docross
In Memoriam to a Deceased Member
AG and I set out to climb Middle Hitchcock, a NH HH peak and a thick BW by many accounts. Having heard that the terrain was somewhat "open" to the west of West Hitchcock, we set off from Lincoln Woods by the Pemi East Side trail.
After 1.0 mile we headed east on a bearing of 105. Initially the going was pretty easy, but by the time we got to 2100 feet, not only had the terrain become steeper, but blowdowns became thicker, and we repeatedly came up against "stick forests" of conifers whose lower branches were dead, but still had enough life in them to scratch up the faces and necks of bushwhackers.
By 2700 feet we decided it might be better to contour to the north toward the col between west and middle. This proved to be an unwise decision, as the BDs were now joined by jumbled moss-covered rocks with alarming chasms in between. I expected to see hungry predators lurking down in these holes.
We had left the trail shortly after 9, and by noon we still were slabbing away and still a quarter-mile from the col, with about 500 feet and half a mile to the summit of middle beyond that.
We decided at that point that discretion overrulled valor, and we headed uphill to the summit of West. The high point is a large birch, but we couldn't find a bottle anywhere. Finally Anne spotted it on the ground
; it had became detached from its moorings, yet the glass was still intact.
The last entry was from January 05, when 3 or 4 intrepid BWers had come in from the hairpin turn on the Kanc and gone over south, middle, and west. I can't remember all the names, but Poster Boy was one of them.
We attached the bottle to the large birch with parachute cord we just happened to have along, and then signed in. We elected to take a bearing of 275 for the trail. Boy was that wrong! Stick forests, annoying drainages loaded with BDs and hobblebush made the going as tough as the route in.
I think I will leave the Hitchcocks for the late winter, when consolidated snow may make a foray from the Kanc feasible. Oh well, no #83 for me today...
After 1.0 mile we headed east on a bearing of 105. Initially the going was pretty easy, but by the time we got to 2100 feet, not only had the terrain become steeper, but blowdowns became thicker, and we repeatedly came up against "stick forests" of conifers whose lower branches were dead, but still had enough life in them to scratch up the faces and necks of bushwhackers.
By 2700 feet we decided it might be better to contour to the north toward the col between west and middle. This proved to be an unwise decision, as the BDs were now joined by jumbled moss-covered rocks with alarming chasms in between. I expected to see hungry predators lurking down in these holes.
We had left the trail shortly after 9, and by noon we still were slabbing away and still a quarter-mile from the col, with about 500 feet and half a mile to the summit of middle beyond that.
We decided at that point that discretion overrulled valor, and we headed uphill to the summit of West. The high point is a large birch, but we couldn't find a bottle anywhere. Finally Anne spotted it on the ground
; it had became detached from its moorings, yet the glass was still intact.The last entry was from January 05, when 3 or 4 intrepid BWers had come in from the hairpin turn on the Kanc and gone over south, middle, and west. I can't remember all the names, but Poster Boy was one of them.
We attached the bottle to the large birch with parachute cord we just happened to have along, and then signed in. We elected to take a bearing of 275 for the trail. Boy was that wrong!
Stick forests, annoying drainages loaded with BDs and hobblebush made the going as tough as the route in.I think I will leave the Hitchcocks for the late winter, when consolidated snow may make a foray from the Kanc feasible. Oh well, no #83 for me today...
