CHILLING OUT AT CRAWFORD'S: 12/17/09

One of the bitterest days we'll see all winter, and it's not even winter yet. It was -5 with strong winds when I arrived at the Highland Center for an 8am meeting. After the meeting, around 11:00, I drove down into Crawford Notch for a planned bushwhack a short way in off the Dry River Trail. But the wind gusts on the floor of the Notch were rather scary - significantly worse than up above the Gateway. Figuring this would be a bad day to be pinned under a fallen limb, I bailed on Dry River and drove back up to the Highland Center.

Once you get out of the fields (perhaps the coldest trailhead in the Whites), the short trails at "Crawford's," the area around the HC, are ideal for snowshoe rambling on a day when you don't want to venture in too far or up too high. A nice variety of scenery can be enjoyed with a minimum of effort. With the temp up to -1, I started off one one of my favorite short hikes in the Whites - the loop around little Ammonoosuc Lake, hidden in the forest behind the Highland Center and long a favorite haunt of guests from the old Crawford House. This trail is admirably maintained by my friend John Compton.

A short way down the trail you pass by the snow stakes where measurements are taken for the "Backcountry Weather and Trail Conditions" report. Just over 12 inches on the ground.


Despite the warm November, the brooks are starting to lock in with snow and ice.

Nearing the lake, the trail passes Merrill Spring, named for one of the managers of the Crawford House. In 1886 a Dartmouth professor analyzed this water and proclaimed it to be "undoubtedly one of the purest waters in the world." Naturally, the hotel highlighted this assertion in its promotional literature.


The trail skirts along the west shore of Ammonoosuc Lake.

Looking across at the ridges of Mt. Pierce; the upper elevations are immersed in wind fog.


At the north end of the lake I took the spur trail to the viewpoint at Red Bench. Along the way it leads through this nice hardwood glade.



Then it climbs up to cross the snowbound tracks of the Crawford Notch Railroad.


There really is a red bench.


The view has grown in over the years, but you can still see Mts. Washington, Monroe and Eisenhower.

That morning the temp on Washington was something like -18 with gusts to 100 mph. Great day for a traverse.

Back on the Around-the-Lake Trail, I took the short "Down to the Lake" spur, where you look south to Mt. Willard (R) and Mt. Webster (L) framing the top of Crawford Notch.


In this view, Webster is on the R, Bugle Cliff is in the center, and you can just see the cone of Mt. Jackson peering over on the L.

Along the NE shore the trail runs along the base of an esker, a steep-sided little ridge deposited by glacial meltwater.


A view back across the pond to the Rosebrook Range, taken from the SE corner near the outlet. There was once a beach house here for use by Crawford House guests.



Redliners take note: on the way back, I noticed a sign for a new trail: the "AMC Stewardship Trail," blazed in yellow and leading in a 0.2 mile loop from the S end of the Around-the-Lake Trail to the service road behind the Highland Center. Along the way I saw this tree carved by Crawford Notch legend Ray Evans, who passed away in 2001 at the age of 91. Ray grew up on the tracks in Crawford Notch, where his father was a section foreman, and worked for many years at the Crawford House. He knew the Notch like no one else, and was a well-known and beloved figure to many hikers. I knew Ray and had the privilege of hiking with him several times in the 1980s, when he was in his 70s but could outpace hikers half his age. The story of the Evans family is told in the book, "Life by the Tracks," by Virginia Downs. Though this carving is not exactly LNT, we'll give Ray a pass as this was his lifelong home! One of the objectives of my abandoned Dry River hike for this day was to find a similar carving I had once come across on the ridge north of the Dry River Trail.




I got to do some trail-breaking on the Stewardship Trail.

There are numbered interpretive stops along the way. A query at the HC desk revealed that there is an audio tape that can be borrowed to accompany this walk. A little nippy for that today.


Next I snowshoed across the fields, with their trademark view of Mt. Tom and the headwall of the Crawford Brook valley, where the A-Z Trail climbs to the ridge.



A view of the Highland Center, located where the Crawford House stood from 1852 to 1977.

To extend my mini-hike, I headed up the Avalon Trail behind the train depot/information center.

A pretty birch stand beyond the Mt. Willard Trail junction.


A snow bridge had already formed for the first crossing of Crawford Brook. Snowshoes recommended, you could break through with boots.

A short distance up I swung left on the Cascade Loop, where I got to do a little more trail-breaking.

I took the side path down to the base of Beecher Cascade, named for the famous 19th century preacher, Henry Ward Beecher. It was already buried in ice and snow.

Downstream is a scenic flume-like gorge.


I continued up the loop past the viewpoint for Pearl Cascade, which you really can't see anymore due to fallen trees obstructing the sight line. An easy amble back down the Avalon Trail concluded a nice little three-mile jaunt. By 1:30 the temp had warmed to 3 above.

MORNING BUSHWHACK AT LINCOLN WOODS: 12/11/09

After spending two hours shoveling the season's first significant snow (in Lincoln) the day before, it was time to enjoy the new powder a little bit. For a morning snowshoe I chose a bushwhack to a spruce-surrounded ledge on the lower south ridge of Peak "2675," a spur of East Whaleback that rises to that elevation on the west side of the East Branch at the Lincoln Woods trailhead. I had visited this ledge once in the spring of 1993, and though it had a view limited pretty much to Mt. Hitchcock across the valley, the idea of snowshoeing there had some appeal.

I crossed the bridge over the river and immediately started whacking north up the ridge from the Lincoln Woods Trail through a rocky hardwood forest. Partway up I came across markers indicating a wildlife survey line.



The storm had certainly dumped enough snow for 'shoeing, though I scraped on rocks more than a few times.


After about a half mile of winding snowshoe bushwhacking, I entered the spruce woods that cover the upper slopes of Peak "2675." In the spring of 1992 I bushwhacked to the summit of this nameless mountain, where there is a ledge with a fine view of Scar Ridge and the Osceolas. But before you plan a visit, I will add that this was one of the most miserable whacks I've done in the region. The upper part consists of endless dense stands of small conifers strewn with wedged-in blowdowns, all in a setting of steep, rough terrain with boulders, holes and other delights. No way was I going to head in that direction today. To get to the lower ledge I was seeking, I knew from previous visits that there were small conifers to contend with, but nothing as bad as is found higher up on the mountain.


I did have to wallow through some snow-covered sprucelings. After a few of these bouts I was thinking, where is that *&#% ledge?


Found it! 1 hr. 15 min. from the trail.


Flurries and fuzzy clouds precluded any real views today. I could just make out the shape of the West Peak of Mt. Hitchcock, with a snowy slide on its face.



I opted for a more direct, and presumably faster, route for the descent to the trail. This started out with a fun swoop down the snowy ledge.


Going this direction I was in spruces most of the way down, but they were generally open between scattered spruce trap thickets.


Back down in the hardwoods, the early season 'shoeing was great!


I dropped down onto the Lincoln Woods Trail about a half-mile from the bridge, only 33 minutes from the ledge.

The East Branch is still mostly wide open - need a cold snap to start freezing it up.

I passed the tracks where I headed into the woods, completing the loop.


Across the bridge, and head for home and the store after a 2 1/2 hour mini-adventure.

SNOWS MOUNTAIN: 12/8/09

With an inch or two of fresh snow overnight and a generally cloudy forecast, a bushwhack plan with John Compton was postponed. Instead I opted for a half-day hike on the Snows Mountain Trail loop, one of the less-used of the many interesting local trails in Waterville Valley. The two viewpoints on this route are very humble, but it is a nice woodsy climb away from the crowds.

Parking for this trail is in the large lot at the base of the Snows Mountain ski trails, which these days are used mainly for sledding in winter and mountain biking in summer. I usually start up the north/east side of the loop, which is rather discouraging at the outset as you must climb 0.3 mile up the ski slope, passing by a couple of trophy homes.


At the top of this climb you get a good view of Mt. Tecumseh. The snow guns were going full blast. Their distant roar could be heard through the day, though it was hardly noticeable after a while.


At a trail sign you head into the woods.


I soon passed this triple-trunked tree.


At 0.7 mile the Greeley Ledges Trail splits left - this climbs 0.2 mile to the top of the ski slopes, where there are views of Mt. Osceola and the Mad River valley.


The Snows Mountain Trail leads across the lower slopes of Snows through nice hardwood forest. This section was once part of the old Woodbury Trail, a former (long) route to Mt. Whiteface from Waterville Valley. With 2 to 4 inches of powder, the footing was very slippery today. December hiking ain't much fun until a firm base sets up.


Through the open woods the trail can be hard to follow in places, but it is generally well-blazed by the Waterville Valley Athletic and Improvement Association (WVAIA; www.wvaia.org).


The trail climbs up the side of the ridge, then swings left to generally follow the crest to the SE.


While traversing the ridgecrest, I scrounged through the woods on the north side of the trail, looking for glimpses of the Tripyramids. According to old guidebooks, there were once additional views up here, but they have long since been overgrown. If there were an open view of the Trips, it would be impressive. The best I could do - and this took some time - was find individual peeks at each Tripyramid summit in turn. Scaur Peak...


North Tripyramid...


Middle Tripyramid...


...and South Tripyramid.


Before the final climb to the top of the loop, the trail passes through this attractive hardwood col.


This gets the prize for coolest blaze tree of the day.

The junction at the top of the loop. Here the south/west link heads back down the mountain, while a 0.1 mile spur continues up the ridge, passing into the Sandwich Range Wilderness, and ends at an outlook ledge.



A short scramble is required to access the SW-facing ledge, which has a nice sun exposure.



Welch and Dickey Mountains are prominent down the Mad River valley.


The summit of Sandwich Dome can be seen over the treetops.



The nubble of Jennings Peak rises above the cliff-faced Noon Peak.



This outlook is at about 2800 ft. The true, heavily wooded summit of Snows is 3060 ft. and is about a mile farther up the ridge. Three Decembers earlier Keith D'Alessandro and I whacked the ridge to the true summit. (Keith has since done all the 3000-footers of NH; Snows is not one of them because it doesn't meet the 200-foot rise rule.) Along the way we found this large old yellow birch.


As we descended the east end of the ridge into Lost Pass, that remote, mysterious gap between Snows, the Sleepers and the northern Flat Mountain, we caught this glimpse of East Sleeper.


North of the Pass we found this view of South Tripyramid from a beaver meadow at the head of Cascade Brook. We completed that trip by descending through the Cascade Brook valley.

As I returned from the outlook, the sun lit up the spur path.


A short, steep drop on the west/south side of the Snows Mountain Trail loop brought me to the lower outlook,which faces down the Mad River valley.



This part of the trail follows an old logging road for a long distance along the flank of the mountain. Because of the slippery footing, I used Stabilicers for the descent.


The lower part of the trail leads through expansive hardwood forest.


The trail exits onto a private driveway on 76 Snows Mountain Rd. (formerly 46 Greeley Hill Rd.). From there you have a 0.4 mile road and sidewalk stroll back to the parking area. Total for the loop, including the side trip to the outlook, is 4.1 miles with 1300 ft. of elevation gain. If you're comfortable with following a somewhat obscure trail, it's a great snowshoe trip, especially up and back on the north/east side.