Becca M
Active member
Feb 11, 2012. OK, so I see weird stuff when I hike… what can I say ☺
Sooooooo, this winter is still dedicated to practicing turns at the ski area for part of the day and hiking any available leftover time. Eventually I will successfully slide down (and make graceful turns on) these hills I hike. That’s the idea anyway! So, this time, I headed over to Waterville Valley to revisit Fletcher’s Cascades and Jenning’s Peak. No need to revisit Sandwich Dome and time was a little too short for that anyway!
Headed up to Fletcher’s Cascades and saw some fresh footprints on the trail. Wondered when I’d run into anybody? No time soon. Finally, at the steep end-section, I ran into a couple of ice-climbers having a fun time under the flurries. The falls weren’t particularly picturesque since they were dusted in snow and what was running was yellowy orange…. Ick!!!! No offense, just not super-appealing to me!
From there, I knew THAT wouldn’t be enough of a hike so I bushwhacked over to Drake’s Brook Trail. I didn’t bring snowshoes so the crust was pretty slippery and tedious. If I didn’t kick in, I’d slide down the side-slab – NOT pleasant!!!! Just under an hour of bushwhacking across about 2300’ I heard some voices. I figured I was close to the trail. Nowhere near close, as it turned out. But, I didn’t bother to turn on the GPS or take out the compass, but, I know it was just the contours bouncing the voices.
I still had to lose another 200’ of elevation and cross the brook. Crossing the brook itself was no problem – plenty of snow on the rocks. BUT, climbing back up the banks was slippery, steep, and tough!!!
Once I joined the main trail, things went fast. I headed up to the outlook on Jennings Peak and then descended Sandwich Dome Trail back to the parking lot. I paused a lot at the outlooks and pondered the cool things in the woods. In many ways, the woods are like – or better than— an art museum: so many works of art if you just look.
I hope you enjoy just a few of the things I enjoyed!!! ~Becca
From the outstanding outlook on Jenning’s Peak. There were cool snow squalls around and some structure to the clouds.
I didn’t take too many pictures so grabbed a quick shot of these lips:
Further down, this blowdown looked kind of crazy. Or is it the head of an ostrich?
The lower brook crossing had neat ice sculptures. It was getting dark so the color is a little off.
And finally, the beautiful sunset beyond the power station. Man vs. nature…
Sooooooo, this winter is still dedicated to practicing turns at the ski area for part of the day and hiking any available leftover time. Eventually I will successfully slide down (and make graceful turns on) these hills I hike. That’s the idea anyway! So, this time, I headed over to Waterville Valley to revisit Fletcher’s Cascades and Jenning’s Peak. No need to revisit Sandwich Dome and time was a little too short for that anyway!
Headed up to Fletcher’s Cascades and saw some fresh footprints on the trail. Wondered when I’d run into anybody? No time soon. Finally, at the steep end-section, I ran into a couple of ice-climbers having a fun time under the flurries. The falls weren’t particularly picturesque since they were dusted in snow and what was running was yellowy orange…. Ick!!!! No offense, just not super-appealing to me!
From there, I knew THAT wouldn’t be enough of a hike so I bushwhacked over to Drake’s Brook Trail. I didn’t bring snowshoes so the crust was pretty slippery and tedious. If I didn’t kick in, I’d slide down the side-slab – NOT pleasant!!!! Just under an hour of bushwhacking across about 2300’ I heard some voices. I figured I was close to the trail. Nowhere near close, as it turned out. But, I didn’t bother to turn on the GPS or take out the compass, but, I know it was just the contours bouncing the voices.
I still had to lose another 200’ of elevation and cross the brook. Crossing the brook itself was no problem – plenty of snow on the rocks. BUT, climbing back up the banks was slippery, steep, and tough!!!
Once I joined the main trail, things went fast. I headed up to the outlook on Jennings Peak and then descended Sandwich Dome Trail back to the parking lot. I paused a lot at the outlooks and pondered the cool things in the woods. In many ways, the woods are like – or better than— an art museum: so many works of art if you just look.
I hope you enjoy just a few of the things I enjoyed!!! ~Becca
From the outstanding outlook on Jenning’s Peak. There were cool snow squalls around and some structure to the clouds.
I didn’t take too many pictures so grabbed a quick shot of these lips:
Further down, this blowdown looked kind of crazy. Or is it the head of an ostrich?
The lower brook crossing had neat ice sculptures. It was getting dark so the color is a little off.
And finally, the beautiful sunset beyond the power station. Man vs. nature…
Last edited:
good suggestion for my next exploration of that area!!!!
