Despite getting up at 4:30 AM I didnt make trailhead until about 9.30. Sometimes, seems the earlier I get up the later I get to the trailhead. Sort of bad Zen...
Fortunately, though, this is not a high traffic destination and it didnt really matter - unlike (I heard) the Falling Waters loop...
I knew the Presi's and Franconia Ridge would be mobbed, so I went for a lesser known hike.
No regrets! I had one f-i-n-e day!
The plan was to loop from the end of Mt Alton Road to Straightback , the Precipice Trail down, then up to Anna, then back down via the Red Trail.
I scouted out the trailhead the last time I was in the area, after hiking out on Jesus Valley Road. So I knew where I was going - the end of Alton Mountain Road. Part of the drive to the trailhead goes up a long hill ( "Alton Mountain" ??) and past some houses that overlook some great views of Alton Bay and the mountains north. Nice drive. Taxes probably aren't that nice ...
It's a little unclear where the end of Alton Mountain Road actually is. It appears to go past a house , but the road as it passes the house looks more like a road through a farmer's field, so I thought I'd just park at the obvious area near the last house. The trailhead that I wanted was there anyway - a junction of the road, and three snowmobile trails.
The trail I wanted headed toward Straightback & Mt Major, and off I went.
I shortly came upon a scarecrow ... or something. Cool. I love random works of art or caprice :)
Marveling for a moment, then moving on , I eventually came to a trail leading off in the right direction (i.e. left and uphill) , but no sign. Hmmm... to go or not ? It seemed right, so I decided to take it. This trail is a wide, washed out carriage road. Very gradual but steady climb. After what seemed a good long while, and passing an abandoned trail branching off this trail, it became clear that this was indeed the correct path, the "Blueberry Pasture Trail". That realization came as it broke out into a pasture just below the junction with the Straightback Trail. Yay!
The meadow was wonderful, no bugs and some nice sunny day views. But eventually I had to move on up Straightback.
I've been on this mountain several times and always liked it, but today it was just wonderful. Perhaps because I had time to just explore it. If you pass across it quickly, you see some nice views, but the mountaintop has lots of low scrub. So it seems relatively wooded. But if you have time to explore, there are lots of little ledgy outcrops that poke up here and there between the scrub and it is really quite nice. In some ways more interesting than an open ridgewalk. And the birds certainly love it. I heard more birdsong than anyplace in the Whites!
Crossing Straightback, I had difficulty finding the Precipice Trail. The modern map shows the trail as being at the junction with the Quarry Trail; the older Dave Roberts map shows the junction more accurately as being a short way beyond the Quarry junction. There is no sign and the junction is hidden. It took me a bit of casting around to locate *a* trail; I wasnt sure it was the correct one , but I took it. It turns out that this is by design. The original trailwright ( I was told by a friend) was concerned that the Precipice Path is too rough for some of the less experienced hikers that frequent the Belknaps. I think he was correct. It isn't too tough by White Mountain standards, but it is not like the more casual trails in the Belknaps either. It's little more than a herd path in a few places, and much steeper in places than most other trails.
I did eventually find that I had taken the correct trail. It is a faint, but adequate, trail with mostly good footing. A few spots require a bit of looking around to be sure of staying on trail, and there is no way to avoid wading thru vegetation in places. Some very pleasant woods and hardly any people. I did meet two fellows who were ascending, and they were sort of in the same boat I was in - not sure they were on the proper trail. Hopefully they found their way to their destination.
I eventually met a fellow named Allen, who was quite familiar with the area and who assured me I was where I should be. We chatted a bit, remarking on the incredible number of lady slippers out - so many we both had to give up taking pictures if we wanted to make any progress. He told me about some cross-connecting trails, that you had to look really closely to see. Interesting. Maybe some other time. This area has lots of old trails to explore!
Heading on down, the trail became quite steep with some rather bad footing as it followed the banks of a cascade brook. Not a lot of water flow, but a deep cut. Interesting in Spring, no doubt!
I had decided to try carrying my trusty point-and-shoot Canon today on my pack shoulder strap. I'm trying to be a little less obsessive these days ... so I did not do my usual multi-point lash to secure it. Just one velcro strap. Bad day to try for mental health <sigh> As i walked along the edge of the cascade I heard a distinct r-i-p sound, and then a clunk as my camera hit the ground. Followed by clunk-clunk-clunk-silence-splash as it rolled down the bank and leapt into a pool. Bummer. At least I had the presence of mind not to dive after it! Much too steep!
No amount of drying, cleaning, battery changing or ritual sacrifice was able to resurrect my beloved Canon Sx 120 :(
Alas! Only around 30K pics with it, it was just reaching maturity :(
By the time I got to it, it had gotten pretty soaked in its camera bag and was making funny sounds even though I'm sure I hadn't left it turned on. :(
Well, nothing to do about that but keep walking. So I did; and eventually had to decide whether to bail or try for the uphill swing of the Precipice Path and Mt Anna.
I decided I'd had enough and headed out. I was glad that I did. I was surprised that the road(snowmobile trail) walk back to my car was as far and as uphill as it was. Plus I got to have a very nice conversation with the owner of the house at the trailhead about everything from WWII to Gordon Lightfoot. Can't beat that :)
The final note of the day - When I drove out I stopped at Alton Bay to send a text message to my home base that I was out of the woods. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket ... and there was a tick wandering around on the leather cell phone case ! Arrgghh! Jump out of car, start pounding the tick into the tar ... and look up to realize an elderly couple was trying to pull into the space I was using for tick extermination ... looking at me very strangely :)
Then a bit of weirdness as I ripped off my shirt and began to inspect myself as closely as possible... while tourists were wandering by wondering what planet I was from :) ... perfect day!