I had gone back to New Hampshire for a wedding, and was able to sneak in a few peaks. The first one on my radar was an unactivated peak in the White Mountains, Bear Mountain. I braved the holiday weekend leaf peeper traffic on the Kancamagus Highway, and took it to Bear Notch Road. Just past the height of land is a forest service road, where I parked.
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| Overcast in Bear Notch. |
I crossed the road and started heading up the hill. There was a trail to the summit many years ago, but in the lower parts of the mountain there are no signs of it. There were some challenging sections, pushing uphill through dense pines and over and around blowdowns. I made slow but steady progress up.
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| Lots of color through the forest. |
Up around 2800 feet the ridge I was following got less steep, and I found some use paths. This really sped me up. The sky was still overcast, but it didn't rain at all, which I appreciated. The forest got dense again near the summit, but with the path I was quickly at the top. I found the register canister, and signed it.
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| About to push through a dense section. |
I got set up and started on 40 meters. Forty and 30 didn't produce many contacts, but I got a large pileup on 20 that took a while to get through. I had decent cell service on top (Verizon), and was able to spot with ease.
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| Setup in a small clearing at the summit. |
I had some trouble retracing my steps on the way down, but I made it back to the car. The ridge I was following was not as defined as I have gotten used to in California. It also seemed like the vegetation wanted to push me farther west than I wanted. Back at the car I took stock of my scratches and cuts, nothing too bad.
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Not really any views from the top.
Trailhead: Height of land, Bear Notch Road.
Route: Head up the ridge. Near the top there is a use path.
Red Tape: None.
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