Snow and COLD on the AT

[JohnHuth]

-20 deg bag here

[egilbe]

Space suit weather....and here I am scheduled to go into the Flagstaff Lake area of Maine on Sunday, high temp of 1 deg F. Sheeesh....

Maine Huts and Trails? Beautiful hiking around there. The Bigelows are beautiful.

[JohnHuth]

Maine Huts and Trails? Beautiful hiking around there. The Bigelows are beautiful.

Yup, MHT. I hiked there last January as well - wonderful country. There are a set of waterfalls on the Dead River that were partly iced over - wonderful sight!

[egilbe]

Not sure if Andy is still the caretaker at the Flagstaff Lake hut or not. He was there during the self-serve season in the fall. Nice young man. The entire staff during the full service season was amazing. Well worth the money once you include the three meals. I keep meaning to go back up there, but saving my vaca time for a sobo hike of the HMW.

[Venchka]

carry a LW tent get a 15-20 degree bag dont depend on staying in only shelters

A recipe for discomfort at best. Disaster at worst.
2 degrees in Boone this weekend. Could be Minus Double Digits and gale winds up high.
Hunker down.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

[Slo-go'en]

As I noted on VFTT, the forecast for the weekend in the whites is lining up to be sunny but cold with high winds. Its a three day weekend plus college week off so lots of folks have made their reservations and are going to be heading up after reading several weekends of past trail reports which were above normal temps. They may see the latest forecast but figure what the heck "we already made our plans so we will drive up and hope the forecast improves". It may not and then they will decide, "we are already up here so lets head up and if it gets too bad we will turn around". Add in some hypothermia which clouds their thinking and its a recipe for someone getting hurt or killed.

Last weekend was the anniversary for Guy Waterman's last hike up Lafayette.

Yep, real good timing for Presidents weekend. This might be the coldest it gets here all winter. It's already -1 at my house. No big storms, but the winds will be epic and that means blowing snow and trails drifted in from the flurries we've had. Then it warms right back up and maybe rain for Tuesday. Just great.

[JohnHuth]

Not sure if Andy is still the caretaker at the Flagstaff Lake hut or not.

I'll ask when I'm there. Yeah, the huts are really amazing there. They have drying rooms for gear and everything. I recall last year, we had a really cold day, and when we got in, there was a fire blazing in a stove, and they had wine and beer. Great stuff - I hope it keeps going - I can imagine them extending the system.

[egilbe]

The goal is ten huts, spaced out between Moosehead Lake and The Mahoosucs. They are working on developing eco-tourism in the Western Mountains to replace jobs lost due to the forests products services declining. Its an ambitious goal. I thought it would be a huge boon to AT through hikers, to have a place to get a couple meals, a bed, and a shower, not too far from the AT. But, apparently, the ATC is at odds with MHT for some reason.

Anyway, have fun, enjoy the hospitality of MHT

[grizzlyadam]

Thanks Adam. I trust the wedding went great! Caty, my granddaughter, knew that Y'all were getting married.
All the best to both of you.
Cheers!

Wayne

As far as weddings in a blizzard go, it was perfect! We had a handful of guests that couldn't make it because of the weather, but it was still pretty special.

We were able to get away for a few days after to a friend's house at Watauga Lake and got out for a dayhike on the AT to Laurel Fork Falls.

WAC_2375.jpgWAC_2409.jpgWAC_2438-Edit.jpg

[Venchka]

As far as weddings in a blizzard go, it was perfect! We had a handful of guests that couldn't make it because of the weather, but it was still pretty special.

We were able to get away for a few days after to a friend's house at Watauga Lake and got out for a dayhike on the AT to Laurel Fork Falls.

WAC_2375.jpgWAC_2409.jpgWAC_2438-Edit.jpg

Color me totally envious! I must get up there and play in the snow.

Wayne

[Old Hillwalker]

The goal is ten huts, spaced out between Moosehead Lake and The Mahoosucs. They are working on developing eco-tourism in the Western Mountains to replace jobs lost due to the forests products services declining. Its an ambitious goal. I thought it would be a huge boon to AT through hikers, to have a place to get a couple meals, a bed, and a shower, not too far from the AT. But, apparently, the ATC is at odds with MHT for some reason.

Anyway, have fun, enjoy the hospitality of MHT

Just in case you want to know about the MHT, here is a little review I posted just after the Stratton Brook Hut opened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iLU6NwWWTQ

[JohnHuth]

On MHT - I did a hike last January, staying at Flagstaff and Grand Falls Hut. The trail conditions were poor for XC skiing, so we just hiked it, which was fine. The huts are plush for my taste - a good staff makes nice dinners and breakfasts, also they lay out stuff for lunch. Showers, very comfortable. They do a pretty good job grooming the trails in the winter. Of course the snow has to cooperate.

I hope they are successful in extending the system. This is closer to a Alpine model where folks use day packs and go from one refuge to another. Many years back, I hiked inn to inn on the Long Trail with my wife. It's a pleasant alternative for folks who want to get out, but don't want to carry so much gear on their back and like showers etc at the end of the day.