Lake of the Clouds, ice season is here.

[Matt Steinberg]

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have all had a great Summer and Fall season. Today I hiked (more like ice climbed) up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail to the Lake of the Clouds on Mount Washington. This lake lies at around 5100 feet elevation and is usually my first skate of the year. I went up last Monday and was able to cross the small lake but the big lake was mostly wide open with a nearly circumferential sidewalk of thin, unsupportable black ice that also covered the southern third of the lake. I was hoping this would survive the chilly, windy week and the warm rain on Friday and it appeared to survive and then saturate under the weight of the 3 to 4 inches of new snow that fell over the weekend. It was around 20 degrees, relatively calm winds, and clear skies last night and it appears that an additional 1/2 + inch of black ice formed with the upper third still open due to the wind. All of this made for about 3.25 to 3.5 inches of supportable snow ice. This had an orange peel texture and although it was above freezing and softening, it was still fully skateable. I did about a dozen laps and logged my first 1.2 miles of skating of the season. The smaller lake was too soft to really skate and I ended up having to double pole across it. It was starting to snow when I left and 4 to 8 inches are forecast tonight with more snow into tommorrow and 100+ mph winds.

A word of caution for anyone thinking about skating high elevation ponds over the next few weeks. The trail conditions today were some of the most treacherous I have seen in the past several years. Friday's rain and flash freeze caused thick flow ice to form all over the top half of the trail making for very slippery conditions. Above treeline, it was full mountaineering with crampons and ice axe and ability and experience to safely navigate those conditions required. Depending on snowfall the next few days, these conditions could persist or be present on other trails in the area. Please make sure you are experienced and well equipped and feel free to email if you have any questions. Happy Winter Everyone, the season will soon be upon us.

Matt