I never clearly identified the logging road mentioned in other reports. Instead, I headed off 304A at the site of a concrete culvert just a minute or two up from the sand hill. Walking through beautiful open woods up the drainage, I soon came to the south side of the overgrown clearcut. Exploring an animal path along the top of the clearing, I found a tree that appeared to have been recently used as an antler rub, but I never saw any moose or deer. I followed the general route described by many others although the combination of a dusting of snow and fallen leaves prevented me from ever clearly identifying a herd path until I got to the first view point. In some places above there I was pretty sure I was on a herd path, but in others I simply pushed upwards through still relatively open woods. Coming down from the summit the herd path seemed harder to follow. My tracking skills are apparently not that good since I did leave faint tracks in the snow on the way up, but I lost them quickly on the way down! Looking back at my GPS track, I apparently drifted off to the west a little, which I think is easy to do as the ridge drops off more in that direction. My error led to some spruce-whacking, but in general this seemed to be a fairly easy bushwhack. The view from near the summit toward the snow-capped Presidentials was beautiful.
Jay Baxter
Jay Baxter
