Black Snout and Mount Shaw 2-17-16
Black Snout 2803' and Mount Shaw 2990'
7.6 Miles 2300' Elevation gain
Mount Shaw Trail/Black Snout Trail
Kevin, Judy, Koko & Blue
First trip for Koko & Blue to Mount Shaw with a side trip to Black Snout. Conditions were completely spring-like with temps in the mid-thirties and a great deal of melting going on under the warm sun. There was little to no wind which kept things quite comfortable.
With the warm temps and melting Field Brook and its many tributaries was running high and fast. As we followed the trail over everything from ice to slush to mud along an old tractor road we could hear the rushing brook.
I stopped along the banks to look at one of several nice drops and just as I did there was a loud crack and some huge chunks of ice let go in the middle of the falls as I clicked away. Two years ago in February I had photographed Judy on top of those frozen falls. Koko & Blue kept their distance sensing the elevated danger of the fast flowing water.
Although the first two crossings were easy even though one involved an icy puncheon, when we came to the third it was just too sketchy. Rotten ice and high fast water with no clear spot to step was enough to force a bushwhack upstream.
We climbed straight up the bank on our right about 75' to a ridge where we found a relatively flat corridor which brought us high enough on the brook where it was just a step-across.
The hillside is interwoven with what could once have been tractor roads, an abandoned carriage road, or maybe just a skidder road. They are not maintained and are only slightly overgrown which makes me lean towards the latter, but they could easily be any of the above.
Shortly after stepping across the brook we were back on the trail which now began to rise steeply. Here there was much less snow and wet ground and leaves and many places where the run-off was making it treacherous underfoot. The more we rose up the hillside the more bare ground and ice we encountered.
Despite already beginning to feel fatigued we rose up the steep section of 2-3/10ths of a mile to the Black Snout Trail which is a Carriage Road which continues to the great westerly outlook on Black Snout, but also connects to trails leading to Mount Shaw which are also open to snowmobiles.
As we approached Black Snout it was apparent the only recent visitor had been a rather large moose. Unfortunately, or fortunately from the dogs standpoint, we did not have the opportunity to make his acquaintance though we were obviously in his yard.
We were all able to find dry rocks to sit on while we ate a quick lunch with great views west and southwest over Lake Winnepesaukee to the Belknap Range beyond.
The dogs were more than happy to devour everything in sight before we made a short bushwhack from the summit back down to the carriage road and on towards Mount Shaw.
Despite being on smooth gradual grades there was several inches of wet snow that was getting like mashed potatoes and we were glad to reach the section of the road where the snowmobiles had flattened and packed to a hard surface which was much easier to walk on.
Anticipation of the next excellent view grew as we approached the summit of Shaw and wound our way around to the north side where the view is best. Some days, like this day, it just stops us dead in our tracks as we look out over the low hills of the Ossipees across the pine barrens to the Sandwich Range and to the mountains beyond.
So many of the White Mountain 4000 Footers are visible from here, not to mention many more lesser hills. It is fun to stand and identify as many as are visible, along with the many notches that separate them.
Moosilauke, Sandwich Dome, Osceolas, Tripyramids, Whiteface, Passaconaway, Paugus, Carrigain, Carrigain Notch, Lowell, Anderson, Bemis, Mount Washington floating like a cloud above them, Chocorua rising like a church steeple amidst them all… yeah, it definitely helps me deal...
Read More7.6 Miles 2300' Elevation gain
Mount Shaw Trail/Black Snout Trail
Kevin, Judy, Koko & Blue
First trip for Koko & Blue to Mount Shaw with a side trip to Black Snout. Conditions were completely spring-like with temps in the mid-thirties and a great deal of melting going on under the warm sun. There was little to no wind which kept things quite comfortable.
With the warm temps and melting Field Brook and its many tributaries was running high and fast. As we followed the trail over everything from ice to slush to mud along an old tractor road we could hear the rushing brook.
I stopped along the banks to look at one of several nice drops and just as I did there was a loud crack and some huge chunks of ice let go in the middle of the falls as I clicked away. Two years ago in February I had photographed Judy on top of those frozen falls. Koko & Blue kept their distance sensing the elevated danger of the fast flowing water.
Although the first two crossings were easy even though one involved an icy puncheon, when we came to the third it was just too sketchy. Rotten ice and high fast water with no clear spot to step was enough to force a bushwhack upstream.
We climbed straight up the bank on our right about 75' to a ridge where we found a relatively flat corridor which brought us high enough on the brook where it was just a step-across.
The hillside is interwoven with what could once have been tractor roads, an abandoned carriage road, or maybe just a skidder road. They are not maintained and are only slightly overgrown which makes me lean towards the latter, but they could easily be any of the above.
Shortly after stepping across the brook we were back on the trail which now began to rise steeply. Here there was much less snow and wet ground and leaves and many places where the run-off was making it treacherous underfoot. The more we rose up the hillside the more bare ground and ice we encountered.
Despite already beginning to feel fatigued we rose up the steep section of 2-3/10ths of a mile to the Black Snout Trail which is a Carriage Road which continues to the great westerly outlook on Black Snout, but also connects to trails leading to Mount Shaw which are also open to snowmobiles.
As we approached Black Snout it was apparent the only recent visitor had been a rather large moose. Unfortunately, or fortunately from the dogs standpoint, we did not have the opportunity to make his acquaintance though we were obviously in his yard.
We were all able to find dry rocks to sit on while we ate a quick lunch with great views west and southwest over Lake Winnepesaukee to the Belknap Range beyond.
The dogs were more than happy to devour everything in sight before we made a short bushwhack from the summit back down to the carriage road and on towards Mount Shaw.
Despite being on smooth gradual grades there was several inches of wet snow that was getting like mashed potatoes and we were glad to reach the section of the road where the snowmobiles had flattened and packed to a hard surface which was much easier to walk on.
Anticipation of the next excellent view grew as we approached the summit of Shaw and wound our way around to the north side where the view is best. Some days, like this day, it just stops us dead in our tracks as we look out over the low hills of the Ossipees across the pine barrens to the Sandwich Range and to the mountains beyond.
So many of the White Mountain 4000 Footers are visible from here, not to mention many more lesser hills. It is fun to stand and identify as many as are visible, along with the many notches that separate them.
Moosilauke, Sandwich Dome, Osceolas, Tripyramids, Whiteface, Passaconaway, Paugus, Carrigain, Carrigain Notch, Lowell, Anderson, Bemis, Mount Washington floating like a cloud above them, Chocorua rising like a church steeple amidst them all… yeah, it definitely helps me deal...
