TDawg
Well-known member
First off, my poor truck! NH113 and 113A through Holderness and Sandwich are a bumpy mess of frost heaves. At points you had to sick to under 30 mph for fear off shock and strut damage, not to mention flying out of control. 
But anyways onto the trip...
Arrived at Ferncroft rather late for a 12 mile, solo loop, but I was confident I could get it all in within daylight hours, and I did. Sunset was around 6pm so I started off at about 12 at a good clip up Blueberry Ledge Trail. Reached the cutoff trail at 12:50. From this point the views started to open up south towards the New Hampshire Lakes Region. It was a sunny warm day so the views were awesome. I was a bit overdressed for the lower elevations, but soon I would be glad I had the layers.
I put on crampons just below the Tom Wiggin trail junction as the ice and snow became more consistant. The trail steeped and became more and more icey with the elevation gain. This trail is steep! The ledges were pretty icey and fairly technical, thank god for crampons. I scaled the steep ledges with moderate difficulty with the spikes and poles. An ice ax I'd imagine would have made life easier at that point but it's passable without.
I reached the south summit of Whiteface at about 2:15 in about 2 hours, not bad. The views were magnificent, could see into southern Vermont I'm pretty sure. Also just before the south summit theres an obscure look into Flat Mountain Pond below, sweet!
Headed off on the Rollins trail after a break for a grilled chicken salad and Kudos bars I packed in. It was windy and brisk so the break here was under 20 minutes. The Rollins trail was packed out so no problems with just crampons. A few sections had small drifts maybe a foot deep tops, especially in the upper ridge more towards the Whiteface summit. Route finding wasn't much of a problem along the Rollins. I was pleasantly surprised at the interesting views along the Rollins down into and across the bowl to both peaks, as well as off toward the Waterville area. A couple sections had large ice flows. Overall, it was a nice walk in the woods along the ridge to Passaconaway. Found 3 nice lookin camp camp sites around the col, a nice place to spend a night.
I reached Dicey's Mill Trail climbed a large ice flow and began the 3 or 4 switchbacks up to the summit of Passaconaway. The last push to the summit was icey, but no big problem. As I neared the summit I was suprised by this beautifulnorth view towards the Hancocks and Carrigain in the clouds just below the summit. I took the summit spur and poked around the wooded summit for the high point, touched it and returned to the view point for more pictures. Is this the north view point that the closed, and illegally mantained slide trail comes up to?? There were a couple downed branches that looked to be strategically place to discourage travel that way. Anyway, I was unexpectedly impressed with Passaconaway, I shall return from the Kanc side next to both peaks some day.
The descent down the Dicey's Mill Trail was pleasant with moderate grades. It was uneventful other than the fact that I ran out of water 3/4 of the way down and was very thirsty from the Tom Wiggin junction to the parking where I had a random nalgene waiting, thank god! The camera stayed in through this section because I was gettin tired and lazy. Views through the trees up to the Wonalancet Range were interesting, however. Also, there's some big hardwoods in this area! Some huge beech and birch trees.
Came out of the woods and began the road walk back to the parking area at dusk and took a last shot of Whiteface in the low light. I also crossed paths with the only soul all day aside from some Chickadees along the Rolins trail, a woman walking her very friendly golden retriever.
The fairly warm weather, low winds, great views, and complete solitude made for a good day in the Sandwich Range. A real "wilderness experience" you could say.
11.9 miles, 3800 ft. elevation gain, in just over 6 hours.
#'s 38 and 39 of the NH48...under 10 to go and looking forward to #48
Link to all pictures taken!!
But anyways onto the trip...Arrived at Ferncroft rather late for a 12 mile, solo loop, but I was confident I could get it all in within daylight hours, and I did. Sunset was around 6pm so I started off at about 12 at a good clip up Blueberry Ledge Trail. Reached the cutoff trail at 12:50. From this point the views started to open up south towards the New Hampshire Lakes Region. It was a sunny warm day so the views were awesome. I was a bit overdressed for the lower elevations, but soon I would be glad I had the layers.
I put on crampons just below the Tom Wiggin trail junction as the ice and snow became more consistant. The trail steeped and became more and more icey with the elevation gain. This trail is steep! The ledges were pretty icey and fairly technical, thank god for crampons. I scaled the steep ledges with moderate difficulty with the spikes and poles. An ice ax I'd imagine would have made life easier at that point but it's passable without.
I reached the south summit of Whiteface at about 2:15 in about 2 hours, not bad. The views were magnificent, could see into southern Vermont I'm pretty sure. Also just before the south summit theres an obscure look into Flat Mountain Pond below, sweet!
Headed off on the Rollins trail after a break for a grilled chicken salad and Kudos bars I packed in. It was windy and brisk so the break here was under 20 minutes. The Rollins trail was packed out so no problems with just crampons. A few sections had small drifts maybe a foot deep tops, especially in the upper ridge more towards the Whiteface summit. Route finding wasn't much of a problem along the Rollins. I was pleasantly surprised at the interesting views along the Rollins down into and across the bowl to both peaks, as well as off toward the Waterville area. A couple sections had large ice flows. Overall, it was a nice walk in the woods along the ridge to Passaconaway. Found 3 nice lookin camp camp sites around the col, a nice place to spend a night.
I reached Dicey's Mill Trail climbed a large ice flow and began the 3 or 4 switchbacks up to the summit of Passaconaway. The last push to the summit was icey, but no big problem. As I neared the summit I was suprised by this beautifulnorth view towards the Hancocks and Carrigain in the clouds just below the summit. I took the summit spur and poked around the wooded summit for the high point, touched it and returned to the view point for more pictures. Is this the north view point that the closed, and illegally mantained slide trail comes up to?? There were a couple downed branches that looked to be strategically place to discourage travel that way. Anyway, I was unexpectedly impressed with Passaconaway, I shall return from the Kanc side next to both peaks some day.
The descent down the Dicey's Mill Trail was pleasant with moderate grades. It was uneventful other than the fact that I ran out of water 3/4 of the way down and was very thirsty from the Tom Wiggin junction to the parking where I had a random nalgene waiting, thank god! The camera stayed in through this section because I was gettin tired and lazy. Views through the trees up to the Wonalancet Range were interesting, however. Also, there's some big hardwoods in this area! Some huge beech and birch trees.
Came out of the woods and began the road walk back to the parking area at dusk and took a last shot of Whiteface in the low light. I also crossed paths with the only soul all day aside from some Chickadees along the Rolins trail, a woman walking her very friendly golden retriever.
The fairly warm weather, low winds, great views, and complete solitude made for a good day in the Sandwich Range. A real "wilderness experience" you could say.
11.9 miles, 3800 ft. elevation gain, in just over 6 hours.
#'s 38 and 39 of the NH48...under 10 to go and looking forward to #48
Link to all pictures taken!!
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