King Family Outdoors: Whiteface and Passaconaway - August 26, 2010

This loop I tackled myself as everyone else stayed at the campground while Alex played with his cousin for the day. I took Blueberry Ledge trail up Whiteface, Rollins over to Passaconaway and then Dicey's Mill trail down. This hike was over 12 miles and the longest I personally have done for at least 15 years. Gave me a good workout and 1st time this summer I can say I got tired on a hike.

I got to the parking area around 8:30 and it was empty. Headed up Blueberry Ledge at a fast pace (for me) and stopped at the first ledge/view and had a quick snack. After some easy hiking I came to the south ledges. The day before we had over an inch of rain and the rocks were still extremely wet and slippery. If Alex was with me I would have turned around. It made for some interesting scrambling up the rocks as I could get no traction at all with my boots. At one section there are holes drilled into the rocks where wooden steps use to be. Now just the holes and I had to put 2 fingers in each hole and pull myself up with my hands as my feet alone were not able to get any reliable grip. Hoping I didn't slip and fall back down I made it up over the several sections and decided to take a break sitting on a rock that had great views of Passaconaway on the other side of the Bowl as well as panoramic views to the south. I could make out Mt. Monadnock and the Uncanoonuc's near Manchester. Between them is my house, but couldn't quite see it.

Saw 2 groups of people at the top of this ledge as they came up behind me but I left and headed back up just as they reached the top of the cliffs. The actual summit of Whiteface is (i think) marked by just a cairn in the middle of the trail in a very wooded area. It seemed like the highest point and the trail started to head down from there on so that must have been the summit.   The trek across the ridge to Passaconaway was quick and easy and I saw not another person until I reached the trail junction with Dicey's Mill Trail. Ran into another solo hiker here and we ended up ascending Passaconaway not far from one another. But by this point the trail gets much steeper and my fast pace caught up with me and it was a struggle to get to the summit, but I made it and saw the sign to the true summit. Headed up into the thick scrub and followed all the herd paths around, stood on what looked like the highest point and then continued out to the nortern view which I had read about. This is the top part of a long abandoned trail but travels for about .2 miles to a spectacular view north. The weather was not great and Washington was hidden in the clouds but the view was still great, I can only imagine how nice it is on a clear day. This is a great isolated spot and descent chance of not seeing anyone else there as it is not on the main path. But I did run into someone who beat me to this spot (only 1 of the 3 parties I saw the entire day) so after some short chatting I headed back up to the summit and then down the East Loop looking for another lunch spot. Found another ledge to eat lunch on and rested for a while.

I headed back down and took Dicey's Mill trail. This section is very easy and a gradual descent all the way through some old growth forest. I read that this entire bowl has never been logged and some of the trees here are over 400 years old. I am not an expert in Old Growth Forests by any means, but these trees sure did look rather old to me.   The woods were mostly all hardwood Birch trees and many extremely large trees were everywhere. There were standing dead trees as well as huge trees that had fallen years ago rotting away on the ground. I like hiking through woods like this as you know things have not changed much since the time Europeans first arrived. That is a rarity in the White Mountains (or anywhere for that matter) as even the kind of trees that grow in many place are not only relatively young, but not even the same species that inhabited the land originally.

The forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon and it suddenly got darker when clouds moved in over head. I had gotten my 2nd wind, the trail was pretty flat so I started jogging at a slow pace for a while. However the rain started very light and I pulled out my poncho before I got really dumped on. It did rain however I probably never needed the poncho so after it stopped, I took it off and finished the last mile or so rather dry. There are some really good camping spots along the way next to the river - not sure if you can camp there or not, but they would be great spots.

The trail ends in the back yard of someone's house! Literally, you walk out of the woods onto their driveway just a few feet from the barn and their cars. Had I started up this trail I might not have dared to find the entrance for fear of tresspassing. Both this trail and Blueberry Ledge start on private property so a big thank you to the land owners. It is probably a matter of time before new owners come in and close off access to these hiking trails. Which would be too bad, but inevitable I think. And to be honest, had I owned this particular house I would not close the trail but I would divert it away from the driveway and house a bit!   After walking down their driveway there is another 1/2 mile or so on the road before the parking area. Over 12 miles with the side spur tot he view on Passaconaway and finished around the estimated book time with some tired feet! Not the greatest views but a nice hike through some old growth woods, an exciting scramble up some steep rocks and very few people - the recipe for a nice hike!