Vose Spur 10/22/06: The Ultimate "WHY AM I HERE???!!!"

[bikehikeskifish]

This is some great info...Thanx! I'll have to give this a try. Is KML a common file format for Google Earth and/or for GPS software in general? Any which way the 3D rendition in Google Earth is very nice.

KML = Keyhole Markup Language. See

http://earth.google.com/

(You might select the link called Google Earth Community, for one)

Basically, it is an XML schema for defining input/output for use with Google Earth.

For example, all the AT shelters are available by opening the following URL in Google Earth:

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/at/atshelters.kml

I haven't looked too hard and haven't found the actual trail in its entirety. I'd bet a lot of money it exists, somewhere.


Tim

or

http://bbs.keyhole.com

 

[MichaelJ]

Finally, my trip report!

I had a free weekend coming up, and I needed to get out and hike somewhere. I decided to go for an NE100 peak; furthermore, I decided I needed a challenge to renew my hiking confidence. Throw on a short drive from home, and that left me with a choice of Scar Ridge or Vose Spur. It was suggested to me that the latter was the better choice, and so my decision was made. The only question now was if I'd be soloing or have company. I didn't want a big trip and hadn't asked around very widely, and it was Periwinkle who finally stepped up when I changed my plan from Saturday to Sunday due to Friday's heavy rains. I had hopes that the clear weather and strong winds on Saturday would dry out the trees and lower the streams. I would get one of my two wishes.

I was a few minutes late picking up Periwinkle, but she had a hot cup of Mad River Blend waiting for me (you must try this awesome coffee!) and we were soon off. We made good time across the Kanc, through Bear Notch, and down Sawyer River Road, and finally started on the trail at 10am.

We immediately began bushwhacking. Neither of us wanted to start out with wet feet or have to de-boot at the first crossing, so we just plowed through the woods parallel to the bank until we popped out on the Signal Ridge trail just beyond the crossing.

From here it was a beautiful walk in the woods; the sun shone down from a crystal blue sky through barren birches as we followed the trail. We could see glimpses of the peaks ahead of us, snow-capped and imposing.

It took us a little under an hour to get to the Carrigain Notch Trail, which led us to our first actual major crossing. The water was not high, but was flowing just enough to limit the rockstepping options. I was able to stretch and jump, but Periwinkle didn't have the stride length and, balanced on a rock midstream, removed her boots and barefooted it through the cold water. This called for a snack break.

After that, it was another beautiful walk through very open woods with impressive views of Mt. Lowell's cliffs rising as we approached the notch. There was one spot where an s-shaped stream crosses the trail and while we had no problem, it was a bit tricky to follow the leaf-covered trail. Not long after that, at noon, we encountered the infamous boulder.

We counted 14 paces past the boulder, saw nothing, went further, and then there it was on our left — the herd path. The treadway was visible as a pattern of brown leaves heading up a gully, with one set of footprints in the mud, presumably from the day before. and with a little compass assistance we followed it up through open birch woods until we suddenly faced a small ledge of rock. It was only about 4' high, but lacking any way to pull ourselves up it, we had to skirt around the side. I tried to go right but failed as the tree I was using for support decided to commit suicide and almost took me downslope with it. I retreated and went left, following Periwinkle. We would not see footprints again until near the summit.

Above this point we followed a barely-visible path through some miserable spruces and deadfall. Periwinkle went a bit too far right and ended up struggling; I heard a few words I can't repeat here, something about inappropriate tree touching and intimacy with blowdowns. We pretty much just slogged through on our compass bearing until suddenly, magically, we rediscovered the herd path and followed it left along the contour for a few hundred feet, at which point we turned back up the slope.

The path then came out near the lower left corner of the open rock slope that we had been expecting. A little way up to our right was a large cairn, which we ignored. At the top left of the slope, however, we could see a tiny 3-stone cairn and aimed for it. This was the worse rock/talus slope/side I'd ever been on. The individual stones were small, and thus unstable and wobbly. Instead of going right up the fall line, we took a more switchback-like approach, keeping the slope at any point to our side so we could reach out with one hand for balance. It was worth it, though, because when we hit the top, we looked back and saw the most amazing view out past Mt Tremont and Mt Chocorua. We sat for a few minutes, soaking up the view and some of the sun's warmth.

Soaking. Yes. Did I mention the soaking? Every tree limb, every branch, every needle, every leaf, they were all still soaking wet with Friday's rain. This meant that each time we grabbed a tree for support or balance, it would shed a bucket of water on us. Every time we pushed through young firs, they would drench our jackets and pants. The mass of wet leaves on the ground quickly saturated my boots, as well as the rest of me in one spot where I had to literally crawl under a blowdown. Those moments in the sun with the southern view were a blessing.

From here, there was an extremely obvious and well-worn herd path heading steeply up. There were spots where I would pull myself up from step to step and wonder if there would be any way down except to fall. Soon the snow appeared, a couple of soft inches to make every step that much more slippery. We soon realized we weren't on a herd-of-hikers path, we were on a herd-of-animals path. We saw the very large tracks of a very large bear. Very fresh tracks. Going our way, anywhere from 2 hours to 5 minutes in front of us. This did not bring out the best feelings of safety and confidence I've ever had, but we weren't turning away; we spoke loudly, clanked our hiking poles together, and hoped really, really hard that we wouldn't see it.

About halfway from the rock slope to the summit a set of bootprints was visible coming down the slope then turning off to our right. I don't know why this person descended that way, turning off the herd path at that particular point, but now it was a cakewalk to get to the flat summit. An incredibly steep and very slippery cakewalk. Once up there, we found an intensely trampled route in the snow careening back and forth across the summit; clearly some number of people had been up there trying to find the canister. We wrapped around to the far side, took a sharp turn back to our left and found ourselves in a small clearing looking right at it. Vose Spur, 3862'. My 84th of the England Hundred Highest. Woo-hoo!

Inside the canister we found that not only had 1 person been up yesterday, but a group of 6 or 7 also had. Except right there on the summit we did not see anywhere near enough footprints to account for them; I wonder what their route was? We didn't ponder too hard, instead throwing on warm, dry jackets, writing our own messages into the register, taking and posing for pictures, and engaging in that favorite activity of hikers everywhere: snacking.

By now it was 3:30 and time to head down. With a goal of being back on a "real" trail by dark, we followed our own tracks, slpping and sliding down the steeps, sometimes quite treacherously as I managed to slash open my forehead on a branch. We chose not to follow the other hiker's track but remain on our own, crossing the rock slope and again and pushing through the thick, twisted, messy zone. Here we gave up entirely on any sort of herd path and just used Signal Ridge and Lowell as guides to point us in the right direction. We came out into the open birch forest again, and while I knew the herd path was to our right just over the crown of the visible ridgeline, the footing was so open and easy we just continued down a smooth gully until suddenly we were on the Carrigain Notch Trail, only a hundred or so feet beyond where we'd gone in. In my opinion, this was a far better route in the lower section.

We regrouped our thoughts, switched to dry clothes (I literally wrung out my dripping-wet gloves), and started out. We made it to within a quarter mile of the Signal Ridge Trail before we had to turn on our headlamps. We sloshed through the water crossings and made it back to the car in darkness at 7pm.

Periwinkle was a brave soul for coming along for this hike, and deserves a huge round of kudos. As she said numerous times, she didn't have to be there (who remembers "Clerks" ?), but she was, and her encouragement was definitely integral to my summitting this fine peak. Ah, the joys of peakbagging!

My full album of pics from this hike is here. I have a video to post, too, but it's on the other computer 180 miles away at the moment.

 

[SherpaKroto]

Nice reports and pics!
Michelle and I did Vose a long while ago, and we took a slightly different route, mostly following Gene's notes on the way up, then "cheating left" as Tramper Al had advised us on the steeper sections. It was not nearly the gnarly trek that Peri mentions, though quite steep in sections. On return, we stayed on the ridge further south and picked a spot that appeared to be fairly open headed back to the trail. It was actually a real nice route, mostly open, starting about 1/4 mile earlier than where we entered.

Elephant was the toughest of the trailless NEHH to me. That is probably because we could not resist a comment in Gene's notes:

There is extensive logging activity on the west slope of the mountain which might provide a good access, but as far as I know nobody has tried it yet.

We went up from the west. At least I got a good moose antler out of that trip! If you want a look at the west slope of Elephant, open the attachment (Arm is somewhere in the picture's background):

 

[Amicus]

If you want a look at the west slope of Elephant, open the attachment (Arm is somewhere in the picture's background):

That is a wonderfully evocative photo of the kind of spruce that gives spruce a bad name. I ran into the same stuff, with fellow sufferers or alone, not only on Elephant (but in a couple of different parts of it) but also Cup. Snow and Fort - but not Vose. Luck is so important.

I see no sign of Arm or anyone else - he must have been more than six inches away.

 

[MichaelJ]

Oh, that shot of Elephant just fills me with joy. That makes Vose look easy!

The thing about Peri's gnarly stuff is that I went about ten to fifteen feet left of her, and I had a faint but clear path through it all. This ... upset ... her a little bit.

Looking back, though, it really was a lot of fun; however, now I've gone out hiking two weekends in a row on clear, sunny days and gotten soaked. But you'll just have to wait a few more days to hear about Breadloaf and Wilson!

 

[Periwinkle]

Before I digress, thank you all for the kind comments. I really appreciated them. Most of all, it's great to know that ya'll understand my twisted sense of humor.

A few points:

The thing about Peri's gnarly stuff is that I went about ten to fifteen feet left of her, and I had a faint but clear path through it all. This ... upset ... her a little bit.

Oh, ya think? And the bruises are healing nicely. How's your head?

Looking back, though, it really was a lot of fun....

It was. Sick. Twisted. But, fun!

A few last thoughts:

• Just for giggles, PI and I should measure leg length the next time we meet. I'm still thinkin' we should get bonus points for every hike we do!
• Just for the record, there will be no winter ascent of this peak, and no do-over. Ever. Once to Vose Spur was enough! Thanks anyhow!
• 100 Highest hardest? I have no comparison. And no desire. Vose Spur is now on my list of M.F.'s. As in don't go there again. Ever.
• And for all that I end up begin the only sucker to sign on at the last minute, I was very glad that I did. It was, for all my bitching, an awesome trip.
• This trip was much more positive than my usual posted sarcastic blathering. Michael J was very, oh, what's the word..., dang...I can't think of it... but he's downplaying his route-finding skills. If I floundered badly, it was my bad. You done good, man.
• Oh, and thanks for the Elephant pic, Sherpa. Now, if I wasn't before, I will have bushwhacking nightmares

 

[Gris]

Why is the red line (on the topo) so "squiggly...?"

 

[MichaelJ]

Why is the red line (on the topo) so "squiggly...?"

Really crappy 1st-generation GPS that loses signal all the time.

Trust me, we didn't zig-zag anywhere near as much as that line shows; it's just losing and recapturing and producing bogus data points between.

 

[bill bowden]

I want to hike with Periwinkle, she has neat adventures

I've done Vose Spur 5 times, leaving the current canister there the last time (it should say "East Sleeper" to be genuine), and therein hangs another tale. My trips were frankly rather boring and steep except for nice views from the talus slope on the way up. (Better to exit the talus slope to the left side and avoid the prickly scrub at the top.)

In the early 1990s there was no herd path and the existing one has been created by diligent bushwhackers. While it may be a little more challenging, avoiding the herd path as much as reasonably possible will minimize environmental impact and keep Vose Spur in the running as one of the more difficult NEHH. Now that Middle Abraham is off the list there is no real misery in the NEHH.

A few memorable bits of dialog from my own first trip up Vose Spur:
1.
She: "Don't go down there, it's much too steep !"

He: "I fell this far, I'm trying to get back up. "
2.
He: "Can you get down there, it looks very steep"

She: "I sure hope so, because I know I can't get back up"

I'm sure many others have fond memories of the panoramic views and gentle slopes of Vose Spur. BTW, the cliff face near the summit can be avoided by bushwhacking towards the Carrigain summit onto the ridge, them approaching the Vose Spur summit from the left.

 

[bubba]

I've been up there 4 times and only once had a tough time of it I'll have to go with you on your next time.

Audrey's imagining one of your salutes coming her way!! Go for it!!

Great TR. Enjoyed it, but I thought we had the blow-down/dense conifer herd paths cornered over in the ADK's.

Michael, nice topo/earth work. With your smiles, I'm thinking you really weren't wet, cold or unhappy at all!! Solo would have sucked. Lucky for you that Peri's off the island!! Ha! She sell that coffee?? Always looking for a great brew!

 

[skiguy]

In the early 1990s there was no herd path and the existing one has been created by diligent bushwhackers. While it may be a little more challenging, avoiding the herd path as much as reasonably possible will minimize environmental impact and keep Vose Spur in the running as one of the more difficult NEHH. Now that Middle Abraham is off the list there is no real misery in the NEHH.

Bill you had to go and say this and make feel Old. I did this as my first NEHH bushwack back in '84. I guess I got the worst out of the way first. Although I did'nt think it was all that bad...off course I've said that before about other BW's (Scaur Ridge) and nobody agrees with me. I definitely would stack Middle Abraham right up there as difficult wacks; mainly because of it's length especially if done in conjunction with Abraham.

 

[Amicus]

While it may be a little more challenging, avoiding the herd path as much as reasonably possible will minimize environmental impact.

This has always been my m.o. on bushwhacks. Typically, I avoid the herdpaths altogether after about the first five yards, when left to my own devices. Scoffers think I'm a directionless klutz, but I know I'm just being environmentally virtuous.

 

[MichaelJ]

Don't worry - to call it a herd path is giving it too much credit. Up near the summit, where 7 people had walked the same path back and forth in the snow, well, you're going to get that anywhere anyway. But down below in most spots it was just noticing that where there were blowdowns, the bark was worn off, or the occasional set of broken branches or soft spot under our feet.

I'm not looking to have the route laid out before me to follow, but I'm also not going to go intentionally off on a different route through harder terrain.

 

[Periwinkle]

I'm not looking to have the route laid out before me to follow, but I'm also not going to go intentionally off on a different route through harder terrain.

Well said. That about sums up the Vose Spur "herd path".

I wouldn't quite call it a herd path either, other than having followed animal tracks part of the way. It is more or less following animal and human nature of finding the path of least resistance, hence following the people and paw prints, plus a few other subtle signs of passage. Over time, this may evolve into a more obvious route, but without clearing (and trust me, I did have brief visions of materializing a huge machete and putting it to good use), the hardier of the vegetation will grow back in. The blow downs will remain for the next unsuspecting victim.

And I'm all for it. That's the way it should be.

Where new growth can't take hold, we will have left a point of impact, the same way that we do every time we take to the woods, on trail or off. But, then again, it does still amaze me to find signs of human presence, particularly while 'whacking my way to truly "pointless", nameless contour bumps on the map. It only really frosts my cake when I blaze my own way to find a bootleg trail cut to the same spot. That bums me out on a number of levels. It feels like it would to climb Vose then discover an auto road had been cut in across Signal Ridge. Otherwise, the fact that someone else has been there before me doesn't surprise or bother me much. There are no virgins left for sacrifice. We're all just following along now.

P.P.S. (Practical Post Script): About the coffee -- we do sell it, but one can save two whole minutes and get it from the source, Mad River Coffee House, right off I-93, Exit 28, conveniently located across from the Chamber visitor's center that sells parking passes. Well worth it. Motivates me to drag myself out of bed after four hours sleep and hike eight miles to find a PVC tube.

 

[bill bowden]

to Peri and Michael

Just in case you felt otherwise; I intended no criticism of either of you in any personal sense. The number of hikers on off trail peaks is an environmental concern as exemplified by Adirondacks. For the NE 3K peaks this is a non-issue and not much of one for the NHHH. For the NE 100 there is a lot more concern because both the Hancocks and Owl's Head were once trail-less and continual usage of herd paths by bushwhackers has now made them into poorly sited and heavily eroded trails. The NE100 are also a concern because generally bushwhackers on these trips are less experienced and more desirous of the security of a herd path.

Our overall hope is of course to keep the trails well-maintained and the trailless peaks truly trailless. And good luck on the remainder of the NE100, several of the bushwacks will be fascinating. A hint on Elephant: from the Clearwater Brook trail there is a narrow belt of spruce surrounding a comparatively open wooded summit, screw up your courage and charge the wall of spruce and you'll get through it pretty quick.

 

[Periwinkle]

Just in case you felt otherwise....

No. I wasn't offfended. I get your point. My point was more to define herd path as it applied to the route we used on Vose.

For the NE 3K peaks this is a non-issue

Not exactly. A NH 3K is one the peaks I found a bootleg trail to. (BTW, this was a personal adventure -- I am not doing the list!)

For the NE 100 there is a lot more concern because both the Hancocks and Owl's Head were once trail-less and continual usage of herd paths by bushwhackers has now made them into poorly sited and heavily eroded trails.

Good examples. And both trails are the pits.

And good luck on the remainder of the NE100, several of the bushwacks will be fascinating. A hint on Elephant:

I'm sure you meant this advice to be for Michael, as I won't be needing it. Unless I develop sudden onset insanity again. You never know. Good luck, Michael!!!!!

 

[bubba]

P.P.S. (Practical Post Script): About the coffee -- we do sell it, but one can save two whole minutes and get it from the source, Mad River Coffee House, right off I-93, Exit 28, conveniently located across from the Chamber visitor's center that sells parking passes. Well worth it. Motivates me to drag myself out of bed after four hours sleep and hike eight miles to find a PVC tube.

Oh.. but the extra two minutes to see your pretty face.. well worth the drive!
Now, about the 9-hour drive to get there... hey, I'm thinking Elephant and was wondering...