[at-l] Trip Report: Columbus weekend - #6 Mount Shaw

[papabear.nyc at verizon.net (Papa Bear)]

Mount Shaw - October 13, 2003

Monday (Oct. 13th) was my last day in New Hampshire.  I had to drive back to Natick Massachusetts today and the next morning I would be on my way back to New York City.  But I wasn't just driving from Hanover, to Natick. No I would go over to the lakes region and climb Mt.Shaw and Belknap Mountain on the way. May as well go out with a bang.

I was up as usual in the dark, at 6:00 AM.  But for once there was no fog.  Yesterday afternoon's clouds had given way to clear skies and evidently the humidity had dropped sufficiently so we were without the usual morning fog.  Today however I would be leaving Hanover for good so I had to pack everything up and get it into the trunk of the car. The night before I had made sure to keep my day hiking clothes and pack separate in the back seat, and now the tent,sleeping bag, etc. etc went into the trunk. Luckily only the tent fly was wet and that would have to get dried out when I got to Natick.  So after a scramble and a careful check around my tent area for lost items, I was packed up and on the road by 6:30 AM.

I started off on Route 120 and Route 4, and stopped again at Janet's Roadside Cafe for breakfast, but today I kept on Route 4 to Danbury and then got onto Route 104 through Bristol and up to Meredith at the west end of Lake Winnipesaukee.  From Meredeth I circled around to the north side of the lake on Routes 25, 109 and finally 171.  The AMC Southern New Hampshire Trail Guide is quite accurate in describing how to find the trailhead, just after a bridge over Fields Brook.

The Trail is called the Mount Shaw Trail in the book, but it is actually pieced together from three routes: a woods road that follows the stream up for a little over a mile, a trail, rather steep at times, up to near the summit, and finally some very well maintained carriage roads that take you at a leisurely pace and grade to the summit itself.

There were a couple of cars at the trailhead when I arrived and 4 hikers were getting ready, but they were headed for Bald Knob so I would not see them again. I was alone and on my own, which felt great.The day had become another beautiful sunny October day and I could feel that this last day of hiking would be very good, as the rest had been.

I was off hiking at just about 9:00 AM and the directions given in the AMC book were helpful.  But I would say don't be too concerned about left and right turns and forks on the woods road.  Just follow the most well trodden road and stick close to the stream.

The lower part of the road passes through a Hemlock grove where I could see several campgrounds across the stream. These looked like nice sites and worth remembering.  After about a half mile, the road is washed out. It was evidently built right along the stream bank and had collapsed into the stream below.  A route around the washout was easy to follow, and then another area where the road was rather indistinct was easily passed. I just followed the most rutted route which seemed to work fine.  Along the road in this section there was an old rusted pipe and a newer plastic pipe which I think took water from the stream for some camp up the slope to the right.  I just hope they treated the water!

At about .7 miles the only turn that was AWAY from the stream occurred: a right turn at a fork.  But even if you took the wrong turn here you would almost immediately hit a dead end at the stream, so you won't likely get lost.  After 1.4 miles the route turns up to the right off the road and now resembles a real trail.  Here the red blazes also started in earnest. Below this point the blazes were few and far between, mostly to keep you on the right route when there were forks in the road.

About half of the elevation gain to the summit (1200' out of 2400') occurs on this 1 mile section of trail which is at times rather steep.  It crossed the stream twice and finally moved up to the right away from it.  Finally at 2.5 miles from the trailhead I reached the carriage road.  From here on to the summit it was literally a piece of cake.

In about .2 miles there is a side road up to the right which you MUST take. There is a yellow diamond shaped "JUNCTION AHEAD" sign just before the side road. It was probably put up by snowmobilers who use this road in the winter.  The side road goes to an open promontory facing south called Black Snout (although it is not the Black Snout shown on the topo map).  This affords spectacular views of the lake and the Belknap Range beyond.  The views are well worth the .3 miles over and back to the viewpoint.

Then I got back to the main carriage road and followed it on to the summit with very occasional red blazes.  Just make sure you head upward. The road makes several sharp turns and there is another side road that goes off downhill to the left before the summit, but just stick to the main road.  And don't take any shortcuts by bushwhacking up towards what you think is the peak from the meandering road.  You will get lost on a false summit.  The road builders knew what they were doing.

After several more meanders I arrived at the summit at 11:00 AM.  The carriage road actually circled around and turned down on the north side forming a very small loop around the top.  I stayed a while there and took some pictures and enjoyed the spectacular views to the north.  The Franconia Ridge and Washington were visible with clouds trailing from their peaks. I could actually see the Lincoln Slide with its top resembling the thumb and fingers of an open hand.  In the foreground were the Tripyramids, Whiteface, Passaconaway, Paugus and Chocorua.  Closer to hand there were great views of Ossipee Lake and Green Mountain.

Leading south from the summit was a yellow blazed trail. Thinking it might lead to a higher high point I followed it for a while. But it just went on and down so I decided to save exploring it till another day and returned to the carriage road at the summit. This mountain with its views, its beautiful autumn foliage and my solitude were a supreme ending to my weekend of hikes.

I reluctantly started down and made very good time, especially on the upper carriage road and lower woods road.  I met a couple heading up on the mid section of the trail and we greeted each other with praises of the day and of the mountain.  I said "It was just beautiful, however ..."  (and they looked just a little doubtful)  "I was all alone until I met you".  They chuckled at that and said that I was also the first person they had seen since they started about an hour and a half ago.  We went our separate ways and left each other each to our solitude, knowing we had found like attitudes on this special morning.

I reached the car at 12:42 PM, a bit faster going down than up. There were now around 8 cars at the trailhead.  Since I had only seen 2 groups, I can only guess the rest were off exploring some exciting and beautiful area that I had yet to find.  This is a place I would definitely want to return to.

But it was back into the car and off to my last goal, Mount Belknap.

Mount Shaw,  Moultonborough and Tuftonboro, New Hampshire
No. 23 of the New England Fifty Finest
Elevation: 2990', prominence: 2340' 
Trails: Mount Shaw Trail (combination woods road, train and carriage road)
Distance hiked: 7.6 miles, elevation gain: 2400'

Resources:
Trail guide: AMC Southern New Hampshire Trail Guide (1999)
Topozone: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=43.74194&lon=-71.27389&s=50&layer=DRG25&size=l&u=0
DeLorme New Hampshire Atlas and Gazetteer (2001), page 40
And special thanks to members of VFTT for help in identfying the mountains in the views.

Photos: http://gallery.backcountry.net/papabear_2003_NE_FF
 
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