RoySwkr
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On my quontinuing Quimby quest I went to survey marker OC1363 on Mt Whiteface which was one of the stations in the 1871-3 triangulation survey of New Hampshire.
I went up the McCrillis Trail which used to be considered the short and easy way up, particularly in winter. The first part is on private land and has been relocated several times so it's now much longer than Blueberry Ledge, and Wilderness policies restricting blazes and maintenance make it hard to follow. Start up the Flat Mtn Pond Trail which is a woods road then becomes a path along the brook. The crossing looked trivial but I was feeling shaky and spent a long time hunting an even more trivial spot. The McCrillis Trail turns sharp R in maybe another .1 mile, climbing steadily on an overgrown sidehill section. The next bit is extremely hard to follow as it is fairly new and receives little hiker traffic, and with the lack of blazes hikers are creating several parallel routes rather than one. Once the old route is rejoined the footway is much more obvious. There are a couple of tricky ledges at the top.
The marker is of course on the S summit with views, not the peakbagger summit. I have been here several times but never bothered to catalog all of the various hardware. Near the top of the highest rock is the official survey marker, a drill hole in a triangle with an iron rod in it. There's also a drill hole in a triangle without an iron rod, at least 5 iron rods in drill holes without triangles which were probably anchors for the survey tower, and more empty drill holes than I bothered to count. The RM1 disk was at the Ferncroft viewpoint and is gone, but the RM2 disk is still on the adjacent ledge to the W - and probably farther than the 10.5 m given. The former plaque is also gone.
Went over to the peakbagger summit where there's now a 3-rock cairn plus 2 more in the woods where the last dismantler tossed them. You can still see the bolt holes for the sign in the tree if you look carefully. I went down Blueberry Ledge Trail, I've done this several times in snow but every time I look at it bare I wonder how that's possible. This trail has an obvious footway and far more blazes than the McCrillis Trail.
Turn R on McCrillis Path to return to car. The AMC guide said to check the WODC website about the McCrillis Path, and the website said that the WODC supports your right to hike this path but it may be hard to find after the WMNF boundary - sounds like a Mt Cabot situation where locals don't believe the landowner has a right to post. As far as the boundary, it's a pleasant old road with moss and some wet areas. Then it's woods with a muddy area to a clearcut and recent logging activity, then driveways to the paved road. It's trivial to find westbound as you just stay on the best road, but would be nearly impossible eastbound with all the diverging roads and the trail not shown on the AMC map. Up to the boundary might be a pleasant nature walk, beyond not recommended unless you're doing the loop I did - better to spot a 2nd car at Ferncroft.
I went up the McCrillis Trail which used to be considered the short and easy way up, particularly in winter. The first part is on private land and has been relocated several times so it's now much longer than Blueberry Ledge, and Wilderness policies restricting blazes and maintenance make it hard to follow. Start up the Flat Mtn Pond Trail which is a woods road then becomes a path along the brook. The crossing looked trivial but I was feeling shaky and spent a long time hunting an even more trivial spot. The McCrillis Trail turns sharp R in maybe another .1 mile, climbing steadily on an overgrown sidehill section. The next bit is extremely hard to follow as it is fairly new and receives little hiker traffic, and with the lack of blazes hikers are creating several parallel routes rather than one. Once the old route is rejoined the footway is much more obvious. There are a couple of tricky ledges at the top.
The marker is of course on the S summit with views, not the peakbagger summit. I have been here several times but never bothered to catalog all of the various hardware. Near the top of the highest rock is the official survey marker, a drill hole in a triangle with an iron rod in it. There's also a drill hole in a triangle without an iron rod, at least 5 iron rods in drill holes without triangles which were probably anchors for the survey tower, and more empty drill holes than I bothered to count. The RM1 disk was at the Ferncroft viewpoint and is gone, but the RM2 disk is still on the adjacent ledge to the W - and probably farther than the 10.5 m given. The former plaque is also gone.
Went over to the peakbagger summit where there's now a 3-rock cairn plus 2 more in the woods where the last dismantler tossed them. You can still see the bolt holes for the sign in the tree if you look carefully. I went down Blueberry Ledge Trail, I've done this several times in snow but every time I look at it bare I wonder how that's possible. This trail has an obvious footway and far more blazes than the McCrillis Trail.
Turn R on McCrillis Path to return to car. The AMC guide said to check the WODC website about the McCrillis Path, and the website said that the WODC supports your right to hike this path but it may be hard to find after the WMNF boundary - sounds like a Mt Cabot situation where locals don't believe the landowner has a right to post. As far as the boundary, it's a pleasant old road with moss and some wet areas. Then it's woods with a muddy area to a clearcut and recent logging activity, then driveways to the paved road. It's trivial to find westbound as you just stay on the best road, but would be nearly impossible eastbound with all the diverging roads and the trail not shown on the AMC map. Up to the boundary might be a pleasant nature walk, beyond not recommended unless you're doing the loop I did - better to spot a 2nd car at Ferncroft.
