Bartlett Mountain, NH - 01/01/2009 - for those of y'all who like Kearsarge North

Kearsarge North Mountain, Bartlett Mountain via Kearsarge North Trail and Bartlett Path, 01/01/2009

I'm not big on posting trip reports per se here, but I do like to post lesser known stuff that might be of interest. Considering Kearsarge North is such a popular mountain, it's interest to see how little known Bartlett Mountain is - I have not seen a single mention of what it's like or how to get there in any of the AMC Guides, 1960 to present - there are trail descriptions in the 1934 guide, however.

The legendary forestgnome bushwhacked to Bartlett Mountain last spring - http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?p=226609. Other than that thread, my old guidebooks, and the topographic maps, I didn't have much to go on.

Overview:

Bartlett Mountain is the subpeak to the left of Kearsarge North Mountain


It was a cold New Year's morning, but nonetheless it was a nice day to hit the trails - that is, if there's shelter at the top of them! With the beautiful fire tower on top, Kearsarge North is one of my favorite cold day hikes.

I had the distinct honor of being the first person to ascend the mountain in 2009. I believe I can put that on my resume under 'Miscellaneous Rocket21 Trivia' between 'Does a spot on Bill Cosby dance (or at least strives to)' and 'Actually enjoyed Weekend at Bernie's II.'

The views were decent from the summit, though the extreme cold certainly helped knock down the visibility a bit.





Now, one would think that a beautiful peak in a very popular area would have marked trails leading to it. Looking at the ledges when in Conway and at forestgnome's photos, one would wonder why the 3-4 trails to Bartlett Mountain seemingly disappeared between 1934 and 1960.

One can wonder all they want, because there are still trails there! What I believe to be the 'Bartlett Path' starts at this familiar sight on the Kearsarge North Trail, just above the ledges:

The Kearsarge North Trail goes right and the Bartlett Path goes left.

The path is marked by a variety of things, including axe blazes, old painted blazes...


...and illegible old signs:



The trail itself crossings some beautiful terrain:


If you squint closely, you can see the 10 or so pixels that make up the Kearsarge North Fire Tower

The true summit of Bartlett Mountain features signs:


Adjacent to it, there are vast ledges. Only a small sample:


And a sample view of the Presidentials from one of the ledges:


Perhaps even more surprising for me, beyond finding the old Bartlett Path still being used and maintained (recent blowdown clearing!) was another discovery - it looks like there are a good 3-4 more trails leading to that peak! I saw tracks leading north from near the col, a parallel trail a bit to the south marked with cairns, a trail southwest of the summit (which I suspect may be the top access to the long gone CCC alpine ski trail), and possibly a trail from the northwestern ledges. None are particularly well marked, but all appear to have been used at some point in the past few weeks!

Sorry in advance if I ruined anyone's secret in Bartlett Mountain - what a neat peak!

Additional photos & approx. map:
http://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/NewHampshire/kearsargenorthmtn-2009-0101.php

S U P E R C A L L A F R A G I L I S T I C E X P I A L L A D O C I O U S!!

Nice one Jeremy!

bartlett

Great report

that trail looks worthy of further exploration

excellent!!

It was definitely a gem of a peak! It's worth noting that, if you ascend via Kearsarge North Trail to Bartlett Path (w/o going to Kearsarge North), it's over 2k vertical!

Nice report. I always wondered if that is where the old trail diverges off of the Kearsarge Trail and heads for the Bartlett Peak. I believe there is a trail that goes up from a set of condos off of 16A up to the summit of Bartlett Mt. I have crossed over the lower part of it while trail running on an old xc ski trail, but looks like it warrants further exploration.

I'd wondered about Bartlett Mtn. since reading the sad account of a man who perished there a couple of winters ago. He had health problems that seem to have caused that, but the account said that he hiked Bartlett Mtn. frequently, from which I inferred that at least one trail probably existed. Inference confirmed.

If the 1934 Guide spurred you to find this, that also confirms that there is gold in those old guides, as I discovered myself recently with a certain summit in Freedom.

FWIW, the 100K topo (in NG TOPO! and in Garmin Mapsource (both versions) shows several trails on Bartlett Mtn which are not shown on the 24K topo or the AMC maps.


The trail that passes through the M of "Bartlett Mountain" is named "Number Five Ski Trail" on the Garmin maps.

(The USGS topo is the 100K scale Mount Washington quad, file name f44071a1. A search on f44071a1 found some references, but not a downloadable copy of the file.)

Doug

DougPaul said:

FWIW, the 100K topo (in NG TOPO! and in Garmin Mapsource (both versions) shows several trails on Bartlett Mtn which are not shown on the 24K topo or the AMC maps.

The trail that passes through the M of "Bartlett Mountain" is named "Number Five Ski Trail" on the Garmin maps.

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I believe "Number Five Ski Trail" is the CCC trail. I think that, based upon what I saw up there and what I've seen on old AMC maps, the 100K trails are off slightly, at least on the western approach. The line south of the ridge, however, appears to match a line of cairns that I "bushwhacked" to. I'm not positive where it comes out, but I do believe I've seen that trail in the old map as well.

I almost forgot, this guy was watching me on my way down the Kearsarge North Trail:



I don't know much about birds (unless they're sitting in mashed potatoes in my KFC Famous Bowl), but my guess is that he was once a member of an 80s hair band of some sort.

Now this is an excellent TR and thread! Great report and pics. I just may follow your track this weekend

happy trails

rocket21 said:

I don't know much about birds

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pileated woodpeaker

Thanks for the trail notes!

forestgnome said:

I just may follow your track this weekend

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Just FYI, there's an open spot not far beyond the low point in which there is a ledgy knob sticking up to the southwest. I flushed out a good sized feline or canine species here (heard the sounds, saw the fresh tracks after trying to follow). I also heard something not too far from the highpoint, but didn't bother to go b/wing for it. I recall you heard some loud stuff when you were up there last spring, so perhaps you'll have better luck than I in finding whatever it is!

rocket21 said:

I almost forgot, this guy was watching me on my way down the Kearsarge North Trail:

I don't know much about birds (unless they're sitting in mashed potatoes in my KFC Famous Bowl), but my guess is that he was once a member of an 80s hair band of some sort.

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I think what you have there is your basic Pileated Woodpecker . . . don’t think you’ll find it on the KFC menu . . . but who really knows what ingredients they really use!

carole said:

pileated woodpeaker

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I'm about 99% sure I've never had one of those in a KFC Famous Bowl! Thank you for the ID - sorry the photo was so blurry, but I have a crappy old point and shoot, the lighting was crappy, he kept jumping tree to tree as I tried to get closer, and insert any other excuse here.

Great photo of the Pileated Woodpecker!

Hey Jeremy

Great shot of the Pileated Woodpecker. It's pretty rare thing to see one leave alone get such a nice photo! The pileated is a big woodpecker (almost as big as a crow) and requires a high high quality forest to subsist in. Good indicator that the forest you observed him in is healthy and has enough diversity and maturity to provide the big dead trees they need to work their magic in. One more good reason to visit the area.

Great TR! Demonstrating once again the Whites are far bigger than we think if we get off the beaten path. There's much more to explore in 2009. Happy New Year!!!

Jazzbo

The PeakMaster & I climbed Bartlett Mtn maybe 20 years ago, there were definitely traces of a trail but I don't recall those signs and the summit one at least probably isn't that old. There are an immense number of trails that are locally maintained that don't make it into guidebooks, perhaps half of my bushwhacks I discover a trail part way.

Bartlett Mt Trails

rocket21 said:

I believe "Number Five Ski Trail" is the CCC trail. I think that, based upon what I saw up there and what I've seen on old AMC maps, the 100K trails are off slightly, at least on the western approach. The line south of the ridge, however, appears to match a line of cairns that I "bushwhacked" to. I'm not positive where it comes out, but I do believe I've seen that trail in the old map as well.

Click to expand...

Jeremy

I have hiked/bushwhacked these trails off Bartlett, both up and down, numerous times. Quite interesting. I have noticed gradual improvement in the abandoned trails, indicating to me that some one is working on them.

A nice loop is from Mt K parking, road walk to Mt Surprise. Follow the X/C ski trail to the condos. Trail begins to the right. Over Bartlett to Mt K and back to parking.

Descending from Bartlett, some one has placed flagging, starting at the first split, both ways. And yes, I did leave the flagging in place!

rocket21 said:

Sorry in advance if I ruined anyone's secret in Bartlett Mountain - what a neat peak!

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Apology accepted and the only reason we won't hang you from your toenails is that you are local and a skier too