Mount Lafayeete

<Japanese version is under English 日本語バージョンは英語の後にあります。>

We went hiking in Mount Lafayeete this weekend. It was a sunny nice day.

This is my most hardcore winter hike in New England yet. We hiked to Mount Lafayeete last summer. This time in winter, obviously, the view was completely different. White covered top area was a harsh environment, but it is beautiful.

We hiked up to the Greenleaf hut via Greenleaf trailhead. There are two ways to hike up there. Mr.N choose Greenleaf, because it is less steep than the other. In winter it might be easier to be gentle climb up. Especially in New England where it snows and then gets above 0C. Such weather, snow melts and get frozen again. It makes the steep trail very icy and slippery. We decided to climb with microspikes and not to bring snowshoes, although we brought them from home to the trailhead. 

It looked like somebody recently broke Greenleaf trail, since snowshoe footprints were new. Thanks to the person, we didn’t need to look at a map and GPS to figure out the path. Snow was soft, so I thought that snowshoes might be easier, but microspikes were doable. Besides, it was too far to go back to get them when I thought that. Also the snowshoe person switched snowshoes and microspikes depending on the conditions, according to the footprints. That meant that snowshoes only was not enough and switching one another is a lot of work.

Greenleaf Trail near the trailhead

It was tough to climb up with microspikes on the snow. Every step sunk in the snow some extent, and often slipped back down a little. Another tough thing was that there was no place to sit down to take a break. It was no place without snow. I didn’t want to sit down on the snow: it was cold even if I used something to sit down. Several times we stopped and ate chocolate and rice balls by standing. We brought M&M. Personally M&M is not tasty. I think that Japanese and Belgium chocolate are delicious, but not M&M or hershey's. Ghirardelli is acceptable among American chocolates. I was thinking about chocolate during hiking and determined to carry better chocolate next time.

Greenleaf trail near Greenleaf Hut

 

After three hours of hiking, we reached at the Greenleaf hut. It is closed in winter, but there are some benches without snow to sit down. I had several sips of hot coffee. I love to bring my Zosirushi pot for my hiking. It is extremely nice to have hot coffee during hikes, especially with view.

Top seen from Greenleaf Hut

The hut area is a little meadow without snow. So you can see now Mount Lafayeete and surrounding numerous mountains. It is really nice to enjoy views. One guy talked to us and asked how Greenleaf trail was. He was the one who broke the trail. He was really friendly and nice. We saw another several hikes hanging out at the hut area. It is always nice to see nice hikers outside. It is easier to break an ice if there is a common thing: love outdoor. 

Final Climb

Then we started the final stretch to the summit. Compared to Greenleaf trail, the snow was more packed, so it was slightly easier to walk. However, the wind was getting harder and harder. Sometimes winds blew snow up and hit my face. 

Despite the harsh weather near the top, the scenery was getting gorgeous. The rocks we saw in summer were mostly white. 

 

The view from the top was very nice (the three pictures above explain). The white mount Washington can be seen. We enjoyed the view for while peacefully, then started heading back. It is safe to go down before dark.

 

For comparison, this is the picture take from almost the same spot. Mount Washington is in the distance is particularly different. I usually don't like to repeat the same hikes many times, but if there is such big difference, it would be interesting.

 

We hiked down on the same trail. At the parking lot, we saw the guy who broke Greenleaf trail. His car was next to ours. What a coincidence. He met his friends at the top and went down via a different trail. His friends who parked their car at the nearby trailhead gave him a ride to his parking lot, because it was on the way.

So far this is my hardest winter hike in New England.  

とある晴天の土曜日、ニューハンプシャー州にあるMount Lafayeete/ラファイエッテ山に登ってきた。ここには夏に一度登ったが、今回は雪のハイクに挑戦。当然の事ながら景気は全く違って面白かった！今回のハイキングはニューイングランドでの冬ハイクの中で今の所一番ハード。でもハードなだけに景色は最高で行った甲斐があった。

今回は前回と違うトレイルから登ることにした。理由は登りがなだらかだから。雪で急な登りだと凍って危険な場合もあるのでなだらかなグリーンリーフトレイルからまずグリーンリーフハット（山小屋）を目指す。スノーシューで行くかマイクロスパイクのみで行くか、もしくは両方持って行くかで悩んだが、マイクロスパイクのみで行くことにした。入り口からパッと見たところ少なくとも一人はそのトレイルを最近通ったようなので、多少は踏み固められてるだろうと予測。誰かが最近通っていればGPSでトレイルと方角を探す時間が省ける。最近ハイクした人はスノーシューとマイクロスパイクを時々替えて登ったようだ。雪なのですぐわかる。雪がソフトなところは明らかにスノーシューの方が適していたが、マイクロスパイクでもなんとかオーケーだった。が。。やはりソフトなところは３歩登って１歩滑り落ちる感じでタフだった。しかしスノーシューとマイクロスパイク両方持って行くと重いので、マイクロスパイクだけで結局正解だった。

冬のハイキングは座る場所がないので休憩があまりできない。山小屋に着くまで何回か立ったままチョコレートなどを頬張った。うーーん。M＆M美味しくない。。。次は日本製のお菓子を持ってこよう。。。アメリカのチョコレートで美味しいのはギラデリくらいだなー。

そんなこんなでグリーンリーフハットに到着。ハットは冬季は閉まっているが木製のテラスの部分は雪もなく座って休憩することができた。ありがたい。

５−６人同様に休憩しているハイカー達がハットにいて、その中の一人がグリーンリーフトレイルでのpathを作ってくれた人だった。とてもフレンドリーなナイスガイ。

山小屋まではグリーンリーフ以外にも色々トレイルがあるが、ハットから頂上は一つしかトレイルがない。そのためかなりのハイカーが同じトレイルを通る。そのため頂上近くは雪は多いがトレイルは完全に踏み固められていた。頂上に近づくにつれ強風が吹き荒れ巻き上げられた雪が顔に当たり痛い。木がないので風がもろにくる。そして最後の登りをやっつけ頂上！

上に３枚頂上からの写真を載せた通り、雪に覆われた美しい景色。参考までに夏に撮った写真をその下にアップ。全く違うけど同じく綺麗。

駐車場に戻ってくると隣の車は山小屋であったナイスガイのものだった。彼は違うトレイルから降りてきて、同じ時間に戻ってきた。

帰りにベトナムレストランでVermicelliを食べて１日の締めくくり。