U
Unregistered
Guest
Eagle Cliff (all five summits) and Franconia Notch, 7/31/2016
Random Group of Hikers, party of 10.
We buswhacked across the entire ridge of Eagle Cliff from the climber's parking area across from the Cannon Mtn. exit on I-93 to Eagle Pass, hitting all of the 5 summits along the way, then hiked up to the Hut via Greenlieaf Trail. From there two of the group went on to summit Lafayette & the rest descended Greenleaf. The bushwhack was much harder than anticipated. We found the well beaten rock climber's trail to the base of the first ledge & around & up to the first summit (northernmost) behind it. We found some additional climbers herd paths leading up to some of the other ledges from below (east and west) further on (most obvious was the route up the chimney by the Watcher than can be seen from the highway below) but found no consistent route across the entire ridge. Vegetation was denser the closer one approaches the ledges. We found it not practical to try to skip from ledge to ledge because the krummholz was too thick between ledge sections. Instead we tended toward the east side of the ridge where the trees were a little more reasonably spaced (but not by much) and popped out on ledges when there was good opportunity to do so. There is a canister on the highest (southernmost) summit which screws open from the bottom. We accidentally broke off the top of the dead tree it was attached to and zip-tied it back to what remained of the tree but it probably should be attached more securely. We initially had trouble finding the herd path from there to Eagle Pass; a rough push through brush to the SE eventually got us to it.
It was a rewarding but difficult venture. Views out over the Notch were spectacular.
Shoeless Paul, [email protected]
Photos: https://www.meetup.com/random-hikers/photos/27163026/
Random Group of Hikers, party of 10.
We buswhacked across the entire ridge of Eagle Cliff from the climber's parking area across from the Cannon Mtn. exit on I-93 to Eagle Pass, hitting all of the 5 summits along the way, then hiked up to the Hut via Greenlieaf Trail. From there two of the group went on to summit Lafayette & the rest descended Greenleaf. The bushwhack was much harder than anticipated. We found the well beaten rock climber's trail to the base of the first ledge & around & up to the first summit (northernmost) behind it. We found some additional climbers herd paths leading up to some of the other ledges from below (east and west) further on (most obvious was the route up the chimney by the Watcher than can be seen from the highway below) but found no consistent route across the entire ridge. Vegetation was denser the closer one approaches the ledges. We found it not practical to try to skip from ledge to ledge because the krummholz was too thick between ledge sections. Instead we tended toward the east side of the ridge where the trees were a little more reasonably spaced (but not by much) and popped out on ledges when there was good opportunity to do so. There is a canister on the highest (southernmost) summit which screws open from the bottom. We accidentally broke off the top of the dead tree it was attached to and zip-tied it back to what remained of the tree but it probably should be attached more securely. We initially had trouble finding the herd path from there to Eagle Pass; a rough push through brush to the SE eventually got us to it.
It was a rewarding but difficult venture. Views out over the Notch were spectacular.
Shoeless Paul, [email protected]
Photos: https://www.meetup.com/random-hikers/photos/27163026/
