May 23, 2009
I got a report from Larisa Dannis a few days ago that other than a few scattered patches of snow Whiteface and Passaconaway were clear. Sounds good to me. Madison needs these peaks so I have brought her along. I saw Dennis Penn in the parking lot. She was co-leading an AMC hike to Passaconaway. The only other familiar face I saw in the group was Stacy. Maddie and I headed off. In the interest of red-lining (hitting all the trails in the Whites) I took a slightly different route up. I decided to take the Blueberry Ledge Cutoff.
You would think you would save mileage with a cutoff but not in this case.
Whether I went left or right, it was 1.4 miles until the trails rejoined each other.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Up Maddie and I climbed until we came to a lookout.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shortly after this, the trail flattens for a few minutes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Then the fun scrambling began. I had to pick up Madison and lift her in a couple places.
Then the views started.
Looking east to Chocorua.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mount Passaconaway
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tight Squeeze
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Looking south from the the south summit of Whiteface
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Maddie on the south summit
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After a ten minute break for snacks and to enjoy the view. We were on the move again until we reached the true summit of Whiteface. This is White Mountain 4000 footer #28 for Madison.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mount Passaconaway from the Rollins Trail
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nasty section of trail up to Passaconaway
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Tripyramids from Passaconaway.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I caught up to the AMC group on the summit of Passaconaway. This was #29 for Madison. The AMC group headed down to the lookout .3 miles away. It was a great spot but would be crowded with the group there, so I went to the other lookout near the summit that faced Chocorua. I met two hikers who had come up separately. Bonnie and I believe the other was David. I decided to head down a new route for me and hit a couple more peaks along the way, so I took the Walden Trail
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After going over an unnamed bump the trail took a sharp drop and then a short, but very steep climb. I then took the Wonalancet Range Trail. I stood on a rock on the 2940' summit of Hibbard Mountain and got an OK view of Whiteface.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A couple more minutes down the trail, I got a view of Wonalancet, my next target.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I came to a shortcut which bypassed the summit.
Again, in the interest of redlining I wanted to hit both trails. I decided the most efficient way to do this was to leave my pack here, climb .4 miles to the summit, descend .4 miles on the other side, hike .4 miles up the shortcut from the otherside to this spot, pick up my pack, and rehike the .4 miles back down the shortcut. This way I could hit both trail, enjoy 1.2 miles of freedom hiking (no pack) and then just have .4 miles of backtracking. So up I went to the 2760' viewless summit of Wonalacent. Part way down the other side there was a nice view though.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Heading up the Short Cut back to my pack.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After retrieving my pack and rehiking the shortcut, Maddie and I hiked another 1.5 miles back to the parking lot. I finished in time to do another small hike like Tecumseh, but figured I better not. Why? I probably shouldn't have hiked at all today. Tomorrow I'm running in a 50k ultramarathon.
| 
