Hike-NH.com

[lal12]

Ok Ok Ok, I know there has been a lot of TRs for Tecumseh lately and I wasn't planning on writing one but I thought I should say a few things about 1 lesson I learned.

Got up to Waterville at 8:15am and was on the trail by 8:30 after packing my bag. I decided to hike up with my downhill skis and accompanying gear (read boots). The walk up wasn't bad, wore my microspikes but I had some extra weight to carry. I'm 6'4'' and ride 181 length Atomic's which weigh a ton plus a size 13 shoes makes for some big boots (read lots of extra weight). This was also my first winter hike so I brought my snowshoes in case. Needless to say I was carrying a $hit load of weight. Anyway I got to the trail connection with Sosman and dropped my bad and ran up to the summit (seemed very easy with no bag). Took in the limited view (could see Mt. Washington, NICE!). Ran back down to my bag and carried on to the Sosman trail.

Now here is where my lesson comes in. I read my WMNF Guide and looked at the map the night before and figured I was fine but I guess I didn't retain it. I had planned on walking down the top ski trails to the lodge and get some hot chocolate and meet up with my crew to get skiing for the rest of the day. I started to walk on Sosman and the trail wasn't that broken out but there was not to much snow. So I kept going but I started to get second thoughts about what I read the night before and it might not meet up with the ski trails. I finally got myself freaked out enough because I was by myself and turned back. As I was walking back down Tecumseh trail I saw a couple guys and they told me I turned back to soon. They told me it did connect with the ski trails at the end of the Sosman Trail and they actually made the same mistake at one point when they first tried the same thing a while back. So I went back down the Tecumseh trail a little further and found a cut through to a ski trail (not the look out) and skied down to the base lodge. My lesson is I should have a map and print out of the trail description and not relied on memory. Anyway, had a great rest of the day ripping it up on the ski trails of Waterville.

[Salty]

[Kathy]

Wow! Lessons sometimes suck, huh? Glad it worked out well for you though.

Maps don't weigh much.

I now always carry my map, even when we're only hiking up something simple, like the trail up to Lonesome Lake. I too learned the way you did. I thought I'd remember what I'd seen on the map so I didn't take it and took a wrong turn. After the stress of my mistake and the backtracking, I wound up back at my car, exhausted, but smarter!
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