Pine Martens and the Big Tom Field Willey Figure 8 Loop 6/9/2013

Route Totals: 19.5 miles 4850’ gain (with all side spurs, loops, bushwhacks, and backtracks)

Trails: Kedron Flume Trail, Willey Range Trail, Mt. Tom Spur, A-Z Trail, Ethan Pond Trail, Thoreau Falls Trail, bushwhack, Webster Cliff Trail, Saco River Trail, Sam Willey Trail (loops too) Only a redliner would come up with this one.

The morning started with a bonus: my 2 ½ year daughter, aka “The Rooster,” serenaded us with a version of “Mommy come here” from 2 am-4 am. She must have just been excited, knowing something good was in store for me that day on this loop with 13+ new to me miles!

Starting later than I hoped, a bit after 8 am, I headed up the Kedron Flume Trail. The falls were interesting but not blockbuster and I spent a few minutes improvising a tripod with my pack and a rock. Above the falls (easy crossing unless after Irene type rains) it was wet and moderately steep but not bad. Forty minutes into the hike I was starting the steep 1.1 mile segment of the Willey Range trail. The ladders and rough section were fairly wet and I was glad to be heading uphill on it today. I crossed this off my approaches to take in winter list looking down.

Looking down the ladders, they keep going in the right of the photo:


At the top ladder the cloud around me moved to allow views across the Pemi and eastern Sandwich Range to Chocorua. I witnessed the cloud being sucked in a fast downdraft right in front of me—very unique! It looked like a violent downpour but wasn’t.

The photo doesn't convey the motion unfortunately:


After hitting the three peaks I was back at the tom spur/ a-z junction at exactly the 3 hour mark. A woman there told me she had seen some fisher cats a few minutes before. I said, “do you mean pine martens, like those?” We took a whole bunch of photos of two of them for at least five minutes.





In all my time in the Whites I had never seen a pine marten up close. I know many people have seen them in this spot recently. These guys didn’t seem afraid of people, and acted almost like the grey jays in the same area. I am not sure how I feel about that.

Finally it was time to head down the backside of the A-Z trail to the hut, another new segment. It was mostly gradual and had a little used feel. Lots of green and moss all around. A bit slick that day after the rains. Plenty of wildflowers at the bottom. I used to think that if you moved fast on trail you’d be missing a lot. But I have found the opposite to be true for me recently. I seem to be better at looking for and finding the details in nature.

What is this plant? I always see it in marshes and think it lends itself well to b & w


These 3 lady slippers were growing up pushing into a maple leaf:


Flower and leaf butterflies:


After a rest at the falls and the hut, I headed down the Ethan Pond Trail to one of my favorites spots in the Whites where the trail goes into a wide open area in the talus fields under Whitewall Mountain.



The best viewing spot is a short distance down the Zeacliff Trail near the Pemi Wilderness sign. Rhodora fields in the talus frame everything:


Zeacliff and Hale, with the speck of Zealand hut visible right center:


Carrigain and the Bonds:

Part II

Next stop: Thoreau Falls. A rewarding spot, it felt more remote than a lot of falls and I am sure it’s skipped by most peakbaggers.



The crossing to get down to the bottom of the falls was a bit sketchy. You have to go over a narrow channel too wide to just step across and use a stone that was submerged in 8 inches of very fast, concentrated water.

It seemed like a slip might lead to a slide, then dropping off this:



I went upstream and crossed to the other side on a 6 foot high boulder, but it turned out to be an island surrounded by water. Next I bushwacked on my bank a bit, but gave up on that too after realizing the bank stayed over 100 feet above the river below. I am sure I would have made it across the regular crossing fine with wet feet (and probably legs) but still had too much ground left to get home by dinner so I decided to skip the crossing for the day. My consolation prize was an off trail cliff (with some nice tree holds for security) that gave an aerial view of the falls.

The next few miles of EP had hundreds of bog bridges that were lined by rhodora in bloom. There were some views to the backside of Willey which has some cool cliffs:



Ethan Pond:



After finishing the EP Trail and walking down to 302 (the .3 mile road is part of the AT) I used the Saco River Trail and Sam Willey trail to get back my car at Willey House. It was better than expected, the river blocked road noise at points and there were some views giving an appreciation for why it’s called Crawford Notch. The slopes of Webster Cliffs and the Willey Range seemed to hem me in from both sides:



A great day out. There is always something new and wonderful to see out there!

Very cool! We have never seen Pine Martens before, wish they had still been there when we arrived. Nice report, we planning a Pemi stroll in the near future. Nice chatting with you that AM.

About three winters ago going up the A-Z trail to Mt. Tom, we saw about a dozen pine martens. The last time I saw them was back in New York's Adirondacks. We went up again this winter and did not see any so were disappointed.

So happy to know that they are still there and thriving. They are so cute and I've yet to seen them anywhere else in the Whites. That said, in the Adirondacks when I was camping, they were relentless going after my food!!!

Great shots of the martens, the only time I saw one I got some pictures but not as good as you pics.

Pine Martins were potentially a candidate for the "spotted owl" of the east. Unfortunately, they tend to thrive in regenerated woods as well as old growth. As long as there are red squirrels around they are happy.

For those who are not familiar with their other common name they are also called a Sable (as in Sable fur coat). They used to be trapped heavily and apparently there were some very effective techniques to trap them that preyed on their curiosity.

Pinkham Notch used to have a resident pair at one point. Even the wild ones are pretty fearless when around people. Used to be several up on the ridges in Nash Stream.

Really nice loop hike, plus some red-lining. The pine marten photos are great - lucky you to have seen them and get great pictures. The Rooster knew you'd have a good day!

(Just checking in from VT, we're taking a zero day today and will be back out tomorrow.)

Rolling Rock-- Wow, a dozen martens in that junction in winter! Guess this must be their hotspot in the Whites.

Tomcat-- I really have to get a zoom lens for my DSLR, its 3x max way less than point and shoots. I've been lucky enough to get face to face with moose, spruce grouse, and martens recently though.

peakbagger said:

Pine Martins were potentially a candidate for the "spotted owl" of the east. Unfortunately, they tend to thrive in regenerated woods as well as old growth. As long as there are red squirrels around they are happy.

For those who are not familiar with their other common name they are also called a Sable (as in Sable fur coat). They used to be trapped heavily and apparently there were some very effective techniques to trap them that preyed on their curiosity.

Pinkham Notch used to have a resident pair at one point. Even the wild ones are pretty fearless when around people. Used to be several up on the ridges in Nash Stream.

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That's great info. I never made the connection between "sable" and the martens. Makes some history reading make more sense now.

Summerset-- good luck in VT, hopefully your rolling along!

love that 1st pine marten pic!!

John in NH said:

What is this plant?

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Skunk cabbage?

The mystery plant is Indian Poke / False Hellebore veratrum viride

Tim

My avatar for the past 4 years has been the pine marten shot on the summit of Mt Field. I have never seen another.

I ran across this guy at Liberty Spring/Franconia Ridge jct about a month ago. He was more curious about me until I reached for the camera.

With all these marten sightings, I expect the red squirrel population is going to go plummet.

Tim-- thanks for the ID. I knew it was different than the skunk cabbage that is dominant in southern new England.

Paradox-- I have noticed your avatar before. I guess these martins have been in the area for a while then and must be well established in the Willey range.

Kerry-- I had never heard of any of them around there, that is cool to see. I wind up at the junction quite frequently and will keep my eyes open and maybe plan a snack break there.

Here's another pine marten that a hiking friend of mine saw on East Osceola this past winter. They are definitely expanding their range in the whites.

kerry13 said:

Here's another pine marten that a hiking friend of mine saw on East Osceola this past winter. View attachment 4570

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Kerry, I have never come across a Pine Marten. I've had no trouble meeting up with the other usual suspects up high, but Martens continue to elude me. I really want to see one!
On East Oseola, a few weeks ago, just as I reached the summit cairn (from the East) I noticed a little furry face staring at me. As I fumbled for my camera, it turned and ran down the trail toward Oseola ---------- big let down, it was a raccoon! Oh well, I'll keep trying.