On a drive through Franconia Notch after the prolonged thaw, I noted bare ground on the slopes of Bickford Mountain, the lowest northwestern spur of the Franconia Range. This SW-facing hardwood slope is one of the first places to melt out in spring. A familiar bare ground bushwhack was an enticing option at a time when many trails were ridden with treacherous frozen postholes.
I started off on the Skookumchuck Trail for a bit less than a half mile.
Sun and bare ground - quite a contrast with multiple feet of snow in Tuckerman Ravine a few days earlier.
Looked more like April than mid-March.
Wonderful!
I had figured the SW-facing slopes would be bare, but I was carrying snowshoes in anticipation of snowpack lingering on the flat ridge extending east from Bickford Mountain. I was shocked to discover that there was no snow up here, either.
There was some crunchy snow over on the north side, but it was just a few inches deep.
Beautiful glade near the indistinct 2380-ft. summit of Bickford Mountain (not to be confused with Big Bickford Mountain, a 3000-footer farther up the ridge).
I descended westward into more rugged terrain, seeking a small view ledge I had visited a few times in the past.
Cool rocks.
Found the ledge!
Nice view out to the north end of the Benton Range and Cooley & Cole Hills.
The Signal Mountain Range in Vermont beyond I-93.
Zoomed in to reveal Camel's Hump on the right.
Jumble of rocks below the outlook.
Nice profile of Cannon.
Spruces with long clinging branches.
I decided to head east across the ridge to climb 2802-ft. Scarface Mountain, seen here through the trees.
Interesting ledge on the way up Scarface.
A steep 400-foot climb through fairly open woods.
A bit of old snow near the top.
Open birch glade on the north side of Scarface.
A nice view out to Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.
Register jar at the spruce-wooded summit of Scarface.
First page of the register.
Last entry was in December.
On the way down through the hardwoods, a glimpse of North Lafayette.
Homeward bound.
Bickford and Scarface from the bridge near the Gallen Memorial.
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