Lowes and the rest (including me) would go up Amphibrach/Spur. The plan was to meet at Crag Camp. Lower Amphibrach is a very pleasant hike with a consistent grade most of the way and staying in sight of Cold Brook for much of the climb. We encountered our first snow just after the trail crosses a branch of Cold Brook at around 2300'. Only a patch here and there. Link to Map here: The hike up to Pentadoi was uneventful with one notable exception. I was hiking with my head down, lost in the rythm of moving with a pack, when a part of brain finally cut through the haze and alerted me that I was about to step on something it didn't recognize. What the heck... A moose. A dead moose. A young dead bull moose. Before it registered in my mind, I got so close that the corpe filled my field of view. I had to literally take a step back in order to see him. He was smallish, as moose go. His eyes had already become somebody's supper but other than that, he was in decent shape (other than being dead, of course). No bloating yet and his hide was intact. He was laying directly across the trail, head to my left and feet pointing straight down the hill. It was as if he was walking across the trail and simply fell over. I scooted up the trail to a point where I could watch the other's reactions. Ben stopped dead in his tracks (ahem) and we got a good laugh together. Ben's dad, Tim, noted the ticks that were aaaalllll over the carcass. Did I mention that ticks give me the heebies? The body was absolutely *covered* with wood ticks. Nearly every inch. [shudder] The ice and snow became more consistent on Spur above Pentadoi, but still nothing that really require crampons. We made Crag at 11:30. There was a good view into King Ravine but Madison and Adams were in and out of the clouds. Link to Crag Camp here: Crag was empty and we claimed bunk space and ate. There was no sign of the others yet so Laurie and somebody else made a water run to kill the time. Jim rolled in shortly after noon. He's fast so he cruised on ahead of Mary and Bob down near Log Cabin. Tim, Ben, Brenda and Laurie struck out for the summit at 1:00 and Jim and I took off at 1:30. Crampons were a huge help above Crag. The tight Balsam along that stretch really protect the snow. We were finally able shed the ankle weights a bit above treeline. It was good to walk along a familiar trail with an old friend. We talked about fatherhood, church life, past trips and the beauty of the place. We caught up with the others up near the merge with Lowes and we all summited together in diminishing visibility and moderate winds. Jim and I lingered on the summit after the others started down. We ended up chatting with a guy who was attempting a solo traverse. His car was down at Pinkham and he was asking questions about Perch. Jim noted that the last weather report he had heard mentioned thunderstorms on Sunday. So, staying on the north side of the ridge sort of put the guy in a quandary. If the weather hit the scids the next morning, he would have no easy way to get back to his car. We told him about Grey Knob and left him in the clouds. A steady cold rain was just starting when Jim and I rolled into Crag. Bob and Mary had made it to Crag around 3:30 after taking the scenic Perch path alternative route. They were not the first to "chose" this route. I recall running across the exposed rocks of Perch path in the gathering dusk one Febuary long ago... Bob had another interesting artifact to show us; the remains of his plastic boots. His leathers were at the cobblers so he opted for light boots in the woods and plastics for up high. He took off his crampons somewhere on Perch Path and felt a draft. The shell let loose along the outside "welt" from the toe all the way to the heel. Yowzaa. At least he had his light sneaker boots! Dinner was a feast. Bob brought some halbeneros to liven up the gruel. We debated the virtues of canned peas. And Brenda, bless her soul, brought brownies for all. Bob and I made a water run in an absolute down pour. Timing is everything. So is good rain gear! After dinner, Jim, Bob, Mary and I settled in for a round of hearts -- a great excuse to just sit around and catch up. We finally called the game when folks literally started falling asleep mid hand. More excitement was stirring over at the tables by the picture windows. A pine marten was hanging out in front of the cabin porch. His body was somewhere around 18" to 24". Long, slender and golden colored in the body with rear flanks and tail being a dark brown/black. He was incredibly busy; always on the move in and out of the spruce and back out on the rocks. He seemed not in the bit put off by half a dozen faces pressed up against the windows watching him. One of the treats of hut trips is meeting folks and seeing the diversity of mountain culture. There was a guy there who wearing well worn Limmers and who stayed in shorts and gaitors long after others had changed into dry pants. He was cooking on an old Svea nestled in a Sigg storm cooker. He was accompanied by his 7 year old son whom he obviously adored. It turns out that he was the Treasurer for the RMC and the chief designer for both Grey Knob and Crag Camp. It's not often that you get a chance to thank somebody directly for their work. The next morning I noticed the thermostat on the cabin wall for the first time. I commented to him that it was a very nice touch. He laughed, "It's a builder's joke." Link to RMC here: The morning's weather gave us some off and on sun shine. Just enough to dry out soaked gear on the railing of the porch while eating breakfast. Bob and Mary decided to hang out at Crag for a leisurely morning while the rest of us set our sites on running up and around King Ravine to the Airline ridge on Madison. We agreed to meet down at Lowe's store in the afternoon. We scooted, sliped and sometimes crashed our way on the ice over to Grey Knob where we picked up the morning weather report. Summits in the clouds; afternoon thunderstorms. Laurie had brought along the communion elements and we went to the open, exposed and somewhat windy platform of the Quay for an impromtu service. Laurie read the 104th Psalm and we shared the feast in the steady wind while overlooking the sharp features of the Castlated Ridge. Laurie commented that the verse, "you make the winds your messengers" was particularly appropriate for the day and we joked a bit about the Lord was trying to tell us. "Go home, you're going to get soaked." The climb up Lowe's is different in character than Spur. On Spur, there is a sharp distinction at treeline. One moment you in the protection of the spruce and firs. The next you are in the open. On Lowes, there is a nice long stretch of krumholtz. On moment you are in head high trees, the next out on the rocks and then back into the krumholtz again. Once above treeline, the difference continues. On Spur, you more or less slab up the side of a ridge that angles up to the climbers right and you skirt the top of King ravine which rolls away off to the climbers left. On Lowes, you pretty much go straight up a poorly defined shoulder; more like hiking up the convex side of a basketball. On Spur, the ridge to right offers some amount of protection from the wind. On Lowes, you are exposed to the full force of the prevailing westerly winds. And today was no exception. The wind howled enough to make my hiking poles hum. On Sunday he observatory on Washington recorded 61 mph wind speeds with a max gust over 70mph, so I would conservatively place our winds in the 50+ mph range. Link to the Observatory here: The sound of the wind killed off any chance of talking while walking. We quickly gained enough altitude to be firmly in the clouds and visibility dropped to 50' or less, which allowed us to rarely see more than one cairn ahead at any given time. The conditions combined to foster a nice meditative quality. My partners became barely visible ghosts in the mist. My visual world reduced to only that which was closest to me. And the roar of wind rattled my mind, keeping thoughts from wandering too far off. Everything reduced to rock, ice, water, cairns and the defiant alpine plants. Lowe's drops down the northern, lee side of Adams 4 and we used the cleft in the rock there as our first lunch spot. It was just coming up on 11:00. We pressed on into the mist and picked up the Gulfside trail heading over to Madison. It is a very good thing to be familiar with a place in such situations. Thunderstorm junction is a maze of cairn lines and following the cairn line for something like, say, the Great Gully trail, which drops off straight into King Ravine would have been, umm, interesting. With the wind at our backs and the trail slowly lossing altitude, we made good time across the top of King Ravine. The clouds finally began to break up when we got to the top of the King Ravine trail offering us first glimpses into the Ravine and then a full view of Madison hut down below us in the col between Madison and Quincy Adams. [rant mode on] Huts... Ok, we stayed a very nice hut the night before so I can't get all high and mighty about this. But still. Madison hut, when viewed from above, looks like an industrial compund. Several side buildings extend off to the north from the main hut, all in varying states of repair and use. How they (we) can justify such high numbers and such a high impact program as the AMC huts is beyond me. Ugg. Link to picture of Mad hut [rant mode off] We snacked in front of Madison hut and considered our options. With the clouds lifting slightly, Laurie, Tim and Ben set their sites on Madison. Jim and I opted for a stroll to the south side of the col past Starr Lake and the Parapet. Brenda decided to lounge in the sun by the hut. The view up to Adams past Quincy Adams from Starr Lake is great. Very imposing looking. We sat on the rocks of the Parapet looking down into Madison Gulf, speculated on where the Butress Trail should go through the gulf and pondered all of the places we have yet to see here. We saw the guys coming down from Madison and so we trotted back to the hut. A solo day hiker cruised by and quipped, "Another perfect day in paradise." Indeed. We took the cut-off over to the Airline which gave us great views of King Ravine. We toyed with the idea of taking Chemin des Dammes down into the ravine but instead opted to stick on Airline for the sake of time. Link to a good picture page with a pic of Chemin des Dammes Once below treeline, Airline wastes no time in going down. It basically runs straight down the mountain, a feature that often led to some minor confusion. Was this a trail or a brook? Lots of water. Lots of ice below treeline. The walk below the boreal forest in the hardwoods was like watching spring on fast forward. The further down we went, the further along spring was. It is a nice time to be in the woods. We were just ahead of the (evil, evil) black flies and trees and underbrush had not yet leafed out so you could still see a good distance in the woods. But, the real highlight of the descent was the wild flowers. First it was spring beauties, a small white blossom with tiny red stripes. Next came trout lilies still in buds with their distinctive mottled leaves. Lower, we found red trylium still in bud and then trout lilies in bloom. Their blossom is a lovely yellow with 3 curled back petals. Lower still, we found wild yellow violets and then red trylium in bloom with their deep crimson petals. Next we found Blue violets and white trylium, first in bud and then in bloom. And finally we found bell flowers (or wild oats, there was some dispute) with their pale cream colored blossoms hanging down like minuture bells. The trail intersections told us that our altimeters were reading high, indicating a dropping barometer and sure enough, boooom, the roll of thunder could be heard. A heavy down pour soon ensued as we quickened our pace for the trail head. It passed as quickly as it came leaving the air clean and fresh and the woods full of wet light. We got to Lowes shortly after 3:30 and found Bob and Mary who had been there for a bit over a 1/2 hour. Decent timing. Next stop: Concord for pizza with Michelle and the boys. Copyright 2003 by David Mann