If you're a football fan, then you're likely familiar
with a segment on ESPN where a play or player's action causes the commentator to scratch
their head and say "C'Mon Man"!
I'll be the first to admit to being wrong, but my perception is
that a trek to Mt. Pemigewasset generates minimal enthusiasm among seasoned
hikers who generally prefer more aggressive adventures. And so, I'm thinking that when
many folks see the destination for this hike, they might
scratch their head and say "C'mon Man"!
Although my adventure did include a hike to the summit of
Mt. Pemigewasset, my main goal was to bushwhack to a small ledge tucked in the
woods about a tenth of a mile below the east face of this mountain. My inspiration for this hike was generated by
one of Steve Smith's Blog reports (Click HERE.)
To reach this little ledge, I left the Mt. Pemigewasset
Trail at about 2,300 feet and bushwhacked nearly due south. Luck was with me. I arrived at the top of the ledge, rather
than at the bottom, which sometimes happens when bushwhacking, with just the
slightest misjudgment!
The elapsed time from leaving the trail to arrival at the
ledge was under 30 minutes. However, the
reverse time from the ledge back to the trail was under 15 minutes, thanks to one of the joys of winter bushwhacking! You can simply follow your tracks back to your
starting point without the time-consuming process of route finding.
Although this ledge is small, it provides big views of mountains in the Franconia Range. In
contrast, views of these mountains from the top of Mt. Pemigewasset are
partially blocked by trees. The
composite photo shown below serves to compare the view of the Franconia Range
from the "bushwhack ledge", versus the view from Mt.
Pemigewasset's summit.
View of Franconia
Range from "bushwhack ledge", versus view from top of Mt. Pemigewasset
The next two snapshots were taken from the
"bushwhack ledge", and are intended merely to highlight the fine
views from this spot. Perhaps it should
be noted that my trek was done on 26-December-2012. On the day following this hike, there was a significant
snowfall. Therefore, the photos in this
report show far less white on the mountains than currently exists.
Mt. Liberty and Mt.
Flume as viewed from "bushwhack ledge"
Entire Franconia
Range as viewed from "bushwhack ledge"
After visiting the "bushwhack ledge", I
continued up the Mt. Pemigewasset Trail to the top of the mountain. From there, I saw vistas that are
familiar to anyone who has visited this location. The following snapshots show some typical
scenes.
(In the short span of time between visiting the "bushwhack ledge" and my arrival at the top of Mt. Pemigewasset, the sky had changed from blue to gray!)
Point of arrival at
the top of Mt. Pemigewasset
Looking westward
toward Mt. Wolf
Looking southeasterly toward Loon, Scar Ridge, Osceola East Peak, Tecumseh
Tree-obstructed
view of peaks in Franconia Range
Some readers might find the next composite photo to be of
interest. It shows a highly-zoomed view
of the "bushwhack ledge" as seen from the parking lot for the Flume
Visitor Center. And, this composite also
contains a topographic map which shows the approximate location of the ledge.
Highly-zoomed image
of ledge, plus map showing approximate location of ledge
To sum it up,
this little adventure was fun, and it was rewarding for me to witness the view of the Franconia Range from the "bushwhack ledge". However, it's completely
understandable that many might still just scratch their head and say
"C'mon Man"!