This was another hike that I organized through a local hiking group, so there ended up being seven of us that went on this hike. As I kept track of the weather, as hike date approached I knew there would be a very good chance of having some snow and ice on the tops of the mountain, so when we actually saw some it wasn't really a surprise. What was a surprise was how low an elevation that the snow stuck and how much was on the tops. The trees were frosty white that morning I would say as low as 3000' and the last two thirds of the trail was in snow and ice. We were thankfully prepared and brought our traction control, for me a chance to really test my micro-spikes out. After the trip as a whole, climbing up and down solid sheets of ice, hopping from snow covered rock to rock, and wading through drifts several times up to my knees I give the micro-spikes a solid two thumbs up! Our goal going into the hike was to do Algonquin, Wright and Iroquois. Unfortunately, due to the pace of the group as a whole, the weather conditions and temps and energy levels we stopped after only doing Wright and Algonquin. I'll just have to go back and do Algonquin and Iroquois another day, which isn't all that bad since we were in the clouds on top of both mountain and had zero visibility. The overall trail wasn't extremely long, but the last pushes up both Wright and Algonquin had their share of very steep pitches, both rock slab scrambles and rock hopping. It was definitely a neat experience doing it when everything was covered in snow and ice. It gives everything a different look. Having some sort of traction was a must. It was interesting to see the change in temperature the higher you went, in the trail became more solid and no running water. We had a quick lunch on the shoulder of Wright Mt before heading back down and up Algonquin. Even being mid week and very wintery, we did encounter at least 4 or 5 parties who were also doing the hike that day. Once we got to the summit of Algonquin, we snagged a few quick photos and decided not to pursue Iroquois today. The trip back always seems to be longer than the way up, I'm sure due to several factors. Anyway, we all made it back to the Loj without any complications and I bagged #16 & 17 for this year.
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