Hale via Fire Warden's Trail, 1/19/2012

[BIGEarl]

January 19, 2012: Hale

Trails: N. Twin Trail, Fire Warden’s Trail, Herd Path to the summer trailhead (Haystack Rd.), Herd Path bypass on Little River

Summits: Mount Hale

Hikers: Fitz and me



Fitz and I got together for a mid-week hike to Hale. He needed to be back to Nashua by late afternoon and this hike fit perfectly. As we approached Lincoln on the drive north the temperature displayed 4 below; it’s going to be a cold one. We stopped at The Basin to get the boot warmers started. One more quick stop at Beaver Brook and we headed for Little River Road and our hike.

The trail was tracked out and solid. There was no need for flotation or added traction. The footing was great. We crossed the bridge, made the turn, and headed up the herd path to the summer trailhead at the end of Haystack Road. It was clear sailing. There were two other sets of boot tracks ahead of us on the trail. We made a quick stop at the trailhead to adjust layers and were soon hiking N. Twin Trail. The conditions were the same; well tracked out trail and solid with very good footing. The small amount of ice was easy to avoid.

We cruised to the first crossing and stayed left on the herd path. There was no sign of traffic making the crossing. Soon we were standing at the bottom of Fire Warden’s Trail. It was very well tracked out with a smooth, flat, and wide snowshoe track that ran all of the way to the summit. The recent rain evidently consolidated the snow and the track is solid but the footing is very good. We were able to easily continue bare booting the hike.

We made the turn and after the first pitch found ourselves in a huge birch glade. The route stayed in the glade for most of the climb. What a beautiful area. We made our way up the trail which included several sweeping switchbacks along the way. This is a very easy way to the summit.

Eventually, high on Hale the snowshoe track led into the conifers. We still had a nice wide corridor to follow and the track was rock solid. A short distance below the summit we entered an area of smaller growth and enjoyed some views to The Presidentials. From there to the summit was probably little more than a quarter mile.

When we stepped into the summit clearing we had little more than a light breeze. There were a few sets of fresh tracks that appeared to approach from Lend-A-Hand Trail and Hale Brook Trail. We were the only ones entering from Fire Warden’s Trail. We hung around for a while, got our summit pictures, and started our exit walk. Before leaving the summit we added light traction.

On the way down we met one person making the climb with a pair of skis on his pack. I assume he had plans for a little skiing in the glade. We hit the herd path, made the turn and continued our exit walk. At some point near the bridge I think we both realized we were no longer on the herd path but back on N. Twin Trail. I guess Fitz and I both zoned out for a while. We cleared the trailhead and finished up with the short walk back to Little River Road.

What a great hike! If you’re short on time and want to get a good bang for the buck, believe it or not, this approach to Hale does the job.


I’ve posted some pictures from the day.


BIGEarl's Pictures


Straight to the slideshow

 

[BIGEarl]

Out of curiosity, I decided to take a look at a topographic map at the UNH site "Historic USGS Maps Of New England and New York". I wanted to see if there was a map with the Fire Warden's Trail included. The trail is shown on both the 1929 edition as well as the 1932 edition. In fact, these maps include Fire Warden’s Trail but do not include Lend-A-Hand or Hale Brook trails. Evidently, the maps pre-date these other trails. I don’t know the history of any of these trails.

If interested, you'll find the specific topographic map as part of the Franconia NH Quadrangle - Northeast Corner.

Here's a link to the 1929 edition "Franconia Quadrangle - Northeast Corner".

You should be able to click on the map to zoom in and then use the sliders to move around.

Old maps are fun!

 

[sierra]

Hey quick question if I may. I do not bushwack, but I want to do that route in the summer, is it fairly easy for a non-bushwacker to follow? thanks earl I trust your opinion.

 

[BIGEarl]

Hey quick question if I may. I do not bushwack, but I want to do that route in the summer, is it fairly easy for a non-bushwacker to follow? thanks earl I trust your opinion.

Hey Sierra,

It's a wide open corridor all the way up. Even in the conifers I'm pretty sure the corridor it obvious in summer. There is one place in the glade where someone must have thought an arrow painted on a tree would be helpful. It isn't needed but it's there.

What a great way to the summit!

I hope you enjoy the trip.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

There is a potential problem finding the start of the trail: Where the Hale is the WF Trail?. Once you have found the start it as as clear as any officially maintained trail.

 

[ow2010]

Interesting find in terms of the map with FWT labeled. It also looks like this is before Galehead was found to be a 4k footer.
Great pictures as usual!

 

[Dennis C.]

Very interesting to see the ORIGINAL tract of the Old Firewardens Trail on an old map, Earl. The lower 40% shown there is not where the current trail is located. I have a up-to-date GPS tract in my email box (courtesy of Bob and Geri) which I'd be happy to send on request (cannot be displayed here).

 

[BIGEarl]

Interesting find in terms of the map with FWT labeled. It also looks like this is before Galehead was found to be a 4k footer.
Great pictures as usual!

Thanks Owen,

If you look closely there are roads missing too, along with trails and lots of other stuff. These old maps are pretty interesting. If my memory is correct, a while ago I was looking at a map that showed Mt. Hight before it was called Mt. Hight.

Very interesting to see the ORIGINAL tract of the Old Firewardens Trail on an old map, Earl. The lower 40% shown there is not where the current trail is located. I have a up-to-date GPS tract in my email box (courtesy of Bob and Geri) which I'd be happy to send on request (cannot be displayed here).

Thanks, but I don't own a GPS.

 

[DougPaul]

Very interesting to see the ORIGINAL tract of the Old Firewardens Trail on an old map, Earl. The lower 40% shown there is not where the current trail is located. I have a up-to-date GPS tract in my email box (courtesy of Bob and Geri) which I'd be happy to send on request (cannot be displayed here).

Just to confuse things there is also the abandoned Tuttle Brook Trail which connected into the Firewardens trail. It left from the road just E of the airport (right near Tuttle Brook) and headed S. The northern part shows on the Twin Mountain 24K topo quad (1995). The southern part is missing from the South Twin Mountain 24K topo quad (1995).

I was part of a group that bushwacked the Tuttle Brook Trail in ~1976.

There is more info on the Tuttle Brook Train in the thread "Where the Hale is the WF Trail?" http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=39792

Doug

 

[BIGEarl]

I don't own a GPS, but Fitz does and he had it with him.

According to Fitz, the coordinates at the junction of the Fire Warden's Trail and the herd path are:

N 44 13.547 W071 32.287

elevation 2205'


I hope this information is helpful.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I don't own a GPS, but Fitz does and he had it with him.

According to Fitz, the coordinates at the junction of the Fire Warden's Trail and the herd path are:

N 44 13.547 W071 32.287

elevation 2205'


I hope this information is helpful.

Earl -

FWIW - my version of MapSource and Topo 2008 shows that location with an elevation of 3550'.

Also - Paradox has posted a fine GPS track on Wikiloc.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

FWIW - my version of MapSource and Topo 2008 shows that location with an elevation of 3550'.

Kevin,

What are you talking about

We are talking about the lower end of the Firewarden's Trail close to the Little River. Without looking at a map I can tell you that it is nowhere near 3,550 feet

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Kevin,

What are you talking about

We are talking about the lower end of the Firewarden's Trail close to the Little River. Without looking at a map I can tell you that it is nowhere near 3,550 feet

You're right, Mohamed. When I pasted Earl's coordinates into Mapsource, it showed the location as the turn by the Little River, with the notation 3550. When I combined those coordinates with Paradox' GPS track, it shows the elevation much closer to Earl's post. I have no idea why it did that.

Sorry if that created confusion.

 

[ow2010]

Just to confuse things there is also the abandoned Tuttle Brook Trail which connected into the Firewardens trail. It left from the road just E of the airport (right near Tuttle Brook) and headed S. The northern part shows on the Twin Mountain 24K topo quad (1995). The southern part is missing from the South Twin Mountain 24K topo quad (1995).

This map shows the Tuttle Brook Trail and the Old Fire Warden's Trail...
a 1937 National Geographic Map of the WMNF. You'll have to zoom in and find Hale on your own. I think I'm going to order myself a print
http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps/print-collection/new-hampshire-white-mountains.html

 

[DougPaul]

This map shows the Tuttle Brook Trail and the Old Fire Warden's Trail...
a 1937 National Geographic Map of the WMNF. You'll have to zoom in and find Hale on your own. I think I'm going to order myself a print
http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps/print-collection/new-hampshire-white-mountains.html

Thanks.

The trails also show in the WMNF maps at http://whitemountainhistory.org/National_Forest_Maps.html, 1929-1963.

The N end of the TBT shows in the USGS topo at http://docs.unh.edu/NH/whit38se.jpg (Whitefield Quad, 1938). Unfortunately, I couldn't find a map of the S end at this source.

The Firewarden Tr shows on http://docs.unh.edu/NH/frcn29ne.jpg (Grafton County, Franconia Quad, NE, 1929).

General ref for the last two: http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/NewHampshire.htm--a good source of old topos.

Doug

 

[Dennis C.]

Thanks, but I don't own a GPS.

I don't have one either ... still love the old map, compass, altimeter. For reference, I paste coords into Acme Mapper 2.0 and adjust the view(s). Did you encounter blowdowns along the trail? ... if so, how many and where (lower hardwood areas or upper spruce zones)?

 

[Cymbidium]

This was a great report Earl! Thanks for all the info. Your photos are terrrific.
Fran and I are doing this hike tomorrow.

 

[BIGEarl]

I don't have one either ... still love the old map, compass, altimeter. For reference, I paste coords into Acme Mapper 2.0 and adjust the view(s). Did you encounter blowdowns along the trail? ... if so, how many and where (lower hardwood areas or upper spruce zones)?

As I recall, there were only a couple blowdowns up high in the glade with bypass routes around them. I don't remember any blowdowns in the conifers. For an abandoned trail it's in terrific shape.

This was a great report Earl! Thanks for all the info. Your photos are terrrific.
Fran and I are doing this hike tomorrow.

Thanks. I hope you and Fran have a good hike.

 

[Tom Rankin]

For an abandoned trail it's in terrific shape.

While the forest service does not maintain this trail, someone does enough maintaining to keep it usable as a ski trail. When we hiked it, there was so little snow that you could see that recent cutting had been done.

 

[Dennis C.]

For an abandoned trail it's in terrific shape.

That's because there are a number of people that do periodic maintenance on it. Thanks for the report.