Mountain Wandering: Spring Rambling, Part II

More spring outings while scouting trails for the 32nd edition of the AMC White Mountain Guide...

A creative crossing of the Pemigewasset River along the Pemi Trail in Franconia Notch: a staircase, a boulder and a bridge.

Nifty view of Cannon Cliff and Eagle Cliff from a beaver wetland by the Pemi Trail, north of Lafayette Campground.

Checking out the scene at Moosilauke Ravine Lodge: the Dartmouth Outing Club gives ample warning about possible closures of the bridge over the Baker River on Gorge Brook Trail during high water events.

They are serious about this: there are now swinging lockable gates at both ends of the bridge.

I needed a quick bushwhack fix so I headed a mile or so up Gorge Brook Trail and whacked through open woods towards an old (1942) slide track.

The gullied track scoured out by the slide.

A few remnant snow patches.

Steep and thick approaching the upper part of the slide.

The slide is almost completely revegetated, but the top is still open enough to present a view over the valley to Moosilauke's Blue Ridge (Mts. Braley and Kirkham and Sayre Peak, named after DOC notables) and distant mountains beyond.

Zooming in on Ravine Lodge.

One of several white pines thriving amidst the spruce and fir. On the left is a stray hemlock, not very common at 3400 ft.

Steep descent.

For variety, I veered off to the Snapper Trail and descended the lower part of that trail.

Some of the many cool signs displayed on the walls of Ravine Lodge. The orange one caught my eye. The Gorge Brook Slide Trail was only maintained from ca. 1968-1980.

On a cool, bug-free day I did the first of two spring maintenance trips on the Passaconaway Cutoff, the adopted trail of the AMC Four Thousand Footer Committee. This snapped off blowdown was not thick but it was tricky and required two cuts and a bit of coaxing to bring it down.

Cleared.

"The hemlock cathedral."

Cleaning drainages.

My favorite hardwood corridor.

More drainages. 33 done on this trip, 23 to go.

This was a leaner that finally came down.

Cleared.

On the way out I rewarded myself with a quick bushwhack to what I call the Passaconaway Beaver Pond. Even when hiding in evening shadow, its symmetry is at once beautiful and imposing.

Passaconaway is a parent to the eastern spurs of Nanamocomuck Peak and Square Ledge, with a bit of Wonalancet Hedgehog peeking out behind.

On a day with rain moving in by early afternoon, I drove over to Breezy Point Road to check out the lower half of the Moosilauke Carriage Road. The washout on the upper end of the road, caused by the 2017 Halloween storm, seems to have gotten worse. Unless you have a monster truck, a road walk of 0.4 mile is required to reach the start of the trail.

Breezy Point, with its open fields and mountain views, is one of my favorite places in the Whites. Walking up the road, you an espy Moosilauke's South and East Peaks.

The open fields of Breezy Point were once home to resort hotels known as the Breezy Point House (1877-1884) and the Moosilauke Inn (1885-1953). From the 1950s-1980s, a smaller motel-like complex was located here. There was also a nine-hole golf course.This tract was added to the WMNF in 1991, and the fields are kept open by the Forest Service. From the upper field there are views of Carr Mountain...

...and Mt. Kineo.

The site of the inn known as Merrill's Mountain House or Merrill's Mountain Home, is a short distance up the Carriage Road. This foundation is located just to the left of the trail. Operated by the Merrill family from the 1860s until 1910, it could accommodate about 35 guests. Merrill’s was a homey hostelry, lacking the pizazz and social status of the larger Breezy Point House and its successor, Moosilauke Inn, just down the slope. The inn succumbed to fire in 1915, and the site is now wooded.

This stone well is located next to the foundation.

This partial foundation is on the right side of the trail. There is a geocache hidden here.

One of several wet sections, which alternate with dry stretches with good footing along the next mile of the Carriage Road.

Trout Lily Highway.

Who doesn't love this sight in spring?

Shy and lovely.

An English major, not.

I have yet to locate any evidence of the DOC's Camp Misery, built in 1932 and used into the 1940s. Maybe nobody wanted to stay there.

A rare DOC blaze as the Carriage Road heads up into a beautiful mature hardwood forest.

Dartmouth owns 4500 acres on the east side of Moosilauke, and it is a great resource for student and faculty research. Of course, kiss any federal grants goodbye with those dirty words, "climate change."

Gorgeous hardwoods up here.

I was hoping to find some Dutchman's Breeches that I had spotted up here about ten years ago, but no luck. There were plenty of Trout Lilies, and Spring Beauties, too.

On the way down, I took a short side trip on a pleasant section of the quiet Hurricane Trail to visit a logging camp site.

This was the site of Camp 1 of the William R. Park, Jr. logging operation in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Park logged in the Big Brook and upper Baker River drainages and was notable for constructing a gravity railroad to haul lumber partway down to the mills in Warren.