Sunny Winter Day up Hurricane

Sunny and I were lucky enough to be invited on a hike up Hurricane Mt. this weekend. We'd intended on doing it last Sunday, but it rained all day and  we rescheduled to this gorgeous Saturday in mid-December. 

Sunny was very patient waiting for the hike to start and was more than happy to take a selfie with me. We took two vehicles and, fortunately, one of them was a Jeep. We parked my RAV-4 at the bottom of the hill and carpooled through the snowbank and up to Crow Clearing.

The expectation throughout the High Peaks region was that folks bring snowshoes, so we did. I thought it might be sloppy up the valley, but deep snow as we gained elevation. I figured it might be a good time to try out the new  day  pack I bought  for  backpacking  trips. It was unseasonably warm, so I  left  my fleece  and  put on  my puffy. I forgot my bladder's  hose down at  the  other  car,  but  I'd  packed a  thermos of hot water in Sunny's  pack, so  we carried  on.

Gulf  Brook  Trail,  about  1.1  miles  from the  clearing  to  the  first  junction,  was  snowy,  but only  a few inches deep along  the  trail. Even the less popular Northern approach of  the  mountain had  been  broken  out,  so  it  was  fairly easy going. Most of us shed a layer shortly after starting. I kenw I'd miss my duff which I seem to have misplaced; my Stewies cap stayed on my head maybe 30% of the time.

The  first junction  takes  you  North  up  the  Soda Range  Trail or South towards  Hurricane.  North  takes  you  past  some  lean-tos  and  camping areas,  then  around to the  East  Side of  Big  Crow  and back  to  the  parking area.  On the way back,  the  fellas took a  quick  scouting hike up  to the Lean-to. Jay is  thinking the  spot would be  nice  for some  winter  camping;  there's  a clean nearby water source, the lean-to is in good  condition,  there  are decent  spots for hammocks, campfires are actually allowed,  and there  was  plenty of harvestable wood around. 

The  elevation  gain  begins  in earnest  shortly after the intersection. Most of this trail lies in the shadow of Hurricane and its shoulders and I think that would make it a very good approach in the Summer.

The  fellas eventually removed their  snowshoes  in lieu  of  microspikes.  The trail  was  well-packed  and the  streambed was actually exposed  to  the  rock  in  some  places. Since  I  was  using my lightweight  backpacking  day  pack,  I  didn't really have a way to transition  to  spikes without leaving the shoes  behind  to  pick  up later.  I  decided to  just  leave them  on.  This  wasn't  a huge  problem,  but  there  were  some  spots which  would  have  been easier  without  them.

The Hurricane  North trail  intersects with  the South trail immediately prior to the ultimate ascent  of the mountain. There's  a  little traverse  through  some  evergreens, then we came to the mountain's big scrambles. I really  should have switched  to spikes at  this  point  due to all  the exposed ice  on this final  climb, but laziness won out. At  this  point we were  meeting up  with  lots of other  hikers  and folks helped  each  other  scale  the  ledges safely. 

There  are a few quality views to  the  SouthWest from  a  little  ledge as  you make  the final  climb.

The  summit of  hurricane  has  had  most  of the  snow  blasted  or  melted  off,  especially  on  the rockfaces.  I  took  off  my snowshoes  and  just  boot-walked  the  few  hundred  feet  to  the  summit.  Oddly,  there  was  zero wind  again,  just  as  there  had been back  in April. I'm starting to  think I'm being punked  by people saying Hurricane  is windy!  

Jay checked out  the  view  from the top  of  the fire  tower.  Korra  waited  patiently for Jay to  come  back  down.  As the  morning  progressed, folks  going  up the tower knocked a bunch  of ice and snow free. It may be best to  keep  clear  of the  tower  in the winter  to  avoid getting hurt.  If  I'd climbed  the tower,  Sunny would  have  lost  his  mind, so  I  decided to  just chill on the  rocks  and  eat my lunch.

Dan says  sitting on rocks is  for the birds. I  was  jealous.  There were quite a few folks  enjoying  the  day on Hurricane. Many of them arrived streaked with sweat and smiling.  We had some polite conversation  about  this and that. More importantly, soaking in the view and basking in the sun was the order of the day.

It was  a  beautiful,  clear day on  top  of Hurricane. I  said  it last  time,  and  my opinion hasn't  changed; I  can see myself hiking  this mountain again  and  again.

Sunny agrees.

The hike back down the mountain was actually quite easy in the snowshoes. I had fun sliding down many of the more dangerous spots on my butt. I was happy to have my snowpants on for these sections. The hike across the second mile of the trail back to the junction was a bit of a trudge. While the guys went to check out the lean-to, Sunny and I took a rest.

The last mile back was absolutely a trudge for me; my lower back was aching by the end. Also, although my boots were warm and comfortable, the skin along my achilles was rubbing raw. Jay suggested sock liners for my feet, so I'll pick some up and try them out. After some discussion, we figured that my back ache might have been a combination of the snowshoes, Sunny pulling me hard at points, and using a pack that doesn't have support in the back. 

Sunny was ready to start his 24 hours of napping right away. We were done fairly early, so decided to head over to Big Slide for dinner and a beer.

This was a great trip. It was a gorgeous day; the exercise in the fresh air and sun was welcome as always.

I need to remember to stop and really think about the things I may have forgotten before hiking. I often have lots of stuff to do at the trailhead and I worry about holding people up. Because of this, this time I forgot my water hose and my sunglasses back at the car, both of which would have made the day easier. I will also be keeping the lightweight day pack for short hikes and as a backpacking day pack, for which it was originally intended, I really missed the various features of my Osprey today.

Whenever (if) we get any snow in the Southern Saratoga region, I'll start practicing more with the snowshoes. For now, I'll keep rucking 5 or 6 days a week to stay in shape. I'm looking forward to the next hike, hopefully sooner rather than later.