Desolation Shelter, Wilderness Trail
Where: Desolation Shelter via Wilderness Trail
When: 1986/87 Winter
With: Chip
I'm not sure how it all came about, but there we were, Chip and I, standing in the snow at the beginning of the Wilderness Trail with backpacks and skis. Somehow, we decided to take another shot at winter camping, now that three years had passed since our last attempt. Funny, we couldn't convince Dave to join us this time.
We decided to head in on the jeep road on the east of the river, rather than on the Wilderness Trail itself on the west. It began to snow and we stood on a bluff on the river, marveling at the sight of the falling snow and the mountains and proclaimed, "Those bums!" Our friends were missing a great hike.
We crossed the river at Franconia Brook, taking longer than expected but making it, and then headed in further, recrossing the river on the suspension bridge at Cedar Brook. It was the first ski of the season and the lack of conditioning started to show as the trail went on and on. The trip quickly turned into pure plodding, dragging ourselves in to the woods. Then the trail turned tough. Up until this point it was an old railroad bed and relatively easy travel. Now it became a true trail and tough going. As tired as we were, this didn't help.
About this time we got lost, sort of. We were in a flat glade of trees, but there was no trail in sight. We scouted around and finally found the trail, then discovered we were at Stillwater Junction. Boy, were we happy! A quick ski from there and we were at Desolation Shelter, an open lean-to set into an embankment on a stream. We settled in for the night, built a fire, and made dinner.
While we ate, we heard some noise and were joined by a group of students from Dartmouth - two men, two women. They'd come in through Carrigain Notch and ran late. They said the smell of our fire helped guide them through the dark. They quickly set up their own camp, including setting up some plastic sheets for wind blocks. We had no such devices, but we did have fuzzy sleeping bag liners and were fine for the night.
The next morning we all arose about the same time and got breakfast going. The kids had trouble getting their stove lit, but my old dependable Peak 1 fired right up. We offered them a bit of our alcohol after breakfast, then packed up, lit up a couple of pipes, and headed off.
Whether we got lost or were just feeling adventurous, we took a different route back from Stillwater Junction. Following the old railroad bed across the river, we picked up the old Wilderness Trail route on the other side. An unused trail, so we broke trail all the way. We were a bit unsure we were on the right track at one point, but from compass and map we decided we were all right. Sure enough, the trail ended back at the river and we crossed to find the main trail, having cut off some particularly rough trail on the other side.
The rest of the trip out was long, but uneventful. I mostly remember not getting very good kick from my wax.
When: 1986/87 Winter
With: Chip
I'm not sure how it all came about, but there we were, Chip and I, standing in the snow at the beginning of the Wilderness Trail with backpacks and skis. Somehow, we decided to take another shot at winter camping, now that three years had passed since our last attempt. Funny, we couldn't convince Dave to join us this time.
We decided to head in on the jeep road on the east of the river, rather than on the Wilderness Trail itself on the west. It began to snow and we stood on a bluff on the river, marveling at the sight of the falling snow and the mountains and proclaimed, "Those bums!" Our friends were missing a great hike.
We crossed the river at Franconia Brook, taking longer than expected but making it, and then headed in further, recrossing the river on the suspension bridge at Cedar Brook. It was the first ski of the season and the lack of conditioning started to show as the trail went on and on. The trip quickly turned into pure plodding, dragging ourselves in to the woods. Then the trail turned tough. Up until this point it was an old railroad bed and relatively easy travel. Now it became a true trail and tough going. As tired as we were, this didn't help.
About this time we got lost, sort of. We were in a flat glade of trees, but there was no trail in sight. We scouted around and finally found the trail, then discovered we were at Stillwater Junction. Boy, were we happy! A quick ski from there and we were at Desolation Shelter, an open lean-to set into an embankment on a stream. We settled in for the night, built a fire, and made dinner.
While we ate, we heard some noise and were joined by a group of students from Dartmouth - two men, two women. They'd come in through Carrigain Notch and ran late. They said the smell of our fire helped guide them through the dark. They quickly set up their own camp, including setting up some plastic sheets for wind blocks. We had no such devices, but we did have fuzzy sleeping bag liners and were fine for the night.
The next morning we all arose about the same time and got breakfast going. The kids had trouble getting their stove lit, but my old dependable Peak 1 fired right up. We offered them a bit of our alcohol after breakfast, then packed up, lit up a couple of pipes, and headed off.
Whether we got lost or were just feeling adventurous, we took a different route back from Stillwater Junction. Following the old railroad bed across the river, we picked up the old Wilderness Trail route on the other side. An unused trail, so we broke trail all the way. We were a bit unsure we were on the right track at one point, but from compass and map we decided we were all right. Sure enough, the trail ended back at the river and we crossed to find the main trail, having cut off some particularly rough trail on the other side.
The rest of the trip out was long, but uneventful. I mostly remember not getting very good kick from my wax.
