April 14, 2024

Start/End: Lowe's Store, Rt. 2

Peaks: N/A

Elevation Gain: 3,020 ft

RT Mileage: 6.38 mi

Duration: 6 hours, 58 minutes

Rock Difficulty: Class 1

Snow/Ice Difficulty: Grade I

My friend has been wanting to get into hiking in the Whites for a while now. I offered to take him hiking on the 14th, and he agreed. Since it's currently shoulder season in the Whites, I figured I'd be able to give him the most accurate picture of the Whites in the northern Presis, so I went with Lowes Path.

I left for Randolph at 5:25 AM, stopping to pick my friend up on the way. We arrived at 8:20 and parked at Lowe's Store, just across the street from the trailhead. We set off on the trail ten minutes later. The trail was mostly dry heading out from the trailhead, presumably where there hadn't been much of a snowpack even before the recent rain, but mud season was in full swing from the powerline cut onwards. Fresh snow coated the trail above 1,800 ft.

I made a wrong turn 1.6 miles in and we ended up in knee-deep mud on the other side of the Moose River. 0/10 experience, would not recommend. Around 2,600 ft, the snowpack started to become more consistent, and we stopped to put our spikes on. The trail steepened considerably on approach to Log Cabin, and although nothing crazy by Whites standards, this was my friend's first hike and we took it slow. We reached Log Cabin around 11:15.

The trail was straight up from the cabin onwards. There was enough snow to cover any exposed rocks or ice and the trail had been packed down by some snowshoers ahead of us, but seeing as it was my friend's first hike we continued to take it slow. After around an hour-long ascent, we gained the Nowell Ridge, and the trail began to open up as we approached treeline.

We broke treeline onto the Quay just after 12:40 PM. Clouds were starting to approach from the west but we were in the clear for now, and we were treated to 360-degree views. The Jefferson summit cone was especially prominent. This was my friend's first time above treeline in winter conditions, so we lingered a bit longer than I would have if I had been up there myself.

I snapped a few photos of my friend on the Quay before we dipped back below treeline and headed over to Gray Knob Cabin. We took advantage of the shelter provided by the cabin and had a quick snack there before beginning the descent.

I had been hoping to glissade most of the way from Gray Knob Cabin to Log Cabin on the way down, but the soft snowpack had been dented by everyone's footsteps, and it was a bumpy ride. We took off our spikes at the top of the glissade, around 4,200 ft, and didn't need them again the rest of the day. My friend's quads cramped during the descent, and I was worried that he would bring home a bad opinion of the Whites, but he assured me that it was totally worth it. We made it back to Lowe's Store just before 4:00, just in time to beat the incoming rain showers.