Once again, this year's gathering was the result of the inspiration and organization of OneStep. Whackfest More was the best-attended of all the get-togethers to date, despite the dismal weather forecast: Onestep, Pigpen, MJ the Human Moose, Gamehiker, Albee and I, with a cameo appearance by Marchowes. Many of us had not been to the Beaudry - a vast working forest bounded by Rts 27 and 201 with the boundary swath to the west. The Beaudry road snakes through this tract with multiple side roads in various states of travelability. We saw moose every day and multiple ruffed grouse - one particularly excited male "displaying" his fanned tail and erect head feathers as he pursued a coy female. Lots of White-winged crossbills were still present, but no early Bicknells thrush despite many hours spent in appropriate habitat.
Day 1 we drove up the Clearwater stream drainage under overcast skies. After a brief flat approach, Pigsah (3390') was impressive with its steep cliffy eastern flank. Only MJ had the good sense to carry his snowshoes - a bad decision by the rest of us who struggled for large parts of the day through surprisingly deep snow starting at 2700'. A persistent theme for the entire weekend was the poor condition of this area's cannisters - Pigsah's was on the ground, but intact; enties dated back to the 1980's. The ridge to the north was thick and snowy. Dropping elevation led to more open woods, but the snow persisted until we hit the swath. Walking the boundary east to 2700' was an enjoyable break, but we returned to the snow as we climbed N Sisk (3430'). This long wooded ridge had several possible summits - the jar finally was spotted near the ground, still attached to a blowdown. The weather had been a pleasant surprise, only a brief shower and brightening skies all day. Still we opted not to try for S Sisk, and descended 600 vertical feet, postholing in 2-3 ft deep snow before finding bare ground, open woods, logging roads and eventually Onestep's offroad Taurus. Later that evening, we all appreciated the White Wolf's 1/2 lb burgers and the Roadhouse's hot showers, dryer, and warm beds.
Day 2 found us parking short of our intended destination because of a washed out culvert only a mile in on a side road. A steady rain persisted all morning, engorging the West Branch of the Moose River and testing the water-resistence/breathability of our gear. "Warm and wet", as Neighbor Dave describes it, we were fortunate to find a safe crossing of the West Branch and mount our assault of E Caribou (3325'). When the twitch roads ended, we squeezed through an extended stetch of stick forest, then more open mature forest to a thicker, blowndown summit patch. Here the register was on the ground and broken. Over to Middle Caribou (3590'), one mile distant, the rain lessened to drizzle, but never completely stopped. This ridges' peaks tended to have thick western facing slopes but more open eastern ones - but nothing terribly discouraging, though. Middle's jar was intact and easily found. West Caribou (3650') beckoned, 0.6 miles away, with its ATV descent trail. Although snowshoes were needed for most of the ridge (everyone brought them today!), there was much less snow here than Pigsah/Sisk despite being several hundred feet higher in elevation. Five of us searched for ten minutes before finally finding the jar 20' off the ATV trail on one of the thick summit bumps. All downhill from here, there was less precip, but still surprisingly persistent snow as the trail became logging road. No real views, but a satisfying day testing our mettle and gear in less than ideal conditions... fortunately, no one needed skin-to-skin rewarming in the bivy sack!
Day 3's planned attempt of Leroy and Tumbledown was thwarted by impassable mud less than a mile in on the Haynestown Rd. Amazingly, it had snowed overnight in the Beaudry and as we ascended Peaked Mt (3037') from the north, the light coating of snow sparkled on the trees as the sun finally broke through full force. This summit's shape was aptly described by its name, but no trace of jar or suspending string could be found. Driving out of the Beaudry, we stopped to climb W Kibby Ridge (3043'). The approach was easy over logging roads and through open forest to the summit (??). A plastic jar was found on one bump and rehung, but a large erratic 20 yds west was possibly higher and as a bonus offered fine views of Bag Pond Peak, COP Snow, Sisk and other surrounding mountains.
The Beaudry was wild and remote; the company able and witty! ... stay tuned for Whackfest - ALIVE!!!! (northern NH), coming this fall!
Day 1 we drove up the Clearwater stream drainage under overcast skies. After a brief flat approach, Pigsah (3390') was impressive with its steep cliffy eastern flank. Only MJ had the good sense to carry his snowshoes - a bad decision by the rest of us who struggled for large parts of the day through surprisingly deep snow starting at 2700'. A persistent theme for the entire weekend was the poor condition of this area's cannisters - Pigsah's was on the ground, but intact; enties dated back to the 1980's. The ridge to the north was thick and snowy. Dropping elevation led to more open woods, but the snow persisted until we hit the swath. Walking the boundary east to 2700' was an enjoyable break, but we returned to the snow as we climbed N Sisk (3430'). This long wooded ridge had several possible summits - the jar finally was spotted near the ground, still attached to a blowdown. The weather had been a pleasant surprise, only a brief shower and brightening skies all day. Still we opted not to try for S Sisk, and descended 600 vertical feet, postholing in 2-3 ft deep snow before finding bare ground, open woods, logging roads and eventually Onestep's offroad Taurus. Later that evening, we all appreciated the White Wolf's 1/2 lb burgers and the Roadhouse's hot showers, dryer, and warm beds.
Day 2 found us parking short of our intended destination because of a washed out culvert only a mile in on a side road. A steady rain persisted all morning, engorging the West Branch of the Moose River and testing the water-resistence/breathability of our gear. "Warm and wet", as Neighbor Dave describes it, we were fortunate to find a safe crossing of the West Branch and mount our assault of E Caribou (3325'). When the twitch roads ended, we squeezed through an extended stetch of stick forest, then more open mature forest to a thicker, blowndown summit patch. Here the register was on the ground and broken. Over to Middle Caribou (3590'), one mile distant, the rain lessened to drizzle, but never completely stopped. This ridges' peaks tended to have thick western facing slopes but more open eastern ones - but nothing terribly discouraging, though. Middle's jar was intact and easily found. West Caribou (3650') beckoned, 0.6 miles away, with its ATV descent trail. Although snowshoes were needed for most of the ridge (everyone brought them today!), there was much less snow here than Pigsah/Sisk despite being several hundred feet higher in elevation. Five of us searched for ten minutes before finally finding the jar 20' off the ATV trail on one of the thick summit bumps. All downhill from here, there was less precip, but still surprisingly persistent snow as the trail became logging road. No real views, but a satisfying day testing our mettle and gear in less than ideal conditions... fortunately, no one needed skin-to-skin rewarming in the bivy sack!
Day 3's planned attempt of Leroy and Tumbledown was thwarted by impassable mud less than a mile in on the Haynestown Rd. Amazingly, it had snowed overnight in the Beaudry and as we ascended Peaked Mt (3037') from the north, the light coating of snow sparkled on the trees as the sun finally broke through full force. This summit's shape was aptly described by its name, but no trace of jar or suspending string could be found. Driving out of the Beaudry, we stopped to climb W Kibby Ridge (3043'). The approach was easy over logging roads and through open forest to the summit (??). A plastic jar was found on one bump and rehung, but a large erratic 20 yds west was possibly higher and as a bonus offered fine views of Bag Pond Peak, COP Snow, Sisk and other surrounding mountains.
The Beaudry was wild and remote; the company able and witty! ... stay tuned for Whackfest - ALIVE!!!! (northern NH), coming this fall!
Last edited:
