Mountains: Mts. Mack, Rand and Klem
Date: Saturday, February 4, 2017
Weather: Sunny, cold, teens
Trails: Round Pond Trail, Piper-Round Pond Link, Klem-Mack Loop, Quarry Trail

Once again Nancy and I meet at Ackerly's Grill in Alton at 8 AM for breakfast. We are becoming regulars. Over breakfast we talk about adding one or two other peaks besides the two we have planned on bagging - Mts. Anna and Klem. It all depends on how we are feeling.

The Round Pond Trail starts on an old carriage road with a wide path and easy walking on a mostly packed path with 2-3 inches of new powder on top. Cold - teens - but sunny and beautiful. We turn left after walking around Round Pond and begin the climb to Mt. Klem on the Piper-Round Pond Link. My leg strength is not great and I pace myself so I won't get too hot and start sweating. I have on three Techwicks, two light and one medium. Gloves come on and off, no hat, spikes for traction.

Two hours later we are standing on the summit of Mt. Klem talking about what we should climb next. Without really looking at the close contour lines on the map we start down off Mt. Klem toward Mt. Rand on the Quarry Trail. The descent has not been broken out but is mostly packed and I am able to heel-walk down. It is steep and the idea of climbing back up is a bit sobering. There are two plateaus of trail that are mostly flat before each leads to another steep downhill leg. As we stand at the bottom of the ridge and look up toward Mt. Rand we realize we have bitten off a steep upward climb if we decide to return that way.

I put my head down, pacing myself, and we climb. The first nasty section comes when we arrive at some boulders where the snow has been blown away, leaving only ice and some old, hard snow. I use every means at my disposal to get up - trees and footholds that I test with my spikes making sure they will hold me. I become a little alarmed that the climb may worsen before it gets better and we have not brought our crampons.

We pass the boulders and keep inching up, cutting footholds with our feet into the sloping edge of the trail, holding on to poles or trees as we climb. We come to a section of thick, clear ice and stop to reconnoiter. We find that trying to climb that icy ledge is more of a risk than we are willing to take. Nancy tries to go a different way but only goes a short way before she slowly backs down. I look back and upward and see what might possibly be a bushwhack that would safely bypass the ice so we start up that route. It is steep but not as icy and dangerous and my feet find good traction all the way.

We merge back onto the trail and make it safely to the summit of Mt. Rand. We look at the map and debate going forward in order to avoid the steep downward and upward climbs we have just completed. The distance and steepness involved in going forward bests us so we resolve to go back down and up to Mt. Klem again. There we will decide on our next course of action.

It is a challenging descent, especially at the boulder section. Nancy is pretty nervous, but she is descending walking forward and I suggest she turn around and descend backwards on the bad parts. It's so much easier for me to step on my toes with my body leaning in toward the trail than having my feet point downward with my body weight wanting to fall forward.

We make it down, breathing hard, glad that section is over. The next section, back up to Klem, is steep but shorter and we stop for water breaks several times. I lead us to the top where once again we stop and look at the map. We decide to complete the Klem-Mack Loop and tag Mt. Mack before descending to Round Pond. The walking from this point on is easy and we are treated to some wonderful views as we trek over cliffs toward Mt. Mack.

The route down is initially a wide snowmobile trail and it is nice to walk side by side for a while so we can actually talk and hear each other. As usual, the walk back to the car feels long and I am really thankful that it is an easy descent.

Warm car, warm clothes, warm drink...aaahh!