After snow removal duties at home (a surprising 7+ inches from Tuesday's snowfall), I undertook an afternoon snowshoe bushwhack up onto the lower end of Hardwood Ridge, a western spur on the southern end of the Franconia Range. There was snow a'plenty to break, and though views were limited to one fuzzy peek, the ridge was a delight with open hardwoods and a series of semi-open "mountain meadows."
The iconic Flume Covered Bridge, with a partly veiled Mt. Liberty rising above.
The snow depth in the open hardwoods was about a foot at the start.
Apparently there are still bears out and about.
Hardwoods as far as the eye can see.
When breaking trail, slow and steady wins the day.
Halfway up to the ridge I crossed a prominent old logging road that contours the slope.
Snow depth had increased to 16-20" up here.
Stark winter beauty.
The first of the "mountain meadows" on the crest of the ridge.
Another meadow in the one patch of spruce that thrives amidst a vast hardwood forest.
Meandering through the spruce meadow corridors.
Rootball.
Sun and shadow on another meadow.
Stonehenge on Hardwood Ridge.
A wonderful area to snowshoe through.
I headed east up the gentle ridge through wide open hardwoods.
Guardians of another meadow.
Split rock.
Yet another opening in the forest.
A battered but tenacious old yellow birch.
Lightning strike?
My turnaround point was a little 2323-ft. knob. The hardwoods continue up to 2500 ft., then the forest abruptly changes to spruce. So the Hardwood Ridge name is descriptive only for the lower half of the ridge, which tops out at 3834 ft., south of Mt. Flume.
There are quite a few bear trees on the ridge.
It's always nice to have a set of tracks to follow on the way down.
Flurries obscured the little framed view of Mount Wolf from one of the spruce meadows.
Sunset through the trees.
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