Introducing Glynis to Winter Hiking

Feb. 20-21, 2010. How wonderful to introduce a good friend to the wonder and beauty of winter hiking and snowshoeing! Being Glynis' first time, we rented snowshoes for her at the Jackson XC area in Jackson, NH. I can't believe they gave her MSR Denali's -- top-of-the-line for mountaineering! The snow -- what little there was -- was slushy, with puddles of water everywhere. The North Conway valley is really suffering without much snow. We managed to do almost 3 hours of walking despite the less-than-ideal conditions.

On Sunday, after a nice dinner at Black Cap Grille and a good night's sleep at Wildflowers Inn on Saturday night, we drove to the Crawford Notch area and enjoyed a lovely snowshoe up to the summit of Mt. Willard. It was flurrying a bit when we were at the top, and views were limited. But so what? It was Glynis' first winter hike up a mountain! She enjoyed it and we're both looking forward to the next time.

2.8 miles, 900' elevation gain (2-1/2 hours)
Summit: Mt. Willard (2,800' high)
Route: Mt. Willard Trail