Whiteface / Passaconway 6/1/13

As the weather started warming up and all trip reports were reporting minimal to no snow in the White Mountains, it was time to get back up for a another hike.  After The North Hancock experience, there was no way I was heading up to hike a 4,000 footer until the majority if not all snow had melted from the mountains.  The Mountains of choice for this hike were Mt. Passaconway (4,043) and Mt. Whiteface (4,020) numbers 42 and 45 on the list of the 48 4,000 footers respectively.  This time the forecast was hot and humid with temperatures in the 90’s so Kyle and I solidified plans on Thursday.

Wwe left Hudson, MA just past 4:30 and got our first glimpse of Mt. Whiteface and it’s ledges while driving on 113A in North Sandwich.  One of the trails we had planned on our route was the Blueberry Ledge trail described in the AMC guidebook as potentially one of the most dangerous trails in the White Mountains and figured those were the ledges.  We arrived at the Ferncroft Road parking area at about 7:00 and there were only a few cars in the lot.

View of Whiteface from the Ferncroft parking area

We started our hike out at 7:20 along Ferncroft Road and the ledges of Mt. Whiteface were in clear view again.  After about 10 minutes on the road, we hit the junction for the Blueberry Ridge Trail.  We were on the trail for about 20 minutes when I heard Kyle yell moose.  I hurried up towards him and saw the moose gliding through the woods.  We stayed quiet and treaded lightly hoping to catch a glimpse of him again.  His tracks followed the trail for a few hundred feet until eventually they disappeared.  We started again on a speedy pace uphill and started working up a sweat in the hot humid conditions.  Blueberry bushes which were starting to grow berries were scattered throughout exposed ledge on the trail.  We reached a clearing which was the the junction of the Blueberry Ledge Cutoff and had to take a moment to find the trail because a fallen tree was somewhat hiding the trail.  Once we spotted the trail we resumed our pace and soon we found ourselves at the beginning of the steep ledges.  At the ledges we needed to use our hands to climb and pull ourselves up in a couple of spots, but at no time were we nervous about the height and getting by the ledges went a lot faster than expected.  On the ledges there were openings with hazy views to the south and west.  We reached the false summit of Mt. Whiteface at 9:50 and Kyle busted out the Jet Boil stove to cook himself some Backcountry pPantry chicken and mashed potatoes.  I sat and ate a protein bar while enjoying the views and watching the Jet Boil stove in action until the swarm of black flies around me made me  get up and keep moving around.  After about a ½ hour break, we started on the Rollins Trail.

The Rollins Trail led us by the true wooded summit of Mt. Whiteface and down the mountain.  The trail had been in great shape up to a point where dozens of trees had been blown down making us have to crawl under and squeeze between them.  It was amazing the damage the winds had caused.  After that area, the trail continued and it was a relaxing walk under the shady trees.  I kept getting whiffs of a strong urine smell along the trail and figured it must be a moose marking its territory.  On the side of the trail I found a thermometer and while I was checking it out, I heard something moving off the trail in the brush.  It could have been anything from a chipmunk to a bear but I wasn't about to stick around to find out.

At 11:40 we reached the Dicey’s Mill Trail junction which took us to the top of Mt. Passaconway via a steep switchback trail.  There was plenty of running water on and near the trail and I scouted out a couple of spots where I could use my water filter to restock my Camelback.  We reached the wooded peak of Mt. Passaconway at 12:20 and after we summited the peak, we took a break at a ledge we had passed.  As we were enjoying the expansive views a couple from Lebanon, NH who had moved there from Iowa joined us.  We talked about past and future hikes and soon we were off after about 20 minutes.  On the way down Mt. Passaconway, I stopped at the small stream to restock my water supply.  When we reached the only river crossing of the day at the Wonalancet River, there was a giant fallen birch tree which made for a perfect bridge to cross the river.  When we reached the end of Dicey’s Mill Trail, we were back on a dirt road which led us back to the truck for 3:00.Overall it was a great hike, we covered about 11 ½ miles in about 8 hours and enjoyed some great views while knocking off a couple more peaks off the list of 48 4,000 footers.   This hike gives me 24 total mountains and half way to the 48.