Walking on a Sidewalk into the Pemi (26-Mar-2010)

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1HappyHiker

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Bethlehem, NH
Although the title of this report is a bit of an exaggeration, it's not too far from the truth! On the day of this hike, the conditions were such that you could walk on top the snow with no fuss, no muss, and no sinking! Boiler plate conditions were created by recent rain and warm weather combined with a hard overnight freeze.

With the solidly frozen snowpack, it was a pure hiking delight to roam throughout the woods, both on-trail and off-trail. Since it was like walking on a pavement, it took little time to cover big distances.

My trek started in the Crawford Notch on the Ethan Pond Trail, and from there I hiked to Shoal Pond located in the Pemi. Along the way, I made a stop at Ethan Pond. In addition to those two on-trail destinations, I also did two off-trail forays. This included a short bushwhack to "little" Ethan Pond (just a bit east of the main Ethan Pond), plus a longer bushwhack to a 3K ledge located about a mile west of Ethan Pond.

So, here are a few snapshots taken during this trek.

View of Mt. Willey from Short Bushwhack to "little" Ethan Pond
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Westward View from the actual Ethan Pond (Bond, Guyot, South Twin on Horizon)
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The next three photos (shown below) were taken from the top of a 3K ledge that was reached by about a 0.3 mile bushwhack off the Ethan Pond Trail. I'm grateful to Steve Smith for suggesting this ledge to me. The views from here were fantastic, plus it was on a sunny south-facing ledge which made for a perfect lunch spot!:)

The view that I found most fascinating from this ledge was the vista of Ethan Pond at the base of the cliffs on Mt. Willey, along with Stairs Mountain and Mt. Resolution clearly visible on the horizon. But by far, the most dominant view from this ledge was that of the Carrigain Notch and the awesome mountains surrounding it.

Ledge View of Mt. Willey, Ethan Pond and Stairs Mountain
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Ledge View of Carrigain Notch (slightly zoomed)
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Ledge View of Mt. Carrigain and the Hancocks
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After the bushwhack to the 3K ledge, I continued my "sidewalk" journey on top of the snow. Shoal Pond was my next destination. Up to this point, my hiking had been right up against the northern edge of the Pemi, but Shoal Pond is actually in the Pemi! I stayed on the Ethan Pond Trail for awhile, but since the snow conditions were so fantastic, I opted to take a shortcut to Shoal Pond. I sort of angled southwesterly off-trail and very shortly intersected the Shoal Pond Trail just a bit north of the pond.

It's probably just a matter of personal taste, but I really love the views from Shoal Pond. Below are two snapshots taken from the pond.

South View from Shoal Pond Toward Mt. Carrigain
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North View from Shoal Pond Toward the Zealand Notch
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After spending considerable time soaking in the views from Shoal Pond, I contemplated trekking on over to Thoreau Falls, but in the end, decided not to do this. However, since I was making such good time on my return trip, I began to feel a bit guilty about not taking the time to go to Thoreau Falls. So, to rid some of my guilt feelings, I went Ripley Falls toward the end of my trek. It's just a short 0.4 miles off the Ethan Pond Trail, not far from the trailhead in Crawford Notch. Although this might have been a questionable substitute for Thoreau Falls, it was still worthwhile. Below is a snapshot of Ripley Falls.

Ripley Falls
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What a great day! Considering the numerous off-trail portions of this trek, it's difficult to be precise, but I'd roughly guesstimate that this was perhaps a 13 to 14 mile journey overall.

1HappyHiker
 
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What a day John! As I was scrolling down the story and looking at the amazing pictures from the (as usual) unique viewpoints I kept telling myself "I'll comment on this this one as my favorite). I pretty much gave up on that though - they are all fantastic! I do have to say that the views of Carrigan and the Hancocks from the ledge and the views over Shoal Pond are at the top of the list. Great stuff. Being back in RI after our great weekend in the mountains last weekend we're back to living vicariously through our northern friends. Thanks for lettings us ease away slowly... ;)
 
John, those are indeed some great shots! And what an excellent vantage from that ledge - that would be a neat place to visit in the autumn, too! Thanks for sharing those images - sounds like a fun-filled day! :)
 
Wow, I've been to a lot of those places, except the 3K viewpoints! Such unique views! My introduction to the Pemi was Ethan and Shoal pond, on a snowy October day, thanks to Mattl. I've been hooked ever since.

Beautiful pictures.
 
Mark; Chris; Matt; Phil; Mirabela:
Hey, thanks guys for the kudos! It was a fun hike.
Regarding the photos, I merely pushed the shutter button to capture the images of the awesome scenery that's out there.:)
 
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Great tour...and fantastic pics as usual!

Shoal pond is on my must shoot this summer...thanks for the preview.

I love the shot of Ripley too!!!
 
Great tour...and fantastic pics as usual!
Shoal pond is on my must shoot this summer...thanks for the preview.
I love the shot of Ripley too!!!
Jim, thanks for the nice words!

Yes, do indeed plan on making a trip to Shoal sometime. It's a really nice spot which is made even nicer by having awesome views at BOTH ends of the pond!
 
Great tour...and fantastic pics as usual!

Shoal pond is on my must shoot this summer...thanks for the preview.

I love the shot of Ripley too!!!

Watch out for the boot sucking mud near that view of Carrigain from Shoal Pond. I felt like I was in quick sand! :eek: It's def easier to trek around when the ground is frozen.
 
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