8 Hour Bushwhack+5 Hour Hike

Friday myself and Dr_wu decided to check out the old flagged route from Carrigain Bowl (Sawyer River) to the Captain and beyond, that I had run into about ten years ago while poking around in that area. We dropped a car off at the Nancy Pond TH, and drove to the barred end of Sawyer River road. We then hiked up the old logging roads to the far end of Carrigain Bowl (at least that's what are on the snomobilers trail signs). From there we whacked across to high up on the western slope of the bowl. Actually, the eastern edge of Hancock. After much climbing around we found the remains of the flagging that was there years ago. Some is so old that it is the original cotton twill used a long time ago. Anyway, the markings took us to the narrow flume which leads up to the verrry thick col between the Captain and Hancock. The flume was running very full of water so we couldn't climb up it as I had done those years ago. We bushwhack/scrambled up the left side and encountered spruce hell and continous blowdowns. We tried crossing to the other side of the stream, and found it worse. Since we had not been able to use the flume, we lost the flagging which runs right up the inside of the flume. Consequently we floundered around for hours getting up to the slopes of the Captain. By this time it was about 1:00 PM and we were about an hour from summiting the Captain. Had we continued on to that objective we would have been bushwhacking with headlamps or benighted, neither of which we considered desireable. We than decided to continue contouring around NE in hopes of hitting Carrigain Pond at least. At this point we had not seen any old logging drag roads. When we hit Carrigain Branch we were well below the pond and were pushing to hit a trail or decent drag road before dark. We finally hit a pretty good but well grown in drag road and followed it down and east for hours. Dark fell and the headlamps went on, still without hitting a trail. We were looking for Desolation Trail. At 5:05 we struck Desloation Trail after about half an hour of headlamp bushwhacking (not fun). We continued up over Carrigain notch to Signal Ridge Trail, back out to Sawyer Pond road and a nice weary roadwalk back to our car. We arrived back at the start at 10:05 PM, fourteen hours after we had started, neither bagging the Captain nor Carrigain Pond. Today as I sit here with this creaky sixty six year old body. I am already planning how my next assult on those objectives will be formulated. PS We left a car at Nancy in case we decided to come out that way.

Cheers all, The Hillwalker

For anyone that is wondering, the creaky 66-year old had just gotten over Lyme related illnesses and hadn't hiked in what? 4 months? His first hike out was about 18 miles, about 8 hours of that intense bushwhacking. We took 3 breaks about 5 minutes each the entire 14 hour day. It was pretty fun day.

-Dr. Wu

Does this flagged path cross the Hancock Notch Trail on the Sawyer River side? I saw some flagging quite a ways in there on a run this summer. BTW, you guys are crazy. I envy you.

nice! glad y'all made it back safe....even more glad another plan of assault is already in the works. good on ya mates!

was the flume really cool?

Flagging

To: KTILTON

I believe it might. Mmmm, must investigate, but not tomorrow.

Hey Guys,

Some friends and I tried the same basic bushwack attempt and had similar experiences a year or so ago. The weather was spectacular but it was a very rough day. We camped in the large open field that you must have walked through and made camp there on Friday night and then on Saturday night. We also discovered several large mud bogs down lower when trying to escape the heavy spruce growth when we made the attempt. It was a horrendous bushwack. We have been looking for other possible routes up to the top of the Captain and the pond and can't wait to try it again.

Glad you guys had a good time and made it out OK.

Keith

the starchild said:

nice! glad y'all made it back safe....even more glad another plan of assault is already in the works. good on ya mates!

was the flume really cool?

Click to expand...

Made it back safe!? We were fine the whole way... just frustrated with how long it was taking to find a trail. Basically, after the Hancock-Captain height-of-land, so long as you head NW/N/NE (and don't start going up any ridges) yer bounded by trails. Never any question as to where we were, just how God-Damn long it was taking! And then I knew that when we did find a trail we still had 9 miles to go. I can't wait to get back!! I'll post a few pictures later on.

-Dr. Wu

PS. Bushwhacking with headlamps is fun!!

Great trip report

I have a fever, and the only prescription is more bushwhacking!

Looks like it was a grand time.

ya that's a tough route. i spilled off the col and headed down that drainage on my first attempt of hancocks to carrigain whack!!

Whackin Fun

Back in Oct 1994, a fellow Whackin enthusiast & I decided it was time to visit the Captain. We had heard many stories about the protected summit of this remote jewel, but with most of the foliage off the trees, we decided to give it a try.

Like you, we started from the old logging road up in the Carrigain Bowl. We followed the brook drainage, and as the elevation started to increase dramatically, we headed westerly to gain the col between the Captain & the north / east side of the mass of South Hancock. Just before gaining the col, we too found remnants of old trail flagging, and it appeared to head off to the North. We wondered if it was a route to Carrigain Pond.

We continued a bit further north in the col to start our ascent of the Captain,
using a mostly East barring. It was thick, no question about it. It took a very long time to gain the summit "area". The few hundred feet elevation gain from the col to the summit area was an absolute struggle. We couldn't even see our feet in the tangled mess that is the resident vegetation of the summit We called it the summit area, as we located THREE canisters that day. Two of them had signs to accompany them. After crossing the summit area, still maintaining the Easterly direction, which isn't that difficult because it isn't a very large summit area, we dropped down into Carrigain Pond Col.

After crossing this Col, we were delighted to find much, much more open woods !!!! We changed our course of direction to a more North Easterly barring, as the terrain dictated, we then bushwhacked up to the summit of Carrigain. This section of our bushwhack was quite different from the Captain section, as the woods were wonderfully open, kind of like that up in the Pliny - Waumbek area. After we gained the summit of Carrigain we decided not to visit Vose Spur on this day, as we had heard the terrain between those 2 summits could be very thick too. We descended via the Signal Ridge Trail.

My companion always kept very detailed records, and when I looked this up today, I found she had recorded our total trip time as 8 hrs for approx 13.2 miles.

We also had a very similar after dark bushwhack experience over in the other side of the neighborhood earlier that month, in the Whiteface Brook area. There are tons of old logging roads in that terrain, which can be very interesting to follow.

Captain

Nice!!! Thanx's for a very informative wack report........That's a wack!!!!!!!!!MJ

That's quite the epic adventure you guys had! Not an easy peak...

The good news is that Hillwalker has recovered enough to attempt things like this. Health is far more important than summiting ANY peak....

dr_wu002 said:

Made it back safe!? We were fine the whole way... just frustrated with how long it was taking to find a trail.......
PS. Bushwhacking with headlamps is fun!!

Click to expand...

naw dude, i didn't mean it like that! No doubt y'all were all good I was worried cuz i just remember that whack at night and almost hiking into this doozy of a pond. And i don't remember ever seeing a VFTT thread about fording a stream flowing like this!!

that flume still sounds sweeeeet!

Little Flume

TO: Starchild, The flume is about 8 feet wide by about ten feet deep maximum. It is entered at the lower end just as it drops steeply down the mountainside. When I first took it ten years it was a very dry Fall, and had been below freezing so any water was the solid kind. The flagging (very tiny strips) was tied to branches and logs that had fallen across the flume walls. You ended up scrambling over ledges and boulders to keep in the middle. Eventually the flagging left the flume once you passed the height of land. The col up there is very boggy and thick with spruce and blowdowns. Actually the flume is the only efficient way to gain any distance. Once you are on the down slope facing NW, the woods open up slightly. There once was a fairly mature birch forest up there, but they have all died and the spruce have created about a fifteen foot tall understory that is very dense. As you worm your way through that area, it's weird seeing all the large dead birch trees standing over you. I would estimate the birches at about ten inches in diameter. Considering the time frame that this area was logged in, the birches were the replacement growth for the logging, and are now being replaced by the spruce again. It was dull and misting all day. Not the kind of day to just sit and study the forest. Next Spring I am going back in for a couple of days just to get a more complete feel for the area. Hopefully I will find a time window that fits after the snow is gone, but before the black flies enter the scene again.

Wow!!! What a great TR! Sounds like you guys had quite an adventure. It sounds cool but, I'm not jealous!!!

I'm glad I decided not to call in sick and join you guys on this one! What a day that must have been! I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.

-MEB

Hillwalker said:

We bushwhack/scrambled up the left side and encountered spruce hell and continous blowdowns. We tried crossing to the other side of the stream, and found it worse.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a day in the Dacks!
I have to admit, I've never bushwhacked with headlamps.
That was a real butt kicker all right.

Hillwalker said:

TO: Starchild, The flume is about 8 feet wide by about ten feet deep maximum. It is entered at the lower end just as it drops steeply down the mountainside. When I first took it ten years it was a very dry Fall, and had been below freezing so any water was the solid kind. The flagging (very tiny strips) was tied to branches and logs that had fallen across the flume walls. You ended up scrambling over ledges and boulders to keep in the middle. Eventually the flagging left the flume once you passed the height of land. The col up there is very boggy and thick with spruce and blowdowns. Actually the flume is the only efficient way to gain any distance. Once you are on the down slope facing NW, the woods open up slightly. There once was a fairly mature birch forest up there, but they have all died and the spruce have created about a fifteen foot tall understory that is very dense. As you worm your way through that area, it's weird seeing all the large dead birch trees standing over you. I would estimate the birches at about ten inches in diameter. Considering the time frame that this area was logged in, the birches were the replacement growth for the logging, and are now being replaced by the spruce again. It was dull and misting all day. Not the kind of day to just sit and study the forest. Next Spring I am going back in for a couple of days just to get a more complete feel for the area. Hopefully I will find a time window that fits after the snow is gone, but before the black flies enter the scene again.

Click to expand...

did it look like this?????
http://community.webshots.com/photo/82837699/82841161iDivqy
http://community.webshots.com/photo/82837699/82841268pdSDOB
http://community.webshots.com/photo/82837699/82840738wWQOAR
http://community.webshots.com/photo/82837699/82840563xFTIpi
http://community.webshots.com/photo/82837699/82840976kwLQTQ
those are all shots i took of the route you're talkin' about!!

Deja Vue

Or Vue ja De, Yup that's it. From the look of the places where the terrain and vegetation created a natural funnel, that route gets more traffic than one would think. I've always wondered if there is really anywhere in the Whites that has never been trod by humans in the past century or so.

it was dry when i went by in june a few years ago. i went right down it from the col it was really thick both sides. i personally don't like walkin' drainages, i always find them to be really difficult,thick,bad footin' wet,with billygoat hills on both sides. i'd much rather whack ridges or just under them. i bailed at the col cause i was tired and i thought it was gonna be an easy exit,well after whackin' from the hancocks to carrigain on the second try,i think it would've been easier just to continue on to carrigain!!