BIGEarl
Well-known member
September 23, 2012: Vose Spur
Trails: Sawyer River Road, Signal Ridge Trail, Carrigain Notch Trail, Bushwhack
Summits: Vose Spur
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
For the seventh time this year, Sue and I are taking a walk out Sawyer River Road. The first six times we hiked to the summit of Carrigain. This time out we’re headed to Vose Spur. We have comfortable conditions for the hike and a good forecast for the day.
We set off from the trailhead at a relatively normal time; too early and we would pay the price later in the day with the traffic problems associated with the NASCAR race in Loudon. The cruise out Sawyer River Road was the usual good warm-up. With only a couple stops along the way we were soon at the “summer” trailhead two miles in from the highway. We made the turn and started out Signal Ridge Trail.
Overnight rain left the recently relocated trail sections muddy and very slippery. We needed to watch our step or take a muddy dive. Everything went well and we managed to make our way to the old SRT/CNT trails junction. Here we had a short break, I calibrated my altimeter, pulled out my compass, and we continued on Carrigain Notch Trail to the Vose Spur bushwhack.
In preparing for the hike I reviewed notes others had posted and prepared a hike plan from them. My estimate for the start location of the bushwhack to Vose Spur was probably a quarter mile too short and a hundred feet too low in elevation. We hiked out Carrigain Notch Trail to the area where I expected to find the famous “Big Rock” but it wasn’t there. In fact, we continued past that location .2 miles and still no rock. We assumed it was either moved or vandals painted it with camouflage paint and it was no longer visible. We had a choice to make, go looking for the Big Rock or go looking for the summit of Vose Spur. We made a left off the trail and headed for Vose Spur.
We knew the general approach most people use is to head in a westerly/northwesterly direction to a small ridge and then follow the ridge to the summit. I was sure once we hit the ridge we would eventually run into a herd path, or two. We hiked to the ridge in generally open hardwoods and were soon on the lower end of the ridge with a drainage off to the west. Everything appeared in-line with my map so we turned and started up the ridge.
Within a couple hundred yards we were on the crest of the ridge and started to see what appeared to be a herd path. Checking the direction to the summit against the direction of the herd path told us we were on it. Since it was a faint path we had to really watch closely or lose the path, and we managed to lose it a few times along the way. Losing the herd path wasn’t a real concern since we had a bearing to the summit and as long as we went up we would eventually reach our destination.
Soon the herd path became very obvious. Following it was only difficult when we came to places where it was completely blocked by blow-downs; and that was fairly frequent. Each time this happened, new spur herd paths developed. Some of these spurs returned to the main path, others didn’t, but they all continued toward the summit. It was really a matter of hiking through the least unfriendly conditions on the way up. We found a few thick places where we needed to force our way through but they were all very short in duration.
Somewhere around 3100 feet we were stopped and I pulled out my altimeter to check our progress. We knew there was some very steep terrain to climb and we were already climbing steep terrain. It was going to get a lot steeper before we reached the top. I’m guessing a couple hundred feet below the so-called talus field the slope really goes vertical and we started into working with feet and hands to make progress. Eventually the trail started to get very rocky – a short time later we were entering the lower part of the talus field. The entry to the talus field is bottom-west end and the exit is top-west end; we noticed the talus field goes for some distance to the east.
We stopped there for a few minutes to enjoy the view and were soon once again back to the task of finding the summit. Straight across the talus field we went and easily located the small cairn on the top side marking our re-entry to the thick growth. We went to work on the steep climb from the talus field to the summit and came to the ledges along the way. There was a way to continue straight up the ledges and we decided to take it. Soon we were above the ledges and on final approach to the summit.
A short distance below the summit we landed on a very obvious herd path and followed it to the canister. That was easy! We found what we were looking for. Now what? We had a short break, enjoyed a snack, took some pictures, made a u-turn, and started back down.
Descending the steep terrain is different from ascending but still requires feet and hands. There are places where ascending is not a concern but descending can be. We came to one of those areas and headed east to avoid this difficult terrain. Soon, we found ourselves standing above what appeared to be a significant drop-off. We didn’t really want to retreat up the slope and couldn’t continue down. Looking through the treetops we could see that we were very close to the east end of the talus field. We selected a route and set off. In a couple minutes we were at the east end of the talus field. From the summit to the talus field went really fast and we avoided a great deal of very steep terrain.
Remembering we needed to get back to the bottom-west end of the talus field we started to work our way over the loose rocks. Soon, we were at the cairn, both smiling, and ready to take on the bottom half of the climb.
Below the talus field was an easy walk back to Carrigain Notch Trail. We managed to lose the herd path a few times but usually were able to quickly re-find the thing. Eventually we reached an elevation toward the bottom of the ridge and we lost the herd path again. A turned to Sue and asked “do you want to re-find the herd path or simply head to the trail?” We made a left and headed straight to the trail, it wasn’t very far and we were soon on our final, relatively flat ~4.7 miles to the trailhead.
The trail part of the exit hike went without any surprises and we sailed through the new CNT/SRT junction, the crossing of Carrigain Brook, back to Sawyer River Road, and finally to the trailhead lot. A little earlier than planned we were back to the trailhead lot and packing to leave.
We managed to enjoy a perfect day for some time above-the-treeline to bushwhack a viewless peak. That’s what lists can do. No regrets.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Sawyer River Road, Signal Ridge Trail, Carrigain Notch Trail, Bushwhack
Summits: Vose Spur
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
For the seventh time this year, Sue and I are taking a walk out Sawyer River Road. The first six times we hiked to the summit of Carrigain. This time out we’re headed to Vose Spur. We have comfortable conditions for the hike and a good forecast for the day.
We set off from the trailhead at a relatively normal time; too early and we would pay the price later in the day with the traffic problems associated with the NASCAR race in Loudon. The cruise out Sawyer River Road was the usual good warm-up. With only a couple stops along the way we were soon at the “summer” trailhead two miles in from the highway. We made the turn and started out Signal Ridge Trail.
Overnight rain left the recently relocated trail sections muddy and very slippery. We needed to watch our step or take a muddy dive. Everything went well and we managed to make our way to the old SRT/CNT trails junction. Here we had a short break, I calibrated my altimeter, pulled out my compass, and we continued on Carrigain Notch Trail to the Vose Spur bushwhack.
In preparing for the hike I reviewed notes others had posted and prepared a hike plan from them. My estimate for the start location of the bushwhack to Vose Spur was probably a quarter mile too short and a hundred feet too low in elevation. We hiked out Carrigain Notch Trail to the area where I expected to find the famous “Big Rock” but it wasn’t there. In fact, we continued past that location .2 miles and still no rock. We assumed it was either moved or vandals painted it with camouflage paint and it was no longer visible. We had a choice to make, go looking for the Big Rock or go looking for the summit of Vose Spur. We made a left off the trail and headed for Vose Spur.
We knew the general approach most people use is to head in a westerly/northwesterly direction to a small ridge and then follow the ridge to the summit. I was sure once we hit the ridge we would eventually run into a herd path, or two. We hiked to the ridge in generally open hardwoods and were soon on the lower end of the ridge with a drainage off to the west. Everything appeared in-line with my map so we turned and started up the ridge.
Within a couple hundred yards we were on the crest of the ridge and started to see what appeared to be a herd path. Checking the direction to the summit against the direction of the herd path told us we were on it. Since it was a faint path we had to really watch closely or lose the path, and we managed to lose it a few times along the way. Losing the herd path wasn’t a real concern since we had a bearing to the summit and as long as we went up we would eventually reach our destination.
Soon the herd path became very obvious. Following it was only difficult when we came to places where it was completely blocked by blow-downs; and that was fairly frequent. Each time this happened, new spur herd paths developed. Some of these spurs returned to the main path, others didn’t, but they all continued toward the summit. It was really a matter of hiking through the least unfriendly conditions on the way up. We found a few thick places where we needed to force our way through but they were all very short in duration.
Somewhere around 3100 feet we were stopped and I pulled out my altimeter to check our progress. We knew there was some very steep terrain to climb and we were already climbing steep terrain. It was going to get a lot steeper before we reached the top. I’m guessing a couple hundred feet below the so-called talus field the slope really goes vertical and we started into working with feet and hands to make progress. Eventually the trail started to get very rocky – a short time later we were entering the lower part of the talus field. The entry to the talus field is bottom-west end and the exit is top-west end; we noticed the talus field goes for some distance to the east.
We stopped there for a few minutes to enjoy the view and were soon once again back to the task of finding the summit. Straight across the talus field we went and easily located the small cairn on the top side marking our re-entry to the thick growth. We went to work on the steep climb from the talus field to the summit and came to the ledges along the way. There was a way to continue straight up the ledges and we decided to take it. Soon we were above the ledges and on final approach to the summit.
A short distance below the summit we landed on a very obvious herd path and followed it to the canister. That was easy! We found what we were looking for. Now what? We had a short break, enjoyed a snack, took some pictures, made a u-turn, and started back down.
Descending the steep terrain is different from ascending but still requires feet and hands. There are places where ascending is not a concern but descending can be. We came to one of those areas and headed east to avoid this difficult terrain. Soon, we found ourselves standing above what appeared to be a significant drop-off. We didn’t really want to retreat up the slope and couldn’t continue down. Looking through the treetops we could see that we were very close to the east end of the talus field. We selected a route and set off. In a couple minutes we were at the east end of the talus field. From the summit to the talus field went really fast and we avoided a great deal of very steep terrain.
Remembering we needed to get back to the bottom-west end of the talus field we started to work our way over the loose rocks. Soon, we were at the cairn, both smiling, and ready to take on the bottom half of the climb.
Below the talus field was an easy walk back to Carrigain Notch Trail. We managed to lose the herd path a few times but usually were able to quickly re-find the thing. Eventually we reached an elevation toward the bottom of the ridge and we lost the herd path again. A turned to Sue and asked “do you want to re-find the herd path or simply head to the trail?” We made a left and headed straight to the trail, it wasn’t very far and we were soon on our final, relatively flat ~4.7 miles to the trailhead.
The trail part of the exit hike went without any surprises and we sailed through the new CNT/SRT junction, the crossing of Carrigain Brook, back to Sawyer River Road, and finally to the trailhead lot. A little earlier than planned we were back to the trailhead lot and packing to leave.
We managed to enjoy a perfect day for some time above-the-treeline to bushwhack a viewless peak. That’s what lists can do. No regrets.
Pictures will follow.
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