NH_Mtn_Hiker
New member
Hamtero and I met at the Lincoln Woods parking area at 8am with light rain falling. Leaving his car there, we proceeded up to the hairpin turn parking area in my car and hit the trail at about 8:30.
The rain had stopped by the time we started down the Hancock Notch Trail. The trail had about 2 inches of wet snow and ice on it and though a little slippery we barebooted on to the Cedar Brook Trail.
The Cedar Brook Trail has 5 well known brook crossings. We debated whether to bushwhack around the crossings or continue on the trail. We decided sticking to the trail was the "Hardcore" thing to do; besides, we had many more crossings ahead of us so we might at well get use to them. The portion of the trail beyond the Hancock Loop Trail had snow up to 18 inches deep, running water in the trail, and numerous blowdowns, some of which required bushwhacking around. It was now raining again though very lightly. After passing over the height of land we stopped briefly at Camp 24, having missed Camp 24A. I took a few pics and we looked over the artifacts lying around, some of which had been piled up next to the trail. The trail was mostly snow free at this point and the rain had again stopped.
We continued down the Cedar Brook Trail past the East Side Trail to the Wilderness Trail stopping briefly at the suspension bridge over the East Branch Pemi River. The only people we saw during the hike were 3 women along with their 3 dogs sitting on the rocks in the river. By this point, not only was it not raining, but the sun was shining upon us. It was looking like it might be a dry day afterall...but rain isn't the only source of wet.
We headed East on the straight and boring Wilderness Trail. At the next junction we turned left onto the Thoreau Falls Trail. From the bridge over the East Branch on the Thoreau Falls Trail we could see the dark clouds approaching from the west. After crossing the bridge we stopped to put on our rain gear once again as a steady light rain began to fall. Ten minutes later the rain had stopped.
As we hiked North on the Thoreau Falls Trail the nearly bare trail turned to 6-18 inches of snow with an occasional pond blocking the trail. In some places the trail was a brook. After the railroad grade ended the trail became much rougher and a little difficult to follow in places. At times we were thankful for the single set of tracks left by a hiker who had hiked through here recently. We followed the tracks and continued on to Thoreau Falls.
Thoreau falls was the highlight of the trip...thus far. The views from the rocks at the top were awesome with the water level being high and the current so swift..but this presented a problem...the trail crosses right here at the top of the falls. Well, there was no way I was crossing right there at the top of the falls. That would have been waaay beyond "hardcore". Hamtero agreed, as he was already bushwhacking upstream to find a better place to cross. The place we settled on allowed us to cross on large rocks and a few feet of ankle deep water about 30 yards above the falls.
The views from the north side of the falls were just as spectacular, except for the illegal campsite we found nearby. There were numerous empty as well as full food cans scattered about which we gathered up and stuffed into our already full packs....already full from all the other garbage we'd collected up to this point.
We continued north on the Thoreau Falls Trail reaching the Ethan Pond Trail a few minutes later. From here we hiked east over a recently built bridge to the Shoal Pond Trail. Here we turned right towards Stillwater Junction 4 miles, and several brook crossings, to the south.
Less than a mile south of the Ethan Pond Trail we reached Shoal Pond. From the east side of the pond we had excellent views of the Zealand ridge as well as Mt. Carrigain and Vose Spur. After taking a few more pics we continued south.
This trail turned out to be very easy to follow as our solo hiker who had made the tracks on the Thoreau Falls Trail had apparently gone back this way. As we navigated the trail through the boggy areas trying to stay on the bog bridges I thought about the brook and river crossings ahead, there were several along the Shoal Pond Trail.
The first couple of crossings weren't too bad. We barely got the soles of our boots wet. At the third crossing we lucked out as it was almost completly and solidly iced over. The forth and last crossing from the north of Shoal Pond Brook was a little different. We bushwhacked upstream and being unable to find a suitable place to cross we contemplated using some of the many blowdowns along the bank to build us a bridge across, but soon realized the river wouldn't leave them where we put them...so we headed downstream. About 40 yards downstream of the trail crossing we found a place where we could get most of the way across on logs and rocks. There was however about a four foot section that we'd have to wade. Hamtero led the way across then I followed...the current in the knee deep water wasn't as swift as I thought it would be, but swift enough to take a person off their feet if they weren't careful. As we bushwhacked back to the trail our boots went squish-squish. Fortunately the temperature was still in the 50's and within 10 minutes or so our feet had warmed up...just in time for the next crossing.
When we reached the final crossing on the Shoal Pond Trail, the East branch of the Pemi River at Stillwater Junction, the tops of the stepping stones were under about 3-6 inches of water. We briefly looked for an easier place to cross, but that was difficult in the dark with only headlamps, so I headed across on the stepping stones. I impressed even myself with my abiltity to hit every rock going across even though the swift current was trying to carry my feet downstream. About 3/4 of the way across though I discovered there were a couple of stepping stones missing. Off to my left a little was a spot where at least I could see bottom, I jumped into the thigh deep water and with the smaller river rocks beneath my feet rolling and sliding I made my way to the next visible stepping stone, then to shore. Hamtero followed a few seconds behind me and we both reached Stillwater Junction without going swimming.
From here we headed west on the Wilderness Trail. We had hiked over 18 miles to this point, but it was still 9.2 miles back to Lincoln-Woods. The Wilderness Trail turned out to not be quite as straight and boring out here as it is closer to L-W. We stopped for a few minutes at the Crystal Brook crossing to refill and treat a quart of water for myself then crossed the icy cold, but fortunately only ankle deep brook. Hamtero complained about the minnows in his boots and I told him he could feed them to the trout in my boots. As we continued on towards L-W I noticed a few stars poking through holes in the clouds.
Then it started to rain again. At first it was just a light drizzle, then it got a little heavier. Finally at the junction with the Thoreau Falls Trail we stopped to put our rain gear on once again. Over the next couple of hours it continued to rain, usually just a drizzle, and we continued to collect garbage. (shiny wet tin cans show up good at night with a headlamp on)
We arrived at the L-W parking area at 11:50, 15hrs 20mins after we started. The hike had covered 27.6 miles, with 2100' of elevation gain, about 20 bridgeless river and brook crossings, many with above normal water levels, and 6-18 inches of snow at the higher elevations and in the sheltered valleys. It was yet another awesome hike even considering the water crossings, the snow, the trash, the trail ponds, the boot sucking mud, the rain, and more moose poop than I've seen in the last year.
Pics are here.
The rain had stopped by the time we started down the Hancock Notch Trail. The trail had about 2 inches of wet snow and ice on it and though a little slippery we barebooted on to the Cedar Brook Trail.
The Cedar Brook Trail has 5 well known brook crossings. We debated whether to bushwhack around the crossings or continue on the trail. We decided sticking to the trail was the "Hardcore" thing to do; besides, we had many more crossings ahead of us so we might at well get use to them. The portion of the trail beyond the Hancock Loop Trail had snow up to 18 inches deep, running water in the trail, and numerous blowdowns, some of which required bushwhacking around. It was now raining again though very lightly. After passing over the height of land we stopped briefly at Camp 24, having missed Camp 24A. I took a few pics and we looked over the artifacts lying around, some of which had been piled up next to the trail. The trail was mostly snow free at this point and the rain had again stopped.
We continued down the Cedar Brook Trail past the East Side Trail to the Wilderness Trail stopping briefly at the suspension bridge over the East Branch Pemi River. The only people we saw during the hike were 3 women along with their 3 dogs sitting on the rocks in the river. By this point, not only was it not raining, but the sun was shining upon us. It was looking like it might be a dry day afterall...but rain isn't the only source of wet.
We headed East on the straight and boring Wilderness Trail. At the next junction we turned left onto the Thoreau Falls Trail. From the bridge over the East Branch on the Thoreau Falls Trail we could see the dark clouds approaching from the west. After crossing the bridge we stopped to put on our rain gear once again as a steady light rain began to fall. Ten minutes later the rain had stopped.
As we hiked North on the Thoreau Falls Trail the nearly bare trail turned to 6-18 inches of snow with an occasional pond blocking the trail. In some places the trail was a brook. After the railroad grade ended the trail became much rougher and a little difficult to follow in places. At times we were thankful for the single set of tracks left by a hiker who had hiked through here recently. We followed the tracks and continued on to Thoreau Falls.
Thoreau falls was the highlight of the trip...thus far. The views from the rocks at the top were awesome with the water level being high and the current so swift..but this presented a problem...the trail crosses right here at the top of the falls. Well, there was no way I was crossing right there at the top of the falls. That would have been waaay beyond "hardcore". Hamtero agreed, as he was already bushwhacking upstream to find a better place to cross. The place we settled on allowed us to cross on large rocks and a few feet of ankle deep water about 30 yards above the falls.
The views from the north side of the falls were just as spectacular, except for the illegal campsite we found nearby. There were numerous empty as well as full food cans scattered about which we gathered up and stuffed into our already full packs....already full from all the other garbage we'd collected up to this point.
We continued north on the Thoreau Falls Trail reaching the Ethan Pond Trail a few minutes later. From here we hiked east over a recently built bridge to the Shoal Pond Trail. Here we turned right towards Stillwater Junction 4 miles, and several brook crossings, to the south.
Less than a mile south of the Ethan Pond Trail we reached Shoal Pond. From the east side of the pond we had excellent views of the Zealand ridge as well as Mt. Carrigain and Vose Spur. After taking a few more pics we continued south.
This trail turned out to be very easy to follow as our solo hiker who had made the tracks on the Thoreau Falls Trail had apparently gone back this way. As we navigated the trail through the boggy areas trying to stay on the bog bridges I thought about the brook and river crossings ahead, there were several along the Shoal Pond Trail.
The first couple of crossings weren't too bad. We barely got the soles of our boots wet. At the third crossing we lucked out as it was almost completly and solidly iced over. The forth and last crossing from the north of Shoal Pond Brook was a little different. We bushwhacked upstream and being unable to find a suitable place to cross we contemplated using some of the many blowdowns along the bank to build us a bridge across, but soon realized the river wouldn't leave them where we put them...so we headed downstream. About 40 yards downstream of the trail crossing we found a place where we could get most of the way across on logs and rocks. There was however about a four foot section that we'd have to wade. Hamtero led the way across then I followed...the current in the knee deep water wasn't as swift as I thought it would be, but swift enough to take a person off their feet if they weren't careful. As we bushwhacked back to the trail our boots went squish-squish. Fortunately the temperature was still in the 50's and within 10 minutes or so our feet had warmed up...just in time for the next crossing.
When we reached the final crossing on the Shoal Pond Trail, the East branch of the Pemi River at Stillwater Junction, the tops of the stepping stones were under about 3-6 inches of water. We briefly looked for an easier place to cross, but that was difficult in the dark with only headlamps, so I headed across on the stepping stones. I impressed even myself with my abiltity to hit every rock going across even though the swift current was trying to carry my feet downstream. About 3/4 of the way across though I discovered there were a couple of stepping stones missing. Off to my left a little was a spot where at least I could see bottom, I jumped into the thigh deep water and with the smaller river rocks beneath my feet rolling and sliding I made my way to the next visible stepping stone, then to shore. Hamtero followed a few seconds behind me and we both reached Stillwater Junction without going swimming.
From here we headed west on the Wilderness Trail. We had hiked over 18 miles to this point, but it was still 9.2 miles back to Lincoln-Woods. The Wilderness Trail turned out to not be quite as straight and boring out here as it is closer to L-W. We stopped for a few minutes at the Crystal Brook crossing to refill and treat a quart of water for myself then crossed the icy cold, but fortunately only ankle deep brook. Hamtero complained about the minnows in his boots and I told him he could feed them to the trout in my boots. As we continued on towards L-W I noticed a few stars poking through holes in the clouds.
Then it started to rain again. At first it was just a light drizzle, then it got a little heavier. Finally at the junction with the Thoreau Falls Trail we stopped to put our rain gear on once again. Over the next couple of hours it continued to rain, usually just a drizzle, and we continued to collect garbage. (shiny wet tin cans show up good at night with a headlamp on)
We arrived at the L-W parking area at 11:50, 15hrs 20mins after we started. The hike had covered 27.6 miles, with 2100' of elevation gain, about 20 bridgeless river and brook crossings, many with above normal water levels, and 6-18 inches of snow at the higher elevations and in the sheltered valleys. It was yet another awesome hike even considering the water crossings, the snow, the trash, the trail ponds, the boot sucking mud, the rain, and more moose poop than I've seen in the last year.
Pics are here.
