Hermit Lake: First backpack of 2016!

This past weekend was the first backpacking trip of the year. Pinkham Notch was busy, but luckily for us most of the people out that day were day trippers who were either making the pilgrimage to Tuckerman Ravine to get a few turns in or going up to soak in the sunshine on this bluebird day. We got our overnight permit, packed our food, and headed up the trail in a leisurely fashion. Brittany and I planned to spend the night at the Hermit Lake shelters. The dry trail soon turned icy and we put on our Microspikes to keep from slipping and sliding.

Upon arriving at the shelters, we picked out a lean-to, dropped our packs and ate a quick snack before scampering up to Tuckerman Ravine to watch the skiers. Due to the rather tame winter here in New England, it was impossible to ski down from the bowl, and only the left gully and the bottom half of the headwall were skiable.  Skiers, boarders, and dogs were all out; people were sledding, skiing, drinking beers, and having a grand old time. As the sun dropped lower in the sky, shadows crept across the bowl turning the soft spring corn into an icy, unforgivable slope. We hiked back down to the shelters, played a few rounds of rummy, made dinner, and were in our sleeping bags as dusk fell.

The next morning neither of us really wanted to get out of our cozy sleeping bags, but our desire for breakfast was greater than our desire to stay in bed, so we got up and donned our down jackets, winter hats, and warmest layers. After a nice hot breakfast, we hit the trail. We decided to go down a different way via the Boott Spur Link trail and Boott Spur trail, which meant we first had to ascend quite steeply to the top of a nearby ridge. It was quite the adventure! The trail was incredibly steep and slick with snow; slowly, but surely we gained elevation as we skirted around the icy patches, clinging onto tree branches. Once above treeline, the condition of the trail improved, and we pushed onwards and upwards.

The view from the ridge was impressive: below us lay Hermit Lake and the shelters scattered through the trees, across the way the summit was clearly visible, and beneath the summit cone wind-loaded snow clung to the steep sides of Tuckerman Ravine.

The next couple miles down the Boott Spur trail had a little bit of everything: sweeping views, rock hopping on top of boulders, icy patches, bog bridges, a cool glacial erratic (Split Rock), and a ladder. By the time we reached we made it back down to Pinkham Notch, we were exhausted. The first overnight was a blast, and left us wanting more mountain adventures!