Mountains: Mts. Major and Straightback
Date: Sunday, January 8, 2017
Weather: Clear, cold, single digits
Time: 3.75 hours
Trails: Mt. Major Trail, Brook Trail, Boulder Trail

4 degrees, clear and cold for our hike up Mts. Major and Straightback in the Belknap Range. Nancy and I meet at Ackerly's Grill & Galley in Alton for breakfast. Her drive north was a bit sketchy with the coating of snow, compounded by not knowing how much de-icer she had left. It takes a while to relax.

I love hiking when it's really cold. The inch of snow we were gifted with last night keeps the trail and the snow bordering the trail looking like a smooth, crystal blanket. We decide to avoid the steep ledges of the Main Trail and head up on the Brook Trail. The walking is easy and I am glad to have on my microspikes. I debate about bringing snowshoes and finally decide to bring them along in case the trail to Straightback Mountain hasn't been broken out yet.

My pack is a mess. I can't tighten any of the straps - they are stuck in place by years of being exposed to sweat and moisture and not having been adjusted. It's really too small to use as a winter pack anyway. I guess it's time for a new pack. Woo hoo! In the meantime, this pack feels uncomfortable all day, especially with the weight of the snowshoes hanging off it (that we end up not wearing).

We decide to hide the snowshoes in the woods where the trail to Mt. Major intersects the trail to Straightback Mountain. We see maybe 12 - 15 people on the trail. Busy day in the Belknaps. Nancy and I talk about finishing the Belknaps and the Ossipees in the winter and move back to the 52 with a View in the late spring. With lighter packs, we begin the .7 miles to Straightback Mountain where we are greeted by a beautiful view of Alton Bay and Winnipesaukee with white-capped 4-thousand footers in the distance. After taking pictures and enjoying the slight warmth of the sun, we head back to the intersection and pick up our snowshoes. We don't talk much but our time together is peaceful, comforting and quiet.

The summit of Mt. Major - .4 from the trail junction - is large, ledgy and beautiful. We take more pictures but the wind is moving more aggressively at this elevation and exposure. We start down the orange-blazed Boulder Trail and, yes, it is aptly named because the descent is through steep rocks that would have been easier ascending than descending. Poles help me maintain a decent pace but I have to butt slide a few times because the steepness and the probability of a fall is very real. Once we leave the boulders behind the trail is much easier to navigate.

Unfortunately, there isn't much time during the hike that Nancy isn't fighting the cold. After sweating on the way up, her clothes are icy and she has to stop and change, a moment during winter hikes that she despises, but feels immensely better once she is in warm, dry clothes again. I see she is struggling to make her hands work in the cold and help hold out shirts and jackets for her.

We continue descending and finally Nancy's core warms and then her hands, but she isn't, and probably never will be, comfortable hiking in winter. It would be so much easier for her just to say no to winter hiking, but something in her heart wants to hike, wants to be outside, wants to spend time with me, wants the beauty of the snow, the exercise and the fun. She is very brave.

The high point of the hike for me is seeing the snow on pines, hearing ice on the branches clink together as I walk under a tree, the absolute, consuming beauty of the outdoor world.

I love having a winter goal!