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Bethlehem, New Hampshire, United States
E-mail contact: randonneur8@yahoo.com | Facebook: facebook.com/1HappyHikerNH

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30 April 2012

A Trek to Ethan Pond: But Wait, There's More!

You've heard TV ads which say stuff like: "You can have this product for this very low price, but wait, there's more!"  Before setting forth on a trek to Ethan Pond on a windy 29th day of April, I couldn't help thinking of the phrase: "but wait, there's more"!

As often stated in my Blog reports, for each of my treks I try to visit a location that is new to me, or at least visit a familiar location via a route that I've never traveled.  And so, for this visit to Ethan Pond, I needed to come up with an "add-on" that would be new and different for me.  My decision was to explore the branch of the North Fork brook that is located in a valley just a bit northwesterly of Ethan Pond.  That location would be new for me!

I'll "cut to the chase" and say that the North Fork continues well beyond where I ended my exploration, but in the short segment that I travelled, there were many picturesque cascades.  The following photos will perhaps provide some idea of what I saw.  These images are the best that could be produced by me and my $97 point & shoot Casio camera!  Oh!  If you think you're seeing patches of snow in a couple of these images, you're right!  It's not just frothy water, nor is it fuzziness resulting from my low quality images!



From the top of one of the cascades, there was a bonus!  Off in the distance was a view of Mt. Carrigain (next photo).

Okay, now that you've seen the outcome of my North Fork trek, here are a few details. First of all, it was an easy bushwhack from the Ethan Pond Trail over to the North Fork.   Actually, there was little need to whack any bushes!  The woods were very open.  At one point, I was even able to incorporate an old logging road into my route (photo below).

Also, perhaps a Google Earth image and a topographic map might be useful details to include.  In both images shown below, the general area of my exploration is circled in pink. (Click on images to enlarge.)


Speaking of maps, there is a map entitled "Exploring New Hampshire's White Mountains" which is published by The Wilderness Map Company.  This map actually has a label of "Ethan Cascades" associated with the area that I explored.  It's the only map that I've seen with this identifier.  If you want a copy of this map, here are suggestions for two retailers where it can be purchased: The Mountain Wanderer Map & Book Store, and Bondcliff Books.

Before continuing with this report, it should be known that my intent is not to glorify this hike as some extraordinary feat.  Although this destination was new to me, it's highly likely that others have visited this location and have seen the cascades along this segment of the North Fork.  And, I'd venture to say that some have even followed the North Fork northward well beyond the point where I ended my trek.

Okay, with the above disclaimer having been said, I'll continue with the rest of the report which will provide snapshots and a few details about my journey en route to the cascades on the North Fork.

On the day of this hike, some winter leftovers still existed in the high country around Ethan Pond (see below).

And speaking of Ethan Pond, of course I had to stop to take a few snapshots of this magnificent body of water, especially since I was already in the neighborhood.  As you might be able to tell from the turbulence on the pond (next photo), it was a very windy day!

I also did a short bushwhack to an unnamed little pond that I've visited many times.  It's located about a half-mile east of Ethan Pond.  I call it Little Ethan Pond, but I've heard it referred to as Lucy Pond in remembrance of Lucy Crawford who was the wife of Ethan (for whom Ethan Pond was named).  The next photo was taken from the shore of this miniature pond.  Looming in the background is a portion of Mt. Willey.

At the beginning of my trek, I took a trailside photo of Kedron Flume from the Kedron Flume Trail.  Also, at this point in the journey, I did something else that was new for me.  For whatever reason, I had never taken the time to wander up the pathway on the north side of  the brook that feeds Kedron Flume.  Now, I know the reason for the path!  There's more "fluming" going on up above the view that you see from the trail!  The next photo collage compares the trailside view with the other view that can be had by a 5 minute traipse up this little pathway.

And lastly, I took the following snapshot of Webster Cliffs on my descent as I approached the trailhead parking lot.  This was done jokingly to commemorate Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day.  But, I kid you not, 29-April was an official  date for this event (click HERE).

To sum it up, I'm not always successful in finding a new destination or a new route for each hike that I do.  However, it is often surprising how much "new" there is to do, even within a relatively small area.  Just in the vicinity of Ethan Pond alone, many new adventures have been launched (click HERE for a link to one of them).

It's fully realized that not everyone enjoys this type of hiking.  But for those of us who do, it's fun to approach each hike with an attitude of: "But wait, there's more!"

25 April 2012

A Six-Snapshot Short-Story of a Hike Along the Peabody Brook Trail

Please don't feel any need to comment on this blog report since there really is not much to it.  This brief story can be told with very few words and only 6 snapshots.  On 24-April, I took a springtime saunter along the Peabody Brook Trail in Shelburne, NH.

Along the way, there were nice scenes of the brook.

There were numerous picturesque cascades.

Also, just for good measure, there were views of the Presidential Range along the route.

I saw what is presumed to be a Trailing Arbutus, although my wildflower identification skills are not the best!

Also, while doing an off-trail adventure to the ledges on Bald Cap Peak, I came across a spot where a moose had likely laid for a rest, as evidenced by a small pile of hair left behind.

Overcast weather produced gloomy views from Bald Cap Peak.  And while sitting there having my lunch, it began to sleet!  (If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you might notice the little white dots, particularly on the lower portion.) 

After visiting the ledges, I descended back to the trailhead via the same route as used for my ascent.  Hmmm!  Maybe I should add a map?!  So okay, if you count the map shown below, then there are 7 images included in this report, rather than the 6 that I advertized at the outset of this Blog! :)
(Click on the map to enlarge it.)

To sum it up, this was a short, but satisfying hike!

23 April 2012

Mt Prospect: It Was the Wildflowers Turn to Strut Their Stuff!

There is always something of interest to see when hiking at Mt. Prospect (2,077 ft) located near Lancaster, NH.   On an overcast April 22nd day, it was the wildflowers' turn to strut their stuff!   For me, the stars of this floral show were the Purple Trillium and the Dutchman's Breeches, both of which are shown below.


The next photo collage shows the entire cast of characters in this colorful production, including the two superstars that are highlighted in the previous two photos above.

On a clear day, Mt. Prospect provides 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside, from the White Mountains to the south and east, to the Green Mountains in Vermont to the west, and the Connecticut River valley to the north.  However, on this overcast day, the views were limited to nearby features on the landscape such as the Mountain View Grand Hotel with its wind turbine that was added to the property in recent years.

Also visible on this dreary day was the unique landscape feature named Cape Horn which is located in Groveton, NH. Shown below is a snapshot of Cape Horn that was taken on my 22-April jaunt to Mt. Prospect.

With my limited knowledge of matters such as this, I won't attempt to explain the geologic technicalities of the Cape Horn outcropping.  In simplest terms, it is what is known as a ring dike which is the remnant of an ancient volcano that was once present at this location.  In 2007, the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau prepared an extensive 67 page report about Cape Horn.  It is loaded with interesting information, and best of all, it's available online (click HERE).

In July 2010, I did a trek to Cape Horn.  If you're interested in my short report about that hike, please click HERE.

Okay, let's return now to my recent hike of 22-April-2012 to Mt. Prospect!  In keeping with my desire to try something new for most of my hikes, I decided to use a route that was different from my other outings to this little mountain.

Although there is a nice map of the trails on Prospect Mountain at the HikeNewEngland.com website, it doesn't show everything needed to depict my hike.  And so, I offer my own crude map that is shown below (click on map to enlarge).

If you study my map, you can see that there are many possible route combinations.  I chose to park at the trailhead for the Heritage Trail on Martin Meadow Pond Road and begin my hike from there.  My route involved a combination of the Heritage Trail; Around-the-Mountain Trail, Davidge Path, Old Carriage Path, and a short segment of the Auto Road.

Shown below are a few of the trail signs that were seen along my route.

And lastly, for those interested in such things, the 420-acre Weeks State Park encompasses Mt. Prospect plus the John Wingate Weeks Historical Site which was once the estate of John Wingate Weeks (1860-1926).  He was an avid environmentalist, and served as both a U.S. representative and senator and was Secretary of War under Presidents Harding and Coolidge.   More notably, Weeks was largely responsible for the Weeks Act which spurred the establishment of the White Mountain National Forest, as well other national forests in the U.S.

Weeks built his retreat at the top of Mount Prospect in 1912, and in 1941 the Weeks' children donated the property to the State of NH.  The property includes a lodge (National Register of Historic Places), and a beautiful fieldstone fire tower (National Register of Historic Lookout Towers).  There are about 5 miles of  multi-use trails, plus an auto road (designated as a New Hampshire Scenic Byway) to the summit.  There is even a tow-rope downhill ski slope which is managed by volunteers from the Mount Prospect Ski Club.

Shown below are 3 snapshots taken on the grounds on the Weeks Historic Site.  In order of appearance, these photos include the lodge, the fire tower, and a picturesque stone wall.



To sum it up, Mt. Prospect at Weeks State Park is open year round for hiking, snowshoeing, XC-skiing.  For folks like me who live within a short drive, it provides a nice venue for those times when you just want 1 to 2 hours worth of outdoor activity.  And for people who live out of the area, it can be included as part of a day's itinerary when visiting other locations in the North Country of NH.

19 April 2012

All in the Family: Mt. Crawford and Crawford Dome

Some readers might remember a popular 1970s sitcom entitled "All in the Family" which was about the Bunker family.  This report is about a pair of landmarks in the Presidential Range Dry River Wilderness who share the family name of Crawford.  One is known as Mt. Crawford, and the other is sometimes referred to as Crawford Dome.

On 18-April, I was uncertain if I'd have enough time to do a hike of any consequence.  Once it became clear that a few hours would be available, then a last minute decision needed to be made as to where to go!

Fresh in my mind was the short trek up Sleeper Brook that I'd done with Ben just a few days prior.  Suddenly the light bulbs lit up!  I'd never been to the enormous cliff at the western end of Crawford Dome.  If you happened to read my Blog report of that recent adventure, then you'll know what I'm referring to (click HERE to read that report).

The giant cliff seemed like perfect destination since it would be in keeping with my goal of trying to do something new on each of my treks.  Also, this would provide a nice follow-up to the Sleeper Brook exploration.  So, I quickly threw some things into my backpack and drove about 30 minutes down Rt. 302 to the Davis Path trailhead.

There is a spur off the Davis Path that leads to Mt. Crawford.  And, the Davis Path itself traverses the eastern slope of Crawford Dome.  However, there is no trail to the actual summit of Crawford Dome, nor to the cliff at its western end.  

Other than a short 0.3 mile bushwhack to the cliff at the end of Crawford Dome, the Davis Path was used for the majority of my hike.  My route is shown in yellow on the Google Earth image seen below (click on image to enlarge it).  Also, circled in red on the image below is the approximate spot where Ben and I ended our exploration on 15-April.

I decided to first do the bushwhack to the cliff on Crawford Dome.  Then, on the return leg of my journey, I would take the spur path to the top of Mt. Crawford.   Since I'd been to Mt. Crawford on many occasions, this game plan would allow me to bypass Mt. Crawford if I was running short of time.

Shortly before leaving the Davis Path for my bushwhack, I encountered patches of snow along the trail (photo below).

I was hoping that snow would not become an issue once I left the trail and headed off into the woods.  As it turned out, this was not an issue.  However, shortly after I started my bushwhack I had a jolt of another sort!  A large Spruce Grouse made a thunderous take-off nearly right in my face.   It perched in a tree not far away.  I was unsure if it was poised for an attack, or posing for a photo.  Ever so gingerly, I took a snapshot, then quickly continued on my way.

En route to the big cliff, I passed over the top of Crawford Dome where there is nice close-up view of Stairs Mountain, as well as peaks of the Southern Presidential Range on the horizon behind it (next photo).

After crossing over the top of Crawford Dome, it took another 10-15 minutes to reach the cliff at its western end.  From here, I could look directly across at the summit of Mt. Crawford.  The next two photos provide both a wide view, as well as a zoomed view of Mt. Crawford's summit area.

Mt. Crawford summit and surroundings:

Zoomed view of Mt. Crawford summit:

By far, the most interesting view to me was the vista looking northwesterly toward the Crawford Notch area.  Not only was this a pleasant scene, but it also provided the opportunity to gaze down on the area where Ben and I had visited only days before.
The next photo shows the northwesterly view, plus I've placed an "X" at the approximate spot where Ben and I spotted the cliff on Crawford Dome just before we began the return leg of our journey.

The cliff at the western end of Crawford Dome is a very enjoyable spot to hang out.  I even took a few minutes to put my camera on time-delay and take a snapshot of myself cautiously crouched at the edge of ledge as I looked down at the many ravines of the Sleeper Brook drainage.

Okay, after taking time for the self-portrait, it was time to move on.   Since there was time available, my next destination would be the short side trip to the top of Mt. Crawford.  Once I arrived there, the first thing I did was to take snapshots of the cliff upon which I'd stood only a short time ago.
The next two photos provide both a wide view, as well as a zoomed view of the cliff at the end of Crawford Dome.
Wide view of cliff and surrounding area:

 Zoomed view of cliff:

Regarding other views from the top of Mt. Crawford, they are much the same as those seen from Crawford Dome and its big cliff.  And so, I won't bore you with a series of snapshots that are more or less the same vistas as shown previously in this report.  Instead, I'll just show one photo (see below) of a particularly colorful pathway on the summit itself.

Also, as many readers already know, aside from the views from the top of Mt. Crawford, there are many open ledges on the upper portion of the Davis Path that provide scenic vistas such as shown in the next photo.

To sum it up, this was a fun day of visiting with the "Crawford family".   Not only was it exciting to include a visit to a new place for me, but it was also a great experience to view Mt. Crawford from Crawford Dome, and then look back at the Dome from Mt. Crawford.  And, even more rewarding was being atop the cliff that Ben and I had spotted only days before, and being able to view the area where we had stood gazing upward at this prominent feature on the landscape.
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ADDENDUM:
A few readers have commented about the many opportunities for off-trail explorations in the vicinity of Mt. Crawford.  Below are links to reports of two of my adventures in this region.  These links are not provided to “toot my own horn”, but rather as a possible source of information and inspiration to those who enjoy this type of exploration.

16 April 2012

A Short Saunter up Sleeper Brook

If you take a piece of paper and crumple it in your hand, you would get a pretty fair representation of the topography of the Sleeper Brook drainage with its numerous undulations and the abundance of steep-sided ravines.   And to top it off, accessing the mouth of Sleeper Brook is a challenge.  Shown below is a topographic map with the Sleeper Brook drainage which is roughly circled in pink.

On 15-April, my friend Ben and I took a few hours to scout out a very small portion of this remote area.  Ben has a special interest in the Sleeper Brook area.  In the early 1900s, his grandfather did an awesome exploration of this area by hiking up the Sleeper Brook drainage and eventually ending up on Stairs Mountain which rests at the top of the eastern end of the ravine (see footnote at end of this Blog).  And of course, you have to consider that this feat was done without the benefit of our modern day hiking equipment.  Also, it was before widespread use of the automobile. Getting to this area involved a long train ride for Ben's grandfather.

Due to a variety of circumstances, Ben and I only had about 5 hours available for our adventure.  However, even with the shortened time frame we were still able to experience a great hike, plus learn a few things which will be useful for any future forays into this area.

The extremely dry conditions we are currently experiencing has resulted in water levels that are very low in our brooks and rivers.  These conditions have many negatives, such as increased risk of forest fires, etc.  However, the low water did provide the means for a more straightforward approach to the mouth of the Sleeper Brook.  We were able to launch our hike from a point along Route 302 and then easily ford three bodies of water (Bemis Brook, plus two branches of the Saco River).  Ben is a volunteer fireman and used his waterproof fireman's boots, and I used my Neos overboots.

Just these water crossings alone had their own rewards!  We were able to get an awesome view looking up the Saco River toward Mt. Monroe and other peaks in the Southern Presidential Range.

Also, there was a nice view of Stairs Mountain, as seen in the next photo.

Once we reached the mouth of Sleeper Brook, we began our trek on the south bank of the brook.  This worked out okay for awhile, but eventually we crossed over to the north side of the brook where conditions looked more inviting. The north side was slightly less steep, plus it was forested with hardwoods versus thick conifers on the south wall of the ravine.  We also used the north side of the brook for the major portion of the return leg of our journey.  Our approximate route is shown on the map below. (Click on the map to enlarge.)

When we reached our turnaround time, we were just beginning to catch a glimpse of the massive cliff at the end of the peak sometimes referred to as Crawford Dome (located northeast of Mt. Crawford's summit).   The snapshot below shows this cliff as seen through the trees.

The Sleeper Brook waterway showed clear evidence of the erosion along the banks as caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011.  The next two photos demonstrate this.  The first photo was taken during our trek on 15-Apr-2012.  The second photo was taken in May 2011 when I did a similar exploration along Sleeper Brook by launching a bushwhack off the Davis Path and then trekking northward along the east bank of the Saco River.

PHOTO 1: April 2012

PHOTO 2: May 2011

As mentioned earlier in this report, water levels are low due to the current dry spell.  As can be seen in the April 2012 photo shown above, the water flow in Sleeper Brook appears to be meager.  However, it's possible that a portion of the water is flowing beneath the massive rocks and boulders, and therefore the flow could be greater than is apparent.   Regardless, the point where Sleeper Brook joins the Saco is nearly a mere trickle, and is a disappointing sight to behold (see photo below).  It's not the confluence one might expect to see!

However, I must say that the confluence of the Dry River with the Saco River looked a bit scanty as well!  The meeting of those two rivers was several hundred yards away, but I was able to zoom in and capture the scene that is shown in the next photo.  The point of confluence is circled in pink in both the snapshot as well as the map shown below the photo.  (You might need to click on the image to enlarge it.)

To sum it up, the time and distance for this adventure were both short.  However, quality oftentimes wins out over quantity.  This hike was loaded with quality!

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FOOTNOTE:
There is a two volume collection of books entitled "Our Mountain Trips" which is edited by Ben and Jane English.  It features journals of  hiking and camping trips to the White Mountains in the early 1900s, as chronicled by Ben's grandparents.  These books might be available at your public library, or they are available for purchase at retailers such as those listed below.
http://www.mountainwanderer.com/

(The Sleeper Brook adventure undertaken by Ben's grandfather is described on page 125 of "Our Mountain Trips- Part II".)