Damselfly
Active member
I was flying solo today and wanting a bushwhack, I opted for Mt. Cushman (NH3K) as it didn't seem like it would be too long and I'd be doing all the trail breaking.
Temps were -7 in Lincoln, but by the time I started from the HOL off of Rt. 118, temps had climbed to 0 degrees. With the sun and lack of wind, it felt pretty good.
From the HOL I hiked south along the ridge leading up to Cushman. There was some initial hobble bush, which gave way to relatively open woods for most of the journey. There was about 4-6" of snow on top of a crust that held me, so trail breaking wasn't too hard, either. Things got scrappy above 3000' - with an increasing number of blow downs to step over or crawl under as I got nearer to the summit.
Knowing the long summit top was messy, I stayed a bit below the summit ridge, following a contour along the west flank. When I popped up on the summit, I found it difficult to navigate - but it was sunny, a short hike and I had all day. And so I pushed my way back and forth over every little PUD I could find - to be sure I tagged the actual summit.
After 30+ minutes of dubbing around, I found myself on the far eastern side of the summit, and I wasn't about to force my way back over the crap I had come through. So I dropped off to the east, and followed a 3000' contour line around the other side of the summit... eventually circling back NW and hooking up with tracks. (The east side, by the way, is much more open and easier to navigate through.)
Beth Zimmer
btzimr at gmail dot com
Temps were -7 in Lincoln, but by the time I started from the HOL off of Rt. 118, temps had climbed to 0 degrees. With the sun and lack of wind, it felt pretty good.
From the HOL I hiked south along the ridge leading up to Cushman. There was some initial hobble bush, which gave way to relatively open woods for most of the journey. There was about 4-6" of snow on top of a crust that held me, so trail breaking wasn't too hard, either. Things got scrappy above 3000' - with an increasing number of blow downs to step over or crawl under as I got nearer to the summit.
Knowing the long summit top was messy, I stayed a bit below the summit ridge, following a contour along the west flank. When I popped up on the summit, I found it difficult to navigate - but it was sunny, a short hike and I had all day. And so I pushed my way back and forth over every little PUD I could find - to be sure I tagged the actual summit.
After 30+ minutes of dubbing around, I found myself on the far eastern side of the summit, and I wasn't about to force my way back over the crap I had come through. So I dropped off to the east, and followed a 3000' contour line around the other side of the summit... eventually circling back NW and hooking up with tracks. (The east side, by the way, is much more open and easier to navigate through.)
Beth Zimmer
btzimr at gmail dot com
