NH Blitz part 2: Sandwich & Tecumseh and Vose Spur & Nancy

Papa Bear · Jul 28, 2005

Friday, July 8th (morning) - Sandwich Dome

Friday dawned with sun on Mooselauke across the valley. Temperatures were moderate and the humidity was not bad. I got going by 6:00 and headed down the long hill to North Woodstock for my morning tryst with Peg. That's Peg's breakfast restaurant. After the usual pancakes and bacon, I was off to the Waterville Valley to meet vegematic at the Sandwich Mountain trailhead.

On the way I had the pleasure of passing a Wild Turkey hen with a 8 - 10 chicks at the side of the road. I hope they stayed out of harm's way. I wondered whether to take Tripoli Road or to go down 2 more exits on I-93 and take Route 49 up to the trail head. I opted for Tripoli Road. I just hoped I wouldn't get lost in Waterville Valley looking for the trailhead, but I had no problem at all.

I met vegematic at the parking lot and we were off at 7:55 AM. It had become a bit hazy with low lying clouds which would hurt the views, but it was cool and not too humid. Perfect hiking weather.

The trail starts easy and then gets steeper and rockier. But soon we reached a ridge and a lovely ridge walk. We took the short side trail to Jennings Peak but things were socked in so there were no views. The lay of the land indicated there would be great views here of the entire Waterville Valley so this is on my lists of places to revisit. Perhaps this Fall.

Sandwich Dome from Jennings Peak

We resumed out ridge walk to Sandwich Dome and except for a steep section near the top, it was a pleasant hike. The partly open summit consisted of a small clearing with some rocks which constituted the high point. There was no sign of a large cairn I had heard about (to raise the peaks elevation above 4000') so I guess the wilderness police had done away with it. A couple of trails from the east joined the main trail just before the summit. It's a nice peak, which would have nice views on a better day and also deserves a spot on my revisit list. Interestingly, Sandwich Dome is the highest sub 4000' peak in New England, and the afternoon's target, Tecumseh, is the lowest 4000 footer. We took a break and had some lunch before starting back.

To get some variety on this viewless day, we decided to take the Drake's Brook trail back to the cars. This follows a ravine down off the peak rather than the ridge and is marginally longer but it looked interesting on the map. We turned right onto this trail just below the side trail to Jennings Peak and we were well rewarded by our choice. We passed numerous cascades and rills and in the later part of the trail we followed an old woods road which afforded easy walking. It was a nice choice and provided a pleasant loop. We returned to the cars at 12:41. A great and easy morning hike.

Sandwich Dome (#85 of HH) and Jennings Peak
Distance hiked: 8.7 miles
Elevation gained: 2750'
Time: 4:45
Photos: Sandwich & Tecumseh Album

Papa Bear · Jul 28, 2005

Friday, July 8th (afternoon) - Mount Tecumseh

Our next goal for the was Mount Tecumseh. We would take the "short route" which goes up along the Waterville Valley ski slopes. We drove up to the end of Route 49, took a left onto Tripoli Road and then in about another mile took the left fork at the Waterville Valley Ski Area sign. Tripoli Road continues north on the right fork, but the left fork is by far the more prominent road. We drove around in the near empty parking lot and finally spotted the trailhead sign. If you go there you should park at the near end (right end facing up hill) of the highest parking lot (not counting the top most road which goes left to the ski buildings). The trail starts just across the road to the right.

The trail crosses a small stream over easy stepping stones at the very start. I was fiddling with my hiking poles and managed to step into the drink and soak one foot. Duh! Great start!

The trail consists of three sections. The first is a moderate climb through open woods with a descent and crossing of Tecumseh Brook followed by renascent of the valley heading towards the ski slopes. The trail turns right here with a short side trail heads straight a few yards to the ski slope, affording views to the north. Apparently the trail used to climb on the actual ski trail and this side trail is a remnant of that older trail route.

The next section is a relentless climb on a steep, rough, straight, boring woods road which parallels the ski slope straight up to the top of the ridge. This was my least favorite trail section of the day if not of the week. We finally reached the top of the ridge where the Sosman Trail came in from the left. This trail apparently crosses to the top of the ski slope where access to Tecumseh can be gained either by climbing the ski slope or taking the tram up when it is operating.

The last section was the most fun and interesting. A lovely ridge walk soon took us to an intersection where a sign pointed to the summit both to the left and to the right. It was obviously a loop so we decided to take the left fork. This became a rough rocky trail which circled the summit to the south and finally arrived at the top. Tecumseh has an interesting summit: it is a fairly regular dome shaped peak with a large rocky crag sticking up at the top. It was this crag which we circled to gain the summit.

We arrive at the top at 2:46. Not a bad climb. There were three trails leaving the wooded summit area: the one we had come up (from the south), one heading towards the west (which continues the Tecumseh Mountain Trail down to Tripoli Road), and one to the east which completed our loop. Be careful you don't take the wrong trail or you'll have some steep backtracking to do. After a short break we proceeded down the east trail and completed our loop in about 20 minutes. When we got to the intersection I joshed "Want to go around again?" vegematic said "No, I'm fine, I'll wait for you here."

The Tecumseh summit

We headed back along the ridge and then down the steep woods road. Going down was equally relentless and my knees started to get sore. We took a rest near the bottom of this section and then turned left to cross to the other side of the Tecumseh Brook valley and then headed out towards the cars. Light rain started around 4:00 and we arrived at the parking lot at 4:30.

We said goodbye as vegematic headed home to Bethel and I started up Tripoli Road for another visit to the Woodstock Station and thence to Mooselauke Ravine Lodge, my home-away-from-home for the week. In spite of the cloudy day and late afternoon showers, It had been a nice day of hiking with two good climbs of interesting peaks under our belt.

Mount Tecumseh (#46 of 48, # 86 of HH)
Distance hiked: 5.0 miles
Elevation gained: 2200'
Time: 3:31
Photos: Sandwich & Tecumseh Album

Totals for day:

Total distance hiked: 13.7 miles
Total elevation gained: 4950'
Total time: 8:16

Papa Bear · Jul 28, 2005

Sunday, July 10th - Hundred Highest double - Vose Spur

When I was planning my week of hiking in New Hampshire I tried to pair up mountains on my list to allow me to do 2, or in one case 3, in a day. The two Hancocks and the two Tripyramids were obvious as were Passaconaway & Whiteface (with East Sleeper thrown in) and Sandwich & Tecumseh.

After studying the map, I thought "Why not combine Vose Spur and Nancy?" Although I have never seen a report of anyone doing this particular combination, it looked doable if I could arrange a car spot. And since these two peaks are both on many hikers' (who are chasing the HH) to-do list, I thought I could get some other folks to join me and that would solve the car spot problem. When all was said and done, there were five of us (and of course that means five cars): me, MEB, ctsparrow, Onestep and Adiamata. It was a good group of hikers who were all enthusiastic, congenial and held mostly to a similar pace. A perfect group of companions for this long day of hiking and climbing.

We met at a few minutes before 8:00 AM on Sunday morning at the Nancy Pond Trailhead on Route 302 and in a few minutes we had grabbed our gear and we all piled into Onestep's car to drive down to the Signal Ridge Trailhead on Sawyer River Road, about 3 miles down 302 and over the dirt road. We were off at 8:15 AM, heading up the Signal Ridge Trail towards Vose Spur. It was quite a change to hike with a group this size. I had spent the week hiking solo or at most with one companion.

The trails were easy up to the bushwhack, first the 1.7 miles to the Carrigain Notch Trail and approximately 2 miles up into the notch. The vegetation was lush, the day was not too hot and not too humid and the occasional glimpses of the sheer cliffs of Vose Spur an Mount Lowell facing it across the Notch were quite impressive. I though to myself "How can we ever climb that steep face?". It turns out I had not studied the map closely enough. I had assumed the bushwhack route started at the wilderness boundary, which is at the height-of-land and which would entail climbing the steepest slope up to the the peak. Instead, the bushwhack starts nearly about .7 miles before that point and climbs a ridge (call it the southeast ridge), which although very steep, is not anything like the near cliff face further on.

There is a large boulder, about 4 feet high which is the traditional start of the whack, and we arrive there at 9:45 Am, after just an hour and a half of easy hiking. We scouted around and found what looked like a herd path 10 or 20 yards up the trail from the boulder, pilled all our hiking pole against a nearby tree and we were off. I had taken a visual bearing from an open spot near the trail just before the boulder, and Onestep took a bearing from his map which agreed, so we were off, with Onestep in the vanguard.

The herd path led us to a drainage (shown on the map) which we followed for a short while and then climbed onto the ridge up to our right. The herd paths petered out in the middle section of the slope. It's as if everyone starts at the same spot, and finishes at the same spot (the summit) and in between everyone goes every which way.

There was a ledge about 4 - 6 feet high about half way up the slope which we traversed to the right. Above this, the terrain got fairly steep, but luckily the herd paths reappeared and it was easy going. There were no serious blowdowns or thick areas that we couldn't get around, and after a rest stop or two we found the canister at 11:15, just an hour and 30 minutes from the trail. It was a great day, the weather was cool and mostly clear and we had reached the top before noon. We were all happy and proud. We read the register, wrote our own entries and ate and rested. One of the most interesting register entries was Frodo's dated 12-26-04 "Merry Christmas Headed over from Carrigain Fun No Bugs! Frodo". What a surprise: December 26th and no bugs! Our's was a good group and Onestep was an excellent route finder.

The group at the summit
Onestep, MEB, ctsparrow and Adamiata

After a lengthey rest, we started down on a herd path, but going down it's always harder to follow herd paths than climbing up, and we soon found ourselves at the top of a open patch of rocks. Bob and Gerri had called this a "Talus Slope" in their report but it couldn't be that since there was no steep slope above it. It didn't look like Felsenmeer, and anyway it was not high enough for it to be that. Maybe it was the remnant of some old slide.

We traversed to the left and temporarily split up. Onestep and I moved to the left to try to regain the center of the ridge, the others kept closer to the rocky area to our right. Soon Onestep and I came to a rock ledge which dropped off, which we circumnavigated to the right. I realized later that this was the same ridge we had run into going up and which we had traversed at its other end.

Once past the ledge, we suddenly saw a Yellow Labrador Retriever in the undergrowth and it's owner called to us from slightly further to the right (near the edge of the rocky area). We chatted briefly and he said he was Yellow Dog from VFTT, so I introduced myself as Papa Bear. It's a small world to have such encounters in the middle of nowhere.

We followed Yellow Dog's herd path down and soon caught up with the others. Adiamata took over the lead and led us down the rest of the way. He found the drainage we had followed on the way up and we hit the trail exactly where we had left it! Amazing work guys! Our pile of hiking sticks were there waiting for us. It was 1:05 PM. It had taken us 1:10 coming down, and counting the long break we took on the summit, the round trip from the trail to the top and back was 3:20. Not bad at all.

But we were only half done for our day's work so there was no dallying.

Continued on next note

Papa Bear · Jul 28, 2005

Sunday, July 10th - Hundred Highest double - Nancy

Continued from previous note

The trail up to the height of land in Carrigain Notch was easy, but I was tuckered out from the bushwhack, so what would ordinarily be a moderate slope was tiring. The views across the Notch to Mount Lowell were stunning. That would be a nice peak to visit (but not up those cliffs). We reached the height of land in 25 minutes. Once past the top of the Notch the trail became rather flat and very easy. The area back there is a wide, lush upland bog. It was another 1.8 miles to the Nancy Pond Trail which took us about 45 minutes.

The Nancy Pond Trail takes a sharp right turn from the Carrigain Notch Trail and follows what seemed to be an old railroad grade - straight and flat. We took a break at a stream crossing and then started up the long but moderate climb to the ledges which form the saddle between Mount Anderson and Mount Nancy. This was a long tiring hike but fortunately it was never steep, and furthermore we would never lose the elevation we were gaining. The trail led straight to the bottom of Mount Nancy without an intervening drop.

But before we reached Nancy, or the Ledges, we found a piped spring right off the trail which was flowing nicely, and we all had a break and some cool mountain water. We figured this spring had probably been here for years, perhaps back to the logging years.

We continued on and reached the ledges at 3:50. This is a remarkable spot. Below the ledges the Norcross Stream runs down a deep valley into the upland area we had just crossed. Above the ledges are Norcross Pond, a beautiful wild body of water, and a short distance to the east across a height of land lies the similarly beautiful Nancy Pond which drains into the steep ravine and cascades of Nancy Brook. This area is very special and would deserve a visit, quite aside from the Hundred Highest peak that site next to it.

Norcross Pond

At this point MEB and ctsparrow decided to go out directly to the cars and skip the climb since it was already late and they had schedule issues. Onestep, Adamiata and myself took a short break and then started up the mountain. Officially this is a trailless peak, but the herd path is so well built (with switchbacks no less) and so well trodden that in reality it's a trail.

At the clearing just north of the ledges there is a no camping sign. Two paths head north. We took the left one. Soon we reached the Nancy Slide. The path parallels the Slide on the right for a distance and then turns to the right up the slope. As Onestep said this was "Seriously steep". Serious indeed! I took the lead and paced myself with a short break every couple of minutes. It was seriously exhausting! But luckily it was also short. Soon we reached a more moderate grade and the path shortly reached the orange summit canister. The high point seemed to be a few yards further along at a lookout with great views of the Presidential Range. We got to the top at 4:30 and after a short break we were on our way down.

We were all tired but we knew we not only had the descent to do, but over 4 miles of trails to get back to the cars, so we got going. We reached the trail at the bottom about 5:05 PM. It was about 1:10 round trip including a short break at the top, but it was very steep (did I mention that?) so allow time for plenty of rest.

The hike down was beautiful, there is no other word for it. At the top we passed Nancy Pond, a twin of Norcross Pond but draining to the opposite side of the saddle. Below the Pond the trail drops steeply over rocks and ledges. This would be considered commonplace on many trails in the White Mountains but what was extraordinary was the cascades that Nancy Brook fell over close by the trail. This closest similar trail I have hiked would be the Beaver Brook Trail on Mooselauke, but that has a number of smaller cascades, this has one humongous one!

Cascade on Nancy Brook

I took some photos and we kept going with several stream crossings. The lower trail followed an old eroded road which evidently led to the firewarden's cabin for the tower on Mount Bemis, which lies to the northeast of Nancy.

As always in a hike the last mile was the longest. We were tantalized at several spots where we came very close to the road, but alas, there was a strip of private property along Route 302 with private houses, so we trekked along behind them and finally reached the cars at 7:05 PM. It was the longest day of my "blitz" by far, close to 13 hours, but it was one of the best days I can remember. Thanks to everyone who had a part of this Hundred Highest double. It was great!

Vose Spur (#87) and Mount Nancy (#88)
Distance hiked: 16.1 (approximate)
Elevation gained: 4850' (approximate)
Time: 12:50
Photos: Vose Spur and Nancy Album

yellow dog · Jul 28, 2005

You took some really nice photos. I wish I knew you were doing Vose Spur and Nancy that day so I could have joined the group. I'd like to get back to Norcross Pond again sometime. I thought I might catch you on the way down but I didn't realize you were heading off in the other direction.

MEB · Jul 29, 2005

Papa Bear,

Nice pictures and trip report! I was gald to be a part of your blitz. If it had not been so late in the afternoon I would have joined the rest of you on the trip up Nancy!

-MEB