A big group for this trip, half from meetup and half from our traditional outings listing. We met at the Underhill Center commuter lot at 9 AM, with everyone on time and many early (thanks!). The lot is small and there were a lot of us, so some cars headed up to the trailhead to make room while we waited for the last folks to arrive. The last bit of road to the trailhead and the parking area were the iciest spots we encountered, so many folks donned microspikes right away. After introductions we started up the trail around 9:30.

Temperatures remained around freezing or a little above for the whole trip. We started out with sun, but overcast moved in by the time we reached the Long Trail, around 10:05. The trail had been mostly bare with spots of snow and ice, but as we continued up the Long Trail and approached Butler Lodge we ran into enough snow that a few folks who had been carrying snowshoes put them on. We’d become spread out a bit, and as the last of us reached Butler Lodge around noon, five people who had been there a while and were getting cold started down.

One person chose to leave the group and head up to the forehead, and another group of four started down a few minutes later. After the last five of us finished a quick bite at the lodge, we also headed down around 12:10, catching up with the middle group of four as we reached the trailhead around 1:10. Overall a fun trip with a fun group.

Participants: Steve Titcomb, Elan, Karthik, K-man, Sun Kim, Holly Creeks, Tom Hall, Tom Mowatt, Susan, Dasha Zentrichova, Cathy Tilley, Cathy McIsaac, Greg Bostock, Laura Selman, David Hathaway (leader).