albee
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I had an interesting pair of hikes on Sunday and I thought I would share some details with anyone that might be interested. I had spent the night at a friend's bachelor party in Crawford Notch Campground the night before, and while my friends were driving home with hangovers, I was pounding some nearby trails with a clear head and an ambitious itinerary.
By the time everyone had said their good-byes and gone on their seperate ways, it was after 10:00. I took a short drive down to the Nancy Pond trail and geared up for a quick trip up 3,724' Mount Bemis. This hike starts on the Nancy Pond trail. I slowly jogged many of the flattest sections and got to the crossing of Nancy Brook in 30 minutes. From here, the old Fire Warden's trail diverges to the right and climbs up to the main southeast ridge of Bemis. It is in surprisingly good shape for a trail that hasn't been officially maintained for about 15 years. There was a lot of grass growing on the treadway, one section of ferns, and a couple small patches of spruce starting to reclaim the trail. There were a few blowdowns here and there, but nothing that evasive maneuvers and long, limber limbs couldn't get around. About one third of the way up the ridge there is a large flattish rocky outcrop on the side of the trail. From here you can sit and gaze out at Mt Crawford, Mt Stairs, and most of the Montalban Ridge all the way up to My Washington. It is a nice spot.
I followed the old trail for 30 minutes to a section of blowdowns. When I did this hike in late December with over a foot of unbroken snow, these blowdowns were challenging as I had to wriggle under some and climb over others while wearing snowshoes. This time around, it took exactly 4 minutes to hop over a couple and crawl under about a half-dozen more. No sweat! The trail crosses back into some woods with a couple more easily managed blowdowns and then climbs up to "Bemis Meadow", a big patch of blueberry bushes, wildflowers, and low scrubby growth. The trail is easy to follow here, although you may want to wear gaiters here if you don't like the bushes rubbing against your shins. The views from this area were spectacular, stretching southeast past Mt Tremont and all the way to Chocorua.
I began my final climb up to the old firetower and about halfway up I was startled to see someone coming towards me! I wasn't expecting to see anyone else since Bemis is usually only done by people working on the NHHH list - the trail isn't listed on any recent maps so it isn't well known. My interceptor was a USFS Ranger named Peter who was inspecting the trail for signs of illegal maintenance. I stopped to chat with him and ended up spending almost half an hour discussing various mountains and the WMNF's policies on the use of the Bemis Fire Warden's trail. He told me that the old timbers from the fire tower had been soaked with Creosote and that it was very hazardous if anyone were to cut themselves on them. I told him that it was my second time up there and that I had kicked a couple rotting blowdowns out of my way. Good thing I didn't have a saw or a brush axe on me! He just reiterated the policy of leaving everything where it lays since the fire tower is a health hazard and they want as few people as possible accessing the site. We parted ways and I quickly made it up to the toppled remains of the tower. The trail was covered with more debris than I remembered back in December, so I suspect that the ranger had been brushing it in from the top down. It was still as easy to follow as I remembered, but I didn't clear anything off it as I didn't want to get myself fined.
At the fire tower, there were a couple nearby clearings that offered obstructed views to the east and north, but not as much as I could see when standing on the snow back in December. It had gotten overcast, so that was limiting things as well. I poked around but I couldn't find the register, just as I didn't see it in December. I recalled looking out across a small sag and seeing another bump about 50 yards to the southwest. I bushwhacked over to the other bump and inspected all the high points, but didn't find the cannister. My altimeter showed it to be about 10' higher than the firetower bump, but all I found was a tree with three branches that were obviously worn from people climbing it to have a look around. I climbed the official Bemis Summit Lookout Tree and didn't see any other prominent bumps other than Mt Nancy, half a mile away. I 'whacked back to the fire tower and as I was about to leave I spotter the cannister mounted right there on a tree that I must have walked right by. I might have even leaned on that very tree last winter without finding the register. I signed in, and noted that other people also considered the other bump to be the "true summit", so I was happy I had made the extra effort.
I descended from the summit much quicker than the climb had taken me. I think the climb had taken me 90 minutes, not counting my conversation with the ranger. I bushwhacked around for 40 minutes while looking for the true summit. After I got back to the fire tower, I negotiated the blowdown maze and ran as much of the downhill as I could and made it all the way back to my car in 53 minutes. Not bad for 2,600'+ of elevation!
After that hike, I stopped at the Highland Center to wash some of the sweat off and refill my water bottle. I had been itching to hike South Hale for a few weeks, so I drove over to the Hale Brook Trail on Zealand Road for the start of my second hike of the day. When I got out of the car, I could feel in the air that it was very likely to rain at some point in the afternoon. I decided to go as quick as I could and see how far I made it before it started to rain. I was prepared for the worst, but I really didn't want to bushwhack in the rain if possible.
I headed for the summit of Hale first, so I could get a good look at South Hale on the way down and plan my approach. Since I was nice and warmed up, I didn't need any breaks and I cruised the 2.3 miles and 2,200' of elevation gain to the rockpile on the summit in just under 46 minutes! I was really impressed with myself as I expected it to take me an hour and book time is 2:15! I had a snack and wound my way down the Lend-A-Hand trail to the boggy section just northeast of South Hale. I had noted that there was a long L-shaped ridge and the highest point was farther down the ridge than I would have liked. I skirted around the bog but still managed to get both of my feet wet. It wasn't bad - not muddy or anything, just moist. I 'whacked through some semi-open woods and around a couple large boulders and before long I found a great herdpath that took me through some really open woods and to the top of the first bump on the ridge. No cannister. I followed the ridgeline past a sag and to the second bump. Still no cannister. The next sag was deeper and filled with young spruce trees. 20 minutes after leaving the LAH trail, I reached the third bump on the ridge and found the cannister. Piece of cake! I signed in and read a number of the register entries.
At that point I decided to not waste any more time and get myself back to the trail so I could get out of there before it rained. In retrospect, I should have taken a compas bearing since I followed the wrong ridge and ended up dropping off more to the east than I would have preferred. The good part was that I completely avoided the bog and I made it to the LAH trail farther along. The bad part was that it had taken me 25 minutes longer to get back to the trail than it had to find the cannister. I ran as much of this trail as I could on my way down to Zealand Falls, including hopping along on all the bog bridges and exposed rocks and roots. This was my third time down this trail but my first time on it without snowshoes. I got to the hut in about 20 minutes and refilled my water. After slowly making my way down the rocky trail to Zealand Falls, I got a chance to run almost all the way down the Zealand Trail. I stopped to admire the scenery at most of the little bridges that I came to, and at one of them I found a bull moose in the bushes just off the trail. He did his best white-tailed deer impression and leapt through the tall grass and out of sight when he finally saw me. I ran down the rest of the trail looking for signs of more moose of even bear, but no such luck. When I got to the road I could see that a thunderstorm was gathering and my luck was about to run out. I picked up speed as I headed downhill toward my car, but for the last 2 minutes and 15 seconds of my "hike" the skies opened up on me and I got drenched. I guess I'm just not fast enough. The whole hike took 3:35 for about 10.5 miles. It was a productive and satisfying day.
By the time everyone had said their good-byes and gone on their seperate ways, it was after 10:00. I took a short drive down to the Nancy Pond trail and geared up for a quick trip up 3,724' Mount Bemis. This hike starts on the Nancy Pond trail. I slowly jogged many of the flattest sections and got to the crossing of Nancy Brook in 30 minutes. From here, the old Fire Warden's trail diverges to the right and climbs up to the main southeast ridge of Bemis. It is in surprisingly good shape for a trail that hasn't been officially maintained for about 15 years. There was a lot of grass growing on the treadway, one section of ferns, and a couple small patches of spruce starting to reclaim the trail. There were a few blowdowns here and there, but nothing that evasive maneuvers and long, limber limbs couldn't get around. About one third of the way up the ridge there is a large flattish rocky outcrop on the side of the trail. From here you can sit and gaze out at Mt Crawford, Mt Stairs, and most of the Montalban Ridge all the way up to My Washington. It is a nice spot.
I followed the old trail for 30 minutes to a section of blowdowns. When I did this hike in late December with over a foot of unbroken snow, these blowdowns were challenging as I had to wriggle under some and climb over others while wearing snowshoes. This time around, it took exactly 4 minutes to hop over a couple and crawl under about a half-dozen more. No sweat! The trail crosses back into some woods with a couple more easily managed blowdowns and then climbs up to "Bemis Meadow", a big patch of blueberry bushes, wildflowers, and low scrubby growth. The trail is easy to follow here, although you may want to wear gaiters here if you don't like the bushes rubbing against your shins. The views from this area were spectacular, stretching southeast past Mt Tremont and all the way to Chocorua.
I began my final climb up to the old firetower and about halfway up I was startled to see someone coming towards me! I wasn't expecting to see anyone else since Bemis is usually only done by people working on the NHHH list - the trail isn't listed on any recent maps so it isn't well known. My interceptor was a USFS Ranger named Peter who was inspecting the trail for signs of illegal maintenance. I stopped to chat with him and ended up spending almost half an hour discussing various mountains and the WMNF's policies on the use of the Bemis Fire Warden's trail. He told me that the old timbers from the fire tower had been soaked with Creosote and that it was very hazardous if anyone were to cut themselves on them. I told him that it was my second time up there and that I had kicked a couple rotting blowdowns out of my way. Good thing I didn't have a saw or a brush axe on me! He just reiterated the policy of leaving everything where it lays since the fire tower is a health hazard and they want as few people as possible accessing the site. We parted ways and I quickly made it up to the toppled remains of the tower. The trail was covered with more debris than I remembered back in December, so I suspect that the ranger had been brushing it in from the top down. It was still as easy to follow as I remembered, but I didn't clear anything off it as I didn't want to get myself fined.
At the fire tower, there were a couple nearby clearings that offered obstructed views to the east and north, but not as much as I could see when standing on the snow back in December. It had gotten overcast, so that was limiting things as well. I poked around but I couldn't find the register, just as I didn't see it in December. I recalled looking out across a small sag and seeing another bump about 50 yards to the southwest. I bushwhacked over to the other bump and inspected all the high points, but didn't find the cannister. My altimeter showed it to be about 10' higher than the firetower bump, but all I found was a tree with three branches that were obviously worn from people climbing it to have a look around. I climbed the official Bemis Summit Lookout Tree and didn't see any other prominent bumps other than Mt Nancy, half a mile away. I 'whacked back to the fire tower and as I was about to leave I spotter the cannister mounted right there on a tree that I must have walked right by. I might have even leaned on that very tree last winter without finding the register. I signed in, and noted that other people also considered the other bump to be the "true summit", so I was happy I had made the extra effort.
I descended from the summit much quicker than the climb had taken me. I think the climb had taken me 90 minutes, not counting my conversation with the ranger. I bushwhacked around for 40 minutes while looking for the true summit. After I got back to the fire tower, I negotiated the blowdown maze and ran as much of the downhill as I could and made it all the way back to my car in 53 minutes. Not bad for 2,600'+ of elevation!
After that hike, I stopped at the Highland Center to wash some of the sweat off and refill my water bottle. I had been itching to hike South Hale for a few weeks, so I drove over to the Hale Brook Trail on Zealand Road for the start of my second hike of the day. When I got out of the car, I could feel in the air that it was very likely to rain at some point in the afternoon. I decided to go as quick as I could and see how far I made it before it started to rain. I was prepared for the worst, but I really didn't want to bushwhack in the rain if possible.
I headed for the summit of Hale first, so I could get a good look at South Hale on the way down and plan my approach. Since I was nice and warmed up, I didn't need any breaks and I cruised the 2.3 miles and 2,200' of elevation gain to the rockpile on the summit in just under 46 minutes! I was really impressed with myself as I expected it to take me an hour and book time is 2:15! I had a snack and wound my way down the Lend-A-Hand trail to the boggy section just northeast of South Hale. I had noted that there was a long L-shaped ridge and the highest point was farther down the ridge than I would have liked. I skirted around the bog but still managed to get both of my feet wet. It wasn't bad - not muddy or anything, just moist. I 'whacked through some semi-open woods and around a couple large boulders and before long I found a great herdpath that took me through some really open woods and to the top of the first bump on the ridge. No cannister. I followed the ridgeline past a sag and to the second bump. Still no cannister. The next sag was deeper and filled with young spruce trees. 20 minutes after leaving the LAH trail, I reached the third bump on the ridge and found the cannister. Piece of cake! I signed in and read a number of the register entries.
At that point I decided to not waste any more time and get myself back to the trail so I could get out of there before it rained. In retrospect, I should have taken a compas bearing since I followed the wrong ridge and ended up dropping off more to the east than I would have preferred. The good part was that I completely avoided the bog and I made it to the LAH trail farther along. The bad part was that it had taken me 25 minutes longer to get back to the trail than it had to find the cannister. I ran as much of this trail as I could on my way down to Zealand Falls, including hopping along on all the bog bridges and exposed rocks and roots. This was my third time down this trail but my first time on it without snowshoes. I got to the hut in about 20 minutes and refilled my water. After slowly making my way down the rocky trail to Zealand Falls, I got a chance to run almost all the way down the Zealand Trail. I stopped to admire the scenery at most of the little bridges that I came to, and at one of them I found a bull moose in the bushes just off the trail. He did his best white-tailed deer impression and leapt through the tall grass and out of sight when he finally saw me. I ran down the rest of the trail looking for signs of more moose of even bear, but no such luck. When I got to the road I could see that a thunderstorm was gathering and my luck was about to run out. I picked up speed as I headed downhill toward my car, but for the last 2 minutes and 15 seconds of my "hike" the skies opened up on me and I got drenched. I guess I'm just not fast enough. The whole hike took 3:35 for about 10.5 miles. It was a productive and satisfying day.
