Crag Camp

Where: RMC Crag Camp, Mt. Adams
When: 3/24-3/27, 1997
With: Brian White, Brad Hennemuth, Jim DeLuco


This hike began to form in late 1996, when Brian started recruiting for a winter trip to the Northern Presidentials. He'd tried to organize a similar trip the previous year on short notice, but was unable to pull it together so he figured that the long lead-time might yield more success. Though I'd never hiked with Brian before, my winter camping experience got me on the invitee list and the time frame he was suggesting - mid to late March - fit right in with my annual birthday vacation, so I signed up.

Brian proposed a trip to one of the shelters run by the Randolph Mountain Club. His preference was Crag Camp, an unheated enclosed cabin on the rim of King Ravine. Second choice was Grey Knob, a heated cabin with a caretaker, though in a less spectacular location. The other two, The Log Cabin and The Perch, were both open shelters and thus fell to the bottom of the preference list. The plan was to hike to the shelter the first day, use it as a base camp for summit attempts the second day, and then return on day three.

Throughout the winter, plans were developed via e-mail. We decided to pass on a true winter hike (pre-equinox), opting instead for later dates that included a full moon. We also discussed gear (no need for four stoves and four cooksets) and food. The food issue turned out to be tricky. Common meals made sense, but were difficult to arrange with four sets of preferences. We agreed to let everyone fend for themselves on lunches and snacks and to share breakfasts and dinners. Okay, so what to have? I suggested oatmeal for breakfast, which was fine with everyone but Brian. I offered to entertain other ideas, but Brian said no, so I said I'd bring oatmeal for everyone. Dinner: to get the ball rolling, I volunteered to be in charge of a dinner of soup and tortellini. Brian said fine, but he'd bring his own sauce - pesto. We said pesto was fine, so we had one dinner settled. For the other dinner, no one had any ideas so we decided to have each person bring an individual-size freeze-dried meal and we'd have something of a potluck supper.

Finally the week of our hike arrived. To get an early start on the trail, we were all spending the night before the hike up north - Brian, Brad & I at the AMC's Pinkham Notch facility and Jim at a motel in Gorham. Brian and Brad were taking it one step further and going up two days earlier, hoping to get in a warm-up hike. I headed north on Monday after a morning running errands. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I had a nice leisurely drive up route 16 to Pinkham Notch. I arrived around 2PM and found a note from Brian saying I was checked in and he had the keys. I went to the room and knocked, but got no answer, so I returned to the lobby and ran into Brian coming back from a short hike. We went up to the room and chatted a bit until Brad showed up a little while later. He'd hiked up to Tuckerman's Ravine and had then come back down the ski trail on a plastic sled! Sounded like fun.

For the rest of the afternoon, we relaxed in the room and chatted. It turned out that problems at work had kept Brian on Sunday, so he'd come up Monday morning also. The room was a very nice little place, with a bed (which Brad had claimed, since he'd come in the night before) and a bunk bed. Brian had moved into the top bunk so I got the bottom. Around 6 we headed over to the dining hall for dinner, sharing a table with 4-5 other hikers and the hall with 20-30 7th graders from Amherst NH. The kids were noisy but not obnoxious and we had a nice meal of salad, bread, corn chowder, and shepherd's pie. I had to ask a few times before getting my veggie version of the pie, but overall it was a terrific meal. We chatted a good bit with an Asian woman whom Brad had befriended earlier in the day while hiking. She was an artist, staying at the lodge for a few days and trying to initiate a program in watercolor painting. Interesting woman.

As we finished dinner, Jim showed up. He'd come down from his motel in Gorham for a strategy session. We walked outside, marveled at comet Hale-Bopp glowing over Mt. Washington, and then headed to the room to decide gear. We figured out who'd carry what, made arrangements for the morning, and then went back outside for another look at the comet. It was mighty cold out and my shivers gave me a bit of pause about the days ahead, but the warmth of the lodge dispelled them when we returned. We washed up, climbed into bed, and were soon asleep.

The next day dawned clear and beautiful. The sun gleamed off the summit of Mt Washington and everything looked fine for our hike. After a hearty breakfast, we packed up and hit the road. A few minutes later we arrived in Gorham, enjoyed the smell of the local pulp mill (!), bought some bread for the trip, picked up Jim and then headed for the trails. To give ourselves some options, we stopped first at the Appalachia parking lot, where we left two cars (mine and Brian's) and then we drove in the remaining two cars to Lowe's. Spotting the cars would allow us to take a different route down if we wished.

Finally at Lowe's, we packed up pretty quickly. For me, it was decision time for my snowshoes. A number of reports had indicated that they weren't needed, and I would've been glad to leave their weight behind, but I'd hate to need them and not have them. Brad and Jim were definitely bringing theirs, and Brian had made his decision by leaving his back in his car at the Appalachia parking lot. I finally decided to pack mine along. A short time later we were at the trailhead of Lowe's path, where we took some initial pictures and set off.

A note on the pictures: One of Brian's objectives this trip was to take lots of photos, so he brought his SLR, 40 rolls of 36 exposure film, and three pocket 35mm cameras, which he assigned to each of us with orders to take as many pictures as possible. It wound up being a fun activity for all of us throughout the trip.

And one more equipment note: Brad had brought a gear sled of his own design that he planned to haul of the mountain. He loaded about half of his stuff in it, with the other half in a pack on his back, and had an elaborate attachment system. The sled itself was two plastic kid's sleds, one on top of the other in a clamshell setup. His gear was inside in a vapor-barrier bag to keep the snow out. We were a bit skeptical about his ability to haul it up the mountain, but he was sure it would work.

And so, all geared up, we set off around 9:30AM. The day stayed sunny, though a haze was moving in from the southwest, and there was no wind to speak of, which kept the air temperatures comfortable. We traveled at a leisurely pace, enjoying the surroundings and taking pictures. The trail started off climbing quite moderately, with a just few steep spots. Then about a mile in, it started to rise more rapidly. I was in the lead, followed by Jim, Brad, and finally Brian. Jim and I often found ourselves hiking together, with Brad and Brian some distance behind.

Around noon, we arrived at The Log Cabin, which despite its name was an 8-person lean-to. While we rested there and ate lunch, two hikers (middle-aged men) came down the trail and chatted with us. We mentioned our plans and were told that our intended destination, Crag Camp, was full with 8 college students. The heated Grey Knob cabin however had plenty of room. We were a bit disappointed, but agreed that we could spend the night at Grey Knob and then head over to Crag Camp the following day (after the college crew had left). The possibility of a warm night actually didn't seem too bad.

After lunch, we started up the final mile of the trail. This was much steeper than the lower section and I found myself extremely grateful for the 12-point crampons I was wearing. The firm, solid grip on the trail went a long way toward getting me up that mountain. Jim, wearing only boots, had a much tougher time. Brad had snowshoes with cleats, and seemed to do okay, and Brian also had crampons.

After a lot of climbing and a lot of stops, the trail began to level off, the trees started to shorten, and views began to appear to the north. Finally, there was an honest-to-goodness level stretch with a magnificent view across the mountains. Shortly afterwards, a marker appeared saying we'd reached the quarter-mile buffer boundary around the cabin, and we knew we were almost there. A bit of easy walking and we popped above treeline onto some rocks at a junction named The Quay. A sign there said the cabin was 100 yards away.

Jim & I arrived first, and we set off for the cabin, intending to drop our gear and return to greet the others. We followed the trail, but soon hit a junction with signs indicating we need to make a turn. We followed those past some other junctions and found ourselves walking on a fairly untraveled path above treeline along the side of the mountain. After a bit, we decided we'd made a mistake (the trail to the cabin should've had much more traffic) and turned around. This time, we found the cabin and dropped our packs at last. No one was there, but there was plenty of evidence of others.

I headed back to The Quay to wait for Brad & Brian, who arrived a short while later, and we all went to the cabin. Grey Knob was a rather small facility, a bit beat up, with a single common room with a couple of tables and a kitchen area, and a sleeping loft. A number of foam mattresses were scattered around up there and it looked pretty crowded, but we figured we'd find a place. Just the same, Brad and I decided to walk down and check out Crag Camp, just to see what the situation was. A couple of hikers arrived just as we were heading out, guests of Grey Knob back from one of the summits. Judging by their accents (German?), they weren't local boys!

We chatted with them briefly and then started toward Crag Camp. We bounced down the trail, free of our packs, and soon arrived at the spring that both camps used. We'd been told it was running (good news, since we wouldn't have to melt snow), but what we found was discouraging. Deep in a pit in the snow, covered by a board, was a tiny trickle of water. It was running all right, but getting it out in any great quantity would be a challenge.

Back on the trail, we arrived at Crag Camp a few minutes later and found the college group on their way out! Wanting an early start the next day, they were going to walk down to the Log Cabin and spend the night there. That left the cabin empty. We talked with them a while (they were from Seton Hall in Maryland and were actually getting college credit for their hiking) and then practically ran back to Grey Knob. When we arrived, we found the caretaker outside and he said that Brian and Jim were already packing up. He'd told them that Crag's Capacity was 20, so they were planning to head down anyway. When we told them that we'd have the place to ourselves, they were mighty happy.

We flew down the trail and quickly claimed Crag Camp. What a beautiful place. New within the last 4 years, it had a huge high-ceilinged common room with a kitchen area and a number of tables, some in a glass-enclosed corner with a view out over the ravine. Three bunkrooms provided sleeping space for 8, 8, and 4 people, respectively and a separate locked room was for the caretaker (not present in winter). Not heated or insulated, but we didn't mind a bit. Hard to believe we had it all to ourselves. We quickly settled in, taking over one of the bunkrooms and spreading our gear out around the cabin.

After a bit of rest, Jim, Brad & I decided to head back up the trail for water. We arrived at the spring to find another of the Grey Knob guests already there attempting to fill a collapsible jug. We all pitched in and worked to clear and enhance the trickle. Using my ice axe, we enlarged the opening and dug a slightly deeper pool to dip our cups into. We filled the other guy's jug first, after which he left, and then we set about working on our own needs. We soon had a good system going and filled our jug pretty quickly. Back at the cabin, we used up a lot of that water right away, so Brad and I made yet another trip to the spring.

Finally, we decided we'd done enough chores and settled in for a quiet evening in the cabin. Hot drinks were followed by soup and then tortellini with pesto sauce, making for a pleasant evening of conversation and food. Brian decided to pass on the tortellini after getting his fill of soup, so we wound up only cooking up one of the two packages I'd brought. By this time, a storm had moved in and it was snowing pretty steadily, though the temps were just at freezing. The caretaker checked in later and told us the storm was expected to continue all night and into the next day. That affected our plans to hike to a summit, but we figured there might be some clearing in the afternoon. Occasionally, we'd catch glimpses of lights in the town below, indicating the storm was mostly above and around us. Maybe we would get clearing.

We headed to bed around 9 and soon most everyone was asleep. I stayed up a bit, listening to a radio and finally going to sleep around 11. I went to sleep all bundled up, but soon shed several layers as my winter bag quickly turned into a sauna. I woke at 2, took a walk to the outhouse, and then slept until 6. The wind howled all night, shaking the building and throwing rain at the roof just over our heads.

The storm was still going the next morning, so we all stayed in our sleeping bags until 9 or so. There wasn't much point in getting up any earlier. Finally we got up to make breakfast and plans for the day. Brad & I decided to take a short hike up the Spur trail to an overlook named the Knight's Castle. It was a short hike, though straight uphill, and would be a good check of the weather conditions. We elected to wear our snowshoes, since the storm had dropped 6-8 inches of new snow on the trail. Turned out to be a good move and 20 tough minutes later we were at the overlook. Not much in the way of views up, but the clouds would occasionally part below to give us views of the cabin and the valley. We stayed a bit and then headed back to the main trail. Since we'd climbed up so quickly, we decided to go a bit further up to check conditions. The trail was easier here, and soon emerged from the tree line. That's when the wind hit. Unprotected by the trees, we were buffeted by howling winds and snow racing across the rocky slope. Fortunately, we were well protected with goggles and face masks so it was actually somewhat enjoyable, or at least very interesting.

We moved up a bit further, but the trail disappeared and we had to stop. Then, through a break in the storm, Brad spotted a cairn high up the slope. It took me a while to see it, but we managed to get a lock on it and struggled our way up toward it. Turns out that what Brad thought was a cairn was a rock, but a true cairn was nearby and we each gave it a ceremonial touch as we arrived. We weren't equipped to go further, so we just stood there a while in the tempest, enjoying the experience, before heading back down to the cabin.

We had lunch with the others and convinced them to repeat the trip with us in the afternoon, since the storm still showed no signs of lifting. A small hike would be better than none, we figured. So back up the hill we went. This time I wore crampons, since we'd packed down the trail on our earlier trip. We got everyone to the treeline, where Brian turned back. Jim, Brad & I continued to the first cairn, and then Brad & I went up two cairns further. Though we could see the next cairn that was about it and we decided to head back. We rejoined the rest of the group and spent the afternoon resting, playing cards, and reading in the cabin. For dinner, we cooked up the remaining package of tortellini, supplanted with some rice pilaf.

The caretaker checked in a bit later with a tenuous weather report and gave us instructions for our departure, asking us to sweep out the snow, pick up, etc. This turned out to be his last night at Gray Knob. After a winter of 7 days on/7 days off, his tenure was over and he was heading out. He said he planned to spend a few days skiing before starting his next job as a trail crew supervisor with the Green Mountain Club. What a life. His guests at Grey Knob had all left, so he had the place to himself for his final night. We wished him well and then headed for bed soon after he left. Again, I stayed up late, listening to the radio until midnight and then sleeping until 6.

Around 6:15, Brian said, "Sunlight!" Sure enough, sunshine was streaming in the windows. Everyone except Jim jumped out of bed and went to look at the clear sunny views we had. It was gorgeous, though significantly colder (low 20s vs. low 30s previously). Some clouds still raced across the peaks, but more often than not, the summits were clear. We roused Jim, had breakfast, and then packed up for an assault on Mt. Adams. We all carried our packs, with various emergency gear in case of trouble. By the time we got out the door however, clouds had moved in again and the peaks were obscured. We set off anyway, determined to go as far as we could.

Within a short time, we were back at the first cairn, where we decided to take a shot at the summit. One cairn at a time, we figured. Going at a slow, steady pace, we picked our way along the trail. It wasn't terribly difficult going, to be honest. The hard climbing had been between the cabin and the first cairn. Above that point, it was relatively level walking on a firm, though icy surface. The weather made it challenging though. High winds and fog as a warm air mass blew across the snowy mountains. The fog was thick enough to limit our visibility to one cairn ahead and one behind. Still, we only ran into trouble following the trail once or twice and soon the huge cairn at Thunderstorm Junction appeared. From there we followed the trail up the cone of Mt Adams and shortly found ourselves at the top. No views at all, but we took plenty of pictures as we stood by the summit marker in the fog.

We stayed about 15 minutes before heading back. Remarkably, the wind had already erased our footprints and there were a few moments of indecision about the route, but eventually we made it back to Thunderstorm Junction and then back along the trail to the final cairn. Here we ran into trouble because the fog completely hid the trail leading down into the woods. All we had was a wide, snowy slope ahead of us. We weren't too concerned though, since we had a pretty good idea of which way to go. We fanned out a bit, headed down, and soon found our route.

Back at the cabin after our adventure, we had lunch and then packed up for the trip out. We decided to take the Spur trail down to the Appalachia parking lot (where Brian and I had left our cars), rather than retracing our route down Lowe's Path. This unbroken trail started right at the cabin and Brad & I led the way with our snowshoes. Jim had brought shoes, but elected not to use them (it would've been his first time) and Brian had left his snowshoes in his car. I found the going very easy, as I floated down the steep trail on a soft cushion of new snow. Brad had a tougher time, trying to figure out how best to maneuver his sled down the hill. He reversed his ropes and suspended it in front of himself, attempting to guide its progress with hiking poles. I quickly moved far ahead of him, but stopped after a bit to check his progress. Suddenly, he came into view whooshing down on top of his sled! Sitting on top, he was able to steer a bit with his snowshoes. There was a lot of crashing and stops/starts, but it got him down the hill.

We continued this way for a good while, until the trail leveled off as it began to join other trails. The woods opened up and I switched to automatic hiking mode, moving along fast and steady. I stopped every so often and waited for the others to catch up, once at a bridge along a beautiful brook, but mostly I hiked by myself.

I arrived at my last stop (the junction of Short Line and Airline) well ahead of the others and spent a good 20-25 minutes enjoying the woods. I was startled to hear voices at one point and discovered a couple of men nearby. I thought they were hikers and expected to have them come up the trail, but they pretty much stayed where they were. After the others joined me and we set out on the last leg of our journey, I discovered they were setting up tubing among the trees to collect maple sap. I was pretty impressed at their system.

At long last, I emerged from the woods at the Appalachia parking lot. The weather was pretty mild (I'd felt some rain drops) and I felt a bit self-conscious as I walked toward my car wearing snowshoes and all my winter clothing. I was tired, but happy to be back and looking forward to a change of clothes and a relaxing drive home. Then I noticed the plastic covering my car window. My car had been vandalized. Driver's window smashed. Brian had his passenger window smashed. Bummer. Fortunately, nothing of great value was taken (a knapsack of clothing and some books from my car and nothing from Brian's). The plastic had been provided by the local chief of police, who also left his business card explaining where to go to report the damage (Lowe's Store). I swept out the broken glass as best I could, called Jane (the vandals either hadn't seen or didn't want my cell phone) to let her know I was out of the woods, and awaited the others.

They soon arrived and we decided to have Jim & Brad leave their gear with Brian while I shuttled them to their cars at Lowe's. After I dropped them off, I went in to the store to file a report. Two women and a little girl were there. Turns out they were the chief's wife, daughter, and granddaughter (he turned out to be the owner of Lowe's!). They expected him right back, but he never showed, so I wrote down the details and headed for home. It was a cold ride without a window, but I was okay wearing my winter gear (though I probably looked odd). I called Jane again once I crossed the MA/NH border, made one stop for gas and then drove home, arriving around 8:30PM.

Thoughts:

A very relaxing hike. There were some tough spots on the trails, to be sure, but we took lots of breaks and made a point of eating and drinking at regular intervals. We also kept the distances reasonable. For example, the hike in only covered a little over 3 miles (though with a 3000 foot elevation gain), and we took 5 hours to walk it. As a result, I never reached the state of exhaustion I often hit on my hikes.

The cabin was almost sinfully nice. Large, clean, new, comfortable, with phenomenal views of the King Ravine, Mts. Madison and Adams (when the clouds cleared) and the Randolph/Gorham valley. It was a pleasure to be able to sit and relax, protected from the elements. Even the outhouse was especially nice. I particularly liked the window in there!
I was glad I decided to bring my snowshoes, but I probably could've made my way through without them. The crampons however were essential. They definitely saved me a lot of effort on the hike in and on the summit hike they were vital. This was my first real use of them and they performed very well. I had one incident where I punctured my boot with a crampon point (how I missed my toe, I don't know), but otherwise, no mishaps.

In general, all of my gear worked great and most everything I brought was used. I probably wouldn't have missed my ice ax if I didn't have it, but it was handy on some of the steep parts of the hike in and on our summit hike. My winter sleeping bag could've been left behind also, since my 20-degree bag would've been fine for the temps we encountered. I didn't mind the extra warmth though.

It was a good group of folks, all different. Brian was slow and cautious, and tended to do things 'by the book', since he didn't have a lot of winter camping experience on which to base his actions. Jim was also something of a novice and somewhat under-equipped, but his strength and willingness to try propelled him along just fine. He appeared to rely more on his own common sense for his judgements. I particularly admired his ability to sleep long and soundly! Brad was the most experienced of my companions and seemed the closest match to me. We both really enjoyed just standing in the wind above tree line, for example, and both came from a lifetime of hiking (Brian and Jim had only begun hiking recently).

On the hike to the summit, we all carried our backpacks with various amounts of gear. Though no one carried anything approaching a full load, we had changes of clothes, a sleeping bag, first aid kits, emergency shelters, etc. At first I thought this to be a bit overcautious and I brought my pack along almost as an afterthought, mostly to give me a way to carry my water bottle. Left to myself, I might've made the summit trip with no food, water, emergency gear, etc. In hindsight however, bringing the packs was a wise move. The minimal amount of weight we carried was more than offset by the security our packs represented should anything had happened. Mountain journals are full of reports of experienced, capable folks in bad situations because they weren't adequately prepared.

Though I enjoyed everyone's company, some of my favorite parts of the trip were when I was off hiking on my own.

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