Hiking to a View on cold winters day

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peakbagger

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We went to visit the ledge that Steve Smith mentioned in his blog post from 2015 on Sunday
http://mountainwandering.blogspot.com/2015/10/sun-and-foliage-in-pemi-wilderness.html

We had tried it earlier in the season when there was a lot more snow in woods and we ended up in boulder field in the woods with 3 to 4 feet of powder bridging the gaps between the boulders and after a few hours of face plants and boulder scrambling with snowshoes we gave up for the day and decided to give it another try later in the season. Given the forecast for the summits on Sunday, it sure didn't look like a good summit day but as I drove south from Gorham I saw several cars at Appalachia, a truck parked at VFTT members place, a truck parked on the end of North Twin road, a large group of what looked like hikers at beaver brook X country ski parking, a few cars at five corners and several vehicles at Garfield road along with some cars parked at Lafayette Place. I guess flks are working hard to finish their winter lists ;)Lincoln Woods parking was decidedly not busy for the 3rd to last weekend in Winter. I left Gorham at 1 deg F and it was 1 degree in Lincoln with a stiff wind all the way including the LW parking area even the ski area looked pretty slow. As usual, the LW parking lot was just about the coldest spot of the hike. We headed up LW trail which is a lumpy frozen mess with no trace of a ski track and just a light trace of fresh snow on top. Despite its orientation there was stiff headwind but in the sunny spots it balanced out.

The high pressure overhead gave an intense clear blue sky, while hiking in the sun it got warm enough to shed my shell but my windblock fleece proved to be the best option. We barebooted out past into the Wilderness area boundary and then headed into the woods with microspikes at a different spot then our January attempt located to hopefully miss the boulder field. We were mostly following terrain and I was using the sun behind my back to keep us pointed in the right direction. The woods were pretty open hardwoods with good crust but it eventually got weak enough that we switched to snowshoes. It didn't take long and we encountered a steeper slope through a definitely cliffy section. After a short steep slope we popped out on a wooded ridge covered with softwoods. My friend has been there years ago but had approached it from a different direction and the ledge wasn't obvious. After some random roaming looking for the view, I grudgingly pulled out the GPS and got a direction to a set of coordinates I had guessed before the trip based on the USGS topo. We headed to the spot and discovered a small flat piece of ledge, the obvious high spot in this area completely surrounded by trees with no real view very typical of a 100 highest summit, all it lacked was a canister for some really hard core NH 2000 list. At that point we retraced our steps and then following some terrain cues we came out to the ledge.

The views from the ledge is quite impressive easily 270 degrees looking down the east branch with a steep drop off one side and ahead with some cliffs to the other side (probably where the photo in the blog was taken from). We didn't have fall leaves like Steve did but the limited snowpack and lack of leaves the snow defined many of the dugway roads on the Hancocks and particularly made the former railroad grade crossing on the south slope of the Owl quite distinct. After a few photos and a break we elected to head down the way we came. It was still windy and not that warm but I managed to shed a few layers and sunglasses were mandatory heading out LW trail. We barebooted the length of LW trail although after the washout stretch it did get icy in spots. We did meet one couple who were returning from an aborted Owls Head hike via Black Pond bushwhack. They said that there were others who didn't abort but given the winds I expect my preferred approach from the east was probably a far warmer option.

You will note I haven't included photos nor given detailed descriptions on the exact location of the ledge. I was invited by a friend who had visited this location with another VFTT member in the past who had cautioned my friend that there was a general agreement that the directions to this location not be publicized. I will respect that and hope others do. Of interest to me is unlike many unusual features in the whites that this terrain feature is not real obvious from the currently available aerial photos. I expect it would appear on Lidar scans but to date I haven't figured out how to access and view the limited Lidar imagery of the area. Its also not big enough to justify the white cliff shading on USGS topos. One thing that impressed me is that there is no trace of herd paths, flagging or other obvious signs of use, depressingly it wouldn't take much to trash the area. For those inclined that don't mind dry camping and don't roll around a lot in their sleep, the actual ledge is quite flat and would be wild place to cowboy camp. I expect it would be hard to beat a sunset on top of it. Given that most of the hike is along the LW trail I expect someone could check out the sunset and do a headlamp hike back out to Lincoln.

Definitely a nice way to spend a potentially dangerous summit day in the woods with maximum sunshine.
 
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Sounds fun! While you didn't post pictures, Steve certainly did (and they look beautiful). One can easily calculate the location, but without a trail and it not being on a popular list, I suspect the masses will largely pass it by not matter how grand it is.
 
I agree, those willing to spend a bit of time would figure out the location and I could easily post some coordinates but given folks propensity to post track logs for bushwhacks and the resultant rapid establishment of well defined herd paths I elected not to.
 
That sounds like a worthwhile destination.

Based on the order in which you analyzed those parking areas above, I'm guessing that 'truck' you saw was black and white and it was before 9AM. The Ski, Shoe, and Fatbike to the Clouds race went on as scheduled in Pinkham Notch Sunday. 'Twas a tad breezy.

I only saw 5 cars at Appalachia on Saturday evening at dusk. I don't imagine anyone summitted. About the same number of cars Sunday late afternoon but slightly milder conditions.
 
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