In late May I spent an interesting day revisiting trails and enjoying a little bushwhacking in the Sandwich Range Wilderness. I started out at the gorgeous trailhead at Ferncroft, where the fields were glowing with fresh greenery.
I headed north on the lightly-used Kelley Trail, one of the gems of the superb Wonalancet Out Door Club trail system.
This delightful woods walk follows a small stream northward through hemlocks and hardwoods, then climbs high above it and enters the Wilderness.
The unique charm of this trail comes in its upper 0.8 mile, when it leads through a beautiful ravine carved by glacial meltwater
It follows closely alongside the pretty little brook, crossing it several times, here on picturesque flat rocks.
There are many small sliding cascades.
The brook here was once much larger. At the end of the last Ice Age,
there was a meltwater lake in the broad Albany Intervale on the north
side of the Sandwich Range. For a time the eastern outlet of the lake,
where the Swift River flows out now, was blocked by an ice dam, forcing
the water to pour down through the Kelley Trail ravine. This powerful
surge carved out several small gorges and amphitheatres, where little
flowing water is found today. The trail leads by several of these
interesting rock formations.
Welcome to Middle Earth.
These rock walls are heavily jointed.
There's a climb over slippery rocks into an upper chamber of the gorge.
The trail climbs steeply out of this chamber, a small natural amphitheatre known as the "Pleistocene Plunge Pool," where once there was a high waterfall.
Then there's a final climb through a narrow cut to Paugus Pass, the low point on the ridge between Mt. Passaconaway and Mt. Paugus.
Kelley Trail ends in the pass at a junction with Lawrence Trail and Oliverian Brook Trail.
I headed down into the remote upper valley of Oliverian Brook, soon passing this ephemeral little pond.
Nice walking through open hardwoods in here.
Partway down the valley I headed off trail to the east, aiming for a small hidden cliff on the back side of "The Overhang" that I had visited several times before.
Below the cliff is a small treed-in slide of broken rock.
The cliff is perennially wet and I usually make a traverse out to the south and back to get around the extension of the cliff band.
This time I tried a more direct approach on the north side of the cliff. The climb was short and pretty intense, with a couple of tricky maneuvers.
The top of the cliff is well-guarded by mountain holly and other dense growth, so there are no open perches.
But from previous visits I knew there was a spot with enough of an opening to take in the unique vista of Mt. Passaconaway towering above the cliff face of Square Ledge. It's a closer and more intimate look at this duo than the view you get from the ledge on Mt. Paugus.
Closer look.
There's also a peek north down the valley to Hedgehog Mountain with Hancock and Carrigain in the distance.
Zoomed on Hancock.
In the Paugus woods.
It's suitably wild out here.
Crossing Oliverian Brook on the way back to the trail.
This log staircase at a brook crossing on the trail has seen better days.
Next up was a half-mile climb up Square Ledge Branch Trail.
This is a very pleasant trail with easy to moderate grades and very good footing.
At the junction with Square Ledge Trail it was decision time. It was late afternoon and the climb to the top of Square Ledge is steep. But having stared at it from across the valley, I wanted to get up there.
Along the way I poked around the site of the Conway Lumber Company's Square Ledge Camp, used in the early 1900s. I believe this was some kind of grinding wheel.
Bucket. Please remember that these are historic artifacts, protected by law, and should not be disturbed.
A glimpse of the cliff whetted my appetite for the steep climb.
Steep and rough, yes indeed!
This scramble is quite tricky and I removed my pack both ascending and descending.
The trail follows a steep natural ramp between the main cliff and this cool rock face hidden in the woods.
A short side path leads out to this little peek.
The portal where you emerge at the top of the climb.
The eastern outlook towards Mt. Paugus used to be pretty open but is getting pretty overgrown. For some years Peregrine Falcons regularly nested on Square Ledge and this outlook was sometimes posted to prevent hikers from disturbing the birds. I had not seen or heard any falcon activity when I was at the cliff across the valley, and pre-hike research had not found any closure of the cliff to rock climbing. (There are several climbing routes on the main cliff, though the long approach keeps the number of climbers low.)
I went out quietly (just in case) to a spot on the edge of the cliff that I know of and took in the views for a few minutes. Mt. Paugus dominates across the Oliverian Brook valley.
Paugus Pass and distant southern horizons.
A zoom on the hidden cliff I visited earlier in the day.
Down-look.
The Moats could be seen off to the northeast.
The summit of Square Ledge and a nearby view ledge are 0.2 mile to the west along the trail, but I had just been there last winter and it was getting late, so I headed down from here.
Dropping down the ledge scramble.
One of the reasons I chose this route was to check out a short relocation at a brook crossing on the southern section of Square Ledge Trail, done two years ago by the WODC and WMNF.
Beautiful hardwood forest up on the west side of the Oliverian Brook valley.
Almost looks like an Entmoot.
The junction known as "Four-Way."
Easy cruising down Old Mast Road back to Ferncroft.
