NH> Bringing in the New Year in the Whites

[idealistgonewrong]

Wow, I'm really glad it's not a requirement to post your gear pics, because if you think that's bulky wait until you see my noob setup.

[idealistgonewrong]

Also, I would never make it 17.9 winter miles, but don't let me be a wet (and cold) blanket. I could definitely do 12-14ish miles with some night-hiking thrown in if need be (most likely). I'm relatively new to this and my mileage has never been very high, but I always hike with my bag at almost full weight so...who knows! I'm really still transitioning from the "Paul Bunion goes into the woods" paradigm to a more modern one and my gear definitely reflects that (as well as my low budgeting for gear). In the end I can always head back to camp on my own if need be.

[atrane21]

No that's ok. We'll stick together and play it by day when we get to certain points to see what we all think. It was just an idea not a must.

[JoshandBaron]

Sorry I missed you guys. I was done after Shoal Pond. Trail conditions were slow going and I'm not sure I could have made it through a night colder than Thursday night. It got way colder than forecast. I hope your hike wasn't a bust and that you decided to bring shoes, I had to break trail from Ethan Pond to Shoal Pond Thursday night and again Friday morning on the hike out after fresh snow overnight and in the AM covered the previous day's tracks. It's pretty wild out there. Can't wait to explore in the summer with more daylight.
Dog decided to rip my hammock, hopefully it is easily repaired

[brambor]

It is wild out there. Did you see any sign of tracks between Ethan and Shoal pond? I broke the trail a few weeks ago from Ethan to Zealand hut. The blazes are sparse too.

[JoshandBaron]

There was faint sign of 2 sets of tracks on Thursday, 1 person had put on snowshoes at EP and another occasional postholer who I did not envy. The crusty snow made just Microspikes miserable. There was a set of ski tracks leading down shoal pond trail from Zealand way. All tracks were covered Friday morning. I had to backtrack down old logging grades when I missed the turnoffs. Hard to see white blazes in the snow. I kept the shoes on from EP back to the trailhead just to avoid the bareboot minefield.

[atrane21]

Trip report
https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...d.php?t=104021

[atrane21]

Sorry we missed you Joshua. Hope u had a good hang though. Breaking trail sucks! We did that going up to imp shelter and then across until we hit north carter.