Algonquin

December 30, 2022

Today was very warm. The dashboard thermometer read 8 degrees as we drove to the Loj from Keene after a bit of a lazy morning. Our tardiness was a good thing though because Katharina realized that she had forgotten her microspikes and given the wet icy mess of a parking lot we arrived to, it was clear that this hike was going to require them. Fortunately, the information center was open at this time and fifteen greenbacks later she was equipped with a rental pair of spikes for the day.

We crunched on down the icy, slushy, and muddy trail towards the MacIntyre range hoping to climb both Wright and Algonquin. We met a noisy but friendly bunch at the first frozen waterfall, where we exchanged some photo services and then continued climbing upwards in the rotting snow until 1100m where I changed to my snowshoes for better traction and the comfort of heel lifters. Kat stayed in her spikes to the Wright junction and then also changed footwear, as the snow cover over the trail was finally fully consistent. We decided to climb Algonquin first as it would be better to get that over with before the forecasted afternoon rain arrived and at least for now, with the patchy cloud cover, looked like we might be lucky enough to catch a view up there. The roaring wind in the treetops was a little bit disconcerting though... we could tell that things were going to be somewhat exciting in the alpine zone.

Waterfall break

Climbing the steep trail to Algonquin past Wright in a brief moment of sunshine

Snowshoes bit well into the soft ice and we remained in them all the way up to the treeline, and then continued in the shoes most of the way across the summit cone. The wind as expected was stiff and we spent an hour moving slowly upwards and back down over the slushy fields of snow while trying to not get blown off our feet. It being ridiculously warm made this one of the most unique winter climbs I have done. The last fifty meters or so we switched to spikes again as the rock was mostly bare, and we clambered to the top where we met a guy taking photos of the fog with a fancy camera. He snapped a picture of us and then the three of us made our way down off the summit together.

Foggy climbing in sloppy snow

At the top, trying not to be blown off

Once back safely in the trees we took a break and then snowshoe skied down to about 1100m where we switched back to spikes as the rocks poking through the rotting snow made the clown shoes impractical. Kat said she was done with being blown around, so we skipped Wright and just descended straight to the Loj. After returning the spikes we drove back to Keene Farm for a relaxing afternoon beer around the wood stove.

Hiking time: 6h15m

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