January 19, 2015 Mt. Whiteface & Mt. Passaconaway. Peaks # 22-23

With warmer temps on tap, and having missed out on a day to hike on Sunday due to the rain that drenched the mountains, Jillian and I were eager to get out on the trails. We were hoping that the trails would not be destroyed, but we both had snowshoes and microspikes just in case the snowpack was so soft it would not hold us. We were heading up Blueberry Ledge Trail and until the intersection with the cutoff trail it was just a slushy mess. We were both wearing microspikes, but the trail was so wet that it made little difference, the rocks were reemerging from the snow and it was all rather messy.

Just some of the slush

Once we reached the cutoff trail the conditions seemed to stabilize and we were able to make good time.

By the time we reached the ledges the temps had dropped quite a bit, the wind was blowing, and the sun had said goodbye.

Jillian preparing for the ledges

Summit of Mt. Whiteface

Summit of Mt. Whiteface

We briefly stopped at the summit of Mt. Whiteface for a few pictures and moved on to the Rollins Trail. I was looking forward to this part of the day since I have never hiked the Rollins Trail. Shortly after passing the summit of Whiteface, we had to stop so I could change into snowshoes. The conditions were not too bad, but it was a little soft so I figured I would change before it became an issue. Jillian of course could happily float on top of the snow in her spikes. We made short work of Rollins Trail and covered the two miles or so in 45 minutes.

By the time we had reached the summit of Mt. Passaconaway we were in the clouds and it was spitting snow.

"Views" from  Mt. Passaconaway

 Every time we hike Mt. Passaconaway we wander around a bit to make sure we touch all the high spots. This time we settled in were the snowshoe track finished and took the obligatory summit photo.

Summit of  Mt. Passaconaway

 Dicey's Mills Trail was a race track for us on the way down and we made short work of it. It was nice that there was little of the slush that had slowed us down on the way up.

 Not bad for six hours and twenty minutes

23 down 25 to go