Firstly, let me say I had stunning weather for this trip. The projection said rain for Friday, but instead it was sunny and dry, albeit a little foggy in the morning. Without further ado, the trail report:
Friday
I arrived at Ferncroft around 7:30 am and was off like a shot. I was going to take the Blueberry Ledge cutoff, but I remember about a mile in that I had left some important things (e.g., rescue inhaler) in the car, so I had to turn around. The second time around, I started up the normal Blueberry Ledge trail, thinking it would be easier. Well, that was wrong. I found it steeper and more taxing than the trail from Carter Hut to Wildcat. By the time I reached the intersection with Tom Wiley's trail, my legs already felt like lead. I was starting to think I was in over my head. After all, it had been a few years since I hiked with a full overnight pack. But, good scout that I am, I pressed on.
Then came the "terrifying 25" part of Blueberry Ledge. I rounded the corner and saw a familiar sight (I had looked up pictures of the trail before doing it). An older man with a day pack was standing at the bottom of the ledge, looking none too pleased. Together we managed to scale the rock face, which is much steeper than it looks in photos. Somehow, we made it to the top without dying.
From there we booked it for Whiteface (I forgot that my legs hurt, since I was now on a "hiker's high") only to find the most disappointing peak in the WMNF. But oh well. At least I had Passaconaway to look forward to.
My new friend and I ventured past the Dicey's Mill intersection until we came across a tiny stream burbling across the path. To the left rose the trail to Passaconaway and a spur trail leading to Camp Rich. We ascended Passaconaway (another steep rise) then proceeded down the much-too-long trail to the view. Let me say, the view was stunning. I could see The Prezis, Franconia, and the Wildcats all stretched before me. This was 100x better than the view from Franconia. I munched on some tortillas and granola bars for lunch, then bid by new friend adieu (he was doing a day hike), and started for Camp Rich.
I pitched my tent, filtered some water at the tiny stream, and made myself dinner (stovetop stuffing and salami--dinner of champions). By this point, it was only 3pm. So I decided to adventure some. I decided to check out Square Ledge. I was less than a mile down that trail before I realized that I was descending far more than I'd like to. My legs were already beat, and now I had to climb several hundred feed back to camp. Around 4pm I stumbled back into camp, put my food in a BV450 (which I brought to practice for my planned Pemi Loop next Summer) and stashed it in the woods, watched some guy show up and fail to pitch a tent before vanishing, and climbed into my tent for an early bedtime.
Saturday
I slept poorly, but I slept. The wind howled pretty badly for a while there, and I found myself listening for animals sounds (you can tell I'm out of the backpacking mentality). I woke around 2am and realized, "hey I've been sleeping for nine hours. Am I going to sleep for four more?" No, I decided, I would not. So I put on my headlamp, broke down my sleeping arrangements, and went to retrieve my BV 450. It was not where I left it.
Let me tell you, if at 2am, you've ever tried to find a medium-sized blue box that some bear has played whack-a-mole with across the woods, you know what I felt then. It took a few minutes, but I found it wedged under a fallen tree about ten feet from where I left it. It was sealed and everything inside intact. So it worked, I guess!
At 2:30 I started for Dicey's Mill. The hike out was easy. I sang some songs to myself and to any bears that wanted to listen (though they probably won't want to hear Latin Eucharistic hymns for a while--hey, I was alone in the woods; I can sing what I want).
I flew down the trail. I was back at Ferncroft Parking by 3:50am, ready to drive to the nearest Dunkin.
Overall, it was an amazing trip. I got some nice night hiking in, and I checked off two four-thousand footers from my list. Next up is the Crawford region in September.
