The day started out according to plan when my alarm went off at 1:30am. Had most things prepared the night before so just the usual morning activities and then hit the road by 2:30am. The skies were clear and it looked like the forecast would hold good.

Made good time up I91 from Western Mass. Once past Brattleboro I don't recall seeing another vehicle heading north. Getting further north there seemed to be a little more cloud, "Just remnants" I told myself. Well, the snow storm started around the time I hit Lisbon and from there on in the wind and snow just got stronger. I still made good time and hit the Appalachia parking lot at 6am. Although it was getting light, dawn would be around 6:30am so I decided to have a cat nap for 30 minutes and see if the winds and snow would die down.

6:30 - howling wind and driving snow! I guess this would be a real winter gear shakedown. I booted up, threw on some layers and went to check the trail head. A pretty, wind sculpted drift of dry powder maybe 18" deep at the start of the trail. I decided to bare-boot it to start with and see how things went. So, crampons and shoes strapped to the pack. Heave pack on and away!

By the time I'd got beyond the old railroad I was wondering if it was time to try out some additional footwear. I figured maybe things would be different in the woods so I blasted on through the powder as was.

My new boots are Salomon SM Lites. I'd worn them around the apartment for a week and stuffed the toe boxes every night with small towels to try and ease them out for my wide feet. Wore them on Wachusett last weekend and they were fine. Fifteen minutes into this hike and I was ready to turn around! They seemed tighter than before. I put it down to the cold and decided to press on and see if they would ease as they warmed up. This they did and although still needing a little more breaking in performed well for the rest of the hike.

The trees took most of the punch out of the wind but the snow continued to fall. There was about 4-6 inches of powder on the ground. The lower part of the Air Line is not particularly well blazed but I had some partly snow-filled footprints to follow. One set of quite small boot prints. I kept wondering who they belonged to and where that person was now.

I bare-booted until the start of the first steeper section at which point I promptly slipped and fell. With all the rocks on the Air Line I decided it had to be crampon time rather than snowshoes. The SM Lites have a heel lug but are slightly flexible so no toe lug. Because of my fused spine it can be a struggle to reach my feet so I needed a crampon that would mount easily. I ended up buying Grivel G12's with the NewMatic binding. Now I know I'll never do any real ice climbing, and the G12's might be considered overkill for regular trail work, but the NewMatic binding sold me on them. Step into the toe basket, snap the heel lock and thread the one safety strap. Quick, simple and secure.

I did manage to put a couple of holes in my wind pants, but stopped short of drawing blood. The crampons worked a charm, I immediately felt more confident on my feet and tackled tricky sections that would have had me turning around without them. I even got to do a little frontpointing! There are several sections of the trail where water flows down and some of these were ice from side to side and fairly steep. No problem! Although the boots are not stiff enough for true ice-climbing they got the job done. There is something satisfying about nonchalantly walking up several yards of smooth, pitched ice :)

I climbed the Air Line back in the balmy days of mid September. In the heat then it seemed like an interminable climb. In the cold today it also seemed to go on and on and on. I just checked and from trail head to treeline is a little over 3,000ft of altitude gain. I guess that would explain it.

For comic relief I had two wildlife close encounters. The first was when I spooked a bird that must have had some sort of burrow in the snow. It fairly exploded out of the powder. Not sure which of us was more startled. The second was when I paused at one of the big step-ups. A chipmunk popped up out of the snow not a foot in front of my face. He stood there a moment giving me a "What's your problem?" stare and then scurried off.

As I climbed higher the snow amounts increased and the temperature went down. The trees were encrusted with ice which creaked and crackled at the trees flexed in the wind. There were also some alarming bangs and crashes off in the woods which I attributed to limbs succumbing to the weight of ice buildup.

I always carry fluids in bottles stashed in an insulated lunch bag in the pack but keep one handy in a side pocket of my pack. Well, at some point instead of Gatorade I found I had half a bottle of green slush. I refilled the bottle from the pack and stashed it inside my jacket layers so my body heat would keep it liquid. Apart from having it slip down every time I undid the pack hip belt this worked well and I had unfrozen fluids the rest of the hike.

I had the trail to myself or over two hours when suddenly I noticed a 20-something couple coming up fast. This Canadian couple were attempting Adams having done Washington some time before. They were well kitted out but neither had crampons. This didn't seem to slow them down any. We chatted briefly and then off they went. What a pace! They were soon out of sight. I followed their tracks all the way to treeline and noticed where they had to get creative in coping with some of the more challenging spots. Ahhh, youth!

The last stretch before treeline was quite magical. Over a foot of powder on the trail and trees decorated by snow and rime ice. I finally reached the sign announcing the Alpine Zone. I knew by now I was not going to be attempting Adams. Getting out above treeline was like going from the fridge to the freezer! Nothing to stop the wind and there was plenty of it. Visibility was also poor with all the new and blowing snow. I took a few pictures and beat a hasty retreat.

On the way up I had noticed the Scar Trail and recalled reading that this was an easier descent than the Air Line. When I reached the junction on the way back I decided to check it out. I had never taken this trail before so had no idea what to expect. What I got was a wonderful trail covered in pristine powder, I was the first to break trail after this storm. The trail is on the opposite side of the ridge to the Air Line and the snow amounts were greater - much greater. There had to have been 18" in most and over two feet in some places.

I have to extend a thank you to the folk who maintain this trail. It was well cleared and there seemed to be fresh yellow blazes. These were a welcome sight in places where the trail gets steep and narrow. With all the snow it might have been easy to go of trail but a yellow blaze either down or behind was a great reassurance.

The Scar trail seemed much less rocky than the Air Line and the going was a lot easier. The last stretch before joining the Valley Way trail was pretty steep and I was glad to have the poles to test out footings. One spot, where there is a stream crossing was pretty much a leap of faith.

The last mile or so of the Valley Way trail is pretty rocky underfoot and the snow did nothing but hide them. After a few near miss ankle twistings I decided it was time to try out the snowshoes. Hell, I'd carried them all the way up and back so I'd better use them. I bought Tubbs Altitude 30's. With a full pack I top the scales at around 230lbs so I went for the 30's. They also have a nice quick lock binding that snaps into place and really holds the boot well without creating any pressure points.

The snowshoes were great in smoothing out the bumps and I managed to make some good time and was less worried about an ankle twist. Unfortunately the powder offered little grip and the less aggressive crampons on the shoes let me down on a couple of rocks and I took a spill or two. No real damage but when I reached the stream crossing I decided it was time to go back to crampons. I could probably have bare-booted it back from there but I had got accustomed to expecting the grip afforded by the crampons.

Before long I could hear traffic and soon I was back at the car. Only three other vehicles so plenty of parking to be had.

All in all an interesting hike. No summit reached, but a little under 6 miles, 3,000 ft of altitude gain and around 4,400ft at treeline was a pretty good test run for my gear. I learned a few things and got to see some cool stuff. I think I'll wait for the snow to get packed out before I venture up again though. Will be nice to be above those damn rocks!