March 15-16th - Day 10 - Moosilauke. The Tripyramids, Whiteface and Passaconaway. Tecumseh. Cannon.

NH48 Winter 4000'ers in 9 Days

March 15-16th - Just shy of Day 10

Moosilauke. The Tripyramids, Whiteface
and Passaconaway. Tecumseh. Cannon.

Cyclonic flow around an area of low pressure in Quebec will usher colder air, clouds, and snow showers into the region today. The threat for snow showers will diminish south and east of the mountains, leaving those location with partly cloudy skies, while clouds and snow showers linger north and west of the mountains overnight. There will be some widely scattered snow showers north and west of the mountains tomorrow, but it will become partly cloudy across the entire region. The clear and dry conditions will remain through the end of the weekend.

Tim Markle
Staff Meteorologist, Mount Washington Observatory

MWO Summit Conditions at 4:34 AM, March 15:
Wind: W 100 gusting to 112 mph
Temperature: 1°F
Wind Chill Index: -37 °F

MWO Summit Conditions at 5:07 AM, March 16:
Wind: NW at 68 mph
Temperature: -7°F
Wind Chill Index: -45 °F

"Treetop" Squalls

We had plenty on the plate for the big finish; 7 peaks, 36.3 miles and 11,850' of gain in all.

Other than sheer mileage, the secondary obstacle for the day was an arctic wind, which started shrieking in the morning hours of the 15th. There would be little respite from the strong gusts for the next 24 hours, but thankfully we had very few passages left that were subject to its ravages.

We drove up the snowy and battered remains of Route 118 to Moosilauke and started the walk from the gate at about 7 am. Intermittent snow squalls were either blowing from trees higher up or coming from the sky, it was really hard to tell which. As we crossed the first bridge, a jet-black mink scurried along the river.


Emerging from Treeline	At the Wind Blasted Summit

Not surprisingly, a huge wind greeted us as we broke treeline on Moosilauke's summit plateau, so we walked with arms locked for stability until we were in the lee of the slight rise before the summit. Once we had the the return across the flats behind us and were back into the trees, we breathed a small sigh of relief, as most of the exposure would now be behind us.

Back at the car at about 11:20, we called Drew and Andy to let them know we were a bit ahead of schedule, and would meet them in Lincoln shortly. They had already spotted Cath's Jeep at our Dicey's Mill Trail exit at Wonalancet, and were raring to go for the Tripyramid to Passaconaway hike. The snow we had driven up on earlier was completely gone, whisked off the road by wind and sun.

The Pine Bend Brook trail was packed, with a lot of underlying ice concealed by a thin layer of snow, so crampons were pretty much the ticket - which is why Andy had to bag it when one of his connector bars snapped like a twig near North Tripyramid.

He descended alone, and would meet us a again later for the final ascent of Cannon. Total trooper!

	Jeff on the South Slide
Summit of Middle Tripyramid	Jeff on the South Slide	South Slide Story

Whiteface Summit "Face"

The South Slide was mostly open rock with some snow and ice patches, but pretty easy going. We used snowshoes from shortly after the sidehill lessens on the Kate Sleeper Trail to the junction with the Dicey Mill Trail, and then crampons to Passaconaway and for the descent of the Dicey Mill Trail.

Many were the moose post-holes along the Sleeper trail. Evidently, they didn't get the memo.

Top O' Passaconaway

The treetops were swaying wildly under moonlit clouds as we bolted out of the woods for the next event - the mighty Tecumseh!

We met up with Andy again before starting up Tecumseh around midnight, where Jeff accompanied Cath and I to the summit. Although we were all pretty whipped, the group momentum seemed to be there to carry us through the rest of this journey tonight, come hell or high water. Or MORE high water, I should say.

Tecumseh Summit

A mysterious energy filled the blustery air as the finish line began to materialize.

We went very light up Tecumseh, moving right along with crampons to keep the wind-chill at bay, over yet another snow-camouflaged trail of ice . We tagged the summit and boogied back to the car for the trip back up to the Peabody Base Lodge at Cannon, where we got on the Ravine Ski Trail for a semi-protected hike up Cannon.

This last peak was particularly surreal - here we were at 2 in the morning, climbing up a very icy ski slope, in a snowstorm, after hiking for the better part of 24 hours, with the spaceship-like groomers adding an "Arctic Star Wars" touch to the scene.

On the Ravine Ski Trail


Summit Tower		Cannon Summit 3:54 am March 16

Drew on the Descent

Technically, I finished at the base of Tecumseh at 1:47 am, for a total time of 9 days, 20 hours, 24 minutes, with Cath finishing at the base of Cannon at 4:36 am on March 16, for a total time of 9 days, 23 hours, 13 minutes. A big thanks to Andy and Jeff for all their support and companionship on so many of these peaks - over the course of our adventure, Andy racked up 29 4'ks and Jeff bagged 38, finishing his winter list on Bondcliff !

Near the Bottom

At the base of Cannon. 4:36 am, March 16th