Mt. Whiteface

Submitted by Pat

Stats
Mountain: Mt. Whiteface (1,671)
Date: February 18, 2017
Weather: Sunny, bluebird day, temps in the 30s
Miles: 3.9
Elevation Gain: 1,670
Trail: Whiteface Trail

  • two hikers taking a selfie at the trailhead
whiteface summutNancy and I meet once again at Ackerly’s Grill for breakfast then head up the Whiteface Trail. It starts out as a snowmobile trail, then we see the tracks of a barebooter with a dog, then it becomes virgin trail. It’s overcast for the first hour and the temps keep rising. I wear a Techwick 3 and a 1, sweating and breathing hard. When we reach the junction for Piper/Whiteface the trail remains unbroken until we come out into a large meadow. From there snowmobiles once again pick up the track and lead us to the summit of Whiteface. Beautiful 360° views. The sun is out, the wind gentle. I can’t believe we have already arrived at the top and try to find more trail, but there is no more trail. We are actually on the summit.

We start back on snow that is warming in the sun and it sticks to the bottom of our snowshoes. We are constantly whacking large globs of snow off the snowshoes. We reach the intersection of the Piper Trail and decide to break trail to Piper’s north summit to add some workout and mileage to the hike.

We break trail, struggling through some deep drifts. We reach an open area and discuss whether we are on the summit or not, but decide we are not and press on. I’m glad we did because maybe 100 yards later we reach the north Piper summit cairn. One set of snowshoes and a barebooter’s tracks lead to the summit from the north side. Nancy changes out of wet clothes and the hike down is much easier than the hike up. We both feel tired and good having added the extra mileage to our day.

A lot of driving and effort for a small summit. But Whiteface counts!