Talk to me about Scar Ridge

[Motabobo]

That's really interesting ! Anyone knows, or even better, could pinpoint the approximate locations of those canisters on topozone ??

 

[Raymond]

Looking at the map, there are two bumps there. The elevation is written on the one farther west, so I suspect I hit the other one. There were still lots of entries in the register, including one from I think an 80-year-old lady from Maine who wrote something like, ‘‘Ain’t life grand?’’.

Probably here.

I don’t know how to insert the image on this page.

 

[John H Swanson]

Hmm....

If you're going for just the NEng 100 peak, then go from the south. hike to the pond, go SW for a few yards at the pond outlet then traverse west for a good distance (at least 0.3 mi) and climb to the spur ridge extending down from the word "ridge" to the word "little" on the topo. Hands down, the easiest route I've found in 4 trips, but it was years ago. On the other hand, the growth behind (north of )the pond is some of the worst stuff I've ever encountered. So avoid the area north of the pond. If you cant find the pond with diligent compass use AND an altimeter, then you really shouldn't be off trail. Of course this was a fear of mine too before I started using an altimeter so concern is warranted.

For the traverse, I've done it in summer from the south side and winter from the north side. The north side was easier, but winter tends to cover up the nasty stuff. The top of the ridge was not especially bad. One thing for sure. You could not pay me to decend S or SE or SSE of the east most NH100 highest peak. That's a figure of speach, of course. If you're going to pay me, alot, and I can fit it into the schedule, I would do it again.

Enjoy.

 

[Cath]

The Easiest way to do the Scar Ridge peaks I believe, is to do them each separately.

East peak from the East Pond Trail off the Kanc. We did an after work hike in early April (there was still snow), and the total trip time was 3 1/2 hrs. We found 2 canisters (this was back in 1994) amongst the fir wave - forest. Wasn't bad to manuver through, but I'm sure the snow cover was a big asset.

The Main peak from the top of Loon Mtn ski area. We did another after work hike, via the ski trails, total trip time was 3 3/4 hrs in late April. I remember a short, thick section of forest buffering the ski area.

Middle Scar, we ascended from Little East Pond. Very direct route. The forest was full of young evergreens, which made it a little tough to see your immediate surroundings. We actually walked into the Pond, for a more direct approach on the return trip, as we exchanged hoots with our Pond loving friend, Steve Smith. He had come out after work as well, to join us on the return walk of the Little East Pond trail. The Black Fly's were some of the worst I've experienced on that June afternoon. We had an extremely short summit / canister visit Round trip was 3 1/4 hrs.

A more interesting route to the Main peak is via the Mack Brook F.S. road off the Tripoli road. Steve, Creston & I ascended the main south facing slide one Memorial Day weekend. There was a short THICK section above the slide, but then it opens up nicely. We traversed over to the north side of the ridge, descended a short distance, and hung out on the top of one of the slides (that was our destination).

In the Winter, I joined a East to West traverse, organized by The Great One, Master John H. Swanson The snow makes such a differnce. We had a wonderful time, and barely noticed the thick sections we all remembered from our non-winter excursions.

I highly recommend doing a traverse, as it will be one trip you will not soon forget.

 

[RoySwkr]

Looking at the map, there are two bumps there. The elevation is written on the one farther west, so I suspect I hit the other one.

The canister topic has come up before, apparently the canister was put on the easternmost peak because it is more distinct even though the W peak is thought to be higher - go figure.

I have climbed Scar Ridge 3 times, twice in winter up East Pond Trail and once in summer from East Pond Trail to Loon. I didn't consider the ridge very thick but keep in mind that many of the NE100 baggers have never bushwhacked before and consider anything less than the Old Bridle Path to be thick.

If instead of going down the ski trails at Loon you take the herd path over Black Mtn it gives you a 5 peak day - 1 NE 100, 3 NH 100, 4 NH 3K, and 5 NH 200.

 

[Eric Savage]

The canister topic has come up before, apparently the canister was put on the easternmost peak because it is more distinct even though the W peak is thought to be higher - go figure.

What Roy says here is true of the West Peak(s) - which is on the NE100 list. Both the West Peak (NE 100) and East Peak (NH 100) have two bumps.
The East Peak is rumored to have canisters on both bumps either because someone felt that both bumps should be visited to make sure the high point was hit or because a subsequent party convinced that they were on the summit but not finding a canister decided to put up their own (a la Kancamagus or South Hitchcock).
IMO the north/west bump is likely the higher one based on the size of the contour but I'll refine that opinion depending on what I find when I finally get up there.
FWIW there are *four* bumps on the Middle peak (also NH 100). The westernmost is the highest and has the canister but the easternmost has the only decent view on the whole ridge.

We tried to do a traverse of the whole ridge but had a bit of a late start and since it was my first real bushwhack I considered getting to six of the eight bumps as a pretty good accomplishment.