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Willey, Field, Tom 10-15-06
An interesting journey. Some neat things to see. No 360 degree panoramas to report sadly but there were some good views to be had, particularly from Willey. Washington was in the clouds when I started so you can imagine the surprise I had on Willey summit when I saw the white cap! The trail up Willey was actually quite nightmarishly steep. No ice thankfully. I did encounter a very unexpected series of ladders which practically made my day. Man they were huge! I enjoyed the views from Willey as I said before. The amount of snow increased significantly on the sunless west slope (I climbed from the east). The trip between Willey and Field was rather uneventful. and that includes the minimal view atop field itself. It was however bitterly cold on Field, probably 25 degrees and windy. Plenty of snow and ice treachery existed on the way from Field to the A-Z trail (I assume A-Z means Avalon - Zealand (trail names). The climb up Tom spur was mostly flat except for a few tricky spots. I never expected in a million years to find the tiny summit of Tom to be as crowded as it was. In fact I would say besides Washington and the Franconias this was the most crowded summit I have seen. I chatted a bit and took some pictures of the White capped big cheese. There was a strange variety of birds up there. another hiker told me they were called "Gray Jays" (I looked it up he was right). There were about 5 of them lurking around, I suspect hunting for crumbs. The descent down A-Z was murder. I slipped in one spot which hurt annoyingly. It was just slippery and steep. I did eventually make it to crawford notch in one piece. As I approached the trailhead I noticed a swarm of non hiker tourists lurking on the trail. I could also hear a bell dinging in the direction of the notch train station. I became very excited as a dinging bell could only mean one thing. I asked a tourist if there was a train there and they answered yes. I ran out of the woods only to be greeted by the single most exciting thing in the world. the Conway scenic railway train! I snapped several pictures with great excitement. Finally I grabbed my bike which was hidden in the woods and biked down the treacherously shoulder less at times 302 through the notch. It did not take long to get back to my car. Total Vertical climbed was 3850'. total miles was about 8.5. Total time was about 5:00. Click Here for the Hike Map
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