Pemi Traverse

July 7th & 8th 2012

A traverse through the Pemigewasett Wilderness, for the serious hiker, is a must do, can’t miss, just gotta have it.  The “Pemi” is a 45,000 acre wilderness area between Crawford and Franconia notches. Once a barren wasteland created by indiscriminate logging and a devastating forest fire, it has recovered in the last hundred years to be a vast forested area with jaw dropping views and unsullied by sounds of civilization. It contains four of the forty-eight 4000 foot mountains of New Hampshire and is ringed by sixteen others.  Sixty miles of trails, a half dozen ponds and a river with a couple dozen tributary brooks which have waterfalls galore, complete the experience that is the Pemi.

I know it sounds like I’m gushing a bit and I’ll admit to being a romantic about wild lands but The Pemi delivers the goods. I’ve been reading trail descriptions and trip reports about this area for years, seen photos and talked to folks who have been there. I finally got to go myself and it was well worth the aching muscles from the long miles of hiking, it takes to get there.

I met Chris and Moses the hiking dog at their place in South Paris at the appointed time and we drove the two hours to the Zealand Trail parking lot to spot a vehicle and then drove South through Franconia Notch to the Kancamagus Highway and then to Lincoln Woods where we parked. We got on the trail about 10:00 AM.

Chris and Moses at the start of the trail.

Rail left over from the narrow gauge railroad.

 The first part of the hike is 4.5 walk along The Pemigewasett River via the former railroad bed
once used to exploit the forests in the area. It is nearly flat and so straight, you can see a quarter mile in places. I’ve heard, this part can be demoralizing after a long hike but I found it pleasant enough and in a couple of hours we had completed that section and began the real work of climbing up the ridge to our first destination which was Bondcliff. The forecast was for moderate humidity and temps in the upper 80s so we went slow and took frequent breaks to take on plenty of fluids. We zig-zagged up the switchbacks meeting people who had stayed at Guyot Tentsite, our eventual destination for the night. We were passed by a couple of faster groups, passed a couple of slower groups and leapfrogged with a group that was going about the same pace.

Soon we were approaching the ridge and got our first views of the day. The weather had changed considerably since the morning. It was 65 degrees with a cool breeze, very welcomed after the humidity and warm temps, earlier in the day. Within a few minutes, we were on top of Bondcliff.

Bondcliff

Mount Bond

I’d seen a picture of this spot on the cover of one of the AMC White Mountain Guides I bought years ago. I’ve been looking forward to this moment since. Sweeping views of an area that has no roads, buildings or anything built by man, are the reward for all the work. Chris took the signature photo of me on the overhanging rock that gives Bondcliff it’s name.

 

Looking Back at Bondcliff

We continued along the ridge toward Mount Bond, a little over a mile away. Nearly the whole distance is in the open and I was imagining what it would be like to do this in winter as Chris has done. A goal for another time. Forty minutes later we were standing on top of  Bond and spent twenty minutes or so enjoying the incredible scenery. The hardest work was done for the day and it was all downhill to Guyot Campsite. We headed down and soon reached our destination for the night.

Shelter at Guyot Tentsite

Guyot Tentsite is .2 miles below the saddle that connects Mount Guyot and the Bonds. It has a capacity of about 30. There is an open cabin type shelter and eight or ten tent platforms. All of the platforms were occupied but there was room for a second tent on most of them. We doubled up with a couple from the Boston area.  The caretaker, a pleasant young man named Joe, introduced himself as we arrived and then came around after we set up to collect the $8.00 fee to camp for the night. The only flat ground at the campsite is a small area occupied by two bear boxes, heavy, lockable metal footlockers where everyone’s food is stored for the night. Arriving at 6:00, we quickly set about getting the tent set up, getting water and starting a stove to make dinner. Our meal consisted of a Coleman freeze dried pasta dish. You boil water, pour it in the bag, voila! Dinner. It really wasn’t too bad. Of course I was hungry enough to eat anything. Crackers and cheese rounded out the meal and with no dishes to do we were ready for the next thing.

West Bond

Sunset from West Bond

The next thing was a sunset hike up West Bond, a little less than a mile away. We headed out about 8:00 and by 8:30 we were watching the last rays of sun disappear behind Mount Garfield. Four thousand footer number three for the day. Man, my legs were tired. At least we weren’t carrying heavy packs. We found a young couple at the summit enjoying the sunset. We talked to them for a few minutes and then headed down. We were back in camp by nine and headed to bed. I didn’t sleep much, the first part of the night because Moses was in the tent with us and the only place for him was kind of on our legs. Chris was worried about him wandering off if he stayed outside the tent. Sometime in the middle of the night Chris let him out and we all slept better for it. He hung right around and when I woke up at 5:30 or so, he was right there.

More boiling water in the morning provided hot coffee for us both and oatmeal for Chris. I had bagels. By 7:15 or so, we were on our way. We still had a couple of mountains and 8.5 miles to trek to reach the car we dropped yesterday morning. It was a glorious, cool, clear morning and by 7:30 we were in the open on Guyot and for the next twenty minutes we had views nearly to the horizons.  We soon began to meet people who stayed either at Galehead hut or Zealand hut and this began a steady stream that we would see for the rest of the day.

We made our way over to Zealand Mountain, my fourth peak of the weekend. Zealand is a wooded summit and one of those that would not see visitors if it were not for “the list” and the fact, the Appalachian Trail goes pretty much over the summit. I came across the trail adopter, brushing out the trail and talked with him for a few minutes before moving on. We passed Zealand Hut and went to the falls below to stop for a few minutes and have a snack from the meager rations left in our packs.

Ten minutes later we were on the trail out. With 2.3 miles to go we kept a good pace on the mostly flat Zealand trail, meeting lots of people out to enjoy the woods on this fine day. We arrived at the trail-head by 12:45 and then drove around to Lincoln Woods where we started so I could pick up my vehicle.

This was a fine weekend spent in the mountains. I hope to explore other parts of the ‘Pemi” soon. The brooks, ponds and river beckon my fly fishing soul and Owls Head is one of the four remaining mountains on my list.

Albany Mountain

April 14, 2012

    Another  Day another hike. Chris and I were looking for a nearby hike that was not too long and that neither of  us had done before. Enter, Albany Mountain. I’d ridden some of the trail on my mountain bike, years ago and went by the side trail that goes to the summit but that’s about it. We were going in from the Stoneham, Maine side which for us is a twenty minute drive.  I kind of knew where the trailhead was and we found the sign right off the bat but I couldn’t remember where the trail entered the woods. We spoke to a guy who lived right there and he told us, the road is the trail for quite a way. He directed us to the trail and a spot to park and we were off.  The trail proper begins at a gate at the end of a dirt road, on the back side of  Kewaydin Lake.  Since this was a short hike and we didn’t have to drive too far, we were getting a later start. It was 8:30 or so when we stepped off.
    The first part of the trail has had some recent work done. Probably last fall. Some very nice stone waterbars and stone ditching as well as hardening of the treadway.

   The next part was not as pleasant.  There were many places that will benefit from the treatment, the previous section has had. The trail is muddy  for a quarter mile and then as it passes by a beaver pond on the left it dries up and remains so for the rest  of the hike.  Most of the trail up to Albany  Notch is gradual though there is one short, rather steep section. As you climb into the notch,  the ledges on the South side of Peter Mountain come into view, inviting later exploration. Our destination today though, lies still, nearly a mile away.

  At a trail junction, the  Albany Notch trail continues straight ahead while the connector trail diverges right to  meet the Albany Mountain trail in .4 mi. Crossing a small ridge and dropping into a col that forms Albany Notch, you soon start to climb the ridge . As we  paused at  the trail junction a runner approached from the North. It was someone Chris knew from Bethel. We spoke to him for a few minutes and he continued on and we did so shortly thereafter.

We stopped a couple of times on some open ledges to take in the ever improving views. Soon The very top of Mount Washington can be seen  and  as we gained more elevation, Adams and Madison appeared above the Carter-Baldface Range. In a few minutes, we covered the rest of the connector trail and started up the Albany Mountain trail.. The grade was mild, the rest of the way and we were soon at the top. There are Ledges there facing East and Broken Bridge and Crocker Ponds can be seen. We Sat in the sun and ate a lunch and watched four Red Tail Hawks Circling on thermals.


    Our hike down was uneventful but we both were amazed by the conditions for early-mid April at a time when there could easily have been a couple of feet of snow on the ground, it was bare and largely dry. There is still snow in the higher mountains but it is going fast and spring is in the air. We were looking for a half day hike and Albany filled the bill. Western Maine’s section on the White Mountain National Forest has some very nice hikes, few people and challenging terrain. I’m looking forward to further exploration of this area.

No Gale on Galehead.

March 17 2012

    Galehead is a Mountain with no views from it’s actual summit and is a short hike from Galehead Hut  and the Garfield Ridge Trail. For those reasons it is often done in conjunction with surrounding peaks, most requiring a car spot. Since I was hiking alone today that wasn’t an option. In winter, and I am using the term loosely for today’s hike, you must add a mile to the hike because the road that accesses the usual starting point is closed. There is much to redeem this hike on it’s own though and just being out in the mountains on a day like this was an added bonus.
    The weather forecast was for clearing skies in the afternoon but you can never count on that in the White Mountains. As I drove across Route 2 to Twin Mountain, the roads were slick in places with a light coating of ice from some precipitation that had fallen during the night. I adjusted my speed accordingly and arrived at the trailhead half an hour behind schedule.
    Beaver Brook rest area is a wayside stop on route 3, just South of Twin Mountain N.H. There is a small network of ungroomed XC ski trails there and one of these is used to gain access  to the  Gale River Trailhead in winter. This adds a mile on both ends of the hike. I geared up and left the parking area at 8:40 AM.

The Summer Trail head

 The first four miles of this hike are nearly flat and I made great time. The trail was mostly bare of snow for much of this distance with soft ice becoming more prevalent as I gained a little elevation.

Gale River

At about the three mile mark the ground was mostly covered with a few inches of snow.  As the terrain steepened, my pace slowed and I took more frequent breaks. As I paused to catch my breath, I began to notice movement in the woods around me. As the  warmth of the day was building, Old Man Winter was releasing his grip on the land.  Branches, weighed down by snow, were melting out and springing up, trickles of melt water could be heard under the snow and water dripping from branches created sights and sounds that although early, were music for my soul.

Galehead Hut

Field repair to my snowshoe.

     At about the four mile mark, with the snow depth increasing, I began to think about putting on snowshoes. I put it off as long as possible because I go much slower with them on. When I did put them on, I noticed that one of the bindings was broken. This was the first time ever that I’ve had a gear failure. I’m not even sure when it occurred. I used them last weekend for a Relay for Life event and noticed, I was tripping or catching the crampons on them and that it seemed to be the left all the time but I thought it was because I was tired. Anyway, I tried twice to repair it on the trail and it kept coming apart. I didn’t have any plastic wire ties or enough parachute cord to effect a good repair. I figured I’d  dig into my pack and maybe use a drawstring from one of my stuff sacks to lash it together. As the terrain steepened and the snow depth increased, I was increasingly worried, the other side would let go and I’d be screwed. In a winter of more snow I would have turned around and hiked out without a second thought but this year and in this instance I continued on knowing, if it failed completely, it would be unpleasant but that I could get off the mountain.
    I got to Galehead Hut about 1:00 and two hikers who had passed me earlier were there soaking up the sun and enjoying the view. Temperatures were in the mid fifties and I enjoyed the rest on the porch. I mentioned my problem with the snowshoe binding and one of the young men offered a length of  parachute cord for me to lash the binding with. I made the repair and it lasted the rest of the hike. After a rest and a well deserved sandwich I headed up the last half mile to the summit. As I was leaving , a group of four hikers from New York came down off Galehead. Two of them were finishing up their winter 48 on Garfield in a couple of hours.          

Galehead Mountain

The Hut from Galehead Outlook

The Summit

                                                                                                                                                The outlook just before the summit provided nice views down the valley to the Bonds and up to South Twin. After  a few pictures there and at the actual top, I headed back to the hut and then down. I’d been on the summit at 2:00 and with 6.5 miles to go, I knew I’d have to hustle if  I was going to get home by 6:00, which was the time I told Linda I’d be home. The New York Folks were still at the hut and I stopped for a couple of minutes to chat with them as they were preparing to head over to Garfield.
    I stowed my GPS in my pack so as I hiked down, I didn’t know what time it was but I felt like it was getting late and except for a couple of stops for water and a short “pack off” stop to remove my snowshoes, I moved steadily down the mountain. I was really surprised when I got to the parking lot and it was only 4:40. With the short breaks I’d taken, I covered six and a half miles in 2.5 hours. Boy are my legs tired!


Gear Tip
    Take a look at your gear and imagine what would happen if you had a catastrophic failure of  a key piece, miles from the parking lot. Having a snowshoe break is not the end of the world most of the time. It can mean an unpleasant hike out and getting to the parking lot a little later than you wanted to. If conditions are not good as with deep unconsolidated snow or deep and rapidly melting snow pack, a broken snowshoe can mean a life threatening situation. Imagine wading in snow to your waist and how tiring that would be, even for a short distance. Imagine plunging your legs time after time, thigh deep into heavy, wet, clinging snow. One of the things I worry about is having downhill momentum and suddenly breaking through up to my knee and hyper extending a knee. That could be devastating if you were miles from the parking lot with no one around and night falling. I took some nylon twine out of my pack to use for something and never put it back. I also took out the three heavy nylon wire ties I usually carry and I can’t remember why…but that stuff is now in my repair kit again. Duct tape can repair a pack or tent, a couple of safety pins can hold a jacket with a broken zipper together. It doesn’t take much to repair gear well enough to get you out of the woods but you have to remember to keep these things in your pack.

A Mountain Too Far.

Saturday January 7 2012


Once again, I found myself driving the two hours to Franconia Notch to hike. Chris and I decided to wait and see what the weather was at the trail head parking lot to decide which Mountains to climb. The options were, North and South Kinsman or Lincoln and Lafayette. The latter two require a pretty good weather day because there are two miles of above treeline hiking. Exposure to both weather and falls in some areas and trails that can be difficult to follow in low visibility, make weather an important factor. We got to the parking lot about 8:15 and were on the trail by 8:30. We made the call to go up over the ridge since the weather looked Ok at that time.

Moses at the beginning of Falling Waters

We headed up Falling Waters Trail which for three miles climbs up to Franconia Ridge and Little Haystack Mountain which at 4,760 feet is higher itself than most of the four thousand footers.  It does not qualify as one of the 4000ers however because it is not separated by a col or saddle of more than 200 feet in depth. Falling Waters follows, oddly enough, Dry Brook. It is not dry and in winter there are quite a few places that it forms formidable ice bulges which require traction devices to negotiate.

We put on microspikes before starting and had no trouble.

Crampons

We got to the most troublesome spot and changed to full crampons as the microspikes were collecting snow on the bottom and the reduced traction could have been a problem. It was here, a young couple overtook us and neither was wearing traction devices. We questioned them about that and they

Microspikes

thought they’d be okay. We watched as they slowly went up the icy pitch and foundered around below a particularly nasty spot, trying to find a safe way over. I easily scrambled up and over the worst looking section to demonstrate the usefulness of traction devices. We moved on and left them to decide what to do. We learned later, they turned around right there.

Ice Flows Beside the Trail

We got to the summit of Little Haystack about 11:30. Just before we broke out above tree line we stopped to add layers and have a snack. There were plenty of people out on the ridge today. Starting across to Lincoln, we met several groups coming across from Lafayette. The weather had closed in a bit and visibility was down to a hundred yards or so.

Little Haystack

Cannon Cliffs from Little Haystack

 We reached the summit of Lincoln about 1:00 and then had a discussion about whether to continue or not. I preferred to go back as my legs were getting about to their limit and I knew we had to go down about 250 feet and then climb 350 more in the next mile to summit Lafayette and connect with Greenleaf Trail which would take us down to Greenleaf Hut and The Old Bridal Path which in turn would take us back to the parking lot. I also felt that given the weather conditions, I’d rather come back on a better day when the views would be better. I knew Chris would want to go across because he wanted to be able to say, he got Moses across the ridge In winter. So rather than listen to him complain about turning around, I acquiesced and trudged across. I did not enjoy it. I was moving so slowly, I couldn’t take time to take pictures or even celebrate going across the ridge. Hiking is something I do because I love it. When it stops being fun, It’s time to turn around, period. I have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone but myself. I didn’t need to summit Lafayette. I already had twice. Chris didn’t need to cross the ridge. He had done it multiple times. Moses didn’t care whether he went across or not. We got to the Summit of Lafayette at about 2:00.

Hiker in The Fog Near Lincoln Summit

Lafayette Summit

Back Alleys of Lafayette

We headed down the Greenleaf Trail and I had a bit of a chuckle when I heard Chris’s emergency whistle and a shout because he had gotten off trail and looked back and couldn’t see me. I hollered back and assured him he wasn’t too far off. He got back on the trail and we continued down.

At Greenleaf hut, we stopped for a few minutes and had a lunch and a rest before heading down. I took my time descending because, as tired as my legs were, I didn’t want to risk a fall or a twisted ankle. We got back to the parking lot about 4:30 and headed home.



Tips and Hints.

    Hiking companions

It probably isn’t possible to find someone who hikes exactly the same way you do. It sounds funny, I mean hiking is hiking, right? Maybe not so much. In summer hiking with other people is fairly straight forward. Everyone in the group can hike more or less at the pace of the slowest person, which is how it’s supposed to be. My rule for faster hikers in my groups is that the lead person will stop at any trail junction or anywhere the trail is not well defined. That is only with experienced hikers whom I know. Anyone else stays within sight.
 In winter it’s a whole different ballgame. Days are much shorter so you must start earlier or move faster. If your metabolisms aren’t the same, one person may move much slower than another and maintain the same comfort level as far as staying warm. I find that I can move very fast on the flat sections but very slowly on the steeps. Some people move at a constant speed throughout. Physical conditioning plays a big roll too. The rule of thumb is, the bigger the group the slower the hike. The trick is to make sure you stay closer together so the lead hikers don’t have to stop and wait too long and the slower hikers can stop long enough to get a rest.
Combine the physical differences with potential differences in comfort levels in extreme conditions and just plain differences of opinion and you run the risk of someone not enjoying themselves. So choose your hiking partners carefully and try to hike your own hike. If you hike in winter, it’s harder to find people to hike with because oddly enough, most people don’t like to hike in the cold!

Back Door to Cannon

Monday January 2 2012

    It was a nice day for the first hike of 2012. It was almost too warm for a winter hike. I drove across town to pick up Chris and Moses the hiking dog. It was 44° in town as we left at 6:15. We figured it would be about 20 degrees colder on the mountain. As I drove the two hours to Franconia Notch I was wondering how I’d do today. It’s been over two months since I hiked because of a surgery in late October and then the Holidays and two mandatory overtime Saturdays. I was concerned too, about the hip belt from my pack irritating the site of the incision. Turned out, as usual, I was worried about nothing. There is a trail that goes up the same side of Cannon as the ski slopes but though it is shorter, it is very steep so we elected to take the long way up the back side.
    We got to the Lafayette Place parking lot around 8:15 and were on the trail a few minutes later.

Lonesome Lake Trail goes from the campground to the Kinsman Ridge Trail. The trail first climbs a ridge for a few hundred feet of elevation gain and then drops down to a trail junction on the East shore of Lonesome Lake.

 We took a short break for snacks and photos. Taking  the left for four tenths of a mile leads you to Lonesome Lake hut which can be seen from the East shore and is open year round. The right, which we took, is a continuation of the Lonesome Lake Trail. It skirts the northeast side of the lake on a series of bog bridges then veers North to ascend the Kinsman Ridge at a moderate rate. The trail joins the Kinsman Ridge Trail on the  saddle between Cannon and Northwest Cannonball.

It follows the saddle along and then ascends Cannon steeply on the West side. There are several places where a slip could result in a nasty fall but nothing death defying. Moses, as usual negotiated everything with ease. One area of boulders we went through were covered with ice that froze in some unusual patterns on the undersides.

  Once on the upper ridge the grade moderates and for the next half mile it’s a pleasant walk in the woods.

Just before the summit, we stopped to add some warm layers to fight the cold wind we’d experience on the tower platform.  My new down parka kept me very warm.

    As I said, there is  platform on top of Cannon. Four set of stairs lead you up to a large observation platform. Everything at this elevation is covered in rime ice. The views from there are very nice.

Some clouds obscured Lafayette and Mount Washington but pretty much everything else was in view. After a round of photos, we headed down to a more sheltered place to have lunch. We spoke to several groups going to and from the summit. There are several hiking trails and a couple of ski lifts that provide access to the summit. We saw probably 30 people on the trail today, an indication of how popular hiking in the Whites has become. We headed back down the trail and within a couple of hours we were back at the parking lot. Another wonderful day in the mountains of New England.



Tips and hints

 Layer and body heat management

Controlling your  body temperature in winter is essential to being safe. Everyone's inner furnace runs a bit differently so it is important to find out what works best for you. On a twenty degree day I see everything from people who put on all their insulating layers in the parking lot and keep them on all day, to people who, as I often do, putting on  light layers in the parking lot and then removing them in 15 or twenty minutes after the furnace really fires up.

My layers in winter consist of ; A poly-pro liner sock and a pair of medium weight wool socks. Poly-pro long johns top and bottom. A pair of nylon hiking shorts (for the pockets and modesty). A pair of Gore-tex gaiters. A medium weight zip neck pullover of wool or poly-pro. A light pair of wool gloves. This is what I wear in temps down to 15 or 20 degrees if there is not much wind. In temps below that I'll add a light fleece zip pullover. When above treeline or for longish breaks I'll put on Gore-Tex pants and hooded jacket. In severe cold and wind I also put on a hooded down parka, a balaklava and Gore-Tex over-mitts. I also carry but have never worn, a pair of fleece pants for extra insulation. I also have a neoprene face mask and goggles that I wear in severe conditions.

 Gear management takes practice. In very cold windy conditions, you need to be quick about getting on extra layers so your core temp doesn't drop too much. A balky zipper or buckle, when it's relatively warm is a pain but in severe conditions it is dangerous. Getting used to getting clothing as well as traction devices out of your pack and getting them on as quickly as possible is an essential skill in winter conditions. I try to familiarize myself with any new piece of gear before I need to use it on the mountain.