On Tuesday, I attempted a winter mountain hike. I have never done one and the weather was forecasted to be glorious clear skies, sun, and temps starting around 25 but getting as warm as high 40s. I felt as though I have done enough reading on winter hikes, scouted out the trail conditions, and was ready to try my first winter summits. I chose the popular Tom-Field-Willey route, with a summit on littler Mt. Avalon on the way down. This beautiful range is just parallel to the southern presidents with wonderful views east to Mt. Washington and west to the Twins and the Pemi region (Bonds, Hale). In total it should be <10 miles and I had the whole day to enjoy the trails.
I haven’t really been sleeping well in months and the night before was no exception. I had my alarm set for 5:45am with the goal of being on the road with gas and breakfast before 6:15. I ended up waking up around 5am, didn’t really see the point in sleeping for another 45 minutes (since I would probably take around that much time to fall back asleep anyway) so I just got up earlier. The drive up was smooth, Sky girl just slept in the back.
I brought my mid-sized camelback. 2.5L bladder, dog bowl, dog food, and trail mix. I wore my new hiking boots, new snowshoes, snowshoe poles, and wore running tights, long sleeve top, and my trusty vest. I stuffed extra tights and my red winter coat into my pack just in case (I would rather be over prepared).
I parked at Crawford Notch- highland center. I was the 4th car in there. The sun was already up and it was already very beautiful outside! There was packed snow on the ground approaching the trailhead behind the Highland Center. I took a few minutes to figure out my snowshoes. They are Atlas 8 Series Elektra’s and were amazing! They are light and easy to manage. They put on very easily and my only issue was fixing the heel strap but once that was adjusted, I was ready to go. I broke trail before 9am.
I brought Sky with me because she has been so wonderful off leash lately. She is responsive and comes when called, she sometimes runs a bit far up ahead, but until this hike, that had never been a problem. I let her off leash and we started up for Mt. Tom.
After a while we passed a guy who was attempting the same hike as we were. He was stopped on the trail removing his winter coat. It was already getting so warm and moving up elevation with pace and with snowshoes is hard work. We laughed about the weather and wished each other well! Little did I know that I would soon be seeing him again soon. Sky and I kept going. Going up the mountains in the spring, without the snow, is a lot of hand over hand scrambling and maintaining your footing while climbing. In the snow, with snowshoes, you have to really focus on not slipping down and if you are slipping, work on fixing the crampon into the hold. Otherwise, slipping wouldn’t just be a fall on your butt but easily a broken ankle if your ankle is stuck in a snowshoe that is turning. Anyway, despite these adjustments, I was really enjoying the mountain and Sky and I were making great progress! Until…
So my dog is adventurous and young and immature and smart but also incredibly stupid. Most of her snow experience has been packed snow around Boston with the exception of 2-2.5 feet of unpacked snow in our backyard. She has always been pretty good about seeing the trail and staying on it, so I wasn’t all that worried. However, usually I am running and keeping up with her pretty well but today I was hiking at a much slower pace and she kept wanting to go way up ahead without me. I wasn’t really worried.
We made it just south of the spur trail to summit Mt. Tom and I look up at the section and just catch a glimpse of Sky chasing a brown weasel (Pine Marten) and then… BOOM. She jumped off the trail and down into a ravine. I had to get up to the point where she disappeared which took me a little while and once there, I saw her tracks going down the steep cliff. I panicked. I panicked a lot. I called for her and called for her but I couldn’t see or hear her at all. I was disinclined to really shout loudly also because I don’t know anything about snowpack and avalanches and thought I better not risk other people’s lives by shouting into a ravine!
After 5 minutes of my panic, the guy I passed earlier made his way up to me and we talked about what to do. I decided to go off trail down after my dog to see if I could see her at least and see if she’s hurt. He said he would stay on trail and make sure that I could get back up again. I dropped my pack, and started my descent. Oh. My. God. No wonder my dog couldn’t get back up! It was basically 4+ feet of unpacked granular snow off the trail. I just sunk, even in snowshoes. I went down slowly and backwards, trying to stay on the same path that Sky left in the snow. I went down 50 ft and called her.. nothing. 100ft and called.. still nothing. A little further, and I hear her crying. CRAP. Now racing through my mind was that my dog is hurt and I’m off trail and will be unable to help her. I would have to call for help. I get down maybe 175 ft. and I see her! She is moving about and trying to jump over a fallen tree to get to me and she can’t make it. That is why she is crying. The first thought that goes through my head is of Homeward Bound and how Shadow couldn’t get out of the muddy pit. With that tear jerking movie in mind, I kept trying to encourage her! “Hey Sky girl! You can do it! C’mon! Jump!” she kept trying, kept failing, and kept crying. It was so heartbreaking.
I decided I’d have to go down and try to make another trail to get her back up. That is WAY easier said than done. I eventually got to her and through brute strength channeled from God knows where, I kept picking her up and throwing her over snow mound after snow mound. Most of the time, she would just slide back down. I found it helpful if I went and tried to pack some of the snow with my shoes first but that was often useless also as I would start to slide back as well!
After about an hour of this packing and lifting and dog tossing up the mountain, we were about 20ft down from the trail. The nice boy was still there offering help. I got Sky girl so close and then he came down and took her from me and she climbed back up the last 10ft herself. Then I couldn’t get up anymore. I was exhausted and slipping with every step back into the ravine. Thankfully, this guy grabbed my hand and pulled me up over the last big snow climb and I got back on the trail.
He was a real hero for helping. I wish I could’ve thanked him more!
After that adventure, I decided that the summit can wait. Even though we were so close, there was still a substantial amount of climbing that I would need to do and with this crazy dog, it was not worth risking another dog rescue mission. I don’t know if I would have the strength to do it twice. So with that in mind, we turned around and went back down.
Descending in the winter is SO MUCH FUN. You just sit on your butt and sled down on the trail. Snowshoes in the air so no crampons catch, poles to the side to direct me from sliding off and WEEEEEEE! When we got a little lower, I kept climbing just so I could sled down again and again!
On our way down, we saw a real rescue mission, too. There was a man who was possibly having a heart attack on the trail and was getting rescue help to bring him off the mountain. Just goes to show that these hikes can be serious business and those rescuers and first responders do a damn fine job navigating the mountains to help people.
We hit Mt. Avalon on the way down just because, but it left a dissatisfying taste in my mouth. I know the mountains will be there well after that day, and there is no sense in risking mine or my pups well being for a summit when we could just as easily return later in the season. We were really close to the summit, too. But just like how mountains can be pretty much a metaphor for anything, even when you are so close to attaining something very special to you, it can be in your best interest to turn around to preserve your health/sanity/emotional strain/whatever! There are other days and ways to hit that summit and one day, this summer, that’s what I’ll do. I wanted those 4k footers and will be back when the trail is clear and Sky and I will have them! 
Presidential Range, as seen from Rt. 302
48 peaks 