Mt. Crawford (NH) winter hike

Feb. 27, 2010. I joined members of the AMC Boston Chapter's "Forty Plus" group to do a winter hike of Mt. Crawford. Nearly a foot of wet snow had fallen over night so snowshoes were essential. Ron "the machine" Correia blazed the trail most of the way, for which most of us were grateful!

This hike was perhaps the most difficult winter hike I've undertaken: Not only did we have to break trail, but we had to find the trail. We had several obstacles -- snow-laden branches and entire trees on the trail -- to overcome on the way to the summit. (I wish I'd gotten a photo of us crawling underneath those heavy snow-laden limbs!) Wet snow fell on us most of the time.

The 3-1/2 hour steep, steady uphill climb in snowshoes left my left Achilles tendon aching. I'll have to look into snowshoes with televators, which several mountaineers said really helps.

The summit has lots of open ledges, but, alas, there were no views due to the clouds and snow. It was reasonably comfortable with temps in the low 30s and low wind. (Although we don't look too comfortable in the photo!) The snow continued throughout our rapid descent. I was surprised to find at the end of the hike that all of my upper body layers were fairly wet despite my shell.

This was a physically exhausting hike for me. Must have been the extra weight of the snowshoes for the duration of the ascent. I went to bed early after a nice hot bath!

Note to self: I prefer hiking in dry, cold conditions (even 0 - 10 degrees) over temps in the 30s with (wet) snow falling!

5.8 miles, 2,119' elevation gain (3-1/2 hours up; 1-1/2 hrs down)
Summit: Mt. Crawford (3,119' high)
Route: Davis Path