Eat this. Go here. Thank me later. : New Year's Day and Mount Madison

It started simple, let's spend the first day of the new year outdoors being active. Great, I thought, I love being outside and I want more adventures. There wasn't any snow on the ground here so xc skiing or snowshoeing were out and there aren't any mountains to hike in the area so we quickly decided to head north to the White Mountains.

We were thinking about bagging my first 4,000 footer (Mount Madison) on New Year's Eve, being at the summit for midnight, and hiking to an AMC hut to spend the night. I didn't own a winter sleeping bag, an ice ax, gators, crampons, or anything else you need for this but the weather was predicted to be mild so we thought let's get the gear and go for it. Plus, I love to hike, have been hiking since I was a kid...but I had zero alpine experience, hadn't been winter camping since I was a Girl Scout, and hadn't hiked a snow covered mountain.. ever. What started as a simple plan to start our year outdoors grew into this adventure I knew I wasn't ready for.

When New Year's Eve arrived and we were packing our gear we checked the weather one last time and it was now predicting light snow and much colder temps for the overnight. I wish this is where I say we stuck with the plan, bagged the peak, and it was an adventure. I can say it was an adventure but we didn't stick with the plan. We knew I wasn't ready for this trip, not only was it going to be the highest mountain I'd ever hiked but the first time I was doing real winter hiking.

Our plan changed to turning it into a day hike. We'd still spend the day outdoors being active, it would still be an adventure, and we'd still bag the peak. We got up early(ish), grabbed the rest of the needed gear (you read that right, there were thoughts of heading out the night before without all the needed gear), and hit the road.

We parked at the Great Gulf Wilderness parking area and set out on the Great Gulf Wilderness Trail. We crossed the suspension bridge over the West Branch Peabody River and stayed on the Great Gulf Wilderness Trail until we arrived at the Osgood Trail junction. From here we followed the Osgood Trail toward the summit. The plan, bag the peak, come back down the Osgood Trail, then take the Daniel Webster Scout Trail to the Great Gulf Link, and then back to the car. What really happened is a little different.

We continued on the Osgood Trail and the views were amazing. We stopped to eat, rest, take in the scenery, and just really enjoy it. I was having a lot of fun and honestly it wasn't even that cold but we waited a long time to put on our crampons and that probably was a mistake. It was taking a while to cover not a lot of ground. Not much snow fell the nigh before so what was on the ground was pretty packed down and iced over. My steps had to be small and foot placements careful while climbing or else I didn't make forward progress. I was having fun but by the time we hit the Alpine Zone I was already tired. We made it past tree line and the temp dropped significantly and the wind was picking up but the views were amazing.

Once above treeline the trail was marked with cairns and was composed of talus and rock slabs. We took off our crampons and kept moving. The wind was howling, our water was now all frozen, it was too cold for our phones to work to take pictures, and the sun was setting. We made it to a sub-summit just before the Daniel Webster Scout Trail when we decided to head back. The wind was making it hard to move safely and navigating this terrain in the dark wasn't going to be fun even with headlamps.

I was bummed, disappointed, and felt like why did we even head out. I could see the summit, I felt like I could almost reach out and touch it. Of course I wasn't close enough to touch it but it was in sight, not that far away but completely unattainable. We made it below treeline just before the sunset and continued our trek back to the car along the Osgood Trail and finally the Great Gulf Trail, we crossed the bridge and walked the 100 or so feet back to the car. I no longer felt bummed, disappointed, or that the hike had no purpose. I felt empowered, excited, thrilled, exhausted, and depleted all at once. I didn't bag the peak but I did do a great day hike and into the Alpine zone. I can't wait to go back and bag the peak. Next time, I start earlier and realize that if it takes 8-ish hours without snow it *might* take longer with snow.