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Last night's temp was the harbinger of winter. Temps dropped down to just above freezing here in the Valley and well below it in the upper elevations. I had to rush pulling up my basil and tarragon and cover my cherry tomatoes! While that's to be expected on Mt Washington, the 27 degrees they had in Littleton certainly was a trifle unexpected. While many of us aren't exactly looking forward to the cold and snow, it surely serves to get people thinking about the coming winter and ice season.
Many folks are already keeping their eyes on what's happening on Cannon and Huntington Ravine. How early will the first ascent of this year be of the Black Dike or Pinnacle Gully? While it's never something to count on, it HAS been done pre-Halloween. One thing that's unquestionable, is that it IS coming sooner or later. Still, we haven't even gotten to leaf-peeper season yet. I drove up into Crawford Notch on Wednesday and the leaves aren't really changing.
The first day of Fall is only this coming Monday and many of us locals are hoping that winter is not quite as snowy or long as it was last year. Here's to another month of glorious Fall rock climbing. Look - when I have to get on my roof to shovel more than once, and still can't see my back yard in early April, that's a little much. [wry grin] But, as they say in New Hampshire. "It is what it is..."
It is a time to start sticking that light shell into your pack, and even in your Camelback when you're out riding. I was up Sawyer River Road on Wednesday and while it was sunny and balmy riding uphill at 2:30 pm, coming downhill 45 minutes later was surprisingly cool. It gets dark quite a bit earlier and having a headlamp in the pack would also be smart. Just sayin'...
A NOTE ABOUT RT 16:
If you've driven up Rt 16 lately you've certainly experienced the slowdowns from the work being done replacing two bridges over the Bearcamp River in Ossipee. Last week I drove down to Wolfeboro and back and spent almost 30 minutes stopped in each direction. That's going to probably get worse from September 27 - October 1, when over that period of time Rt 16 will actually be closed! Just another thing to be aware of.
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective March 21, 2024
I can't actually say that there is nothing out there that can't be climbed. That would be foolish. But for the average, or a little above average climber, that's probably correct. That said, I did hear that there is climbable ice on Parasol in Dixville Notch. Not sure how that will be after we get a foot of heavy wet snow on Saturday. Regardless, here's a few pix I took today just to document things.
Huntington Ravine
AVALANCHE
Repentance
OUT
Standard Route
OUT
Dracula
OUT
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
VALLEY CYCLING:
I did my first mountain bike ride in a couple of months yesterday, just up Sawyer River Road and back. I was hoping to see a change in foliage, but even up there things were still very green.
INSTANT BUG REPORT - Bug CON 1:
The mosquito population seems to be lower these days. Thank goodness... That's one of the good things about the declining temps. But the ticks are still out there, so be vigilant.
Mobile Version Of NEClimbs:
Up on one of the Mount Washington Valley's finest crags and want to know what that climb you're looking at is? Or maybe you're on your way up from Boston and want to check out the Ice Report for your upcoming weekend plans. Or more likely, you're at work just want to daydream about your next adventure. Well if you have a smart phone handy, you can get to NEClimbs from anywhere you have cell service. While it doesn't offer every single feature of the site and it's not an "app", in mobile form, it does do a whole lot and is very useful. Here is the live link to the mobile version of NEClimbs:
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
NEClimbs & White Mountain Report On Facebook:
Join us and LIKE us on Facebook. I'll try and post interesting pix every Thursday and the latest Ice Report in the season, tho certainly not the whole Report. Here's where you can check it out:
Climbing is a very dangerous sport. You can get hurt or even kill yourself. When you go climbing, you do so of your own free will. Everything on this site is to be taken with a grain of salt. Don't blame us if you get up some totally heinous route, in over your head and fall and hurt yourself.