Becca M
Active member
December 29, 2011. Decided to hike in the Sandwich area and piece together a bunch of trails I hadn’t been on. The more I do this, the more I realize coming into a trail junction I’ve been to before but from a different approach is like meeting a piece of my past. It’s a strange feeling, but, I can just picture the day I was there in the past, and, if there were others, I can picture them still there, the conversations ongoing… I feel like I’m coming full circle.
So, I completed the Walden Trail from Old Mast Road, hitting Mt Hedgehog (not to be confused with Hedgehog Mtn, just a couple of miles away!) and then reversed to ascend Square Ledge Trail to visit Square Ledge (this time without rain!). I then descended Passaconaway Cutoff and headed south over the Oliverian Brook Trail and the Lawrence Trail back to Old Mast Road. I never saw a soul. I started at Ferncroft. Snow coverage was light (max of 4” or so over occasional black ice). I carried full crampons but was able to negotiate even the steeps with old-school-style 6-pointers.
The scary part of the day was the initial ascent (below the cliffs) at the south side of Square Ledge. I heard a loud rushing noise and thought I had startled some kind of big creature. When I got about 50’ closer, I found some big chunks of ice that had just broken off the icicles above the trail. Those chunks were BIG and they were on the trail when I got there. I could see where they broke free from above on the rock wall – it was a little unnerving!!! That side was quite warm and the ground was bare; the sun made it feel like spring in there!!!
Finally, I was a little hesitant about the route because when I was on some of those trails years ago, the trails were difficult to follow. Not so today. I want to thank the trail maintainers!!! I actually was quite afraid I’d lose the trails near the end of the day—that’s the risk with loops. NO worries – lots of awesome logging roads and fun things along the way.
I hope you enjoy!!!
At one of the outlooks – Mt Paugus in front of Chocorua – good memories of both!!!
At another outlook, this one had a lot of blowdowns on the way. I wonder why???? Look at that icy step – one fall, that’s all!!!!
Above the steeps, I finally saw some moose prints. About 10’ of these were the only moose prints I saw although I followed coyote tracks all day.
Icy steeps on the way up Mt Hedgehog. I took the bypass on the descent.
Square Ledge, the target, in view – YAY!!! I was so happy I could see it and it wasn’t raining!!!
Someone found and then placed this barrel ring on a tree—it’s pretty cool. This is near the water crossing at the Square Ledge junction.
After Square Ledge, there’s a nice split rock:
Back on the Oliverian Trail, at the major water crossing heading south there are several HUGE stumps (cut flat across) slightly off-trail. I would guess they are from the logging operations. This one is probably 3’ across. It was probably quite a bit larger before rotting. The top is still flat. No trunk around.
Along Oliverian Brook Trail are some large expanses of old corduroy road. Pretty cool!
Coming back to the Old Mast/Lawrence Trail/Walden Trail junction is this splintered blowdown. It looked like a manger scene display structure from a distance:
On the way out – made it before needing the headlamp!
So, I completed the Walden Trail from Old Mast Road, hitting Mt Hedgehog (not to be confused with Hedgehog Mtn, just a couple of miles away!) and then reversed to ascend Square Ledge Trail to visit Square Ledge (this time without rain!). I then descended Passaconaway Cutoff and headed south over the Oliverian Brook Trail and the Lawrence Trail back to Old Mast Road. I never saw a soul. I started at Ferncroft. Snow coverage was light (max of 4” or so over occasional black ice). I carried full crampons but was able to negotiate even the steeps with old-school-style 6-pointers.
The scary part of the day was the initial ascent (below the cliffs) at the south side of Square Ledge. I heard a loud rushing noise and thought I had startled some kind of big creature. When I got about 50’ closer, I found some big chunks of ice that had just broken off the icicles above the trail. Those chunks were BIG and they were on the trail when I got there. I could see where they broke free from above on the rock wall – it was a little unnerving!!! That side was quite warm and the ground was bare; the sun made it feel like spring in there!!!
Finally, I was a little hesitant about the route because when I was on some of those trails years ago, the trails were difficult to follow. Not so today. I want to thank the trail maintainers!!! I actually was quite afraid I’d lose the trails near the end of the day—that’s the risk with loops. NO worries – lots of awesome logging roads and fun things along the way.
I hope you enjoy!!!
At one of the outlooks – Mt Paugus in front of Chocorua – good memories of both!!!
At another outlook, this one had a lot of blowdowns on the way. I wonder why???? Look at that icy step – one fall, that’s all!!!!
Above the steeps, I finally saw some moose prints. About 10’ of these were the only moose prints I saw although I followed coyote tracks all day.
Icy steeps on the way up Mt Hedgehog. I took the bypass on the descent.
Square Ledge, the target, in view – YAY!!! I was so happy I could see it and it wasn’t raining!!!
Someone found and then placed this barrel ring on a tree—it’s pretty cool. This is near the water crossing at the Square Ledge junction.
After Square Ledge, there’s a nice split rock:
Back on the Oliverian Trail, at the major water crossing heading south there are several HUGE stumps (cut flat across) slightly off-trail. I would guess they are from the logging operations. This one is probably 3’ across. It was probably quite a bit larger before rotting. The top is still flat. No trunk around.
Along Oliverian Brook Trail are some large expanses of old corduroy road. Pretty cool!
Coming back to the Old Mast/Lawrence Trail/Walden Trail junction is this splintered blowdown. It looked like a manger scene display structure from a distance:
On the way out – made it before needing the headlamp!
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