The gym squad (like any friend group) was having some trouble finding a day to hike. We ended up planning for a Friday (well technically split over two Fridays), in order to get everyone able to hike. When dates are limited, you have to plan a “weather-proof” hike if you can. Unfortunately for us, the weather was going to be bitterly cold with high winds. I decided Tecumseh would be the best choice. It’s a good “beginner” winter hike and it’s sheltered all the way to the summit. Extra bonus, it’s on a ski mountain so if things went really wrong, ski patrol is close by. This would be my third summit of Tecumseh.

The forecast in Fahrenheit: “In and out of clouds. 7-10 degrees, feels like -9 to -17. Wind 30MPH”. It was going to be cold. I’ve hiked in 8 degrees, but it was a still and sunny day. Of course, even then I was sweating. For this hike, I packed extra gloves, clothing, hats, and hand warmers. All things I don’t typically use. *foreshadowing*

Picked up the ladies at 7, with a planned start around 9. We made a pit stop at Mad River Coffee, for a bathroom stop and coffee/tea/breakfast items. I picked up a muffin that I stuffed in my pack for an extra snack.

Trailhead selfie!

We arrived at Waterville Valley Ski Area (where the trailhead is located), and despite the forecast, the parking lot was full of skiers and snowboarders. We parked, tried to gear up as much as possible inside the car, and walked to the trailhead. Common advice for winter hiking is “start cold”, everyone’s cold is different as you can see in this trailhead photo.

The first “half” of the ascent is a rather nice meander through open birch woods, along a brook. Then you get to the sign “View”. Which takes you a few feet over to the ski slopes!

After we enjoyed a VERY brief stop, I said “Now begins the work”, as I knew it would be a steep long slog for a bit. We also put on our microspikes at this point as we hadn’t needed them yet, but the steep ahead required them.

Looking back at the ladies

As you get higher, of course, it gets colder. The trick of winter hiking is to regulate your temperature as much as possible. Wear enough layers to be warm, but not so warm that you’re sweating. Sweat is moisture that in cold temperatures makes you even colder. I was sweating, I always sweat, I’m pretty sure I could hike naked in 0 degrees and still sweat. But I was trying to mitigate it as much as possible, while still keeping all parts of me warm. This often involves taking off my hat, or unzipping the top of my jacket, or taking off my gloves. Most of me was good, but my thighs were cold. Despite working hard to ascend a mountain. And they were only getting colder as we got higher.

The ladies got to understand first hand why I said gaiters are important. Stepping in the middle of the trail, no problem! It’s solid and been tamped down by many a snowshoer. Step ever so slightly off that center, and BOOM knee-deep in snow, literally.

The title of this post “what?!” inspired by the fact that, despite the quietness of a winter forest, it’s REALLY hard to hear what someone is saying when they’re ahead of you on the trail and over the CRUNCH CRUNCH of your feet on snow. That didn’t stop the conversation, of course, just a lot of “WHAT?!” and repeating was necessary.

That didn’t include me. I was on my own little struggle bus. Not sure if it was the fact that I was sick a couple of weeks ago or that I had extra gear with me for the cold (or both), but I was struggling. My thighs were cold and I was worrying about them. I was sweaty and I was worried about that as it got colder and colder. I was tired. But I also had to keep moving. When it’s this cold out, you can’t stop for a break as the second you stop, you get even colder. My plan was to get to the summit, and knowing most of the sweaty work was done, I could change into dry clothes and layer up for the descent.

My friends checked in on me a few times, “Are you ok? Do you need a break? Are you in pain?”. And in a “do as I say, not as I do” moment, I didn’t communicate my struggle. For a couple of reasons. First, I knew if I opened my mouth to talk about it, I’d probably burst into tears and tell them I wanted to quit. Second, I feel like their “guide” and didn’t want to burden them with worrying about me, when I’m supposed to be the one who knows what I’m doing. Not a good idea, and I need to be better about communicating. Though I would have told them if anything was seriously wrong, but I still need to speak up, especially if I want them to speak up!

We got to the summit, and even though it’s somewhat sheltered, it was still VERY cold and windy.

Summit selfie! I took several photos and this sadly was the best one. We were all struggling with the cold at this point.

Before I changed clothes, frozen boob sweat! Also frozen hair sweat!

The view is nice though.

I backed up into the trees to try and change. For the first time ever in my winter hiking, I put another pair of pants over my pants. Not at all for the first time, but possibly what felt like the most dangerous (but necessary) time, I changed my shirt at the summit. It was sweat soaked and it was definitely a good idea, though HOLY MOLY it was cold. I had taken my gloves off to take a video and for the photos, as well as to change my pants (because I had to take off my microspikes), and in that short time, several fingers went numb. Time to put on the real mittens that I rarely ever use.

Once I had changed, I was very much looking forward to the thermos of hot soup I brought for my summit snack. Only to have the top of the lid break off and the entire thing UN-openable. Hugely hugely disappointing. AND also meant that basically the only thing I ate on the hike was the muffin I bought at Mad River. I had other snacks, but they were buried deep in my bag (to keep from freezing) and it was too cold to want to stop and dig them out.

Photo taken at home as I tried again to open it, wondering if it was just because I was cold. Nope, the orange bit next to it, is supposed to be attached. That’s glue you can see in the top. And the black part will NOT screw off, no matter what I try.

After all of that, it was time to descend. Luckily, the Bartender said at one point that her toes were cold and should she stop and do something about it? My toes were also going numb and I was waffling over whether to stop. Her asking meant we stopped. We all added hand warmers to our boots. Another great lesson in speaking up if something is wrong. Stop it before it becomes worse. Awestruck said her toes felt like they were boiling a bit later, a sure sign that they had been going numb and a very good thing we all stopped to fix our feet!

As we got a bit lower, and it warmed up a little, it was time for another break. While normally this occurs at the summit, it was way too cold up there! The Bartender of course brought us a little descending-pick-me-up! Of course most of us hadn’t eaten much with fewer breaks, so they were even more pick-me-up than usual. 🙂

Besides the cold, there was one minor annoying thing, and that was a few … impatient hikers. As I mentioned, the walkable path is VERY narrow. When someone comes from the other direction, or passes you, it can be tricky. You can’t just step to the side as you would in summer. Again, stepping off the packed down part can mean you’re knee or hip dip in snow. It takes a second to find a solid-ish spot and you often have to sort of lean out of the way and hope they can get by you. So there were a couple of trail runners that (as they often do) tried to just blow by us without any warning. Three times Thoreau ended up knocked over in the snow. I realize now I’ve typed this up AFTER I mention the booze and I’m pretty sure it was just the trail runners and not the booze.

Here we are at the trailhead again, much happier than the summit photo.

We also stopped in at the ski area building. Bathroom break and change of clothes. I pulled out my shirt that I had taken off at the summit and it was frozen! HA

Those wrinkles were hard, frozen sweat.

Despite the struggles with the cold, I think the ladies had a good time. They’ve asked what the next hike is, so it couldn’t have been too bad.

• Total distance: 5 miles
• Elevation gain: 2,300 feet
• Total time: 5 hours, 13 minutes
• Moving time: 4 hours, 25 minutes