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| Summit Snow and Slush on Mt. Hale Summit |
Last November, Winter came to White Mountains the very same weekend that my brother and I were there to hike the Kinsmans. Six months later, the last wintry gasp of that season came to town on the Spring weekend that K and I had plans for her first 4,000 footer. We wanted to make an overnight stay at Greenleaf Hut and then go up Lafayette and Lincoln. The unexpected snow and ice above tree line, however, forced us to go to plan B. We would wait a day and tackle Mount Hale, which many label one of the "easiest" of the 4,000 footers.
As it turned out, there was nothing easy about it.
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| Spring at the Trail Head |
K and I started fairly early, but still found the parking lot on Zealand Road near capacity. It was warm and pleasant at the trail head, but knowing the forecast we packed winter gear for the top. The Hale Brook trail starts off as a gradual ascent, but quickly turns into a series of switchbacks and loose rock. Because of the weekend's bad weather and subsequent warm-up, the brook was raging - so much so that it took an upstream bushwhack to find a safe place to cross.
After the crossing, the route became a total mess with running water cascading over the rocky trail. Then, as we got closer to the summit, temperatures plummeted and the water gave way to snow and slush.
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| Winter at the Summit |
Upon arrival, we ate a quick lunch at the viewless summit which is marked by a large cairn. The warm clothing came in handy since it felt - and looked - like full-on winter at the top. We had the top pretty much to ourselves. Most of the other hikers wore shorts and summer clothing and had to high tail it back down pretty quickly. We took our time, thanks to an unhealthy addiction to online purchases at Ibex.
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| Gray Jay Friend - Watch Your Lunch! |
In the end, the descent, because of the slush, was even slower than the ascent. All told, we were on the trail for double the amount of time that we had allocated.
Easy, my arse.
Peak: Mount Hale
Elevation: 4,054 feet
Distance: 4.4 miles (Gain: 2,300 feet)
Route: Up and back, via Hale Brook Trail
Conditions: Partly cloudy, 60 degrees F at the base, 32 degrees F at the summit
Notable flora/fauna: Gray jays, fiddlehead ferns
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