rocksnrolls
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After the cancellation of the Mt Washington hike, Dougeh and I decided on a hike to Passaconaway. Looking for some downhill trailbreaking, we opted to descend the Walden Tr to Old Mast Road and got what we were looking for.
Starting off in the parking lot/skating rink, we decided on our intermediate traction, Doug in his stabilicers, and me in my microspikes. We were able to use these all the way to the summit as the trail is it's usual late-winter pavement. I've only descended Dicey's Mill, so it was nice to experience it as an ascent when my mind was still fresh enough to enjoy it's beauty.
There were quite a few people on that trail that day. We spent quite alot of time hiking along with Jody, whose friend had sped on to the summit without her. This would be her 13th 4K, but from the look of pure joy on her face at the viewpoint before the summit, I'm sure she will be adding many more to her collection in the future. We also met a group of three men who I guessed to be a multi-generation family group, and a large group of young adults on their way down from an earlier summiting.
The temps were quite moderate, so we spent alot of time changing layers and had to bundle up on the summit as the winds started to reach us through the trees. This was my 4th time on Passaconaway, though only the second time on the summit. I had turned back last winter after breaking trail up the Passaconaway Cut-off with una_dogger and MichaelJ, and the year before that after ascending the Wonalancet Range with a group including Amicus, Leaf, AndyF and Poison Ivy (IIRC) when we opted to forego the summit and just take the East Side to Dicey's. My previous time on the summit was during the classic loop first to Whiteface, so I was so wiped out I really didn't remember what the summit looked like. It was nice to experience the summit again with a fresher perspective. Our views from the two viewpoints we stopped at (leaving the .6 mi roundtrip to the northern view atop the slide for another day) were jaw-droppingly beautiful.
After enjoying the views we switched to ur snowshoes for the rest of th hike. From the summit we followed a single fresh snowshoe track down the steep start of the Walden Tr. Nearing the first junction, there was evidence of an earlier group that had been there, but I suspect they had not managed to climb the realy steep section to the summit as their tracks appeared to stop before it.
From that first junction we had a few old tracks to follow to the junction with the Square Ledge Tr, but those tracks then went up the SL Tr so we had finally found our unbroken trail. And what fun it was! It's a good climb up Nanamocamuck, steepish at first and then gradual along the small ridge. The very steep climb down was exillerating, just what I had hoped. Down in the col we encountered another single snowshoe track coming from the Hedgehog direction. The tracks did not go up the steep trail to Nanamocamuck but instead headed out into the bushwack we had considered doing, not sure if they continued all the way to Dicey's Mill or what. I have read there was a trail in this spot about a have century ago.
This snowshoer was a little lost down in the poorly blazed col and we decided to not follow it and instead located the blazes that led us to the steep climb up Wonalancet Hedgehog, eventually coming along that lone snowshoe track. When we reached the Wonalancet Tr junction I was very happy to see that the loner had come from that direction and we would have fresh snow to break over the Hedgehog.
The snow was deep but well-consolidated, with no crust so it was just about prefect snowshoing. We stopped at a couple of the viewpoints and passed by the summit boulder (I had scaled it on the previous trip and dougeh didn't care to try to scamble up it today). The viewpoint on the eastern side of the mountain was the best, with gorgeous vies of Paugus, Chocorua, and points north and east. Great view of the Green Hills, by the way.
From that viewpoint we had several succesively steeper downhill sections to deal with on our descent to The Four Way. We took turns going first and really had an awesome time. At the Four Way we stopped to snack and rehydrate before our final trail of the day, the very gentle Old Mast Rd. This trail was broken out by a snowshoe track up high, and lots of ski tracks after hitting the XC Ski Trail. We had 2 miles to go and failing light, but we put our heads down and booked it out, making it back to the cars without needing our headlamps, in less than 45 minutes.
We had planned to stop in Ashland at The Common Man for dinner but hey were packed, so we tried the Village Pizza and Grill a little further west and found it to be an excellent italian restaurant with mostly home-made food priced reasonably. Worth checking out if you're in the area.
Starting off in the parking lot/skating rink, we decided on our intermediate traction, Doug in his stabilicers, and me in my microspikes. We were able to use these all the way to the summit as the trail is it's usual late-winter pavement. I've only descended Dicey's Mill, so it was nice to experience it as an ascent when my mind was still fresh enough to enjoy it's beauty.
There were quite a few people on that trail that day. We spent quite alot of time hiking along with Jody, whose friend had sped on to the summit without her. This would be her 13th 4K, but from the look of pure joy on her face at the viewpoint before the summit, I'm sure she will be adding many more to her collection in the future. We also met a group of three men who I guessed to be a multi-generation family group, and a large group of young adults on their way down from an earlier summiting.
The temps were quite moderate, so we spent alot of time changing layers and had to bundle up on the summit as the winds started to reach us through the trees. This was my 4th time on Passaconaway, though only the second time on the summit. I had turned back last winter after breaking trail up the Passaconaway Cut-off with una_dogger and MichaelJ, and the year before that after ascending the Wonalancet Range with a group including Amicus, Leaf, AndyF and Poison Ivy (IIRC) when we opted to forego the summit and just take the East Side to Dicey's. My previous time on the summit was during the classic loop first to Whiteface, so I was so wiped out I really didn't remember what the summit looked like. It was nice to experience the summit again with a fresher perspective. Our views from the two viewpoints we stopped at (leaving the .6 mi roundtrip to the northern view atop the slide for another day) were jaw-droppingly beautiful.
After enjoying the views we switched to ur snowshoes for the rest of th hike. From the summit we followed a single fresh snowshoe track down the steep start of the Walden Tr. Nearing the first junction, there was evidence of an earlier group that had been there, but I suspect they had not managed to climb the realy steep section to the summit as their tracks appeared to stop before it.
From that first junction we had a few old tracks to follow to the junction with the Square Ledge Tr, but those tracks then went up the SL Tr so we had finally found our unbroken trail. And what fun it was! It's a good climb up Nanamocamuck, steepish at first and then gradual along the small ridge. The very steep climb down was exillerating, just what I had hoped. Down in the col we encountered another single snowshoe track coming from the Hedgehog direction. The tracks did not go up the steep trail to Nanamocamuck but instead headed out into the bushwack we had considered doing, not sure if they continued all the way to Dicey's Mill or what. I have read there was a trail in this spot about a have century ago.
This snowshoer was a little lost down in the poorly blazed col and we decided to not follow it and instead located the blazes that led us to the steep climb up Wonalancet Hedgehog, eventually coming along that lone snowshoe track. When we reached the Wonalancet Tr junction I was very happy to see that the loner had come from that direction and we would have fresh snow to break over the Hedgehog.
The snow was deep but well-consolidated, with no crust so it was just about prefect snowshoing. We stopped at a couple of the viewpoints and passed by the summit boulder (I had scaled it on the previous trip and dougeh didn't care to try to scamble up it today). The viewpoint on the eastern side of the mountain was the best, with gorgeous vies of Paugus, Chocorua, and points north and east. Great view of the Green Hills, by the way.
From that viewpoint we had several succesively steeper downhill sections to deal with on our descent to The Four Way. We took turns going first and really had an awesome time. At the Four Way we stopped to snack and rehydrate before our final trail of the day, the very gentle Old Mast Rd. This trail was broken out by a snowshoe track up high, and lots of ski tracks after hitting the XC Ski Trail. We had 2 miles to go and failing light, but we put our heads down and booked it out, making it back to the cars without needing our headlamps, in less than 45 minutes.
We had planned to stop in Ashland at The Common Man for dinner but hey were packed, so we tried the Village Pizza and Grill a little further west and found it to be an excellent italian restaurant with mostly home-made food priced reasonably. Worth checking out if you're in the area.
