Catching up on recent hikes in between rounds of editing for the next edition of the AMC White Mountain Guide.
MOUNT OSCAR
Carol and I played tourist/hiker one afternoon and rode the gondola at Bretton Woods Ski Area ($37 a pop, ouch) and took the 0.8 mile "West Mountain Hiking Trail" to the ledgy summit of Mount Oscar (2,751 ft.). (West Mountain is the ski area's name for the trail system on the north slope of Mount Oscar.) Back in the 1980s, when I lived in Twin Mountain, and before the ski area expanded westward, we used to occasionally bushwhack up to Oscar.
We were pleasantly surprised that nearly all of the trail was really a hiking trail, with only a little bit on ski trails.
The summit.
Lovely view up the Zealand Valley, with Carrigain and Hancock peeking over in the distance.
Mount Hale is an impressive sprawling mass from this angle.
The cliffs of Middle Sugarloaf on the other side of the Zealand Valley. Speaking of which....
NORTH & MIDDLE SUGARLOAF
The next day I returned to the area, driving up the terribly potholed and lumpy paved section of Zealand Road, and hiked the Sugarloaves, which are among the "biggest bang for your buck" destinations in the Whites.
Cool split boulder along Sugarloaf Trail.
This rock staircase, built by the USFS in the 1970s, has stood the test of time. My friend Bill and I maintained Sugarloaf Trail from 1986-2005, and it was good to see that it is well looked after, though inevitably more eroded from heavy use.
View of the Zealand Valley from a secluded perch on North Sugarloaf.
The most open ledges on North Sugarloaf are at the south end of its crest, here looking up at Middle Sugarloaf and ridges of Mount Hale.
The climb up Middle Sugarloaf is short but steep, ending with this solid ladder.
On the NW side, Middle Sugarloaf's expansive granite ledges offer sweeping views out to Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and Green Mountains.
North Twin and Peak Above the Nubble.
I had it in my mind that I wanted to traverse all three Sugarloaves, including trailless South Sugarloaf, more than a mile away and 500 ft. higher. I had a late start, but was hoping I could replicate the route I took in 1987, when I reached South Sugarloaf via Middle in just over two hours from the trailhead. That day I also continued up the NE ridge of Mount Hale over a series of cliffs and linked up with the (then relatively unknown) Firewarden's Trail. I knew I had to descend along a long line of cliffs on the SW side of Middle to get down into the woods. Along the way I visited several fine viewpoints. In this photo South Sugarloaf is in the center of the view.
The line of cliffs goes a long way.
A final steep drop through the woods to get to more reasonable terrain.
My progress towards South Sugarloaf was significantly slower than my 1987 trip, partly due to age and partly because the woods were thicker than anticipated. But when I came into these open hardwoods my pace quickened and I had hopes of still getting up to South's open, gravelly summit with enough time to whack directly down to Zealand Road from there.
Then the woods took a turn for the worse. Being just a bit more than halfway there in mid/late afternoon, and not knowing how navigable the steep east side of South Sugarloaf would be with not much of a margin of daylight, I deemed it wise to turn back to Middle Sugarloaf and descend by trail. (I had considered descending via a snowmobile trail that runs across the saddle between Middle and South, but I wasn't sure of its exact route, and when I heard a coyote howl in that direction, it was a "nope.")
Climbing back up Middle gave me a chance to savor the viewpoints along the SW cliffs.
From Middle Sugarloaf summit, the Presidentials rise majestically beyond Mount Oscar.
DICKEY NOTCH
A short, easy walk to a quiet nook of the mountains, accessed from the Welch-Dickey trailhead. A gentle 0.8 mile brings you to a series of small beaver ponds and meadows in the gap between Cone Mountain and Dickey Mountain.
The beavers have apparently left the area, but this pond still holds some water.
GIANT STAIRS THE LONG WAY
On a sunny and windy 9/11, I hiked to Giant Stairs (Stairs Mountain on the 52 WAV list) via the longer route from the Rocky Branch Valley. The first five miles of this 6.2 mile approach are either level or mostly easy-graded, but the last mile-plus packs a punch.
The first 1.8 mile stretch is on a section of gravel Jericho Rd. (aka Rocky Branch Rd.) that has been closed by the USFS ever since the 2017 Halloween storm caused a couple of washouts that look pretty minor to the casual observer. This walk is rather mind-numbing at the end of the day.
An example of storm damage along the Rocky Branch itself.
The road bridge over the Rocky Branch was removed a few years ago, so this is not a route to attempt in high water. With late summer low water levels, the crossing was relatively easy this day.
The next two miles are mostly on the easy grade of the Rocky Branch Railroad, used for logging in this valley in the early 1900s.
Rocky Branch Shelter #1 is the only lean-to left in the valley. It's in pretty good shape.
On to the Stairs Col Trail, leading up the remote valley of Lower Stairs Brook.
Interesting spot for a geocache.
Into the Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness.
I took a waypoint here, and when I placed it on various maps, I discovered that the sign is about 0.1 mile above (west of) the point where the trail actually enters the Wilderness. The sign is located at point 029, the Wilderness boundary is the pinkish line.
The lower 1.3 miles of Stairs Col Trail rises at easy to at most moderate grades on old logging roads, providing pleasant walking through hardwood forest.
The upper half-mile rises steeply for ~800 feet of elevation and is a bit of a butt-kicker.
A peek up at the Lower Stair.
The ferny pass known as Stairs Col.
Sign simplicity rules in the Wilderness.
Steep sidehill along the Davis Path, heading to Stairs.
Rock work presumably laid in by crews hired by innkeeper Nathaniel T.P. Davis in 1845, when the epic task of constructing this 15-mile bridle path was completed.
A tricky little scramble on the steep pitch up to Stairs.
Rough and rocky.
By contrast, the 0.2 mile spur path to the top of the Giant Stairs is a stroll through the conifer forest.
The flat top of Giant Stairs is a wonderful perch.
Looking south and SW over Crawford Dome and Mount Crawford to the Sandwich Range (L) and Mount Carrigain (R).
The near neighbor of Stairs is flat-topped Mount Resolution, where I had stood a few days earlier.
The SE view to Iron Mountain. Kearsarge North and North Moat. This was my first visit to Stairs in two decades, and I relished the wildness of the place and its expansive view.
The date was 9/11/26, and to honor the fallen on this 25th anniversary, I raised a flag for a while. On 9/11/01, Carol and I climbed Giant Mountain in the Adirondacks. When we came down, the world had changed. Never forget.
On the way down, I followed a short, overgrown path to a perch called "The Down-Look."
This spot has a striking view down into the twisting, trailless valley of Sleeper Brook, with many peaks beyond. Then it was time for the long walk out.
