Railroad Cut, NH – Ice Climbing

Railroad Cut – Ice Climbing

SW4-Cheshire North Rail Trail

Keene, NH

So here we go again....another single digit day, but the addiction is strong and I couldn’t resist, yet again! Was supposed to be climbing the Auburn Ice Canyon but that got cancelled because the floor wasn't hard enough and there was only one flow up compared to the 4 we climbed on two weeks ago. So Kevin and I drove up to Keene, meeting Jeff on the way. Nuno and his son David was in the parking lot when we pulled in. Later George Adams came by and climbed with us. The low temps were really tough on my asthma and breathing. It went from 13 to 7 degrees in 3 hours. Plus, The Cut is like a wind tunnel and as the temps dropped, it got harder for me to climb. At the end of our day I felt exhausted, like I had felt when I hiked to Lion's Head the weekend before. But my exhaustion was due to the low temps. I did get in 4 climbs but could only finish the first two, my hands were so cold. Just a few photos of our day at “The RR Cut”.

Jeff checking out the climbs

Climbs are in, but it's gonna be brutal!

Jeff gearing up

Nuno setting up

Jeff up top, Kevin & George looking on

David

Nuno with David on is belay

Kevin

George

Jeff did a fine job on this flow but near the top, lost his right crampon

Kevin and I selfie....it's too cold to smile!

Kevin

George leading some real nice, thin stuff!

Arethusa Falls - Winter Solo Hike

Mt. Willard - Solo HIke

Mt. Willard summit

Willey's Slide (ice climbing) on the right

Mt. Willard (2,865ft)

Elevation Gain: 900ft

Trails: Mt. Willard

Difficulty: Very Easy

Did a short hike today and the cool temps were invigorating and just wonderful! 4 years ago I hiked Mt. Willard and it was a different scene. Check out my blogpost here from that hike. 

Although there was much less snow today, I still needed my microspikes! Some parts of the Mt. Willard trail were very slushy, muddy and icy! There were a lot of hikers who weren't prepared with some form of traction, and I saw many slipping and falling. 

Centennial Pool

This section of the trail was especially icy!

Summit view of Crawford Notch

On my way back down to the trailhead I 

took a detour and hiked down the climber's

path to the top of "The Cleft" ice climb. 

Not much ice for climbing!
This is a pretty cool ice climb once all 
the ice is in. See my blogpost here for 
my January and March climbs on The Cleft.

I was tempted to descend through the Cleft

but there were too many leaves and loose

rocks for my liking and comfort. I tried another
path off to the side to descend but it led 

to nowhere. Probably a "pee-pee path". 

So I backtracked and finished my hike. 

Near the trailhead and just off the trail at the first water crossing, someone

realized it wasn't a good idea to continue the hike with a baby stroller!

Mt. Pemigewasset - Summer Hiking

Tree pose atop Mt. Pemigewasset

Mt. Pemigewasset (2,557ft)

Elevation Gain: 1,557ft

Trail: Mt. Pemigewasset

Distance: 3.6 miles roundtrip

NH 52 With A View

Difficulty: Easy/Moderate

Starting off the Labor Day weekend hiking Mt. Pemigewasset with Boomer and his mom, Noreen. The weather was incredible! A bit hot and humid, but sunny for the day! Lots of others hiking up and down the trail as well. Enjoy some photos that we took of our hike today!

Boomer takes the lead

Eh, shaka!

The Indian Head Rock Profile from Route 3

Iron Mountain - Solo Hike

Shaka from the Iron Mountain summit

Iron Mountain (2,726 ft)
Elevation Gain: 800 ft
Miles: 1.6 roundtrip
Duration: 1hr, 15min (includes stops along the trail and at the summit)
NH 52 With A View
Difficulty: Easy to moderate


Another fine day to bag a NH 52 With A View summit! Although not much views at the summit, but there were views on the way to the summit.

A side path (0.6 mile) lead to a great outlook up the Rocky Branch Valley

While a ledge on the left of the trail at 0.7 mile, provided some eastward views.

Some photos along the Iron Mountain trail

(yes, I love photo collages!)

I didn't have time to check out the Mine or the south ledges beyond the summit. 

But I hope to be able to return to check those out when I can get a clearer day. 

Tagged!

Fire tower remnants at the summit

Clouds over the Presidential Range

After bagging the summit, I hurried back down to the trailhead and headed over to Cathedral Ledge to check out some newly bolted routes on a new rock climbing crag called Another Classoom. 4 other hikers and a dog headed up while I was coming down. And a group of 5 were out strolling up the dirt road past the trailhead parking lot as I was coming off the trail.