Flat Mountain Pond
Where: Flat Mountain Pond Trail
When: 7/9-7/10, 2005
With: Chip
This year's edition of Andy's week at the Hidden Valley Scout camp in Gilmanton NH began on the Sunday of a three day weekend (the Independence Day holiday was Monday), so I had an idea to drop him off and then run into the woods for a quick overnight. I recruited Chip to join in the trip and began researching places to go.
The area just north of the camp (the Belknap Range) seemed like an interesting possibility for a destination. Very close by, and lots of area to explore. I'd run up Mt. Major for a dayhike after last year's drop-off and figured I could use that route as my entry point. The trail to the top of Major continued on over Straightback Mt., then disappeared into the wilderness. I searched the internet for info, looking for maps and descriptions. I also posted an inquiry on a New England hiking forum (Views From The Top) seeking advice. The responses I got indicated the area offered lots of opportunities, but suggested the need for a map. Unfortunately, the map was only available from the local library and that would be closed on Sunday. I considered just going anyway, but there were other factors that swayed my decision. The area was a state park, with camping technically prohibited. Overnight car parking was also an iffy proposition.
I decided to just bring along a mess of maps and figured we could find a place somehow. On the day of the trip I packed Andy and his friend Don into my car, picked up Chip at his house, then cruised up to the camp. Along the way, Chip & I discussed possible destinations. Chip suggested an area we'd visited long ago, a trail along a stream where we'd set up camp after only 20 minutes or so of hiking (Jose's Bridge). I had been thinking of the same trail, though from the other direction. It offered an easy walk (no major climbing) along a stream into a semi-remote pond. We agree to try it out.
Arriving at camp, I turned responsibility for Andy and his friend Don over to their Scoutmaster and Chip & I were quickly on our way to the trail. We had to deal with some holiday traffic through the Weir's Beach area, but otherwise it was an uneventful drive up to the town of Whiteface. Chip navigated and we landed at the parking lot after about an hour. A woman with two kids (one asleep in a backpack) emerged from the woods as we prepared to go. She mentioned that two men had gone in ahead of us and were likely occupying the shelter at the pond. No problem for us, since we weren't interested in using the shelter anyway. She also said that the bugs were pretty nasty. We thanked her for the info, doused ourselves with Deet, then set off up the trail.
The path was as we expected, a fairly easy walk along the stream through a pretty woods. It climbed steadily, but at a moderate rate and we settled into a relaxed pace. We both wanted to be back home the next day fairly early, so we only planned to hike a few miles in before setting up a camp. Our 3:30 start time gave us at least 4 hours of daylight...plenty of time to get where we needed to go without rushing. We walked steadily until we got to a crossing of the stream (actually the Whiteface River), where we stopped for a short break. A man with a young dog (out for his first hike, said the man) came out of the woods and crossed in the opposite direction while we were there.
Chip had some lunch and wrote a bit in his journal, and then we were off again. The McCrillis Trail diverged from our path soon after the crossing and headed up to the summit of Whiteface. A route for another day. We continued up the Flat Mountain Pond trail, enjoying the warm day and green woods. Actually, it was a bit too warm, and the air near the streambed was thick with humidity and bugs. Chip finally declared that he needed to take a dip in the water to cool off. I left him to his backwoods baptism, dropped my backpack and went exploring up the trail.
We really weren't planning to go to the shelter at the Ponds. It was a bit further in than we wanted (since we needed to get out early the next day) and there was a good chance it was already occupied. Our goal was to just find a nice spot by the stream to string up our hammocks and spend the night. The first stream crossing might have served our purpose but it wasn't far enough in. On the maps I'd noted a second crossing of the stream and thought we might find campsites there. Chip said he needed 10 minutes for his swim so I gave myself a 5 minute time limit to scout ahead. I never found the crossing, but at just about 5 minutes I looked down toward the streambed and noticed a small cleared area and a fire ring. Perfect!
I turned around, jogged back down to Chip and announced that I'd found us a campsite. Chip, refreshed by his dip in the water, gathered up his gear and we returned to the spot I'd found. It was ideal. Plenty of room, trees for the hammocks, water access, and areas for cooking, sitting and just hanging out. The only downside was the bugs. The major form of flying wildlife was some sort of small fly or gnat that insisted on buzzing around our heads and ears. We each had a small cloud of these pests following us about. They weren't biting (they left that task to the mosquitos!) but they were really annoying. Chip changed into long clothing (pants & shirt) to keep them at bay and created a t-shirt turban to keep them away from his head. I also changed into my long clothes and it did help somewhat.
After we set up our hammocks and settled in, I got dinner going. This was sort of a last-minute trip, so I'd just grabbed a bag of EMS hiking food from my supply. Pasta Primavera, and the package said it created "two huge portions." I fired up my old Whisperlight stove (I'd decided to go a bit retro on this trip) and within a few minutes had the pasta boiling. The packaging included a ghost story printed on the back of the cooking instructions, and we took turns reading it aloud while the food cooked. It only took about 15 minutes to complete the cooking process and we had our dinner down on the rocks by the water. The pasta was pretty good. The portions looked rather meager, but they were filling and tasty. Unfortunately that was all I'd brought for dinner, so our dining experience was a short one.
After a quick clean-up, I announced my intention to take a walk further up the trail to see what was there. It was 7:00 and I gave myself a 30 minute turnaround deadline, hoping I could make it as far as the Ponds by then. Within 5 minutes I came to the stream crossing I'd been looking for earlier. I didn't notice any campsites nearby, so it's a good thing we grabbed the site we had. The trail began to climb more after the crossing, though not especially steeply. Given the hour, I kept an eye out for wildlife. Signs proclaiming, "You are in bear country!" had been posted at the trailhead parking area and I was a bit apprehensive about having an encounter with something big and brown! I was a bit comforted by the amount of noise I was making (sloshing water bottle, change in my pocket), figuring I was doing a good job of announcing my presence.
The trail changed its look a number of times: a dirt path, muddy sections, an area of rocks, etc. Several times the vegetation on the sides closed in and obscured the footpath completely. I'd look down and only see as far as my knees. Apparently this trail doesn't see a huge amount of use. I never had any real trouble finding the way though. In fact, the only problem I had was the non-appearance of the Ponds. I kept coming to areas where I swore I'd come to the top and could see openings in the trees, but they were always false sightings. Finally, just as I approached my turnaround time, I crested a small rise and came to a marshy area at the east end of the main pond. I continued on until I got to the pond itself and found a view. It was a beautiful mountain body of water. A good size, surrounded by woods and hills. I still had a few minutes left so I pushed on a bit to see what I could see. I kind of thought I might make it as far as the shelter, but never did. I did find the other hikers though. They'd set up camp at the water's edge in a great little campsite. I heard their voices and glimpsed their tent, but decided to let them have their solitude and just turned and headed back down the trail.
The walk back took the full 30 minutes, and I did finally have a wildlife encounter (sort of). I noticed something in the center of the trail that turned out to be a large tuft of fur...probably from a deer. I'm fairly sure it hadn't been there when I walked up, and I picked it up and kept it as a keepsake. Perhaps it can be the start of a small bag of talismans. I arrived back at the campsite to find Chip napping in his hammock. It was a good escape from the bugs and he said it was very relaxing.
We wound up just chatting for the next couple of hours. Chip emerged from his hammock briefly, but generally did his talking from the prone position. I sat on a rock nearby and leaned against a tree. The bugs weren't as bad any longer and the day cooled off nicely. We debated starting a fire (Chip had collected a small supply of wood) but decided against it. Finally around 10:00 it began to get chilly, with cool damp air descending on our site, and I retreated to the warmth of my sleeping bag. I read for a half hour or so, then made an attempt to sleep. The sound of the water in the stream provided a nice wall of white noise and I drifted in and out of sleep all night, waking briefly every hour or so.
At the 4:30 waking I noted the beginnings of daylight in the view above (I'd left the rainfly off my hammock and had a straight view up through the bug netting). I stayed in the warmth of my sleeping bag for a while longer, then got up at 5:00 or so. I puttered around the campsite for a while, packing up some gear, retrieving the bag of bagels from the tree where I'd hung it over the stream to keep it away from the critters, and setting up the cookset to make some coffee. Chip made some noises around 5:45 and I told him I'd be starting the coffee but refused to offer a breakfast-in-bed service so he'd have to get up. He refused to emerge before 6:00, but eventually changed his orientation from horizontal to vertical.
Breakfast preparations were a simple matter of boiling some water and tossing in a packet of coffee from a hotel coffee maker. Unfortunately, the resulting brew was pretty poor but it sort of qualified as coffee. We both munched on a couple of the bagels for our morning meal, though Chip added peanut butter to his menu. We finished up quickly, packed up our gear and were on our way back down the trail by 7:00. For the most part it was an easy steady walk back to the car, with a few stops along the way to check out spots of interest (pools, potential future campsites, etc.). Toward the end however the trail descended back to the edge of the stream and the mosquitos came out in clouds. We must have looked odd as we walked and frantically slapped at the bugs who attempted to feed from every exposed bit of skin they could find. We picked up our pace and were practically running when we arrived at the parking area. We threw our gear into the car and sped off with the windows open in an attempt to clear the bugs out with a breeze. It worked, and we pulled over a quarter mile away to organize our stuff and check maps. Safe from the bugs at last, we turned the car south and spent the next few hours driving back home.
More pictures
When: 7/9-7/10, 2005
With: Chip
This year's edition of Andy's week at the Hidden Valley Scout camp in Gilmanton NH began on the Sunday of a three day weekend (the Independence Day holiday was Monday), so I had an idea to drop him off and then run into the woods for a quick overnight. I recruited Chip to join in the trip and began researching places to go.
The area just north of the camp (the Belknap Range) seemed like an interesting possibility for a destination. Very close by, and lots of area to explore. I'd run up Mt. Major for a dayhike after last year's drop-off and figured I could use that route as my entry point. The trail to the top of Major continued on over Straightback Mt., then disappeared into the wilderness. I searched the internet for info, looking for maps and descriptions. I also posted an inquiry on a New England hiking forum (Views From The Top) seeking advice. The responses I got indicated the area offered lots of opportunities, but suggested the need for a map. Unfortunately, the map was only available from the local library and that would be closed on Sunday. I considered just going anyway, but there were other factors that swayed my decision. The area was a state park, with camping technically prohibited. Overnight car parking was also an iffy proposition.
I decided to just bring along a mess of maps and figured we could find a place somehow. On the day of the trip I packed Andy and his friend Don into my car, picked up Chip at his house, then cruised up to the camp. Along the way, Chip & I discussed possible destinations. Chip suggested an area we'd visited long ago, a trail along a stream where we'd set up camp after only 20 minutes or so of hiking (Jose's Bridge). I had been thinking of the same trail, though from the other direction. It offered an easy walk (no major climbing) along a stream into a semi-remote pond. We agree to try it out.
Arriving at camp, I turned responsibility for Andy and his friend Don over to their Scoutmaster and Chip & I were quickly on our way to the trail. We had to deal with some holiday traffic through the Weir's Beach area, but otherwise it was an uneventful drive up to the town of Whiteface. Chip navigated and we landed at the parking lot after about an hour. A woman with two kids (one asleep in a backpack) emerged from the woods as we prepared to go. She mentioned that two men had gone in ahead of us and were likely occupying the shelter at the pond. No problem for us, since we weren't interested in using the shelter anyway. She also said that the bugs were pretty nasty. We thanked her for the info, doused ourselves with Deet, then set off up the trail.
The path was as we expected, a fairly easy walk along the stream through a pretty woods. It climbed steadily, but at a moderate rate and we settled into a relaxed pace. We both wanted to be back home the next day fairly early, so we only planned to hike a few miles in before setting up a camp. Our 3:30 start time gave us at least 4 hours of daylight...plenty of time to get where we needed to go without rushing. We walked steadily until we got to a crossing of the stream (actually the Whiteface River), where we stopped for a short break. A man with a young dog (out for his first hike, said the man) came out of the woods and crossed in the opposite direction while we were there.
Chip had some lunch and wrote a bit in his journal, and then we were off again. The McCrillis Trail diverged from our path soon after the crossing and headed up to the summit of Whiteface. A route for another day. We continued up the Flat Mountain Pond trail, enjoying the warm day and green woods. Actually, it was a bit too warm, and the air near the streambed was thick with humidity and bugs. Chip finally declared that he needed to take a dip in the water to cool off. I left him to his backwoods baptism, dropped my backpack and went exploring up the trail.
We really weren't planning to go to the shelter at the Ponds. It was a bit further in than we wanted (since we needed to get out early the next day) and there was a good chance it was already occupied. Our goal was to just find a nice spot by the stream to string up our hammocks and spend the night. The first stream crossing might have served our purpose but it wasn't far enough in. On the maps I'd noted a second crossing of the stream and thought we might find campsites there. Chip said he needed 10 minutes for his swim so I gave myself a 5 minute time limit to scout ahead. I never found the crossing, but at just about 5 minutes I looked down toward the streambed and noticed a small cleared area and a fire ring. Perfect!
I turned around, jogged back down to Chip and announced that I'd found us a campsite. Chip, refreshed by his dip in the water, gathered up his gear and we returned to the spot I'd found. It was ideal. Plenty of room, trees for the hammocks, water access, and areas for cooking, sitting and just hanging out. The only downside was the bugs. The major form of flying wildlife was some sort of small fly or gnat that insisted on buzzing around our heads and ears. We each had a small cloud of these pests following us about. They weren't biting (they left that task to the mosquitos!) but they were really annoying. Chip changed into long clothing (pants & shirt) to keep them at bay and created a t-shirt turban to keep them away from his head. I also changed into my long clothes and it did help somewhat.
After we set up our hammocks and settled in, I got dinner going. This was sort of a last-minute trip, so I'd just grabbed a bag of EMS hiking food from my supply. Pasta Primavera, and the package said it created "two huge portions." I fired up my old Whisperlight stove (I'd decided to go a bit retro on this trip) and within a few minutes had the pasta boiling. The packaging included a ghost story printed on the back of the cooking instructions, and we took turns reading it aloud while the food cooked. It only took about 15 minutes to complete the cooking process and we had our dinner down on the rocks by the water. The pasta was pretty good. The portions looked rather meager, but they were filling and tasty. Unfortunately that was all I'd brought for dinner, so our dining experience was a short one.
After a quick clean-up, I announced my intention to take a walk further up the trail to see what was there. It was 7:00 and I gave myself a 30 minute turnaround deadline, hoping I could make it as far as the Ponds by then. Within 5 minutes I came to the stream crossing I'd been looking for earlier. I didn't notice any campsites nearby, so it's a good thing we grabbed the site we had. The trail began to climb more after the crossing, though not especially steeply. Given the hour, I kept an eye out for wildlife. Signs proclaiming, "You are in bear country!" had been posted at the trailhead parking area and I was a bit apprehensive about having an encounter with something big and brown! I was a bit comforted by the amount of noise I was making (sloshing water bottle, change in my pocket), figuring I was doing a good job of announcing my presence.
The trail changed its look a number of times: a dirt path, muddy sections, an area of rocks, etc. Several times the vegetation on the sides closed in and obscured the footpath completely. I'd look down and only see as far as my knees. Apparently this trail doesn't see a huge amount of use. I never had any real trouble finding the way though. In fact, the only problem I had was the non-appearance of the Ponds. I kept coming to areas where I swore I'd come to the top and could see openings in the trees, but they were always false sightings. Finally, just as I approached my turnaround time, I crested a small rise and came to a marshy area at the east end of the main pond. I continued on until I got to the pond itself and found a view. It was a beautiful mountain body of water. A good size, surrounded by woods and hills. I still had a few minutes left so I pushed on a bit to see what I could see. I kind of thought I might make it as far as the shelter, but never did. I did find the other hikers though. They'd set up camp at the water's edge in a great little campsite. I heard their voices and glimpsed their tent, but decided to let them have their solitude and just turned and headed back down the trail.
The walk back took the full 30 minutes, and I did finally have a wildlife encounter (sort of). I noticed something in the center of the trail that turned out to be a large tuft of fur...probably from a deer. I'm fairly sure it hadn't been there when I walked up, and I picked it up and kept it as a keepsake. Perhaps it can be the start of a small bag of talismans. I arrived back at the campsite to find Chip napping in his hammock. It was a good escape from the bugs and he said it was very relaxing.
We wound up just chatting for the next couple of hours. Chip emerged from his hammock briefly, but generally did his talking from the prone position. I sat on a rock nearby and leaned against a tree. The bugs weren't as bad any longer and the day cooled off nicely. We debated starting a fire (Chip had collected a small supply of wood) but decided against it. Finally around 10:00 it began to get chilly, with cool damp air descending on our site, and I retreated to the warmth of my sleeping bag. I read for a half hour or so, then made an attempt to sleep. The sound of the water in the stream provided a nice wall of white noise and I drifted in and out of sleep all night, waking briefly every hour or so.
At the 4:30 waking I noted the beginnings of daylight in the view above (I'd left the rainfly off my hammock and had a straight view up through the bug netting). I stayed in the warmth of my sleeping bag for a while longer, then got up at 5:00 or so. I puttered around the campsite for a while, packing up some gear, retrieving the bag of bagels from the tree where I'd hung it over the stream to keep it away from the critters, and setting up the cookset to make some coffee. Chip made some noises around 5:45 and I told him I'd be starting the coffee but refused to offer a breakfast-in-bed service so he'd have to get up. He refused to emerge before 6:00, but eventually changed his orientation from horizontal to vertical.
Breakfast preparations were a simple matter of boiling some water and tossing in a packet of coffee from a hotel coffee maker. Unfortunately, the resulting brew was pretty poor but it sort of qualified as coffee. We both munched on a couple of the bagels for our morning meal, though Chip added peanut butter to his menu. We finished up quickly, packed up our gear and were on our way back down the trail by 7:00. For the most part it was an easy steady walk back to the car, with a few stops along the way to check out spots of interest (pools, potential future campsites, etc.). Toward the end however the trail descended back to the edge of the stream and the mosquitos came out in clouds. We must have looked odd as we walked and frantically slapped at the bugs who attempted to feed from every exposed bit of skin they could find. We picked up our pace and were practically running when we arrived at the parking area. We threw our gear into the car and sped off with the windows open in an attempt to clear the bugs out with a breeze. It worked, and we pulled over a quarter mile away to organize our stuff and check maps. Safe from the bugs at last, we turned the car south and spent the next few hours driving back home.
More pictures
