bryan
New member
date: 6/14/13
trails: bushwack
conditions: jefferson notch road in great shape. parking a little rough, but a non issue. headed into the woods straight across from the parking lot aiming to stay north of millen (planning to climb it on the way back) and the east running ridge on dartmouth. initially scrappy woods opened up nicely and remained so as long as i stayed north of and below the ridge line on dartmouth eventually angling up to the summit plateau below the highpoint. a few minor sections of blowdown with moose trails woven in between then i hit a clear moose/herd path that led up to the summit. descending i used roughly the same route, but got a bit farther below the dartmouth millen col. from there i headed south to millen staying west of the ridge before turning up onto it shortly before the summit. this worked out nicely and kept me out of the blowdown i could see up on top of the ridge. nice fern woods led to the highpoint. i decided to try to go direct back to the notch and hit the only "bad" woods of the day with some blowdown and thick going, but slabbing north for a bit got me out of it and i turned back east hitting the road just north of the parking lot. black flies were pretty nasty if not moving.
equipment: nothing in particular.
comments: wet and rainy at home this morning and i was starting to consider other hike options, but as i drove north it became real nice and conditions ended up being ideal with relatively dry woods and a nice breeze which helped to keep the black flies down. i was expecting much tougher going based on reports i had heard about these peaks, but found that avoiding the ridge crests kept me in generally good woods for most of the hike. it was actually quite pretty in the woods today and there were even some limited views to the presidentials from various points on both peaks.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: bushwack
conditions: jefferson notch road in great shape. parking a little rough, but a non issue. headed into the woods straight across from the parking lot aiming to stay north of millen (planning to climb it on the way back) and the east running ridge on dartmouth. initially scrappy woods opened up nicely and remained so as long as i stayed north of and below the ridge line on dartmouth eventually angling up to the summit plateau below the highpoint. a few minor sections of blowdown with moose trails woven in between then i hit a clear moose/herd path that led up to the summit. descending i used roughly the same route, but got a bit farther below the dartmouth millen col. from there i headed south to millen staying west of the ridge before turning up onto it shortly before the summit. this worked out nicely and kept me out of the blowdown i could see up on top of the ridge. nice fern woods led to the highpoint. i decided to try to go direct back to the notch and hit the only "bad" woods of the day with some blowdown and thick going, but slabbing north for a bit got me out of it and i turned back east hitting the road just north of the parking lot. black flies were pretty nasty if not moving.
equipment: nothing in particular.
comments: wet and rainy at home this morning and i was starting to consider other hike options, but as i drove north it became real nice and conditions ended up being ideal with relatively dry woods and a nice breeze which helped to keep the black flies down. i was expecting much tougher going based on reports i had heard about these peaks, but found that avoiding the ridge crests kept me in generally good woods for most of the hike. it was actually quite pretty in the woods today and there were even some limited views to the presidentials from various points on both peaks.
bryan
[email protected]
