Fir and Big Indian

[Tom Rankin]

Laurie and I started from the South end of the Pine Hill-West Branch Trail at 7:45. The parking lot was empty. It was about 10 degrees. The sun was not visible yet, and it was partly cloudy. Light snow fell on and off during the day, adding to the inch or so of light powder that fell over night.

We signed in, and headed up a fairly well broken trail for the first 2 miles. When we got to the leanto, we left the trail and started the bushwhack. We followed a path that was made a few days ago, and was still in pretty good shape. It lead us almost unswervingly to the summit. It was 10:10 AM. We had made pretty good time. After a few photos, and signing in at the canister, we headed off towards Big Indian. Now we were breaking trail thru up to 18" of snow, with a crusty layer in the middle. We found the divide and started up the other side. Fortunately we were able to see the summit of Big Indian, so this helped us navigate. We also used the map and compass from time to time.

Every few hundred feet, we came to a flat part, followed by a fairly steep up. This happened over and over. By 12:30 we had gotten to the top of Big Indian. We took a few more pictures, drank some tea, signed the register, and headed down to find the PH-WB trail. After a few minutes we were back on the trail, but it had not been used for quite some time. It was almost as tough as breaking trail thru the woods.

We finally made it back to the leanto, took a break, and slogged out to the car. We got back at 3:30, a little tired, but very happy to have climbed 2 peaks!

 

[MattC]

Glad you got those two, Tom. Thanks for breaking trail, too-maybe I'll just end up doing them the traditional way too, if I can't corral someone to do that Burnham Rd. route.

Matt

 

[coldfeet]

Tom, is it easier to take the trail as far as i can then bushwack to Big Indian , then bushwack to Fir and go down from there?

 

[MattC]

Tom, is it easier to take the trail as far as i can then bushwack to Big Indian , then bushwack to Fir and go down from there?

The two are commonly climbed the way Tom and Laurie did in this case. The advantage to doing them this way is that you are doing the off-trail part earlier in the day. That way if you're getting out a little late, at least you're on trail for the last several miles. Not as much of an issue in summer w/ the long days.

Matt

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Tom, is it easier to take the trail as far as i can then bushwack to Big Indian , then bushwack to Fir and go down from there?

I have done it both ways. I agree with Matt's answer, but I will offer the other side of the coin. Going Fir to Big Indian -- it is sometimes a bit difficult to see and hit the connecting saddle coming down off Fir. If you are start the turn to the west toward Big Indian too soon (south of the saddle), or too late (north of the saddle), you might end up losing some unnecessary elevation and/or need to do some sidehill hiking. Going from Big Indian to Fir it is usually easier to find the saddle by just following the height of the ridge to the east from Big Indian.

But if someone has already nicely broken the path for you as Tom has done -- it should be easy to find the saddle in either direction.

 

[Jay H]

First time I did Fir and Big Indian, my friend and I did Fir after crossing Biscuit Brook and then to Big Indian.. Yes, you do have to be careful with taking a direct bearing to Big Indian. If I do remember corrrectly, a direct bearing will lead you down into a pretty big valley where you will lose a lot of unnecessary elevation. However, you should be able to see the shoulder between Fir and Big Indian on your way down so unless low visibility or thoughtlessness, take a bearing to the col and then from the col to Big Indian... Or go the other way as mentioned.

Jay