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Isaac Peak
Feb 1, 2012 1:52 AM by Marcsoltan

From Klein to Matterhorn
Feb 9, 2012 4:43 AM by OsvaldoCardellina

A Bluebird Winter Day on Mt. Washington by WalksWithBlackflies I’ve climbed Mt. Washington several times in the summer and fall, and each time the weather has been nearly perfect. Although I’ve wanted to climb it in winter for a couple years, I’d never pulled the trigger. That trigger came when Vinovampire (Thomas) posted on the Backpacker dot com forums that he was in a contest where the winner got a Sno-cat ride to the summit and got to stay the night at the observatory. Long story short, he didn’t win contest, so I told him I’d gather some hikers together and we’d “guide” him up. Many signed up and bailed for the typical reasons, but we ended up with a strong group consisting of Spindle, Nartreb, and myself (and of course Thomas). The plan was to leave the trailhead at noon on Friday, and hike to the Harvard Cabin (except Nartreb, who would hike in later in the evening). If we had time, we’d check out Tuckerman’s or Huntington Ravine. The next day, we’d summit via Lion’s Head and descend back to the cabin. The following morning we’d hike out and drive back home. Surely far from an aggressive schedule, but with 15-16 hours of round-trip driving necessary, we didn’t feel like rushing our time on the mountain. [more]

The Wild Caribbean by Scott While the Caribbean is usually thought of being full of cruise ship passengers and other run of the mill tourists, it does have a wild side. Luckily, the stereotypical luxury cruise ship tourists tend to gather at the casinos and shopping centers, rarely venturing more than a few miles from port. Yet in the Caribbean, beyond the casinos and shopping centers lies a lost world of spectacular waterfalls, virgin rainforest, beautiful mountains, hidden beaches, rugged coastlines and hidden ruins. This is the story of a trip to two Caribbean Islands (Puerto Rico and Dominica) that I took with my seven year old daughter Shaylee (we needed some Daddy-daughter time) between December 20 2011 and January 6 2012. On this trip we climbed several steep and spectacular mountains, taking on some of the Caribbean’s toughest hikes and ascents (especially on Dominica); swam, climbed and rappelled through subterranean gorges, explored dark rainforest and yes, we even did a lot of tourist stuff too. [more]

Belford & Oxford Winter Ascent: A Poachapalooza? by shknbke The winter of shorter than usual approaches to 14ers continues, although the window is beginning to close up. This weekend was a perfect opportunity to hit Belford and Oxford while the summer trailhead was still accessible. Did we cheat and poach the road? You take what you can get in winter, and so far this winter has been very unusual. The avy danger was high in most parts of the state for the weekend, but the standard route on these 14ers is usually pretty safe. Caroline and Shawn were up to the task, and it would be my first time to hike with them. We decided to pack in leisurely on Saturday, but this hike can still be reasonably done as a dayhike. We were able to carefully drive all the way to the summer trailhead in Caroline's XTerra, although the next big storm may change that. We didn’t get going Sat until about 3:30pm, but the approach to the cabin at treeline is less than 2 miles, and we knew there would most likely be a track in place most of the way. A lone hiker came down and told us we wouldn’ t need snowshoes, so we ditched them about 10 minutes into the hike! We were surprised at how little snow there was on a north facing aspect in late January. As expected, we had a track all the way to treeline. We setup camp just before it got dark right next to the cabin and rushed through our chores with the short amount of time we had. Not much in the way of firewood here, but we collected enough for a little one. We enjoyed the luxuries of Shawn’s nice 4 season tent, which is a lot warmer than my little summer one man that I usually bring on bluebird winter weekends! [more]

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