Did a hike Fri-Sat of the Skannatati-Beech loop with Dirtbaghiker (Joe), MikekiM (Michael) and our new friend James, to which Joe added to the loop a pop over to Big Hill to make it a 9.4 mile day. In the summer it'd be a breeze but the snow conditions added to the workload to make it a solid Moderate that occasionally bordered on Difficult... especially after the snow softened later in the morning and early afternoon. Michael and I missed a turn and had to double back, which added an extra .6mi and gave us an even 10 miles for the day.
This was James's *first backpack ever* and he did a stellar job hanging in there and maintaining a great attitude. He and Joe decided to cut out the detour over to Big Hill so they had a cozy stealth camp near the intersection of Beech and Long Path. The timing was perfect the following morning and we all walked together for the final stretch back to the parking area at Skannatati.
Michael and I continued on to Big Hill and with the ever softening snow it was getting to be a bit of a slog, but steady progress had us arriving there right around 2:30pm with plenty of time to relax. It was still quite windy and we were very happy to have the calm haven inside the shelter to brew up some hot drinks and soup. We carried our chairs, and with the convenient rock shelves inside the shelter the accommodations were positively luxurious.
Daytime high temp was around freezing and overnight the low was 20°F with (thankfully!) very light wind overnight. The weather forecast called for 0% chance of precipitation, so naturally it was snowing lightly when I crawled out of the hammock at 5:50am. But it was very dry and fluffy and didn't amount to anything. As usual I had coffee cup in hand as the sun rose, but the direct rays couldn't quite pierce the low clouds so it didn't "officially" appear until about an hour later as we were enjoying breakfast and our second cups of coffee.
Despite carrying the chairs and down pants, our pack weights at the trail head were around 16-17 lbs, and we were totally comfortable for the entire trip and also had our little treats of Avo Uvezian cigars and JD/Fireball libations.
Enjoying a great sunrise at Big Hill
Luxurious accommodations!
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Originally Posted by cmoulder
and 2 full military more meals and ate both
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