Suggestions for Winter Peakbagging

[Skyclimber]

Delete.

[Neil]

Re:#16. How far do you have to walk up the Elk Lake Rd. in winter in order to get to the summer TH? Did you ever hike the whole range as a dayhike in winter or did you exclude Macomb going from rte. 73 and hike it on a different trip from Elk L.?

[mike1889]

Re:#16. How far do you have to walk up the Elk Lake Rd. in winter in order to get to the summer TH? Did you ever hike the whole range as a dayhike in winter or did you exclude Macomb going from rte. 73 and hike it on a different trip from Elk L.?

You park at Clear Pond near that one house on the Elk Lake Road and walk 2.2 miles each way to the summer TH. I climbed them as 2 separate day hikes, from Elk Lake to South Dix, East Dix, and Macomb, and from Round Pond to Dix and Hough and back the same way.

[Skyclimber]

Re:#16. How far do you have to walk up the Elk Lake Rd. in winter in order to get to the summer TH? Did you ever hike the whole range as a dayhike in winter or did you exclude Macomb going from rte. 73 and hike it on a different trip from Elk L.?

If you ski, you can do the 2.2 miles up to the trailhead and back, saving time.

I did this range as separate trips, like Mike 1889. I have several variations on how I did this Range from Clear Pond and Rte. 73.
My first two trips in there from Clear Pond, I did Macomb, S & E, then retraced my steps, then went in another day from the Au Sable Club and did Hough and Dix together.

Going in from Rte. 73, we have gone up over East Dix Slide, then South Dix, then Hough, then retracing back and bushwacked down to the Bouquet River Valley, leaving the two end peaks for two separate trips later. Macomb from Clear Pond, Dix from Round Pond.

Even once going in from Rte 73 we bushwacked up in-between the Col of Dix and Hough, doing Hough, South & East Dix bushwacking down to the Bouquet Valley between East Dix and Spotted.

Basically the Rte 73 approach is great for getting everything in-between leaving the two end peaks Macomb and Dix.

Almost like eating the center of an Oreo Cookie first.

With the Rte. 73 approach what is nice is there isn't so much backtracking, reclimbing, which saves on the energy level. I think my favorite trip into the Dixes in Winter was, when we did the climb from Hough over to East not having to reclimb anything, just down after.
That trip though, because of severe snow depth that year was a 3 day trip, as we spent 4 hours on Saturday breaking trail, returning the next day to spend 7 more hours breaking, then finally the third time was a charm, when we went in with about a group of 8 and made all three summits !!

Try it this way, it's alot of fun and more exciting. Also what is nice with Rte. 73 is the fact it is mainly open hardwoods. You do have to be careful though when getting in there, as you have the North and South Forks of the Bouquet River, making sure you don't take the wrong one,take the North Fork. Actually if you have the description of the East Dix Slide you will be fine. I think it takes an Alain and Pin Pin to do this Whole Range in one day in Winter. I've only done the Whole Range, in a day, twice, but that was in the Summer and once going up the North Slides of Dix from Hunter's Pass completing the rest of the Range 12 hours later.

[Mavs00]

First off, I admit to being a winter newbie

Two things drove me to post here. 1) Since I'm new, I thought I'd add some thoughts from the perspective of a newer winter hiker that I thought might be valuable. 2) Since I live pretty far from the mountains and only have limited time to dedicate to "getting to the peaks" during the winter. If I had to wait till my "winter peak trips" to gain valuable experience, I'd never learn anything. I actually learned some of these tips from a guy that does some real mountaineering (big peaks), but lives locally.

Here's a short list of things I have discovered. Some are covered above, so forgive me. I'm sure many of you already do many of these things too, but I though I post it anyway (for newer winter folks).

• Fittness - One of the things I first discovered was that winter hiking is generally harder and slower than hiking in other seasons. This doesn't mean you have to stick to the "granny hills" and the flatlands if your new (like many suggest), just understand that you'll need alot more fittness than you would in summer in order to do some of the harder peaks. Unlike summer, when lots of unfit folks "struggle" up and down these hills, winter requires a little more work, even if it's just carrying the extra weight in your pack. I stay in good shape during the winter.
• Experts/Advice - Either hike with them or listen to them. Skyclimber is likely the most experienced winter peakbagger round these parts. That she is willing to share her (hard earned) knowledge is very cool of her. So is Mike. A wise start to learning is reading through this thread.
• Practice the little things at home - Wait till the coldest, nastiest, blizzard conditions at home, and then bivy out in the backyard. Sounds dumb I know, but I can think of no safer way to "practice" and hone "winter camping or emergency bivy skills". I've never camped or had to bivy overnight in the HPs, but I now know what I need to bring in the event I need to.
• More Practice - I (sadly) live about 5 hours from the mountains myself and don't have much opportunity to practice in the peaks. But, I found that I can practice quite a bit of general "outdoor skills" around my home. I snowshoe, ski (x-country), bushwhack and otherwise putz around near where I live about 3-4 times a week all winter long (and have for a few years). Granted my trips are usually only a few hours in length and don't lead me to anywhere near as cool as the high peaks, and while I'm sure many of us do the same, I try to use that time as an opportunity to work on other things like like body temp regulation (during exertion), keeping liquids from freezing, what food is compatable with winter hiking, and other general outdoor skills. I've learned all kinds of cool stuff and have also "test-driven" different tips that I've heard from other folks. Generally the nastier the weather, the better.
  
  maybe this sounds a little goofy (and dorkish), but I also try to find out things I didn't do well on the last hike I did and improve them. For instance, Last hike I did, I ended up futzing around for 10 minutes while I switched from snoeshoes to crampons and I needed to take my gloves (and liners) off to do it. My hands got cold and I wasn't reall happy while I was doing it. You can bet, I've since practiced switching them out (outside in the cold) faster and with my glove liners on. Unpacking and repacking in cold and snow would be another example.

Not that anything can substitute for time out in the mountains and the things you learn there. But, many people (like myself) didn't/don't even have good basic cold weather skills in the first place. There are many things you can actually practice and get better at, just being outside, and not just when baggin peaks. I wonder how many people do that?

I didn't mean to butt in on skyclimbers great (and very helpful) info and I certainly hope one or two people find this stuff a little helpful as well.

[Neil]

Thanks Mavs for that. It made me realize that we can share what we learn as we learn it without necessarily being seasoned vetererans.
This is what I found out so far:
Thermoregulation is a key issue and there are 3 strategies on a given hike: the climb, hanging out on the summit and the descent. They each have their particularities.

The climb:
1- Plan your TH logistics out ahead of time, you don't want to monkey around at the TH. Ideally, you pull in and jump out of the car ready to rock and roll. If you spend 10-20 minutes getting organized you'll get cold.
I try to only have to change into fresh socks at the TH while I sit in the back of my van with the heat on.

2- Dress for success! And not for the first 10 minutes of the climb. It seems that I always overestimate my needs. After sitting in the car you are producing no heat and so the tendency is to dress to be warm right off the bat. Then, 10 mins. later you have to stop, remove your pole straps if you use poles, take off your mitts, undo the buckles on your pack, take off your pack etc. etc. while your toes get cold.

3-Use your head for thermoregulation. On the uphill part (at -10F)I found that a thin headband kept my ears warm while my bare head released excess heat. Whenever I stopped I put a warm hat on right away and pulled my hood up.

The summit:
4-Put on a dry base layer shirt at the top. For me this is pure heaven because I sweat a lot. If the summit is exposed and windy you might want to pass on this one. It requires a bit of fortitude and is best planned out in minute detail but the rewards of a dry shirt under a down jacket (with a hood) far outweigh the few seconds of discomfort and give you prolonged summit time.

The descent:
5-When you decide it's time to go down you're feeling chilly and your caloric ouput will be a lot less than on the climb. However, it's so tempting and so easy to overdress. I found that if my base layer shirt was just a little bit heavier than on the ascent I was ok.

Miscellaneous: Arrange your pack so the items you think you'll need first are at the top.
Wear a small fanny pack backwards so you can get at your snack food and hat or head band or whatever easily. I find it so time consuming and rythem breaking to take off my pack in the winter.

[kingof14ers]

Not too much to add. In regards to starting early for the longer hikes as previously mentioned, you also want to do this for the obvious reason that days are shorter.

Ascending lower peaks not only boosts confidence, but also allows you to test equipment in a less committing fashion.

As far as fitness goes, remember the same peak in the winter is also harder not only because of fighting the snowy elements, but because breathing colder air is harder for the body to process. Balaclava helps somewhat.