New Attitude About a Different Latitude: Mt. Roberts (20-Sep-2008)

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1HappyHiker

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Perhaps I’m speaking only for myself, but when planning a hike, the Ossipee Mountains don’t jump to the forefront of my mind! The vast majority of my hiking is done “above the notch”. However, after hiking Mt. Roberts this past weekend with Hiker Cheri, I have a new attitude about hiking in a different latitude.

This little 2500 foot mountain exceeded my expectations BIG TIME! The trek to Mt. Roberts provides stunning views of Lake Winnipesaukee as your traverse over the many ledges on the way to the summit.
Lake_wPerson.JPG


And once you arrive at the summit, there are nice views of many of the high peaks to the north, including the Presidentials & Mt. Chocorua, which are quite prominent, plus many others. And, these summit views are more than just squiggly lines on the horizon; they are closer than I had imagined they would be.
Choco_Wash.JPG


Our entire trek was on the Mount Roberts Trail, which we accessed by parking at a lot on Ossipee Park Road just outside the west gate of the Castle in the Clouds property. The trail begins just beyond a stable on the west side of Shannon Pond. It winds around the back of a pasture and then begins its gentle 2.5 mile ascent. There are a few moderately steeped pitches, but they are short-lived. The trail is orange-blazed, and once on the ledges there is a combination of cairns and blazes to guide you.
Cairns_Blazes.JPG


One of the really nice features of this particular hike is that you would not even have to go all the way to the summit. You could opt to call it a day at any point along the way, and then just hang out and soak up some rays on any of the several broad south-facing ledges. Each of these ledges offers a slightly different view of an expansive Lake Winnipesaukee vista.
Lake_wCairn.JPG


Now, here’s a geology lesson (but mercifully brief!). Bear with me, there is a point to it! Apparently, the Ossipees are considered by many geologists to be the best example in the world of a ring dike formation. A what?! Well, as I understand it, these structures form when an underground bubble of magma collapses, leaving a circular crack on the Earth’s surface. Then, when magma erupts through these cracks, it creates a ring-shaped mountain range like the Ossipees.

OK, my point to the above geology lesson is that if you want to do other hikes in a unique circular mountain chain, there are many other worthy destinations besides Mt. Roberts. Perhaps the foremost one is Mt. Shaw, and it’s now on my very short list!! Also, after talking with the very knowledgeable Steve Smith, there are many other spots in this range that I’ll now be eager to explore, such as Mt. Flagg, Black Snout, Turtleback Mountain, Faraway Mountain, Bald Knob, and others.

Bottom Line to All This: The hike to Mt. Roberts exceeded my expectations and has whet my appetite to do some other hikes “below the notch” in the Ossipees. Oh! And, how do the lyrics to that old Jimmy Buffett song go? Something like: “With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same”.

1HappyHiker
 
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1HappyHiker said:
Perhaps I’m speaking only for myself, but when planning a hike, the Ossipee Mountains don’t jump to the forefront of my mind!

You're probably speaking for many, but you're certainly not speaking for me, or for carole (who maintains that Roberts Trail you rightly praise), rocket21 (inventor of the Ossipee 10 list) or Trail Bandit (our newest member, I see, who has hiked more of the Ossipees than anyone I know). We've been singing the praises of this splendid Ring-Dike for quite some time.

As to those other summits you mention:

Mt. Flagg: You can read all about the excellent Gorilla Trail (which Trail Bandit "rescued" years ago) over Flagg to Shaw in a TR here.

Black Snout: Don't bother - tedious bushwhack to a wooded summit with no views - better looked at than from. (Or do you mean the south peak of Shaw, which some also call Black Snout?)

Turtleback Mountain: Right on a LRCT trail - decent views N and E, but not of the Lakes.

Faraway Mountain: Thereby hangs a tale. More on that soon.

Bald Knob : Great views, and a very nice trail from the Moultonboro/T'boro town-line sign. I've got a TR somewhere with photos (as for all of the above and some others).

Four other great view-summits in the Ossipees are Bayle, Larcom, Little Larcom and Sentinel.
 
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Amicus said:
We've been singing the praises of this splendid Ring-Dike for quite some time.

. . . and for very good reason!

Amicus said:
Black Snout: Don't bother - tedious bushwhack to a wooded summit with no views - better looked at than from. (Or do you mean the south peak of Shaw, which some also call Black Snout?)
I’m a newbie to hiking in the Ossipees, so I know very little about that of which I speak!!
After looking at a USGS map, I guess it must be the south peak of Shaw that I’m talking about. Anyway, the peak I was referring to has an elevation of 2803’, and on the laminated LRCT trail map has a trail going to it which is called the Black Snout Trail.

So, where is the true Black Snout? Is it the peak that’s nearly due east of Mt. Shaw with an elevation of 2390’?
 
1HappyHiker said:
So, where is the true Black Snout?

The "second peak" of the Ossipees, it can be found a few miles north of your Mt. Roberts on the NW quadrant of the Ring - elevation, 2,689'. Rather than describe it myself, I'll quote the great Moses Sweetser, who wrote the first (and I would say best) Guide to the White Mountains, in the 1870's:

Black Snout is the second peak of the Ossipee Range, and is at the corners of the towns of Moultonborough, Sandwich, and Tamworth. It has received its present inelegant name from the adjacent rustics on account of its dark color, and also by reason of a supposed physical resemblance. As seen from the N. and N. W. this peak has a bold and symmetrical form, and is a tempting point for enthusiastic alpestrians, but the summit is so thickly wooded as to render the ascent useless. After devoting a day to preliminary reconnoissances on three sides, the Editor attacked this peak (Sept. 21, 1875) on its most open flank, by walking 1 M. up the side-road which diverges from the W.-Ossipee highway at Gove's Corner. . . If the summit was burned over, or otherwise cleared, it would give one of the best views in Carroll County, but at present it does not repay the labor of ascending.

Nothing has changed, after 133 years! (Thanks to Trail Bandit for bringing this page from Sweetser's Guide to my attention.)

At the bottom of that page, Sweetser surprised me by declaring that:

Tuftonborough is an ancient and decadent town on the E. of Lake Winnepesaukee.

To this day, you can find Sodom Road in T'borough. Is that what he meant? :)
 
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1HappyHiker said:
Also, after talking with the very knowledgeable Steve Smith, there are many other spots in this range that I’ll now be eager to explore, such as Mt. Flagg...

Haha, my lobbying is finally paying off! Now if Steve will just give Bayle Mountain some recognition... ;)

I was just up Mt. Roberts today (unfortunately the clouds and haze made the views less than optimal), and then headed over to the Faraway Mountain highpoint (2,782' - was surprised to see that there are still some obstructed views from next to the towers), then to the viewpoint, then down a variety of trails. One great thing about the Ossipees is that, outside of a few of the popular destinations, you can have the trails pretty much all to yourself, even on the busiest of weekends.

And Mount Shaw is just as much of a hike as many 4ks in terms of vertical, length, and views. Perhaps one of the best ways to experience it is via the loop (or traverse to eliminate a short road walk) Amicus and I did a few months earlier - Big Ball, Black Snoot, Shaw, and Flagg. A bunch of different views and a variety of trails too.
 
Amicus said:
rocket21 (inventor of the Ossipee 10 list)

If I'm the inventor, then you're the Co-Executive Producer! :)

On this topic, it looks like the Ossipee 10 list will be slightly modified in the near future, replacing Black Snoot with Larcom Mountain (Black Snoot is a historical name for the 'Black Snout' the Lakes Region Conservation Trust refers to, southwest of the Mt. Shaw summit, not to be confused with the real Black Snout to the north).
 
rocket21 said:
Mount Shaw is just as much of a hike as many 4ks in terms of vertical, length, and views. Perhaps one of the best ways to experience it is via the loop (or traverse to eliminate a short road walk) Amicus and I did a few months earlier - Big Ball, Black Snoot, Shaw, and Flagg. A bunch of different views and a variety of trails too.
Jeremy, perhaps most folks already know this . . . BUT is there one comprehensive map which shows all the trails in the Ossipees?

I have the LRCT laminated map, and although it’s a good map, I have a suspicion that there are additional trails other than those listed on the LRCT map. For example, I’ve read Trip Reports where a trail called the Ball Mountains Trail is mentioned, and I don’t see that trail listed on the LRCT map.

So, in order to get a complete picture, does one need to have several maps from several different groups (in addition to LRCT) who maintain trails in the Ossipees??
 
1HappyHiker said:
. . . BUT is there one comprehensive map which shows all the trails in the Ossipees?

There is. Trail Bandit, doing for the Ossipees what he'd done for St. John in the USVI, made it (and regularly updates it) and rocket21 figured out how to post it.
 
Here's a link to the main page for the map:
The Trail Bandit Ossipee Mountains Map

I recently added older versions of the map for the heck of it. I think a new one will be posted in the near future, showing the Larcom Trails amongst other stuff.
 
Great updated map - thanks for posting the link! I have the laminated one from LRCT as well - this updated one looks much more detailed!

Did the loop Roberts/Faraway/Shaw/Turtleback this past spring when the snow was still lingering up here in the Whites.... absolutely loved it (except for the infestation of ticks)! Roberts had such interesting scenery with the oak trees growing out of the rocks and mosses, the lakes in the background - completely different from what you see further north. Plus, the roughly 20-mile loop went very quickly with the easy graded open paths, and the ridge between Faraway and Shaw had some beautiful outlooks. Looking forward to returning sometime to explore the other peaks! :cool:
 
NeoAkela said:
Did the loop Roberts/Faraway/Shaw/Turtleback this past spring when the snow was still lingering up here in the Whites.... absolutely loved it (except for the infestation of ticks)!

The grassy Castle area definitely has its share of ticks in season (did 8-10 miles today, including some b/wing, and didn't find a single one), but the southern and central trails seem to be much better. I've been to Bayle and Sentinel about 10 times this year and haven't had a single tick.
 
NeoAkela said:
Great updated map - thanks for posting the link! I have the laminated one from LRCT as well - this updated one looks much more detailed!

The LRCT map is based off a Dave Roberts map (he also did the Belknap map that is sold at the Gilford library) - a lot of stuff was removed from it, as I think the LCRT only wanted official trails on their property on it (as well as the 'popular' direct routes to Bald Knob and Mt. Shaw).

The Trail Bandit map covers the entire range and features many trails and logging roads that aren't on the other two.
 
Re Mount Roberts

I have been reading Rocket's and Rick B's recent trip reports about Mount Roberts and came across yours dated 20 Sept '08. How did you find out about the ring dike? Is there a book on the formation of the Ossipees? I am new to Views. Roberts is definately on my list for this coming Saturday.
Thanks for this great report and super photos!!
 
I have been reading Rocket's and Rick B's recent trip reports about Mount Roberts and came across yours dated 20 Sept '08. How did you find out about the ring dike? Is there a book on the formation of the Ossipees? I am new to Views.
There are many folks on this Forum who are by far more versed than I am in all matters related to the Ossipees. Probably one or more of them will chime in with some info for you.

Welcome to Views . . . and thank you for the kind words about my Trip Report!
 
How did you find out about the ring dike? Is there a book on the formation of the Ossipees?

You can read about the geology of the Ossipees in this thread from another site, in particular the 4th post (by me). It is discussed in the "Roadside Geology" volume for New Hampshire, but that is somewhat dated and I found more current information and theorizing on the Web.
 
I have been reading Rocket's and Rick B's recent trip reports about Mount Roberts and came across yours dated 20 Sept '08. How did you find out about the ring dike? Is there a book on the formation of the Ossipees? I am new to Views. Roberts is definately on my list for this coming Saturday.
Thanks for this great report and super photos!!
I can tell you what it was for me. First comes Monadnock. We all know more or less how nice a mountain that is. Then somewhere along the line you hear that the word is a Native American name that means (approximately) "Mountain that stands alone" and you say (like Spock) "Interesting". Then perhaps you notice a topo map - like this one: Monadnock Map, and you say "That's really interesting. Look at those contours: they practically go around in circles (yeah, I know, except for the NE ridge). That thing really does stand alone". Then you read somewhere that it's called a "dike", a volcanic intrusion which made it's way up though softer surrounding material and then hardened. Eons later, the surrounding ground erodes and presto! a Monadnock is formed. So you say, "cool".

Then sometime later you see a topo map of the Ossipeess, like this: Ossipees Map and you say "Wow!" look at those contours. That looks like a huge dike with a hole in the middle. I bet that's called a ring dike". And that's just what it's called.

q.e.d.
 
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