4/17, Sunday. 12 of us + 1 dog snowshoed up to Hidden Lake Peak, not the lookout. The car I was in had 5 people, jam packed. On Hwy-20, we stopped to give some van a jump.
NFD 1540 is mostly snowed in, so we had to park ~2 miles out, at elevation ~2300'. We walked about 1.5 miles on the road, sinking a little bit, but still no need for snowshoes or spikes. At ~3000', we abandonned the road, and took to the forested hills. More or less followed the ridge all the way. Very steep until ~4200'. Occasional down trees. At some point, I put on microspikes. Once the terrain eased a bit, we put on snowshoes. The snow was soft and fluffy, quite deep. Even with snowshoes following steps, I still sank from time to time. As the temperature rose, snow fell from tree branches, glissening in the snow. Very pretty, like confetti.
The view is splendid once you break out of the trees, ~6000'. We saw some skiers, and 2 snowshoers. Heading straight up to the peak, and the terrain got a little steeper, but nothing dangerous. It's a small summit for all of us. We all made it, at different speed. ~7020'. We stayed for ~1.5 hours, it's jaw-dropping gorgeous here.
On the way back, I tried to glissade, but only made it right below the summit. Snow was too soft, and speed couldn't pick up. The last person was more tha 1 hour slower than me, and I was ~10-15 minutes later than the faster ones. All in all, almost 5000' elevation gain.
This group always stops for dinner. On the drive, we just realized that this was Easter Sunday. Most restaurants were closed. Finally they ended at a Mexican place in Burlington.
More photos from others in my group.
