Desolation Shelter, Zealand Notch
Where: Desolation Shelter via Zealand Notch
When: 2/20/87
With: Chip
Buoyed by the success of our last winter hike, we decided to have another go at it. Our plan...drive up to the Zealand Trail trailhead, 3.6 miles in from route 302, then ski through Zealand Notch, pick up the Shoal Pond trail, and follow that down to Stillwater and Desolation. The next day, ski back up and head over to the Ethan Pond shelter for the next night.
As always, things didn't quite go the way we planned. To start, the road to the trailhead is closed in the winter. What should've been a 5-10 minute drive wound up being several hours of hard, uphill skiing. By the time we finally reached the trailhead, we were ready to stop right there, but we kept on.
As expected, the route from the trailhead in was pretty easy going, and soon we were at the Zealand Falls hut. Or rather, we were at the base of a steep climb up to the hut. We ditched the skis and climbed up. We were greeted by the caretaker and bought some hot drinks to sip while we evaluated our position. Chip had a blister, which he put a Band-Aid on. The caretaker offered moleskin, but Chip declined. Bad move. Finally, we decided we could make our destination and headed out.
The trip through Zealand Notch was pretty hairy. High winds and a narrow exposed trail on the side of a steep hill made it rough going, but we got through and soon were gliding through the woods again. Before too long, we were at Shoal Pond. The trail went to the side, but we decided to head straight across. Again, the wind made it difficult, but it probably did save us time. Then, back onto old roads and rail tracks for the run down to Stillwater. Not a difficult ski, but long, and with Chip's blister, not much fun for him.
This time, we had Desolation all to ourselves for a rather cold night. I seem to remember have difficulty with the fire. As a result, we weren't in the highest of spirits the next morning and both agreed that another night out was not in the cards. We packed up and headed back the way we came.
The exciting parts of the return trip were near the end. The trail from the hut to the trailhead was a fun downhill, with twists and turns, and we had fun going down. Managed pretty well, too. From the trailhead, we decided to ski down the road, rather than following the woods trail we'd taken up (we should've gone up the road, in hindsight). A gentle downhill, for the most part. Poling and gliding. Along the way, we passed a man skiing with half a ski. He'd broken the back off one of his skis in a gully and was heading out, making pretty good time.
Near the bottom, the road got quite steep and we picked up speed. Chip was much braver and schussed to the road. I wimped out and wiped out but finally made it down. The beer we'd left in the car had frozen, but we thawed it under the heat vents and toasted our trip as we drove.
When: 2/20/87
With: Chip
Buoyed by the success of our last winter hike, we decided to have another go at it. Our plan...drive up to the Zealand Trail trailhead, 3.6 miles in from route 302, then ski through Zealand Notch, pick up the Shoal Pond trail, and follow that down to Stillwater and Desolation. The next day, ski back up and head over to the Ethan Pond shelter for the next night.
As always, things didn't quite go the way we planned. To start, the road to the trailhead is closed in the winter. What should've been a 5-10 minute drive wound up being several hours of hard, uphill skiing. By the time we finally reached the trailhead, we were ready to stop right there, but we kept on.
As expected, the route from the trailhead in was pretty easy going, and soon we were at the Zealand Falls hut. Or rather, we were at the base of a steep climb up to the hut. We ditched the skis and climbed up. We were greeted by the caretaker and bought some hot drinks to sip while we evaluated our position. Chip had a blister, which he put a Band-Aid on. The caretaker offered moleskin, but Chip declined. Bad move. Finally, we decided we could make our destination and headed out.
The trip through Zealand Notch was pretty hairy. High winds and a narrow exposed trail on the side of a steep hill made it rough going, but we got through and soon were gliding through the woods again. Before too long, we were at Shoal Pond. The trail went to the side, but we decided to head straight across. Again, the wind made it difficult, but it probably did save us time. Then, back onto old roads and rail tracks for the run down to Stillwater. Not a difficult ski, but long, and with Chip's blister, not much fun for him.
This time, we had Desolation all to ourselves for a rather cold night. I seem to remember have difficulty with the fire. As a result, we weren't in the highest of spirits the next morning and both agreed that another night out was not in the cards. We packed up and headed back the way we came.
The exciting parts of the return trip were near the end. The trail from the hut to the trailhead was a fun downhill, with twists and turns, and we had fun going down. Managed pretty well, too. From the trailhead, we decided to ski down the road, rather than following the woods trail we'd taken up (we should've gone up the road, in hindsight). A gentle downhill, for the most part. Poling and gliding. Along the way, we passed a man skiing with half a ski. He'd broken the back off one of his skis in a gully and was heading out, making pretty good time.
Near the bottom, the road got quite steep and we picked up speed. Chip was much braver and schussed to the road. I wimped out and wiped out but finally made it down. The beer we'd left in the car had frozen, but we thawed it under the heat vents and toasted our trip as we drove.
