Pemi Traverse Bushwhack - Oncoman & Albee

[albee]

Pierre has given me the honor of trying to recap our magnificent experience of this past weekend. We crossed the Pemi from west to east starting at the Flume visitor's center and finishing at Nancy Pond trailhead. This was accomplished by using parts of many established trails but including a series of interesting and, dare I say it, FUN bushwhacks.

The general route was as follows: Up Liberty Springs trail, across the Franconia Ridge to the Lincoln slide. BW down the slide to Lincoln Brook, follow Lincoln Brook trail to Owl's Head slide. Up Owl's Head to the true summit, BW down to the east and cross Franconia Brook. BW up Hellgate Brook to Hellgate Ravine, climb talus fields to Bond ridge. Camp at Guyot Shelter, BW down Jumping Brook from the shelter to Thoreau Falls trail. Follow Thoreau Falls to Wilderness trail to Nancy Pond trail and out to the car. I'm estimating the trip was about 39 miles (including side trips), which we were able to cover in 48 hours total, including 28 hours of hiking. A more detailed TR will follow.

 

[albee]

Our trip began late Friday afternoon. We spotted a car at Nancy Pond trailhead and drove around to the Flume visitor's center. We hit the trail at 6:05 PM and headed up the bike path to the Liberty Springs trail. Pierre was cruising since he wanted to get as far as he could before we needed headlamps. His pace surprised me, since I am quite fit and 20 years younger than him, but I was struggling to keep up!

We set up camp at Liberty Springs tentsite and decided to go up to the ridge by the moonlight and bag Liberty and Flume. This was one of the most amazing experiences of the trip. The full moon had risen and it was illuminating the peaks in every direction! It really was remarkable! We went back to camp and slept quickly since it would be an early morning.

Saturday was chilly at 4:45 AM, and we were packed up and on the trail by 5:15 AM. We caught the morning glow on Little Haystack at a little past 6, and the sun rose over the east at 6:20 AM. We dropped our packs at North Lincoln and ran up to bag Lafayette at 7:00. The scree on the slide was a little slipperier that I was prepared for, possibly because ice had formed on some of the gravel overnight. Rock hopping would be treacherous all weekend, but we avoided any real mishaps. At the foot of the slide we stayed to the left where it looked like an old trail or logging road is still visible through the trees. The bushwhacking was relatively open and easy, and we made it to the Lincoln Brook in 1.5 hours.

From there, we travelled south to the Owl's Head slide and climbed up tot he summit. Here, I found Pierre's only weakness: I could climb the steep slopes a bit faster than he. It was also more cumbersome with a full pack. We broke for a snack on the summit and started our bushwhack off to the direct east of the true summit. We tried to stick to a ridge and didn't get too close to the brooks to the north and south of us. It was steep at first, but the woods were still relatively open and we made it to the Franconia Brook in another 1.5 hours.

Here, we crossed the brook - I took my shoes off but Pierre just waded through. We had another snack at Hellgate Brook, and headed up the south bank. We followed an old logging road for a little bit and made good progress, but the going got a bit tougher farther up. We crossed the brook and started hitting thicker Spruce patches, and eventually we walked up a dry part of the stream bed. Once we were past Bondcliff, a talus field stretched almost all the way down to the stream bed on our right. We decided this was the best option after 3 hours of bushwhacking, so we started climbing towards the Bond ridge.

This talus field was a fun scramble. Many of the rocks are still loose, so extreme caution was used, and after pushing through some krumholtz to the upper talus field, we quickly gained the ridge. From there, we dropped our packs and headed over to bag Bondcliff. We encountered far too many tired and bedraggled backpackers along the way, including a couple that were deciding to camp on the summit of Bondcliff. They used the excuse that the wife was too tired to continue, but they were probably either lying (and had planned to camp illegally) or truly unprepared for a strenuous hike. I personally just don't respect people like that.

We scrambled back to Bond and went over to bag West Bond at sunset. From there, we headed over to Guyot shelter, where all of the tent platforms were filled but there was plenty of room in the shelter. I happen to love Guyot Shelter - I think it offers the best sunrise in the Whites. I snapped a few photos of it in the morning, and we were off bushwhacking down Jumping Brook at 7:30 AM on Sunday morning.

This section would easily prove to be the most difficult and frustrating going of the weekend. It took 4.5 hours of thick Spruce, crossing brooks, following stream beds, and cuts and scrapes - but we made it. We crossed to the true left of every brook we came to. From the Thoreau Falls trail, we kicked it into high gear all the way to Norcross Pond. We bagged Mt Nancy (a beautiful view!) and headed down past Nancy Pond and Nancy Cascades for an uneventful exit.

Thanks for a wonderful weekend, Pierre, and if anyone would like more info/advice on our route feel free to contact either of us. Happy bushwhacking!

Pics are here.

 

[RoySwkr]

This section would easily prove to be the most difficult and frustrating going of the weekend. It took 4.5 hours of thick Spruce, crossing brooks, following stream beds, and cuts and scrapes - but we made it.

Yes, the Jumping Brook route is bad but I'm surprised it took you triple what the Lafayette slide and Owls Head E took, maybe you were finally getting tired

There is a mystery novel set in this area, "Tracked in the Whites" or something else by the same author.

 

[dvbl]

... We crossed to the true left of every brook we came to...

Please explain what you mean by "the true left of every brook" and why did you make sure to cross brooks in this manner. I've never bushwacked...well, not intentionally at least . I learn alot by reading these kinds of posts. Thanks.

 

[grouseking]

You's guys are crazy, did anyone ever tell you that? First of all, you pushed thru trees off trail, and secondly, you went down Jumping Brook. I condemn your actions.....

Well actually, I'm just jealous. The pics were beautiful, and I've been wanting to check out the Jumping Brook area for awhile now. I didn't read the whole report, but I will later. Did you come across any wildlife....moose, lynx, mountain lions, bigfoot? I swear sasquatch lives in the Ethan Range.

grouseking

 

[albee]

A few responses to various questions:

Junping Brook was just a tough bushwhack. We never found open woods, only a few overgrown logging roads that petered out when brooks converged. At one point we found a surprisingly intact old logging bridge, but it didn't lead to anything followable.

We didn't see any wildlife at all. One of the nicest parts of the hike was that we had solitude for so much of it. The Whites were crowded with it being a multinational holiday weekend, and we were able to go 8-10 hours at a time without encountering others. Felt like we had the place to ourselves!

One trick I truly learned to appreciate was NH_Mtn_Hiker's maxim - when in doubt, follow the moose tracks! They might be big, dumb creatures, but they are damn good bushwhackers!

Finally, the "true left" of a brook, stream, or river is the left-hand side if you are travelling downstream. There is generally no reason to always go one way or the other. In this case all branches of Jumping Brook eventually emptied out into Thoreau Falls brook.

 

[Amicus]

Pierre was cruising since he wanted to get as far as he could before we needed headlamps. His pace surprised me, since I am quite fit and 20 years younger than him, but I was struggling to keep up!

Don't feel bad about that albee. When I hiked with Pierre I found it hard to equal his pace also, and I'm his age.

Your trip was as great as I expected. Baxter on a perfect full moon weekend, however, including Fort, its wreck and the Traveler Loop, made up for not sharing your epic traverse. Well done by both of you!

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

It took 4.5 hours of thick Spruce, crossing brooks, following stream beds, and cuts and scrapes - but we made it. We crossed to the true left of every brook we came to.

You probably could have saved yourselves an hour or two by taking the logging road that runs along the south side of Jumping Brook. In some places it's about 100 yards or so south of the brook, but it parallels the brook from about a half mile below the shelter all the way to the North Fork.

One trick I truly learned to appreciate was NH_Mtn_Hiker's maxim - when in doubt, follow the moose tracks! They might be big, dumb creatures, but they are damn good bushwhackers!

Yes, moose tracks are great when you're trying to pick a route through difficult terrain...and fox and coyote tracks are great when you're just trying to get out of the woods, as they usually lead right into somebody's back yard...where the small dogs and cats are.
...but whatever you do, don't follow squirrel tracks. I made that mistake once. I followed a set of squirrel tracks in fresh snow...spent most of the morning following those tracks, then spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out how to get down out of the damn tree.

Well you certainly had a great weekend for your trip. I am a little disappointed that it took you two days and two nights to get across the Pemi.
Maybe I'll give something like that a try sometime and see if I can shave a few hours off. ....I'll bet Daniel Boone could have done it in a day.

 

[Jazzbo]

Jumping Brook BW

I ain't no BW'er, but maybe some day.... I really enjoyed your report. Did you descend Jumping Brook by dropping down directly from the shelter at Guyot Camp? I remember last August looking east from Mt Bond at the ridge that runs east from Bond Summit. Seemed like that might be a good way to descend. The spruce scrub looked so wide open there. Although appearances can be deceiving. One can see so much open ledge between the spruce and it seems to run down to at least 3000' elevation from which you could catch nhmthiker's logging road.

 

[HAMTERO]

Trip report of the week!

NIce report and pictures!
Trail feels pretty good after you have been wackin' for a while!

 

[Oncoman]

Superb trip report Alan & million thanks for allowing this dream-hike of mine become a reality. Having company along makes such long journeys so much more enjoyable. Eternal gratitude to you & remember that the "Ligue des vieux poêles" still have lots of energy...

Pierre

 

[runnynose]

wow!!

holy cannoli!!
i am both amazed and envious!
a dream-hike to aspire to for sure!

 

[RoySwkr]

I remember last August looking east from Mt Bond at the ridge that runs east from Bond Summit...One can see so much open ledge between the spruce and it seems to run down to at least 3000' elevation from which you could catch nhmthiker's logging road.

I went down that ridge and never found the open ledge, somebody told me it was really a scrub patch. Then went cross-grain across Jumping Brook because my car was at Zealand. One of my toughest Bonds trips.

 

[Amicus]

From the Thoreau Falls trail, we kicked it into high gear all the way to Norcross Pond. We bagged Mt Nancy (a beautiful view!) and headed down past Nancy Pond and Nancy Cascades for an uneventful exit.

I forgot to ask - What happened to Duck Pond Mtn.?

 

[TMax]

holy cannoli!!
i am both amazed and envious!

I second that emotion!

 

[kltilton]

Sounds like you guys had a great trip. I think Al is trying to redline every square inch of the Pemi!

 

[JimC]

To Oncoman and Albee, I must express great admiration for this special hike.

Few would attempt this and fewer still would succeed!

 

[Woody]

I am inspired. I need to get out and do some real bushwacking. The only bw I've ever done is to Owl's Head from Franconia Falls and that was almost a herd path.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Sounds like you guys had a great trip. I think Al is trying to redline every square inch of the Pemi!

What is the definition of redline as used here, and elsewhere in the forum? Is it coverage (all trails) or speed (like the tach on the car) or something else? It sounds like coverage, but I'm not certain.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[Papa Bear]

What is the definition of redline as used here, and elsewhere in the forum? Is it coverage (all trails) or speed (like the tach on the car) or something else? It sounds like coverage, but I'm not certain.

Thanks,
Tim

Redlining in the hiker community means to hike all the trails in a particular area. The name comes from taking your map (say of the Pemi) and using a red marker, trace out all the trails you've done untill the entire map has nothing but red lines on it.

HOWEVER ... This particular exploit involved 3 major bushwhacks, and I'm not sure how an off trail trek would relate to "classical" redlining. Add to that Oncoman's legendary speed and you might consider that he is really redlining in the automotive sense of the term.

AND ... add to that the quote "I think Al is trying to redline every square inch of the Pemi!" and you really have a mixed metaphore.