Long Pond and The Hogsback

The title of this report sort of sounds like the title of a work of fiction, although I'm uncertain what the subject matter might be if that were to be the case!   Regardless, the topic of this report is about a short foray to Long Pond, followed by a bushwhack to a ledge along the ridgeline known as The Hogsback.

The sole purpose for making a short foray to the shoreline of Long Pond was to get a photo of Black Mountain with the pond in the foreground (see next photo).

Black Mountain (Benton, NH) with Long Pond in foreground

Before proceeding further with this report, perhaps it might be a good idea to set the scene by presenting a map that shows the area where my adventure took place.  On this map you will see both Long Pond and The Hogsback.  The route I took to The Hogsback is highlighted in yellow.

Map showing the area where my adventure took place

Following my brief stopover at Long Pond to take some photos, I continued travelling south on Long Pond Road to a gated logging road where I parked my car at a wide spot in the road.  On the map shown above, the logging road is labeled as the "Black Mountain Trail".  This corridor now bears little resemblance to a hiking trail!  The next photo shows a typical scene along the logging road, as it currently exists.

Typical scene along the logging road

I followed the logging road for about 0.8 mile and then launched a bushwhack heading westward through open woods for about 0.7 mile to reach a ledge on the ridgeline of The Hogsback.  The next photo shows the type of open woods that I enjoyed for the majority of the bushwhack.

This type of open woods was typical for the majority of the bushwhack

Upon reaching the ridgeline, I picked up the remnants of an old trail.  I don't know if this was ever an official trail.  According to old maps, there was once an official trail called the Jeffers Mountain Trail that ran along the southern part of The Hogsback's ridgeline. However, it appears to me that it veered off before reaching the ledges on the northern end of the ridgeline.  Regardless, the next photo shows a typical segment of the old trail that I followed for about a tenth of a mile before heading off to my target ledge.

Segment of old trail corridor along northern end of The Hogsback's ridgeline

In the preceding paragraph it was mentioned that I headed off the old trail corridor to reach "my target ledge".  On other occasions, I've explored the entire ridgeline along The Hogsback.  Therefore, being familiar with this location, I knew exactly which ledge I wanted to visit.

The next three photos shows some of my favorite views from "my target ledge".

Vista of Long Pond with Kinsmans and tops of Franconia Range in background

Sugarloaf Mountain, as viewed from The Hogsback

Mt. Moosilauke (dark mass on horizon), as viewed from The Hogsback

For my road trip back home, I decided to continue driving southbound on Long Pond Road to pick up Rt. 25 westbound, and then take Lime Kiln Road to Rt. 116 toward Franconia where I'd pick up Rt. 142 and head for my home in Bethlehem.

The route outlined above enabled me to make a roadside stop at Oliverian Pond to view Owl's Head cliffs (just NW of Glencliff, NH), and to also make a roadside stop on Lime Kiln Road to get a distant view of Sugarloaf Mountain and The Hogsback ridgeline which I had visited earlier in the day.

The next two photos show the vistas from these roadside stops.  Sometimes the views travelling to/from the hike can be at least as pleasant as the views experienced on the hike itself!

Owl's Head cliff (near Glencliff, NH), as viewed from Oliverian Pond

Sugarloaf Mountain and The Hogsback, as viewed from Lime Kiln Road (between East Haverhill and Benton, NH)

To sum it up, the only actual hiking that I did for this adventure was the approximate 3-mile round trip trek to the ledge on The Hogsback.  But as the saying goes, big things come in small packages!  Also, it was terrific to do this trek one more time before the forest in this vicinity is "rearranged" by the upcoming logging operations associated with the Pemi Northwest Project.