Notes
Notes 1. The Moosilauke Summit Camp was at 4,810 feet; the trail up includes 3,300 feet of climbing. During his four years as a hutman, Rocky carried packboards that weighed an average of 69 pounds; the heaviest was 120 pounds. His duties are recounted in part in “The Home on a Hill,” in Reaching That Peak: 75 Years of the Dartmouth Outing Club, by David O. Hooke. 2. Built in 1956, the emergency shelter in Edmands Col was an unattractive nuisance. Designed only for emergency use, it became a destination for some people and groups. The area around it became overused and trash accumulated. It was removed in 1982. 3. This account is an excerpt from an Appalachian Trail odyssey from Kinsman Notch on Route 112 to Pinkham Notch. By the third day of hiking, Matt realized that his chronic lower back pain was nearly gone. “I had it for many years. MRIs showed disk degeneration, and I thought this was something I would always have to live with. I even saw a wonderful chiropractor every week. Now I realized that I was no longer in pain!” 4. The old Fabyan Path from the west was later reconstructed by J. Rayner Edmands and renamed the Edmands Path. 5. Later it was determined that Ormsbee had no broken bones. 6. The eight peaks are Bondcliff, Bond, South Twin, Garfield, Lafayette, Lincoln , Liberty, and Flume, with side trails leading to West Bond, Zealand, North Twin, and Galehead. 7. For expert detail on winter camping, see “Enjoying a Frozen World.” 8. A slab avalanche breaks at a fracture line instead of at a single point. A large slab can break into many pieces, each of which may be larger than a vehicle , with power great enough to crush buildings and fell large trees. Winterwise author John Dunn writes: “Head either directly up or directly down any suspicious slopes—don’t traverse them. Snowshoe and ski tracks can act like a giant dotted line to shear off a slab.” Hikers and skiers in Baxter State Park should carry avalanche probes and shovels and always evaluate terrain before venturing over it. Susan Kirk (see “Katahdin Ice Climber Meets Lady Luck”) has described using a snow pit to evaluate avalanche danger: creating a pit 4-foot deep and 4-foot wide will expose the layers of snow, including any weak layers. If layers come loose as you dig and pull with a shovel, the snow might be weak and prone to slide. For winter safety information in northern New England, visit nhoutdoorcouncil.org. 9. According to a registered nurse, a torn ACL always requires surgery, whereas a torn meniscus might not. 320 n o t es 10. At the top of a 25-foot ladder, with no reliable foothold or handhold, the summit of Crane Mountain could be a good location for secure, anchored holds, much like the bolts on the Baxter Peak section of the Appalachian Trail. 11. That would have meant an 8-mile route over the North and South Baldfaces ; the AMC Guide warns hikers that the open rocks on South Baldface are dangerous when wet or icy. 12. The “blanket” was a space blanket. 13. SOLO stands for Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities. Founded in New Hampshire, the group designed one of the first wilderness emergency medicine courses in the country. 14. According to the National Weather Service, a catastrophic ice storm and flood, “unprecedented in New England history,” struck northern New England and northern New York during the first two weeks of January 1998. Three inches or more of ice accumulated on outdoor surfaces. Seven fatalities were directly attributed to the event. 15. When the temperature is below zero, it is tempting to avoid freezing your fingers and losing body heat by changing gear. Although you might be able to cross a slide without incident most of the time, when accidents occur the consequences can be dire both to yourself and to your rescuers. Dave’s snowshoes had old serrated crampons that might not have gripped well on an icy slide. He wasn’t convinced that he needed to change into full crampons until I insisted. 16. The AMC White Mountain Guide notes: “The steep slabs of the North Slide are difficult, and dangerous in wet or icy conditions.” From the gravel outwash of the slide, the route “becomes extremely steep, climbing 1,200 feet in 0.5 miles.” 17. Such canisters were affixed to the summit trees of 20...
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