For anyone who possibly reads my Blog on a
somewhat regular basis, you might recall that about 2-weeks ago I posted a
report regarding Mt. Tremont (Click HERE to view that report). Toward the end of that report, I mentioned an
aborted attempt to climb to the top of a cliff that is located at the east end
of Mt. Tremont. There was lingering
Springtime snow on my approach route which was simply too deep to easily
negotiate without snowshoes.
It nags at me when I fail to achieve a goal. And so, another attempt was made to reach the
cliff. However, this time I would approach
it from its south-facing side where there was a high likelihood that the mid-May
sun would have melted the snow. Some
details about my route will be presented at the end of this report, but first of
all, here are some photos.
Just to get you oriented, the first photo shows the cliff
that was the object of my attention.
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| Labeled photo identifying Mt. Tremont and the cliff at its east end |
Shown below is a wider view of Mt. Tremont and the
cliff at its east end. This photo was
taken from a clearing along my approach route to the cliff.
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| Mt. Tremont and cliff at its east end (as viewed from a clearing along approach route) |
The vistas from the top of the cliff exceeded my
expectations! There is a huge
southeasterly view that features Bear Mountain, Mt. Chocorua, Mt. Paugus (next
photo).
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| Southeasterly view featuring (left to right) Bear Mountain, Mt. Chocorua, Mt. Paugus |
When gazing nearly due south, there is a vista that
features Mt. Passaconaway and Mt.Whiteface,
as well as Square Ledge and a portion of Mt. Paugus.
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| Mts. Passaconaway & Whiteface, plus Square Ledge and a portion of Mt. Paugus |
Looking northward, you can see the tip of Bartlett
Haystack. If you've ever bushwhacked to
that mountaintop, then you can sort of envision the location of the tiny
viewing ledge at the peak.
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| Looking northward, you can see the tip of Bartlett Haystack |
The next two photos are highly-zoomed (and poor quality)
images of a couple of things you can see with binoculars from this cliff at the
east end of Mt. Tremont. The first image
shows the easily recognizable Mt. Chocorua.
The feature shown in the second image is not as obvious. It shows the rocky summit area of one of the
Moats (probably Middle Moat).
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| Highly-zoomed photo of Mt Chocorua (as viewed from cliff at Mt Tremont's east end) |
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| Highly-zoomed photo of rocky summit of one of the mountains in the Moat Range |
The next photo is simply a collage of other attractive items
that were seen during my hike to the top of the cliff at Mt. Tremont's east
end.
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| Collage of other attractive items seen during my hike |
And now as promised earlier in this report, here are some
details about the route that was taken. Shown
below is a map with several items that are labeled.
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| Map showing route that was taken (CLICK TO ENLARGE) |
Please understand that the route taken on this adventure
is NOT the only way to access the cliff at the east end of Mt.
Tremont. But, if you should opt to
follow my route, then there are some things that should be mentioned,
as follows.
For the majority of my trek, I followed old logging
roads. Shown below is a photo that shows
the starting point of my route which began at a roadside pull-off along Bear
Notch Road.
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| Beginning of the route at the roadside pull off along Bear Notch Road |
When looking at the map shown above, you'll note that
shortly after leaving the roadside pull-off, I made a sharp left turn onto
another logging road. This turn is NOT
at all obvious. And actually, you'll
travel several hundred feet before the corridor begins to resemble a logging
road. Your tendency will be to stay on
the road that you're already on since it has a well-worn path, and it appears
to be headed in the right direction. Don't
do it. Find the turn, and head for the
logging road highlighted on the map. It
gets you to higher ground and away from the muck lower down along Douglas
Brook.
After finding and making the turn, the logging road
corridor will eventually become apparent, and the majority of it will look like
that which is shown in the next photo.
However, there are a few low-lying areas with standing water where the
drainage has failed. It's easy enough to
work your way around those areas by walking alongside the road in the adjacent
open woods.
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| Typical segment of logging road corridor en route to cliff at east end of Mt. Tremont |
There is one last item to mention. Not shown on the map are a number of side
roads that branch off the main logging road, and some of them seem to be going
in the direction you want to go. The
only advice I can offer is to sort of feel your way, and to stay on what
appears to be the most traveled roadway.
Most likely, if a mistake is made, then it will soon become obvious
before you've traveled very far along the wrong road.
To sum it up,
this was a focused adventure with the single goal of reaching the top of the
cliff at the east end of Mt. Tremont. As
mentioned in the title of this report, "Mission Accomplished"! Besides achieving my goal, this trek also afforded
some insights regarding the topography
and the characteristics of the nearby woods. As a result, there
are now some other ideas being considered for future off-trail adventures in this
general vicinity.
