This could easily have been my last hike.

Whether a difficult or simple slope, like most things in life, mountaineering is ultimately about being well prepared. Having the right gear. Knowing the area and the terrain. Knowing your limits. Being wise enough to stick to them.

Today preparedness paid off in the form of having the right gear and using it at the right time. My target for the day was 2,454 foot Mt. Frissell of Massachusetts. But wait, you thought this post was about Connecticut?

It is. The highest point in Connecticut is actually not at the top of a mountain. Its on the side of a mountain. Mt. Frissell. The high point for CT is actually at 2,371 feet, a little under a hundred feet below the mountains actual summit in the state of Massachusetts.

So back to the drama. It snowed last night. Roughly 5 inches give or take. There was also rain and freezing rain and other forms of wintery mix. The net result. Ice. Lots of ice.

Driving to the trailhead was fairly easy, minus the fact that the road from the CT side was closed until spring. 50 minutes later, I was able to reach the trail head from the MA side and begin my journey.

Since it was snowy, I used my new mountaineering pants (Outdoor Research) and gaiters (REI). I started off with a short sleeve dry fit shirt, a wool sweater, and synthetic down jacket.. and of course my trekking poles which I have come to love.

Within a few minutes I was burning up, even though I was hiking in the snow. I would estimate the temperature to be right around freezing. Fairly comfortable when hiking with a pack. I shed the sweater and moved on. The trail starts mostly flat and meanders through the woods for a few minutes. It soon dumps you at the foot of your first mountain, Round Mountain. No switchbacks or winding here. Straight up.

Mountaineers have systems for rating routes. That way you don’t show up expecting to hike and find a technical slope that requires rope/harness/belay. The (in my experience) most commonly used system in the free climbing system, which uses classes with roman numerals I-V.

• Class I – your typical hiking trail
• Class II – some scrambling, with occasional use of hands required
• Class III – scrambling with possibility of rope being needed
• Class IV – simple climbing with exposure (meaning a cliff you could fall off of) that likely includes using a rope
• Class V – climbing that requires rope/belay. At Class V, you get an additional rating system that goes from 5.0/5.7 (pretty easy) up to 5.15 (pretty much unclimbable). When I climbed a lot, I was about a 5.9/5.10 climber.

All of my previous 8 summits have been clearly Class I. Perhaps the same would be said of Frissell in the summer. Today in the snow, I would rate its a class II.

Once I reached the first slope, it was all steep uphill the remainder of the “hike”. As I mentioned, there was a lot of rocks and a lot of ice. Thankfully, I was able to employ my Khatoola Microspikes. Without these guys, I would have been in real trouble. If you aren’t familiar, microspikes are a traction system for places with questionable footing. They slide onto your boots and provide a number of spikes to aid in traction.

With the spikes on, I was able to scramble up the hill towards the summit of Frissell. The hike was only about 3 miles round trip. Yet this was probably the most challenging attempt I have made on the trip to date due to the steep terrain and icy conditions. The ascent was tricky, but descending was far more challenging. I had to give a lot of extra care to making sure to have a good plant on each step downhill to drive the spikes into the snow and ice. I was thankful for rocky surfaces where traction was easier, and for the trees that I used repeatedly to stop my downhill momentum. Thanks trees!

Back to the ascent… The spikes did me well and I quickly reached the summit of Frissell.

To get to the CT highpoint, you actually have to hike down and around some ledges on the mountain to the southern shoulder, where you encounter the CT/Mass border. I proceeded that direction and shortly thereafter (about 5 minute walk) was at the summit of peak #9.

Further down the trail (down a very steep descent) you reach the border of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. Three states at the same time!

After this side excursion (added probably a mile or so to my trip) I headed back up to the summit and then descended down towards Round. Shortly thereafter, I was back at the car for my celebratory beer, the Two Roads Double IPA from Stratford, CT.

Cheers!