Dunbar
New member
It was a lazy start to the day as I rolled out of bed at 7 AM and headed over to the bakery for a bagel and just-out-of-the-oven raspberry muffin. So it was 9:30 by the time I started walking toward the Blueberry Ledge trail to Whiteface mountain. This is the Whiteface mountain in the southern Whites, not the silly one with a road to the top. The air was a crisp 34°F and with a strong wind puffing it was actually a bit cold getting started. The rainy weather of the previous day had cleared out leaving a whole lot of blue sky. The cool temperatures kept things comfortable as I continued the climb. I was getting a little worried as I neared the top of Whiteface and hadn't found any ledges or blueberries. Fortunately the last section below the summit had some fun ledges and rock scrambles that provided some nice views and a little flavor to the hike. I got to the "false" summit and stopped for a few minutes to eat and enjoy the view. The wind was puffing pretty well and made things fairly cold.
After the break I headed over to the true summit and then started down the ridge toward Passaconaway. This was actually one of the toughest sections. In some areas there was still an icy monorail. In other sections the rain from the previous days had frozen over making for some tricky ice flows to navigate. I was carrying microspikes but it was never quite enough to justify putting them on. After what felt like a long time (I didn't realize it was 2.4 miles to the next junction) I started the climb up Passaconaway. I looped over the summit and enjoyed the great views from two of the open ledges on the way. From the western more ledge there was a cool view of the Carrigain ridge line and you could see directly into the notch between Vose Spur and Lowell/Anderson. After descending a bit I picked up the Wonalancet ridge trail. A short side trip off this trail let me bag Hedgehog, a legit 3000' peak. It was pretty uninteresting. From there I cruised the rest of the way back to the Wonalancet trailhead. Got about a mile of running in on that section to test out the new Brooks Cascadia shoes I was wearing. They felt pretty good.
I hopped in the car and started the hour plus drive over to Waterville Valley while munching on a turkey, cheese, and spinach wrap. I had also saved the raspberry muffin from the morning. I mention the muffin because it was definitely a high point of the day. I made it to the Tecumseh trailhead by 4 PM. Above 3000' or so the trail actually got a bit icy with a fresh dusting of snow that hadn't melted out during the day. I was starting to tire a bit, but managed to hit a good groove on the upper section. A little before hitting the top of the ridge I stopped to talk to someone else on the trail for a few minutes. When I started going again, the groove had been fully interrupted and I was feeling a bit sluggish. I guess it's ok to slow down a bit after 6000' of ascent.
Up on the ridge the wind was blowing strong and crisp. I cruised the last bit up to the summit. This is another peak that I wasn't expecting much from, but I was treated to nice views of the Waterville valley. There was an especially nice view of the white coated Mount Washington rising above the col between the Osceolas - very cool contrast of the snowy mountain behind two snow-free mountains. After a few minutes up top I made quick work of the downhill. The last half mile or so made for a nice run back to the car. Just a touch over two hours for Tecumseh. I think you spend more time driving than hiking for this peak.
Most importantly, though, I've now bagged 17 of the 21 mountains over 3000' in the Sandwich range. Because lists matter.
-Pictures-
After the break I headed over to the true summit and then started down the ridge toward Passaconaway. This was actually one of the toughest sections. In some areas there was still an icy monorail. In other sections the rain from the previous days had frozen over making for some tricky ice flows to navigate. I was carrying microspikes but it was never quite enough to justify putting them on. After what felt like a long time (I didn't realize it was 2.4 miles to the next junction) I started the climb up Passaconaway. I looped over the summit and enjoyed the great views from two of the open ledges on the way. From the western more ledge there was a cool view of the Carrigain ridge line and you could see directly into the notch between Vose Spur and Lowell/Anderson. After descending a bit I picked up the Wonalancet ridge trail. A short side trip off this trail let me bag Hedgehog, a legit 3000' peak. It was pretty uninteresting. From there I cruised the rest of the way back to the Wonalancet trailhead. Got about a mile of running in on that section to test out the new Brooks Cascadia shoes I was wearing. They felt pretty good.
I hopped in the car and started the hour plus drive over to Waterville Valley while munching on a turkey, cheese, and spinach wrap. I had also saved the raspberry muffin from the morning. I mention the muffin because it was definitely a high point of the day. I made it to the Tecumseh trailhead by 4 PM. Above 3000' or so the trail actually got a bit icy with a fresh dusting of snow that hadn't melted out during the day. I was starting to tire a bit, but managed to hit a good groove on the upper section. A little before hitting the top of the ridge I stopped to talk to someone else on the trail for a few minutes. When I started going again, the groove had been fully interrupted and I was feeling a bit sluggish. I guess it's ok to slow down a bit after 6000' of ascent.
Up on the ridge the wind was blowing strong and crisp. I cruised the last bit up to the summit. This is another peak that I wasn't expecting much from, but I was treated to nice views of the Waterville valley. There was an especially nice view of the white coated Mount Washington rising above the col between the Osceolas - very cool contrast of the snowy mountain behind two snow-free mountains. After a few minutes up top I made quick work of the downhill. The last half mile or so made for a nice run back to the car. Just a touch over two hours for Tecumseh. I think you spend more time driving than hiking for this peak.
Most importantly, though, I've now bagged 17 of the 21 mountains over 3000' in the Sandwich range. Because lists matter.
-Pictures-
