This was a solo traverse from Crawford Notch to the Sawyer Pond Trailhead on the Kanc.
Start: Saturday, 11:20 am 16June2012, Avalon Trailhead, Crawford Notch
End: Sunday, 7:20 am 17June2012, Sawyer Pond Trailhead on Kancamagus Highway
4000 footers: Tom, Field, Willey, Carrigain
Trails: Avalon Tr., A-Z Tr., Mt. Tom Spur, Willey Range Tr., Ethan Pond Tr., Shoal Pond Tr., Carrigain Notch Tr., Desolation Tr., Signal Ridge Tr., Carrigain Brook Road, Sawyer River Road, Sawyer Pond Tr.
Distance: 28.2 miles
Elevation gain: 7416’
Time hiking (including short stops): 11:00
Time stopped to cook/camp: 9:00
Starting logistics: I left Cape Cod at 4:15 am, drove to the Crawford Notch, stashed my pack, drove to the Sawyer Pond Trailhead on the Kanc, left the car, biked 25 miles back to the Crawford Notch via Bear Notch Rd., stashed the bike, retrieved the pack, and was finally hiking about 7 hours after leaving home.
The bike ride from the Kanc to Crawford Notch took about 2 hours. Bear Notch road was repaved a few years ago, so it’s mostly very smooth although a few frost heaves or root bulges are starting to bubble up in places. The only unpleasant part of the ride was the narrow temporary bridge at the Rt. 302 Hurricane Irene washout, where I biked as fast as I could hoping cars didn’t suddenly appear from both directions. The new bridge looks complete, but work to connect it up to the road seems to have ceased. Why?
The blackflies were irritating at the top of Mt. Tom, and the head net came out for the first time on the hike. Then over to Field and Willey, with a great view over Crawford notch from the east side of Willey. The trail down Willey on the Willey Range Tr. is very steep, and a few parts were more or less an eroding gully. Some very difficult trail engineering is needed to get these sections stabilized. The Ethan Pond Tr. is in good shape, with well-maintained bog bridges over extensive boggy stretches. The Shoal Pont Tr., entering the Pemi Wilderness, is completely different. This lightly-traveled trail has extensive muddy sections with bog bridges in advanced stages of decay (although the feet can be kept mostly dry with careful work), and sections of trail with overgrown vegetation that wouldn’t be much fun when wet (although it wasn’t). Also, despite major recent effort to chop out blowdowns by hand (as required in an official wilderness), there are still a lot needing to be cut (although mostly easy to step over). The deer flies were out here, so I tried to get through it as quickly as possible. The Shoal Pond Tr. ends with a ford of E. Branch of the Pemi to reach Still Water Junction, and on this day keeping the feet dry by rock hopping was not possible. A remnant concrete block suggests there used to be a bridge here—how long ago?
The climb up Carrigain on the Desolation Tr. is a tough 2464’ climb in only 1.9 miles, but it was clouding over and cool so not too bad. But no views at the top from the fire tower platform, where, about 40 yrs ago, I slept in the then-enclosed fire tower on a backpacking trip with my Dad, and got up in the middle of the night to see the northern lights. It was good to be back to one of the places that first sparked my love for the mountains.
The hike down Carrigain on the Signal Ridge Tr. was much more gently graded than the hike up, and when I reached the Carrigain Brook crossing at about 8:00 pm I stopped to cook dinner. Then I hiked a short distance down the old Carrigain Brook Road shortcut before finding a backcountry spot to camp. Mosquitos were out in significant numbers, making camp setup a frantic rush. The drone of mosquitos carried on all night outside the netting of my bivy sack, and woe to any body part that happened to touch the netting.
Got started again around 5 am the next morning, finishing up the Carrigain Brook Road (pretty passable for an unofficial trail) with a ford of Carrigain Brook (no way to rock hop) to reach Sawyer River Rd. The footbridge over Sawyer River to get started on the Sawyer Pond Tr. is officially closed due to H. Irene undermining of the concrete footing on the north side, but it really doesn’t look like is going to collapse anytime soon. Hopefully it gets repaired and not removed because Sawyer River might be a tough ford at times.
Easy footing and gentle grades took me the remaining 6 miles to the Kanc, with some pretty hardwoods and hemlock forests, and just one very wet section where a stream is taking over the trail. The trail ends with a 2-3 feet deep ford of the Swift River (where it isn’t very swift). Finished up at 7:20a, spotted a VFTT sticker in the parking lot, and got back to Crawford Notch in time for breakfast before retrieving my bike.
Start: Saturday, 11:20 am 16June2012, Avalon Trailhead, Crawford Notch
End: Sunday, 7:20 am 17June2012, Sawyer Pond Trailhead on Kancamagus Highway
4000 footers: Tom, Field, Willey, Carrigain
Trails: Avalon Tr., A-Z Tr., Mt. Tom Spur, Willey Range Tr., Ethan Pond Tr., Shoal Pond Tr., Carrigain Notch Tr., Desolation Tr., Signal Ridge Tr., Carrigain Brook Road, Sawyer River Road, Sawyer Pond Tr.
Distance: 28.2 miles
Elevation gain: 7416’
Time hiking (including short stops): 11:00
Time stopped to cook/camp: 9:00
Starting logistics: I left Cape Cod at 4:15 am, drove to the Crawford Notch, stashed my pack, drove to the Sawyer Pond Trailhead on the Kanc, left the car, biked 25 miles back to the Crawford Notch via Bear Notch Rd., stashed the bike, retrieved the pack, and was finally hiking about 7 hours after leaving home.
The bike ride from the Kanc to Crawford Notch took about 2 hours. Bear Notch road was repaved a few years ago, so it’s mostly very smooth although a few frost heaves or root bulges are starting to bubble up in places. The only unpleasant part of the ride was the narrow temporary bridge at the Rt. 302 Hurricane Irene washout, where I biked as fast as I could hoping cars didn’t suddenly appear from both directions. The new bridge looks complete, but work to connect it up to the road seems to have ceased. Why?
The blackflies were irritating at the top of Mt. Tom, and the head net came out for the first time on the hike. Then over to Field and Willey, with a great view over Crawford notch from the east side of Willey. The trail down Willey on the Willey Range Tr. is very steep, and a few parts were more or less an eroding gully. Some very difficult trail engineering is needed to get these sections stabilized. The Ethan Pond Tr. is in good shape, with well-maintained bog bridges over extensive boggy stretches. The Shoal Pont Tr., entering the Pemi Wilderness, is completely different. This lightly-traveled trail has extensive muddy sections with bog bridges in advanced stages of decay (although the feet can be kept mostly dry with careful work), and sections of trail with overgrown vegetation that wouldn’t be much fun when wet (although it wasn’t). Also, despite major recent effort to chop out blowdowns by hand (as required in an official wilderness), there are still a lot needing to be cut (although mostly easy to step over). The deer flies were out here, so I tried to get through it as quickly as possible. The Shoal Pond Tr. ends with a ford of E. Branch of the Pemi to reach Still Water Junction, and on this day keeping the feet dry by rock hopping was not possible. A remnant concrete block suggests there used to be a bridge here—how long ago?
The climb up Carrigain on the Desolation Tr. is a tough 2464’ climb in only 1.9 miles, but it was clouding over and cool so not too bad. But no views at the top from the fire tower platform, where, about 40 yrs ago, I slept in the then-enclosed fire tower on a backpacking trip with my Dad, and got up in the middle of the night to see the northern lights. It was good to be back to one of the places that first sparked my love for the mountains.
The hike down Carrigain on the Signal Ridge Tr. was much more gently graded than the hike up, and when I reached the Carrigain Brook crossing at about 8:00 pm I stopped to cook dinner. Then I hiked a short distance down the old Carrigain Brook Road shortcut before finding a backcountry spot to camp. Mosquitos were out in significant numbers, making camp setup a frantic rush. The drone of mosquitos carried on all night outside the netting of my bivy sack, and woe to any body part that happened to touch the netting.
Got started again around 5 am the next morning, finishing up the Carrigain Brook Road (pretty passable for an unofficial trail) with a ford of Carrigain Brook (no way to rock hop) to reach Sawyer River Rd. The footbridge over Sawyer River to get started on the Sawyer Pond Tr. is officially closed due to H. Irene undermining of the concrete footing on the north side, but it really doesn’t look like is going to collapse anytime soon. Hopefully it gets repaired and not removed because Sawyer River might be a tough ford at times.
Easy footing and gentle grades took me the remaining 6 miles to the Kanc, with some pretty hardwoods and hemlock forests, and just one very wet section where a stream is taking over the trail. The trail ends with a 2-3 feet deep ford of the Swift River (where it isn’t very swift). Finished up at 7:20a, spotted a VFTT sticker in the parking lot, and got back to Crawford Notch in time for breakfast before retrieving my bike.
