Bushwhack to Flat Mountain (Sandwich area)

[docross]

Anybody have suggestions for a bushwhack route to Flat Mountain, in the Sandwich Dome area.

One way is Drakes Brook to Fletcher Cascade trail, but I have been told that there is a swampy/boggy area that is difficult/impossible to circumvent.

Another way is to hike all the way to Flat Mt. Ponds and then go in north of them.

Any ideas? Thanks.
DocRoss

 

[dms]

Sometimes the shortest route is not the best, although a lot longer, the Flat Mtn. Pond approach seems to be much easier, especially vegetation wise.

 

[RoySwkr]

We did a traverse from Fletcher Cascade over the summit down to Lost Pass, I don't recall any swamps and nothing was particularly bad

There is someone called buckette who has climbed the other Flat Mtn from Flat Mtn Pd, maybe you can do both

 

[psmart]

Another way is to hike all the way to Flat Mt. Ponds and then go in north of them.

...or you can leave the FMP trail at the horseshoe and head for the southern end of the Flat Mtn ridge, which has a nice outlook from a ledge near the top.

 

[docross]

We did a traverse from Fletcher Cascade over the summit down to Lost Pass, I don't recall any swamps and nothing was particularly bad

There is someone called buckette who has climbed the other Flat Mtn from Flat Mtn Pd, maybe you can do both

Roy, buckette is Anne Gwynne!!!! Hee hee!

 

[sardog1]

Have you looked at the White Mountains Lost Trails Project? If you organize the list by region, you'll see several items for the Flat Mountain Pond region. (I haven't taken the time to pull out a map and compare these items with your objectives.)

 

[audrey]

We once ascended via Fletcher Cascades - never found a boggy area, but the balsams were very thick above the falls and the spruce was mean in places along the ridge. The descent down Snows Brook was fun and the brook is beautiful (definitely a summer hike).

 

[onestep]

Last August a group of us went in via the Flat Mtn Pond tral from Whiteface Intervale. It was an easy 11 mile round trip. Nice open fern forest. Stick summit, broad & flat. Alleged 2nd canister, not found.

pm me if you'd like specifics

 

[docross]

Bagged Flat Mountain today

DRitter, Fred Shirley and I bagged this peak via the route recommended by the majority of our consultants, via Flat Pond. We started the whack at the midpoint of the pond, and it was a straight shot at 000 magnetic for 1.0 mile to the flat summit.

The bottle is at 3370 by GPS, well-marked with surveyor's tape, in a clump of trees. We found an area to the east about 20 feet higher, more open, but no bottle was found, despite two of us looking.

Time from car to summit: 4 hours, including 10-15 min. stop at the shelter. Time from summit back to trail: 1 hour. Total elapsed time: 7:25. Mileage: 13. We returned by following Flat Pond trail to Gleason trail, which avoided a couple of icy/dicey brook crossings. That increased the mileage marginally.

Thanks for all your input.

 

[dms]

The bottle is at 3370 by GPS, well-marked with surveyor's tape, in a clump of trees. We found an area to the east about 20 feet higher, more open, but no bottle was found, despite two of us looking.

Dave, the register is always located in the thicker vegetation regardless of elevation!

 

[RoySwkr]

Roy, buckette is A..

Yeah, that's the alias she used to use.

The bottle is at 3370 by GPS, well-marked with surveyor's tape, in a clump of trees. We found an area to the east about 20 feet higher, more open, but no bottle was found, despite two of us looking.

We found the bottle lying on the ground about 1/4 mi W of the summit and unsigned, apparently it had fallen out of the pack of the woman intending to place it. We left it there & signed it as "We were here, wherever this is".