repaired image links 2011-02-14
We had been looking at the beautiful view of Mts. Lafayette and Lincoln all day from Cannon on Saturday. Discussing plans for Sunday with friends, we decided to try one of the gullies on Mt. Lincoln, which we had never skied.
We had heard descriptions of the general route from several people we know, and we had always wanted to ski it. After a little research with topo maps and aerial photos, checking weather forecasts and avalanche advisories, we were ready to go.
We left the trailhead at Lafayette Campground at 9AM, under sunny skies with temps hovering just below freezing. After following the Old Bridal Path hiking trail about a mile, we dropped down into the streambed of Walker Brook. There we conveniently found a set of yesterday's tracks, which we followed uphill. The tracks were about 6" wide, narrowing the usual list of suspects down to the owner of a fat pair of Pocket Rockets with Fritchsi AT bindings (was that you, Captain?). We reached a branch in the stream, and turned right up our gully.
Some high, thin clouds moved in, but the sun was still strong, and temps continued rising. The snow became quite sticky, and was balling up under our skins.
The gully forks around 3700' elevation. We chose to go up the right gully, which was more shaded, with a northwesterly aspect.
We quit just after Noon, at about 4000', where we found a conveniently located lunch rock. Snow pit results there were not encouraging, so we went no higher. From here, we had a great view of Cannon across the Notch. Greenleaf Hut was visible through the trees, on Lafayette in the foreground.
The thin clouds blew east, and blue skies returned just in time for the descent.
It was six inches of mashed potatoes on the runout, and not steep enough to turn.
After following the brook out as far as we could, we bushwacked until re-connecting with the Old Bridal Path. We found a nice line that dropped away from the trail, and got a few more turns in the last couple hundred yards to the parking lot. The trip was a little over two miles each way. We were out by 2PM, and still had time for last tracks at Cannon!
We had been looking at the beautiful view of Mts. Lafayette and Lincoln all day from Cannon on Saturday. Discussing plans for Sunday with friends, we decided to try one of the gullies on Mt. Lincoln, which we had never skied.
We had heard descriptions of the general route from several people we know, and we had always wanted to ski it. After a little research with topo maps and aerial photos, checking weather forecasts and avalanche advisories, we were ready to go.
We left the trailhead at Lafayette Campground at 9AM, under sunny skies with temps hovering just below freezing. After following the Old Bridal Path hiking trail about a mile, we dropped down into the streambed of Walker Brook. There we conveniently found a set of yesterday's tracks, which we followed uphill. The tracks were about 6" wide, narrowing the usual list of suspects down to the owner of a fat pair of Pocket Rockets with Fritchsi AT bindings (was that you, Captain?). We reached a branch in the stream, and turned right up our gully.
Some high, thin clouds moved in, but the sun was still strong, and temps continued rising. The snow became quite sticky, and was balling up under our skins.
The gully forks around 3700' elevation. We chose to go up the right gully, which was more shaded, with a northwesterly aspect.
We quit just after Noon, at about 4000', where we found a conveniently located lunch rock. Snow pit results there were not encouraging, so we went no higher. From here, we had a great view of Cannon across the Notch. Greenleaf Hut was visible through the trees, on Lafayette in the foreground.
The thin clouds blew east, and blue skies returned just in time for the descent.
It was six inches of mashed potatoes on the runout, and not steep enough to turn.
After following the brook out as far as we could, we bushwacked until re-connecting with the Old Bridal Path. We found a nice line that dropped away from the trail, and got a few more turns in the last couple hundred yards to the parking lot. The trip was a little over two miles each way. We were out by 2PM, and still had time for last tracks at Cannon!
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