I had time to check out the weather before heading to the Willey Station trailhead to meet up with everyone.We made pretty good time up to the trailhead where we met Matt spinning his tires as his car was trying to climb up the steep road. He backed down to the main road and we gave him a lift up the road. On this trip we had Markus Donavan, Jim Manhart, Jon Normand, Matt Tantema, Jerry and myself at Crawford Notch in New Hampshire.

The relatively good tree cover along the route up Willey made it a great choice for the cold and windy conditions up on the summit. There was 3 inches of fresh snow and the landscape brought us into a winter wonderland. 

The trail began rising, and I recalled the “ladders” from last time. On my last trip ice encrusted the rungs over the precipitous cliffs. The Willey Range trail does one thing: ascend. So we climbed, and we climbed, and we climbed. Finally got to the ladders, which are really log staircases with flat treads and only a little snow on them. We took our time on the uphills and were happy when things eased off near the summit.

We got to the outlook on top of Willey, and we caught an outstanding view of Crawford Notch and Webster Cliffs. The summit cairn is soon after this outlook with the western outlook soon after. We enjoyed the great views of Carrigain and the Hancocks. We felt the wind a bit more here, probably around 30-40 mph. Temps were also about 8 degrees, according to my thermometer. 

We returned back to the first outlook for lunch where two Canadian Jays, welcomed us to the summit. After being fed a little they began landing all over the place: on our packs, on our hands, on our heads, while I prayed it would not relieve itself on any of us. We escaped unsullied!

The trail down Willey was pretty icy, and although we carried instep crampons we decided to continue without them, and our careful foot placement was rewarded by very few slips.

Back at the traihead, we met some folks who were heading up the trail. They were to spend the night at Ethan Pond. Since it was 3:30, it looked like they would get there before dark. They looked like they knew what they were doing.  

We then headed off seperate ways with Jon and I having dinner at the Mad River Lodge. 

All in all it was a fine day, with good hiking and excellent company. Where were the rest of you?