Hedgehog Chasm found

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srhigham

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Essex Co., Mass.
Hedgehog Chasm is a feature said to exist somewhere in the mountains surrounding Haselton Brook in Thornton or Waterville Valley, N.H. The first reference to it is in Pickering (1879). I reproduce that in full here:

“Late in the summer of 1877, while staying at Campton Village, I heard of a great cleft, which was said to exist in a little mountain not eight miles away, and known as Mt. Hedgehog. This cleft had been discovered by three men independently, at different times, on each occasion the discoverer himself being lost. Two of the men had subsequently tried in vain to return to it. I obtained a description of its general appearance from the third man, and at length induced him to go with me in search of it. Our party left Campton early in the morning of Sept. 10, for Elkins’, which is the last house on the Mill Brook road. Here we met our guide, and were soon on our way up the steep slopes of Mt. Hedgehog. After an hour’s fruitless search we heard a shout from one of the party, and running forward found him standing on a broad ledge of bare rock, down the very middle of which extended a long broad crevice. This was immediately identified by the guide as the place found by him some twenty years before. At one end he said grew two slender saplings; here we now found two sturdy full grown trees. I was let down into the chasm at one end, by means of a branch of a tree, and traversed its full length. It was very dark, and nothing but a narrow strip of light behind me indicated the opening. Near the entrance I found quantities of “daddy-long-legs,” which had probably never before been disturbed by man or beast since the chasm was formed. So narrow is it at the bottom, that I had to climb over one of my companions in order to pass him, and we called to the rest not to come in till we had got out. Measurements were made with a cord brought for the purpose. We found it to be 90 ft. in length, 55 in depth, and one to two in breadth, at the top, and about six inches at the bottom.
“Like the flume, it has a large boulder suspended between its walls, four or five feet in diameter. There is also another and smaller boulder suspended higher up. The best way to reach this spot in the future, would be to strike the long ridge running westerly from Mt. Hedgehog, rather more than halfway up, and then follow it up to the chasm. The latter is on the very edge of the ridge, and one could not miss it. Its position is marked by a solitary blazed pine tree which was then about eight feet in height. One side of the opening is three or four feet higher than the other, and one should move carefully, to avoid stepping into the chasm before seeing it.”

The only other printed reference to the chasm is in Sweetser, where the chasm is listed in a brief note in the 1886 edition, and possibly as early as the 1883 edition.

I began searching for this “para-cave” in 1994. I started out first at Hedgehog Mountain in Wonalancet, N.H., but then focused on a ridge-line of small mountains south of Hazelton (or Haselton) Brook in Thornton and Waterville Valley. This includes Fisher, Hogback, and Green Mountain, as well as several unnamed lobes of these. Over the years, I found several fissures and caves on these mountains, but nothing that matched well with the descriptions above.

Hogback, and the ridge extending northwest, contains very nasty terrain including dense forests of tangled and downed fir trees mingled with cliffs and very steep slopes. This summer, I noticed that I had never done a thorough recon of this ridge. Also, I’ve always noted the similarity between “Hogback” and “Hedgehog.” Hedgehog Chasm is narrow crevice on a weathered moss-covered ledge at about 2400 foot elevation. It is in one of the lowest cliff-bands that is encountered in a northwesterly path of approach. There is an entrance in the face of the ledge near the top. This leads immediately to a nine foot drop. The remains of the uprights of a very old ladder are in this drop, with big iron nails protruding. The entrance passage slopes down steeply, and there are two smaller drops before one reaches the bottom. The floor is very smooth. The crevice averages about 2 feet wide, and extends for about 100 feet. Since it has no roof, it’s not really a cave, but can be described as a chasm or “purgatory.” It’s one of the most unusual sites in the woods of New Hampshire, and is made more special by its complete obscurity in modern times. There are no trails within a mile of it, and no indication of any modern visitation. Steve Smith, who knows these mountains well, is unaware of anyone finding this in recent times.
Ladder at ent Hedge Chasm.jpgHedgehog Pan 2.jpgMain ent Hedge Chasm (2).jpgUpper end of Chasm (2).jpgHedgehog Pan 3.jpg
 
Good job finding the chasm. I've heard tales about this chasm too. I always had impression it was way further up in the valley towards Tecumseh. I know this area pretty well as I've made number of excursions into it. Its been on my list for this year to ascend Fisher and Hogback from this side, but I would normally steer clear of the spur ridge to avoid the thick stuff. Now looks like the way to go. Which side of the ridge line is the chasm as you ascend ridge? Right or left?
 
It's on the south side of the ridge, although that ridge is so wide that from the ground it looks like it's in the middle.
 
It's on the south side of the ridge, although that ridge is so wide that from the ground it looks like it's in the middle.

Topo lines are rounded as you approach 2400' and appear to sharpen above 2400 so chasm is below point where ridge begins to sharpen. Did you go all way up to high point? Open ledges on top of twin peaks of Hogback are very fine. I recall from our traverse from Fisher to Green woods in col between Fisher and Hogback are nice and open.
 
The first time I found the Chasm was several weeks ago, coming down off the high point(s). I had pre-waypointed several "anomalies" seen on Google Earth, and one of them led me to the Chasm. The top of the Hogback is nice. I remember the Fisher to Hogback upper approach as not being particularly pleasant due to the small bushes and trees. (Although that's much much more pleasant than some of the vegetation in the upper stream valleys between the lobes.
 
Frank Oliver Carpenter in his Guide Book to the Franconia Notch and the Pemigewasset Valley describes Walker Ice Cave which from description is 3 miles up Haselton Brook from Elkins Farm which is at base of Fisher. That's where I formed idea it was further up valley. Two other acquaintances who frequent area reported finding similar formation further up the valley. Steve Smith has found interesting cracks etc up on ledgy ridge coming down from Green. Features like this must be characteristic of the bed rock formations in this interesting area. Carpenter may not have visited Walker Ice Cave personally and was just writing this based on info obtained second, third or 4th hand with facts becoming distorted in every passing.
 
The Walker's Ice Cave description in Carpenter is almost exactly the description of a shallow crevice system on the lower (off-trail) slabs of Fisher Mountain. Same dimensions.

I'd like to hear more about what you've heard about further up the valley.
 
Ascending Hogback and Fisher from Haselton Brook has been on my to-do list for this year so your posting inspired me to try visiting the chasm. I got up to 2200' when it appeared to me that the chasm might have a lot of little brother and sister crevasses. Terrain was steep and best routes for ascending proved to be cracks in the ledge. I noticed many places I poked my trekking pole felt hollow like maybe these could be hidden cracks. Many places felt quite hollow under foot. I got creeped out as I was traveling solo and might have hard time calling for help from bottom of deep crevasse so I re-treated and ascended ridge by an alternate route. I ascended by way of northern drainage which I found to be not terrible, but somewhat thick. I descended by the southern drainage between Fisher and Hogsback and found this route to be very pleasant piece of cake.
 
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