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Downes Brook up and back. Beautiful, overcast day, though sun was out later in the day. Blowdown up on the Kate Sleeper Trail was a sight to behold, and reminded me of the wildfire devastation of the Pacific Northwest. Conditions were quite good, considering. Had no real issue with any of the numerous stream/river crossings (around 20 in all!), and no ice in sight. Mosquitos bad at the beginning, black flies out in force on the ledges around the Whiteface summit.
Another notch in one of a few ongoing quests, this one the New England 100. Loving the focus on lesser known peaks!
Photo album: https://www.facebook.com/erikbertrand/media_set?set=a.10153071006974567.1073741861.570654566
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In my travels hiking the highest peaks in NH, I'd often pass a trail junction and long for the ability to get "off the beaten path" to explore some of the lesser-known peaks and trails of the Whites. With the 3-season 48 done, and 39 of them done in winter, I'm starting to turn my focus to the 3k and smaller peaks.
Today, I chose East Sleeper (3840'), one of the New England 100 highest. It's proximity to Whiteface, and its relative obscurity, seemed a great choice for this Memorial Day weekend. Crowds have been increasing at popular trailheads, and I saw this in action as I drove by a few of them; at 8:00am, the Lincoln Woods lot was already full, and several cars were already parked along the road.
I knew the Downes Brook trailhead would be a different story. With just one other car there, I knew I'd be avoiding the crowds today. As I started out, I soon realized I was probably the first on this trail in at least a day or so, as I was constantly running into cobwebs stretched across the trail. The mosquitos were particularly fierce as well, and obviously had lots of practice landing on moving people!
Two things about Downes Brook: it's very gradual, very helpful for me as I work to go easy on my knees with their patella issues; and the numerous water crossings, 20 in all up and down. Wasn't quite sure how they'd be today, but I was pleasantly surprised at how relatively low the water was. I had no trouble with any of them, though the first required a small "bushwhack" upstream for a better place to cross.
Spring flowers and growth were in full force: the stunning 3-blade trillium, green and shiny brown ferns, and multi-flowering Kilimanjaro Sunrise (or at least it looks like it!). I think I even came across the birth-in-action of a pink lady slipper.
I made good time as I traveled deeper into the Sandwich Wilderness, ascending to the flat pass between the Mount Whiteface and the Sleeper ridge, with its west and east peaks. Just beyond the Sleepers, are the three peaks of the Tripyramids. The upper third of the Downes Brook had quite a bit of damage, mostly from Hurricane Irene a few years earlier. Most sections had been cleared enough to travel easily. There was what appeared to be a freshly-downed tree right on the trail about 2/3 up. Parts of the trail in this area and above could use a bit of widening, though I realize Wilderness trails like this one have more restrictions than most in the Whites.
At the junction with the Kate Sleeper Trail, I turned right and headed northwest toward the Sleepers. Soon I passed an essentially illegal, though very well-used campsite right off the trail; three packs lay packed up under a tent fly, the owners likely making a long weekend of travel along this extended ridge.
It wasn't long before I encountered a significant blowdown, the product of Hurricane Sandy just four years ago. This was the worst I'd seen. Large, mature trees fallen and laying on each other as if like dominoes. (On my way out of the area, I stopped in to say hi and meet Steve Smith, co-editor of the AMC White Mountain Guide, author of several books, and owner of the Mountain Wanderer map & book store. He had hiked Downes Brook and Kate Sleeper just a few days earlier, and said he thought this was the worst seen in many decades.)
A quick walk along the ridge and I came to the spur path that leads to the East Sleeper summit. A small summit sign and cairn, with peaceful and relatively open woods around, made this a great place to hang out for a little while. I had expected a summit register, but learned from Steve Smith later that these are usually reserved for summits without formal trails or spur paths to them.
I made my way back along the spur path and Kate Sleeper Trail, and continued along Kate Sleeper to its junction with the Rollins Trail. This time around, I took in only the open ledges of the south summit. The ledges were in the clear, but views out from there were restricted due to clouds; and black flies were out in force, so I did not linger. I expected many more people on this summit, but perhaps they were all at the true summit a third of a mile away.
My trip back to the trailhead was uneventful. The route turned out to be very friendly on the knees, and allowed for a good distance (about 14.5 miles total). I encountered just five people on the trails, and saw only a few on the Whiteface ledges. This was just the kind of day I hoped for: I was able to tag another NE 100 peak, and ended up with renewed excitement at the opportunity to visit the plethora of smaller peaks that are every bit as fulfilling as the 4000-footers.
- Downes Brook Trail to Kate Sleeper Trail (5.1 miles)
- Kate Sleeper Trail to East Sleeper spur path (0.9 miles)
- East Sleeper spur path to summit, and back (0.3 miles)
- Kate Sleeper Trail to Rollins Trail (1.7 miles)
- Rollins Trail to Whiteface summit (0.2 miles)
- return via Kate Sleeper and Downes Brook (6 miles)
Downes Brook up and back. Beautiful, overcast day, though sun was out later in the day. Blowdown up on the Kate Sleeper Trail was a sight to behold, and reminded me of the wildfire devastation of the Pacific Northwest. Conditions were quite good, considering. Had no real issue with any of the numerous stream/river crossings (around 20 in all!), and no ice in sight. Mosquitos bad at the beginning, black flies out in force on the ledges around the Whiteface summit.
Another notch in one of a few ongoing quests, this one the New England 100. Loving the focus on lesser known peaks!
Photo album: https://www.facebook.com/erikbertrand/media_set?set=a.10153071006974567.1073741861.570654566
---
In my travels hiking the highest peaks in NH, I'd often pass a trail junction and long for the ability to get "off the beaten path" to explore some of the lesser-known peaks and trails of the Whites. With the 3-season 48 done, and 39 of them done in winter, I'm starting to turn my focus to the 3k and smaller peaks.
Today, I chose East Sleeper (3840'), one of the New England 100 highest. It's proximity to Whiteface, and its relative obscurity, seemed a great choice for this Memorial Day weekend. Crowds have been increasing at popular trailheads, and I saw this in action as I drove by a few of them; at 8:00am, the Lincoln Woods lot was already full, and several cars were already parked along the road.
I knew the Downes Brook trailhead would be a different story. With just one other car there, I knew I'd be avoiding the crowds today. As I started out, I soon realized I was probably the first on this trail in at least a day or so, as I was constantly running into cobwebs stretched across the trail. The mosquitos were particularly fierce as well, and obviously had lots of practice landing on moving people!
Two things about Downes Brook: it's very gradual, very helpful for me as I work to go easy on my knees with their patella issues; and the numerous water crossings, 20 in all up and down. Wasn't quite sure how they'd be today, but I was pleasantly surprised at how relatively low the water was. I had no trouble with any of them, though the first required a small "bushwhack" upstream for a better place to cross.
Spring flowers and growth were in full force: the stunning 3-blade trillium, green and shiny brown ferns, and multi-flowering Kilimanjaro Sunrise (or at least it looks like it!). I think I even came across the birth-in-action of a pink lady slipper.
I made good time as I traveled deeper into the Sandwich Wilderness, ascending to the flat pass between the Mount Whiteface and the Sleeper ridge, with its west and east peaks. Just beyond the Sleepers, are the three peaks of the Tripyramids. The upper third of the Downes Brook had quite a bit of damage, mostly from Hurricane Irene a few years earlier. Most sections had been cleared enough to travel easily. There was what appeared to be a freshly-downed tree right on the trail about 2/3 up. Parts of the trail in this area and above could use a bit of widening, though I realize Wilderness trails like this one have more restrictions than most in the Whites.
At the junction with the Kate Sleeper Trail, I turned right and headed northwest toward the Sleepers. Soon I passed an essentially illegal, though very well-used campsite right off the trail; three packs lay packed up under a tent fly, the owners likely making a long weekend of travel along this extended ridge.
It wasn't long before I encountered a significant blowdown, the product of Hurricane Sandy just four years ago. This was the worst I'd seen. Large, mature trees fallen and laying on each other as if like dominoes. (On my way out of the area, I stopped in to say hi and meet Steve Smith, co-editor of the AMC White Mountain Guide, author of several books, and owner of the Mountain Wanderer map & book store. He had hiked Downes Brook and Kate Sleeper just a few days earlier, and said he thought this was the worst seen in many decades.)
A quick walk along the ridge and I came to the spur path that leads to the East Sleeper summit. A small summit sign and cairn, with peaceful and relatively open woods around, made this a great place to hang out for a little while. I had expected a summit register, but learned from Steve Smith later that these are usually reserved for summits without formal trails or spur paths to them.
I made my way back along the spur path and Kate Sleeper Trail, and continued along Kate Sleeper to its junction with the Rollins Trail. This time around, I took in only the open ledges of the south summit. The ledges were in the clear, but views out from there were restricted due to clouds; and black flies were out in force, so I did not linger. I expected many more people on this summit, but perhaps they were all at the true summit a third of a mile away.
My trip back to the trailhead was uneventful. The route turned out to be very friendly on the knees, and allowed for a good distance (about 14.5 miles total). I encountered just five people on the trails, and saw only a few on the Whiteface ledges. This was just the kind of day I hoped for: I was able to tag another NE 100 peak, and ended up with renewed excitement at the opportunity to visit the plethora of smaller peaks that are every bit as fulfilling as the 4000-footers.
