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| APC on Blueberry Ledge Trail |
In mid-May, day break in the White Mountains comes early... REALLY early. So for this year's trip to the North Country, we made a habit of setting our internal alarms for a 4 AM rise. For our first hike of this trip, we needed the extra time. The drive to Ferncroft from our usual base of operations -- the Kancamagus Lodge in Lincoln -- was quite a long one. After encountering a closed Dunkin Donuts in Lincoln (they open at 5 AM) and negotiating a few wrong turns trying to find route 113 (the exits on 93 have been changed since the Steven Smith's book was published), we finally made it to the Ferncroft parking area at 6:15 AM. One car in the lot already. Failure. We always want to be the first ones out.
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| Rock Hopping... Before Gaiter Fail |
Whiteface and Passaconaway are among the smallest of the 4,000 footers, but by no means are they the easiest... especially if you approach by way of the Blueberry Ledge Trail. It's a real monster, with lots of rock scrambles and hand-over-hand climbing along the way. The
WM Guide even calls it one of the toughest trails in the whites. Although it was our first 4,000 footer climb of the year, we took advantage of the (relatively) early start and beautiful weather to make quick work of peak number one -- Mount Whiteface.
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| Scaling the Blueberry Ledge Trail |
My second pair of OR gaiters -- the ones that I had been given by the company after a first pair blew out -- got shredded on the rock scrambling parts of the trail, which require one to stow trekking poles and have both hands free. We'll see if they come through with a second replacement.
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| Open rocks, Below Whiteface Summit |
We lunched near the Whiteface summit and then pressed on to the less-than-impressive Passaconaway summit, which is little more than a small cairn just off the trail. Despite the absence of a summit view, it was cool to look down on Mount Hedgehog from a nearby viewpoint. Not wanting to descend down the harrowing ledges, we chose Dicey's Mill Trail for the return -- effectively making a 10-mile loop hike back back to the car at Ferncroft. A fairly straightforward descent brought us back to a full lot of cars and a prompt return to Lincoln for some pool and ping pong at the Kanc.
Peaks: Mount Whiteface and Mount Passaconaway
Elevation: 4,020 and 4,043 feet (Gain: 3,850 feet)
Distance: 10.8 miles
Route: Loop, via Blueberry Ledge Trail, Rollins Trail, Dicey's Mill Trail
Conditions: Sunny, 65 degrees F
