While taking in a very hazy view on Mount Crescent's north outlook a few days ago, one of the few mountains that could be seen was nearby Black Crescent Mountain, displaying the cliffs and talus slope on its SW spur. (The photo shown here was taken on a clear fall day.) AMC explorers in the late 1800s referred to that talus slope as the "Crescent Scar." On the 1896 USGS Mt. Washington quadrangle it was labeled, "The Scar."
Back in late March, 2009, I took part in a memorable snowshoe trip out to The Scar with John "1HappyHiker" Compton. On that day we had clear sunny skies and deep firm snow that made for great bushwhacking through mostly open woods.
Along the way we crossed over a knob that gave us a close-up view of the cliffs and talus, seen in this photo. Studying the view from the Crescent north outlook sparked a desire to return to The Scar, which is reached by a bushwhack of 1.1 to 1.4 mile, depending on the route chosen. The launching point is Hunters Pass, above the top of the Ice Gulch, where the Cook Path meets the Ice Gulch Path. On a warm partly sunny day with thick smoke haze, I did make it back to The Scar, but I discovered that the whack was significantly harder than our winter trip due to a proliferation of hobblebush and blowdown.
As I drove along scenic Randolph Hill Road, I caught a glimpse of Black Crescent and The Scar (just to the right of an up-sweeping limb) across the fields.
I parked at the Community Forest trailhead at the end of Randolph Hill Road and walked 0.1 mile along Jimtown Logging Road to the Cook Path. This access to the upper end of the Ice Gulch was first opened in 1883 by trail-builders Eugene B. Cook and Charles E. Lowe. Most of the Cook Path runs through the Randolph Community Forest. The upper end of the Cook Path, the Ice Gulch, and The Scar are in Gorham's Paul T. Doherty Memorial Forest (formerly Ice Gulch Town Forest).
The lower part of Cook Path has some rocky footing.
The Peek Path, named for trail-builder William H. Peek, offers a rough alternate access from trailhead parking.
For some distance Cook Path rises moderately through a nice hardwood forest on the east slope of Mount Crescent, with good footing.
Higher up, the trail takes a wilder turn, traversing a couple of high shoulders on the mountain through mixed woods. Hobblebush crowds the trail in places.
Lots of moose sign up here.
I found a geocache that hadn't been logged in almost four years.
A bit of rocky footing as the trail descends to the head of the Ice Gulch.
The next mile, through the fascinating ravine known as the Ice Gulch, is one of the toughest trail stretches in the Whites, featuring near-constant scrambling over slippery, angled boulders with some deep holes between. I won't be heading that way.
Starting out across the broad gap of Hunters Pass. The WMNF Bog Dam Trail once ran through this pass and down to Camp 19 in the Upper Ammonoosuc valley.
Some nice hardwood as I headed up the slope north of the pass. It didn't last long.
Then came the hobblebush, acres and acres of it, with plenty of blowdown mixed in.
This went on and on for a long stretch of exasperatingly slow progress.
In hindsight, I can see that I chose a route too far to the west of the course John and I followed in 2009. It also seems like the hobblebush has flourished and the blowdowns have multiplied during the intervening years. And of course many obstacles are buried when there is a three-foot snowpack. In any case, the whacking was so tedious that I almost turned back.
A brief respite.
And then right back into it.
After about an hour of hobblebush hobbling, I broke out into better woods.
That's more like it!
It's now officially a bushwhack.
I went over the crest of a knob shown as "Black Crescent Mountain - Middle Peak" on a CalTopo map. There are cliffs on this knob with views, but the talus was the main objective this day.
The descent to the col beyond was through an open "salt and pepper" forest of birch and conifer.
After crossing the col I passed through a beautiful open glade of sugar maples.
I was anxious to reach the talus and started up the slope towards it a little too soon.
My angling ascent led me up into some steep and gnarly terrain.
I was hoping not to hit a dead-end.
Finally, a glimpse of open rock through the scrub.
I emerged at the upper west end of the talus slope, when I had intended to access it from the base, as we had done on our snowshoe trip.
I knew that the widest views were down below, so I made a slow, careful descent over the rock blocks. Most of them were stable, but there were a few treacherous loose ones. The slope is steep with an angle of 36 degrees. The butt came into play more than once. Thankfully the rocks were dry and grippy.
As the views opened up, I was disappointed to see that the smoke haze was as bad as ever. The Moriahs, Carters and Wildcat were dim silhouettes.
A little early color brightened the talus.
The Northern Presidentials were also dimmed by the haze.
Close-up of the rocks, riven from the cliffs above by frost and water action. The bedrock here is Granite Porphyry.
Looking across the talus slope, which is about 150 yards wide. In the December 1884 issue of Appalachia, stalwart AMC explorer Lucia Pychowska described the talus and cliffs:
"Moreover, the cliffs and slide found on the north side of the larger ravine of Mt. Crescent, north of the Gulch, are worthy of inspection. This slide is visible from the Randolph Hill road for a long distance. It is about one mile and a quarter from the head of the Gulch, in a direction nearly north by east. The cliffs, 150 feet high, overtop a deep ravine with wooded sides. At their base is a talus of broken rock, of about equal height. Along the top of the talus grow fir or spruce and birch trees, partly veiling the cliffs that rise behind them. ... The slide is about 150 yards wide. ... Rain and frost do their work, season after season. The slide, now so plainly seen from afar, is of recent origin, and affords a sample of the large scale upon which the work of destruction is carried on. The decomposing granite, as it is washed down among the fallen rocks, forms a soil which nourishes the curtain of trees before spoken of. When this slide came down, a large number of trees fell with the earth on which they were growing, and their roots held in the upper fragments of the cliff till in some way fire got among them and left them black and half consumed. In climbing to the top of the cliffs, the exploring party used these blackened stumps and branches to aid in the steep ascent, which they made by way of the sliding gravel with its treacherous blocks...."
"... At the head of the slide a sign-board has been placed, bearing the name "Crescent Scar." "
A closer look at Madison, Adams and Jefferson.
Close by to the SW is "Black Crescent Mountain - Middle Peak." The route I used to get to the talus came over the right end of the ridge. My return route would go around to the left of the peak.
I found a suitable flat rock and spent an hour taking in this wild scene.
I descended carefully to the bottom of the talus and looked back up for a peek at the cliffs above.
Looking back from the scrub below the talus, a better approach than the one I used from the side.
Passing through a little mountain meadow.
Blowdowns were a nemesis on much of today's bushwhack.
My return route had its share of hobblebush, but it wasn't as prevalent as on the route going in.
Farther along on my return route I passed through some expansive maple glades.
And some open mixed woods.
More maple goodness.
A trident.
I chanced upon a dried-up pool in the forest.
A massive yellow birch.
I came out to the rim of the upper end of the Ice Gulch, with a near sheer drop below.
I worked my way westward until it was safe to descend, and dropped down to the Ice Gulch Path.
I then ascended the very steep pitch that leads up to the junction with Cook Path.
Homeward bound on the Cook Path.
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