LEDGES AROUND RUSSELL POND PEAK: 9/7/17 & 9/12/17

I enjoyed two short bushwhack excursions on 9/7 and another on 9/12 looking for views on the ridges around the road leading up to Russell Pond. 

9/7/17

On 9/7 I took part of the afternoon off and did two short bushwhacks, starting from the upper part of the road to Russell Pond.

A view of West Tecumseh and its long spur ridges from a ledge on a ridge east of Russell Pond.

Another ledge offers a view of the ominous mass of Scar Ridge.

A vista peering through Thornton Gap to the distant Sleepers and Mt. Whiteface. Osceola's Breadtray Ridge is on the left, West Tecumseh on the right.

Zoom on Thornton Gap.

A random meadow in the forest.

Nice hardwood whacking to "Russell Pond Peak," (2071 ft.), south of the pond.

Osceola, Tripyramid (through Thornton Gap) and West Tecumseh from the top of a wooded cliff on the precipitous east face of Russell Pond Peak.

The summit of Russell Pond Peak, a "2000-Footer."

Title page of the summit register.

A scene at the summit.

Russell Pond, looking across to the two summits of Russell Pond Peak. There was a loon out on the water.

9/12/17

A short, steep afternoon bushwhack from Russell Pond Road led to a great ledge perch on the east side of Russell Pond Peak, offering wide views of the Osceola-Tecumseh area. I first visited this ledge back in the mid-1990s.

Open woods are the rule on this whack.

The final approach to the ledge is steep.

A commanding perch looking towards Mt. Osceola and Thornton Gap.

West Tecumseh and ridges stretching out towards Dickey Mountain.

Tripyramid is sighted through Thornton Gap.

A comfortable place to hang out for a while.

The West, Middle and Main peaks of Osceola, with Breadtray Ridge on the right.

From here you can see the entire Scar Ridge-Osceola ridgeline.

Down-look.

Quartz intrusion.

Looking up the Talford Brook valley to the North Peak of Loon (left) and Scar Ridge (right),

The wild back side of Loon.

Parting shot.

Balanced boulder.

EAST POND TRAIL, 9/5/17

On a murky morning with t-storms predicted for the afternoon, I stayed short and close to home with a hike from Tripoli Road to old favorite East Pond, then continued up to the Osceola-Scar Ridge col on the East Pond Trail.

A calm, murky morning at East Pond. The East Pond Trail goes through the col in the center of the photo, then descends to the Kancamagus Highway.

The East Pond Trail tracks along the west shore of the pond.

View of Osceola ridges from the west shore.

The woods are open and ferny on the west side of the trail up in the 3130-ft. col. I meandered across the saddle towards East Scar Ridge. Bushwhackers seeking to climb that NH 100 Highest peak will find that higher up on the slope the woods transform to a maelstrom of dense small conifers riddled with shin-cracking blowdowns. At least, that was our experience many years ago when we descended from East Scar Ridge to the East Pond Trail.

A flash-enhanced fern glade.

About 0.1 mile down from the height-of-land the trail offers a glimpse down to green-tinted East Pond.

With a short bushwhack through very dense conifers - the type of stuff where it takes eight minutes to travel 75 feet - I gained a clearer bird's eye view of the pond, albeit obscured by haze and a rain shower. I had to stand atop a blowdown to get this shot.

Zoomed.

Pleasant walking descending back towards the pond.

View from the NW corner of East Pond.

Lilypads at the north end of the pond.

MACK BROOK SLIDE (SCAR RIDGE): 8/30/17

Mark Klim and I bushwhacked two miles up the Mack Brook valley on the south side of Scar Ridge to the big gravelly slide under the summit. We spent a long time lounging in the sun and enjoying the wide southern view.

To start, we drove partway up Mack Brook Rd. (off Tripoli Rd.) and whacked across to Mack Brook.

Then we headed north up the valley. Near this spot we encountered a big bull moose with an impressive rack. No chance for pictures.

For a short distance we enjoyed easy passage on an old logging road.

A nice hardwood glade at 2200 ft.

Meandering deep in the valley.

Passing through a birch graveyard. Many white birches across the mountains are reaching the end of their lifespan after flourishing in the wake of logging and fire in the early 1900s.

High in the valley, Mack Brook is tiny.

There were a few pleasant ferny glades on the broad, flat upper floor of the valley.

At 2700 ft. we emerged on the gentle, open runout of the slide.

An open highway through the forest.

Approaching the slide proper.

Ascending the wide lower part of the slide. This is a "comfortable" slide - not too steep, and no sketchy smooth slabs. I have found no documented date for this slide. My best guess is that it fell during Hurricane Carol in 1954, which unleashed a half-dozen slides on nearby Mt. Osceola. The older slide that gave Scar Ridge its name in the late 1800s was in the next ravine to the east, on a branch of Little East Pond Brook; it is now mostly revegetated.

Wide and dry.

Partway up we stopped for a long break to bask in the sun and gaze at the southward vista towards Mt. Kearsarge, Mt. Cardigan and other peaks in central NH.

A great way to spend a perfect late summer afternoon.

Snoozing was part of the plan.

Patches of ferns somehow thrive in this dry and sterile environment.

After a long rest, we headed farther up the slide.

We picked our way carefully through the loose rocks. We went about 2/3 of the way up the slide and took another long break in the sun. When I first visited this slide in 1996 with two friends, we went to the top, then whacked up to the crest of Scar Ridge west of the summit and dropped down to the top of one of the slides on the north side for a great view into the Pemi Wilderness. On the way back down this slide we made a side trip up to another, shorter slide on the west side of the Mack Brook drainage. Today's trip was a lazier outing.

Granite boulders weathering to rottenstone.

A wide view, well up on the slide. The Mack Brook valley is enclosed on either side by southerly spurs of Scar Ridge.

After another long break - in total we spent perhaps three hours in the sun on the slide - we headed down with the SE spur looming above.

Looking across to the SW spur ridge.

Carefully descending.

Looking back up by a split boulder at the base of the slide.

Heading down the valley.

Following Mack Brook down from its inner sanctum. It was a fine bushwhack!