A One Photo Report: Getting My View of “The Captain”

OK . . . call it an obsession, or a fixation, or a fascination, or whatever! But, I’ve been on this personal mission to find a good viewpoint of “The Captain”. I had other plans for Friday (28-Aug) that didn’t materialize and so I took the opportunity to continue my quest.

Since it was already approaching noon, I had to quickly check GoogleEarth, gather some elevation data, etc, and print off some maps. Then, I loaded up my mountain bike and headed off to the trailhead at the end of Sawyer River Road. From the trailhead, I rode my bike to the end of the forest road that heads off in a northwesterly direction toward “The Captain”. Once at the end of the road, I ditched my bike in the woods and headed off on-foot along a bootleg trail which I’m told is used by rock climbers to access “The Captain”. I followed the bootleg trail for about 45 minutes and then bushwhacked for about another 45 minutes to a small ledge located at about 2600 ft elevation on the northern wall of the ravine where “The Captain” resides.

Although there might still be even better spots to view and photograph “The Captain”, I’m satisfied with the results of today’s adventure. And so, this particular quest ends (at least for now!).

The photo below shows the view of “The Captain” that I was able to capture. I’m truly not fishing for praise for the image I captured.
My intent is merely to share it with you since there are so few photos that are posted of this particular spot in the Whites.


1HappyHiker

Very nice!

Well Done!

As a fellow seeker of beautiful and exotic viewpoints, I salute you!

It looks like a well spent effort. Ya done good m'boy!

Brian

Great shot; many thanks. Albeit from a much longer distance, we had a good if hazy view of the Captain from the top of Potash Mountain this past Tuesday. Also from the ledges on the south side of Potash, we had good views of the old slide route (trail pre-1960) on the north side of Passaconaway. I had never hiked either Hedgehog or Potash until this summer.

I need to do some research on rock climbing routes on the Captain.

Wow! Great job, John!! That forest road is a real beauty for a "trail that is not a trail". Good vantage from that ledge!

I am curious if you can see the little slide coming down the west side of Signal Ridge from that perch?

NeoAkela said:

Wow! Great job, John!! That forest road is a real beauty for a "trail that is not a trail". Good vantage from that ledge!

I am curious if you can see the little slide coming down the west side of Signal Ridge from that perch?

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Chris, I couldn’t see any part of Signal Ridge from the spot where I took the snapshot of The Captain. However, from looking at GoogleEarth, it appears that there might be a spot about 0.2 mile further north where one might possibly get a view of the area I think you’re referring to.

Access looks pretty easy from your vantage point, which is not exactly what anyone's reported using that route. Do you have any ambitions to climb it? Pat and I haven't really tried, though we did walk a ways up the Carrigain Branch from Stillwater. I've heard that it's a bear as you get clsoer to Carrigain Pond.

audrey said:

Access looks pretty easy from your vantage point, which is not exactly what anyone's reported using that route. Do you have any ambitions to climb it?

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Audrey, I agree that access to The Captain does indeed look relatively easy from the vantage point where the photo was taken. However, as the saying goes “looks can be deceiving”!

Regarding the second part of your comment, I have no current ambitions to whack to The Captain. To me, it’s one of things like a work of art. You can admire its beauty without actually touching it.

Beautiful photo of the Captain. I've seen it from a few places...including Potash and Hedgehog. But you got a real close shot of it! Awesome.

Nice, John!
We admired it from the old slide route last week but from so much farther away.
It can be seen from Signal Ridge (on tiptoes) in a couple of spots but nothing like your in-your-face shot. Are you sure you don't want to climb it ?

I saw your photo in the Concord Monitor (Wed. Sept. 2), on page B3!! It is an awesome photo, and others must also agree.

Congratulations!

Awesome shot of the seldom-seen mountain...nice job finding such a nice view of it as well!

happy trails

Thank you everyone for your kind comments . . . very much appreciated!

And also, Betsy thanks for making me aware that the photo was published in the Concord Monitor. I’ll have to swing by my local Irving station to see if I can still pick up a copy of the September 2nd edition.

1HappyHiker said:

Thank you everyone for your kind comments . . . very much appreciated!

And also, Betsy thanks for making me aware that the photo was published in the Concord Monitor. I’ll have to swing by my local Irving station to see if I can still pick up a copy of the September 2nd edition.

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I missed it. Congrats on having it published. It is a good pic.

Keith

1HappyHiker said:

And also, Betsy thanks for making me aware that the photo was published in the Concord Monitor. I’ll have to swing by my local Irving station to see if I can still pick up a copy of the September 2nd edition.

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I still have a copy; we haven't gone to the dump!! PM me if you want me to send it.

Jabberwalk said:

I still have a copy; we haven't gone to the dump!! PM me if you want me to send it.

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I was able to locate a copy. But, thank you Betsy . . . that was very kind of you to offer!