rocksnrolls
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2005
- Messages
- 371
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- 47
The CAST: rocksnrolls (the instigator), PoisonIvy (rear guard), Amicus (back after 20 years), AndyF (on a long vacation) and Leaf (our newest boardmember)
The GOAL: head up to Passaconaway via the Wonalancet Range, bagging Mt Wonalancet, Hibbard Mtn, Wonalancet Hedgehog, and Nanamocomuck Peak along the way, with a return via Square Ledge and Old Mast Rd
We started about 9:20 from a nearly full Ferncroft Parking lot with clear skies, warm temps and no snow to be seen. Having read about the prevailing conditions at higher elevations, we all had strapped our snowshoes to our packs and brought along traction aids.
The climb up to Wonalancet was a breeze. A bit of snow here and there, not too steep, lots of joking around. Great weather - shorts and t-shirts were all we needed. We stopped to enjoy the view of Whiteface and had a snack.
Continuing on to Hibbard was also very easy. Snow was getting more prevelant on the trail. The higher we got the deeper the snow was. It looked like everyone who had been up that way before us had been barebooting, so we risked an encounter with the posthole police and continued on sans snowshoes.
As we neared the Walden Tr, the postholes were getting pretty deep. Mid-thigh for me, the heaviest member of the group. So I decided to put on my snowshoes after we dealt with the summit boulder on Hedgehog. I had read Albee's report on his visit there in February so knew we had a bit of a scramble ahead of us if we wanted to claim the true highpoint on this T-3000 peak. The light and spry AndyF and Leaf managed to get up there pretty easily (3 feet of snow at the base helped, no doubt). Amicus and PoisonIvy also managed to get up with a little assistance. Wanting the peak to myself (and not wanting to knock anyone off as I scrambled) I waited for the others to drop off before I attempted it. Following Albee's hint, I grabbed a nearby rotted long and propped it up on the side of the boulder. Climbing up on it I was grabing for a handhold when the wood collapsed, sending me onto my butt . Well, I wasn't hurt, so I repositioned what was left of the log and managed to get myself up there without too much grunting and groaning. Jumping off into the deep snow was pretty sweet too
We then turned around and headed back to continue on. At this point, we realized that we were well behind schedule and we decided to pass on going all the way to Passaconaway and would instead just head to Square Ledge after Nanamocomuck.
But first, on went my snowshoes. Very soon we were dropping precipitously down a slick, snow-covered and rock-strewn trail into the deep pass between us and Nana.... Off came the snowshoes. Barebooting would be much easier I decided. We got down into the col, hiked awhile on a relaxing flat section and then... then came the real climb of the day! That trail heading up Nanamocomuck was awesome!! VERY steep but with plenty of hand- and footholds, and thankfully very little snow or ice. I love trails like that and will definitly have to return someday for this one.
Up we went and when we hit the summit we rested a bit. The trek over to the start of the Square Ledge trail was a gentle descent and then a gentle ascent. We hit the intersection and began to try to find the Square Ledge Tr. Well, noone had been that way recently so there were no tracks to follow. The were no blazes and lots of blowdowns. After hunting around for about 10 minutes we decided Square Ledge wasn't going to be visited by us that day. Our options were to return the way we had came, or head over to the East Loop and then down Diceys Mill. Considering all the reverse elevation gain we would have to deal with going back the way we came, it was easy to choos to head over to Diceys instead.
A little steep climb got us to the loop trail and the rest of the hike was an easy descent on a gentle slope. Diceys Mill is such a great descent trail Very easy on the knees!
So, we didn't reach all our goals, but we had a wonderful day in the mountains so I would call that a big success!
Oh, by the way, our only animal sighting besides a few birds, was a toad near the end of the day
The GOAL: head up to Passaconaway via the Wonalancet Range, bagging Mt Wonalancet, Hibbard Mtn, Wonalancet Hedgehog, and Nanamocomuck Peak along the way, with a return via Square Ledge and Old Mast Rd
We started about 9:20 from a nearly full Ferncroft Parking lot with clear skies, warm temps and no snow to be seen. Having read about the prevailing conditions at higher elevations, we all had strapped our snowshoes to our packs and brought along traction aids.
The climb up to Wonalancet was a breeze. A bit of snow here and there, not too steep, lots of joking around. Great weather - shorts and t-shirts were all we needed. We stopped to enjoy the view of Whiteface and had a snack.
Continuing on to Hibbard was also very easy. Snow was getting more prevelant on the trail. The higher we got the deeper the snow was. It looked like everyone who had been up that way before us had been barebooting, so we risked an encounter with the posthole police and continued on sans snowshoes.
As we neared the Walden Tr, the postholes were getting pretty deep. Mid-thigh for me, the heaviest member of the group. So I decided to put on my snowshoes after we dealt with the summit boulder on Hedgehog. I had read Albee's report on his visit there in February so knew we had a bit of a scramble ahead of us if we wanted to claim the true highpoint on this T-3000 peak. The light and spry AndyF and Leaf managed to get up there pretty easily (3 feet of snow at the base helped, no doubt). Amicus and PoisonIvy also managed to get up with a little assistance. Wanting the peak to myself (and not wanting to knock anyone off as I scrambled) I waited for the others to drop off before I attempted it. Following Albee's hint, I grabbed a nearby rotted long and propped it up on the side of the boulder. Climbing up on it I was grabing for a handhold when the wood collapsed, sending me onto my butt . Well, I wasn't hurt, so I repositioned what was left of the log and managed to get myself up there without too much grunting and groaning. Jumping off into the deep snow was pretty sweet too
We then turned around and headed back to continue on. At this point, we realized that we were well behind schedule and we decided to pass on going all the way to Passaconaway and would instead just head to Square Ledge after Nanamocomuck.
But first, on went my snowshoes. Very soon we were dropping precipitously down a slick, snow-covered and rock-strewn trail into the deep pass between us and Nana.... Off came the snowshoes. Barebooting would be much easier I decided. We got down into the col, hiked awhile on a relaxing flat section and then... then came the real climb of the day! That trail heading up Nanamocomuck was awesome!! VERY steep but with plenty of hand- and footholds, and thankfully very little snow or ice. I love trails like that and will definitly have to return someday for this one.
Up we went and when we hit the summit we rested a bit. The trek over to the start of the Square Ledge trail was a gentle descent and then a gentle ascent. We hit the intersection and began to try to find the Square Ledge Tr. Well, noone had been that way recently so there were no tracks to follow. The were no blazes and lots of blowdowns. After hunting around for about 10 minutes we decided Square Ledge wasn't going to be visited by us that day. Our options were to return the way we had came, or head over to the East Loop and then down Diceys Mill. Considering all the reverse elevation gain we would have to deal with going back the way we came, it was easy to choos to head over to Diceys instead.
A little steep climb got us to the loop trail and the rest of the hike was an easy descent on a gentle slope. Diceys Mill is such a great descent trail Very easy on the knees!
So, we didn't reach all our goals, but we had a wonderful day in the mountains so I would call that a big success!
Oh, by the way, our only animal sighting besides a few birds, was a toad near the end of the day
I'm looking forward to heading back for Square Ledge in the fall -- after the falcon closure season -- to see if we were on the right track or not.
