INTRODUCTION:
Upon reviewing my past blog postings, it was very surprising to find that I had never included a bushwhack adventure from a few years ago when I visited a huge cliff NE of Lancaster, NH. The cliff is located in the Pilot Mountain Range on the NW side of Hutchins Mountain.
As far as I can determine, this cliff lacks an officially-assigned name. It seems a bit odd that it would be unnamed since it is such a dominant feature on the landscape. If perchance any reader of this blog knows of a name for this cliff, please let me know, even if it’s only an unofficial name used by the locals.
This cliff resides within the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF). However, there are no official trails leading to it, nor did I come across any bootleg trails during my trek. Although it would be a very long approach route, you could bushwhack to this place completely on WMNF public land. Thankfully, my trek was shortened by having the good fortune of being granted permission by a local landowner to begin my trek on a parcel of private land along Lost Nation Road.
The location of the cliff is labeled near the center of the map shown below. Its GPS coordinates are: 44.5545, -71.4735.
PHOTOS:
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6 comments:
That cliff face looks pretty scary from the front! I'm glad you approached it from the back and found a nice, relatively safe surface on top.
The views from the top of the cliff are amazing! And I assume that because there is no trail it's a place you had all to yourself—my kind of place!
Thanks for including this "long-lost" trek in your blog, John!
Hi Rita,
Yes, you are absolutely right about me having the entire cliff top to myself. And, I saw no telltale wear patterns to suggest that that this place receives much, if any, human foot traffic. This is probably not too surprising since the cliff is in a location that is a bit removed from popular hiking destinations. Also, the bushwhack to this cliff is a bit more arduous than a normal bushwhack, assuming any bushwhack is “normal”. Ha ha! :-)
As always, thank you for following my blog, and for taking time to post your comments.
John
Hi John. We live off of Lost Nation and have always wanted to hike to Hutchins. Can you tell me more about your route?
Maired, sorry for the late reply to your question.
Regarding my trek to the cliff located low down on the NW side of Mt. Hutchins, the only other details I can offer are that I parked on the shoulder of Lost Nation Road at about 44.5546, -71.5001.
I had permission from a nearby landowner to bushwhack across his land to reach WMNF public land and then onward to the huge cliff that is the subject of my blog posting.
Although the cliff that is the subject of this blog posting is technically located on Mt. Hutchins, it is nowhere near the summit of that mountain. On another occasion, I did visit the top of Mt. Hutchins with my friend Steve Smith. That adventure is described at the link below.
http://mountainwandering.blogspot.com/2010/09/hutchins-mountain-83110-northwestern.html
John
Hi John! I recently discovered this cliff on my commute from Littleton to Gorham. It can briefly be seen from Route 3 in Whitefield. I tried hiking up to it from the backside using forest roads on public property but only got 1/2 way there before it started to get dark. (I was exploring the route after work) I would love to know any more details you would be willing to share about your approach. I am a rock limber and am interested in exploring the potential of the cliff for routes.
Any help would be great!
Thanks,
Mike.
Mike . . . Regarding my trek to the cliff located low down on the NW side of Mt. Hutchins, the only other details I have to offer are that I parked on the shoulder of Lost Nation Road at about 44.5546, -71.5001 and from there I proceeded due eastward. I had permission from a nearby landowner to bushwhack across his land to reach WMNF public land where I proceeded onward to the top of the huge cliff (44.55455, -71.47349) that is the subject of my blog posting. Unfortunately, on that particular adventure, I did not run a GPS track. All I had was the waypoint for my starting point and the waypoint for the top of cliff. I’m sorry that I have no other information to provide. If I had more information, I would be most happy to share it.
John
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