2025-06-25 43 -71
| Wed 25 Jun 2025 in 43,-71: 43.8988938, -71.3963835 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Contents
Location
The southern slope of Mt. Whiteface, North Sandwich, New Hampshire
Participants
Expedition
Pre-expedition research had shown that a hiking trail up the south slope of Mt. Whiteface, the McCrillis Path, should pass within a few hundred meters of the hashpoint, and an "along-the-contour" bushwhack through scrub or hardwood forest should lead to the point without too much difficulty. I drove to the trailhead and parked. (I learned later I was supposed to park half a mile back down the road.) Just off the road a sign pointed to "hiking trail" to the left and "ski trail" to the right. I knew the hiking trail would go where I needed, and I didn't know anything about a ski trail, so I took the left one. It looked like an old logging road, and ascended the slope following a brook as I had expected. After maybe fifteen minutes of gentle-to-moderate ascent, I had reached the point where the path was closest to the hashpoint (230 meters) and turned into the woods. I had to cross a little gully, but then the walk was not difficult. I traversed through mostly young beech forest with a smattering of larger hemlocks. The leaf litter was deep and soft and there were only modest obstructions from branches and spiders and whatnot. When I was nearly to the hashpoint I crossed a broad smooth path: the ski trail!
Beside the ski trail was a little lean-to made of galvanized roofing material that shielded several bundles of old metal thin-wall pipe that I suppose was fencepost material. There were also a bunch of old rusty buckets lying around, far past the point of usability. The stuff may have been left during the last logging operation (judging from the beech saplings, maybe 30 years ago). Just across the ski trail and a few meters into the woods again was the hashpoint.
I took the ski trail back down, which led as I thought right back to the car. If there was a ribbon for 'Suboptimal approach' I think I'd qualify. But from Fippe's recent report [[1]] I learned about Steve's rules. These nicely describe my expedition. Therefore this sort of fumbling is probably commonplace and doesn't deserve a ribbon!
Photos
Mt. Whiteface from Whiteface Intervale Road. The hashpoint is somewhere up the slope. The 'white face' near the top is more prominent when the sun is hitting it.
Parked car here.
From near parking place: hiking trail on left, XC ski trail on right.
Left the hiking trail here to bushwhack to the hashpoint.
View west from hashpoint, toward old stash of fenceposts (?) and buckets
Ski trail, from 4 m west of hashpoint, looking north.
Grin.
Proof.
Tetanus, anyone?
