INTRODUCTION:
There
are a variety of rock-climbing routes on the southwest cliffs of Mt. Oscar
(a.k.a. West Mountain) in the Bretton Woods area of New Hampshire.
HOWEVER, not being a rock climber, I used a
different route (see map below) to access the top of these cliffs.😄
My trek
began at the gated forest road (FR 155) on the east side of Zealand Road
opposite the trailhead for the Sugarloaf Trail. I walked along FR 155 for about a mile to the beginning of the rock
climber’s trail which I then followed to the bottom of the cliffs. From there, I trekked about a tenth of a mile
along the base of the cliffs until I located a route to the top that was less
steep and more doable for someone who isn’t a rock-climber.
If you
are an adventuresome type of person, then you might opt to experience Mt. Oscar’s
views by either rock-climbing, or doing a trek such as described in this blog
posting. However, it should be stated
that there is yet another way to experience the views from this mountain. You can
buy tickets for a chair-lift ride from the Bretton Woods Adventure Center. After disembarking from the top of the lift
ride, you can simply walk (or ski during winter) a short distance to the ledges
near the summit of Mt. Oscar. The views
from those upper ledges are slightly more expansive than my bushwhack
destination which was lower down on the mountainside.
PHOTOS:
4 comments:
Hello John,
This is quite the beautiful summit. I'm very surprised the peak is mostly trailless, despite how close it is o Bretton Woods. That's a good thing of course, it's good to know there will always be peaks like this that can be found off the beaten path. Happy trails (or bushwhacks)!
Hi Evan,
Many thanks for reading my blog.
Your comments prompted me to add another image to the INTRODUCTION portion of this posting. This additional image is a screenshot from Google Earth that shows my bushwhack destination in relation to the top of the chair lift at Bretton Woods. The two locations are about 0.2 mile apart and there is nearly a 400 ft difference in elevation between these locations.
John
Hi John,
Just returned from a two week vacation. Week one to PA to see the family and week two in Great Basin National Park.
I'm not a rock climber either, although I appreciated seeing the highlighted climbing routes. I also loved the photo of the Indian Pipe; they're among my favorite forest plants and we don't have them in the arid west.
Autumn leaves already? The summer has gone by much too quickly!
Hi Rita,
Welcome back from your 2-week vacation. A week in PA to visit family, and a week in NV at Great Basin National Park . . . sounds wonderful!
Yup! The Indian Pipe plant is also on my “favorite forest-plants” list as well.
John
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