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Scar Ridge Nightmare Bushwhack 2-4-06
Scar ridge.. one of the NEHH Peakbagger's worst enemies. This trail less peak located near Loon ski area is "more evil than Skeletor". I chose one of the more typical routes. I parked at the Discovery parking area, and walked a bit down to the Kanc to the entrance of "Big Rock" Campground. Across from Big rock is a small herd path leading down to the old railgrade and to the Hancock Branch of the Pemigewasset River. From there you are on your own. I put my Snowshoes on at the road and set on my way. I was lucky, the river was completely frozen over so crossing it was a complete cake walk. When you first enter the forest there are tons of orange dots on the trees. I have no idea what their meaning is, but as you progress up the hill the dots become blue, then they disappear. Not even 30 minutes into my hike and I already lost my trusty grey hat (I later recovered it on the way back) Before I left I mapped out the coordinates I should be at at certain altitudes (400 foot intervals). As I progressed up the Ridge I checked my Lat/Long as well as altitude so I would remain on track. My bearing was 240 deg give or take. At first the ridge was very ambiguous so this information was very vital. At around 2200' the dreaded spruce began encroaching on my path! before I knew it I was battling some pretty thick evil patches laden with blowdowns. Blowdowns are one of my Snowshoe's worst enemies and they tripped me up a hell of a lot. At around 2700' I found the one thing that would turn a potential 9-10 hour bushwhack into a slimmer 7:50 bushwhack.. Hiker tracks! These were some of the most welcomed tracks I have ever seen in the woods. The Bushwhackers (who I later determined had been up the day before thanks to the canister) were very wise in their route selection and avoided most (not all) of the horrific spruce. The path they broke was wide and well packed and felt like a super highway to me. I admired the views from the ridge of Mountains to the north and west! Spectacular even through the vegetation! At one point the ridge was only a mere knifes edge only a few feet wide (yikes!) After slowly climbing I finally reached the controversial NON TRUE SUMMIT Canister around 1:00 (4 hours for 3.4 miles!) I signed my name, took some shots and set my bearing NW for the true summit. Lucky for me there were already tracks leading in that direction... that was however where my luck ended. The sag between peaks (more like bumps) was a nightmare of dense spruce, and deep snow. I had to abandon my snow shoes to maneuver through the hell hole. Eventually I reached the other bump (unmarked so far as I can tell). I milled around for a bit so to satisfy the "ambigous summit peak bagging" rule, took my pictures and checked the temperature (-3) The descent went much quicker than the ascent thanks to the super wide snowshoe trail I had left on my way up. Clouds were starting to roll in so the beautiful views from before were slightly obscured, no matter I had enough for the day. On my way down I found my lost hat not 300 feet from the river! When I got to my car my hooded sweatshirt was frozen so sold that I actually had a hard time taking it off. Not to mention along the way my Gatorade "slushified" making drinking it a non-fun chore! When I grabbed my camera (which has a metal frame) my hand were wet (I don't know from what) and my fingers froze to the frame immediately! The temp at my car was 11. This was am amazing hike, not to mention my first hike with snowshoes. So far as this hike was concerned their weakness was blow downs, and steep sections. Other than that they were a valuable resource! One last interesting note from this hike... This hike was absolutely windless. Not even so much as a breeze. I have never been up a mountain in the whites when it was this calm. And a good thing! The wind chill would not have been fun! Click Here for the Hike Map
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