Squam Range Traverse

What a sweet day – Thank you Stephen for joining me and making this traverse a reality.  I enjoy all hiking but nothing beats the art of slicing through the wilderness to finish somewhere other than where you started – and – I’m always happy when we emerge where we parked the car, lol!!

This past weekend was a milestone weekend for me…. I turned 50.  To say it out loud really drives home I’m a half century young – amazing.  Growing up birthdays were simple affairs celebrated with my siblings and parents, a cake and ice cream, and a present or two, usually something I had “wished” for sometime leading up to the day.  As an adult birthdays carry the same low-key note but the gifts are more about engaging in what makes me happy and for the better part of the last five years – that has become being out in nature.  Sunday was no exception – blue skies, moderate temps and a great hiking bud joining me for the journey – keeping it simple is the best.

Sunday was the pick of the week and so I dashed northward to meet up with Stephen at the trailhead for the Crawford Ridgepole trail where we spotted a car and drove back to the trailhead for Cotton Mountain where the hike began.  Early skies were mixed but cleared up as we meandered our way up to Cotton, then Livermore and all the while guessing where Webster might be.  I had forgotten my map so we were trekking from memory but the trail was also well blazed despite being masked by all the fallen leaves.  We soon reached Morgan where we enjoyed lunch – and thanks to Stephen – champagne to toast my 50th – thanks mate!!

Atop Morgan the landscape shifts from deciduous bare naked trees to evergreens lush from summer’s growth ready to accept winters gift of snow.  From this point onward the trail undulates, never descending too deeply nor requiring us to ascend with any great effort all the while giving us great views of Squam Lake.  The landscape is beautiful and unspoiled as the trail from Percival to Sandwich Notch Road is not heavily traveled.  Mosses, lichens, ferns all grow in abundance with a worn foot path more often no wider than 12 inches leaving the flora intact.  We tagged Percival, Squam and Doublehead before making the final 1,000 descent down to Sandwich Notch Road.  We started at 8:45am and finished by 3:30pm.  We achieved roughly 3,000 cumulative feet of elevation gain and traversed 13.1 miles (sorry, miscalculated in my trip posting – sheepish grin).

After the hike we picked up my car then had an early dinner at Walter’s Basin.  To our delight they had $5 burgers so we indulged. 

THANK YOU Stephen for making this day just awesome and for the champagne – a total surprise and sweet treat.  Cheers mate!!

Squam Range in Holderness, NH has become a go to favorite of mine.  On a clear day it lends you magnificent views of Squam Lake and smaller peaks just south.  Join me on this 12 mile traverse while we enjoy the last weekend before we turn the clocks back.  Just think – you’ll be warmed by the adventure and ready to score that extra hour of sleep leading into Sunday morning – SWEET!

Don’t be lulled by the low summits, it’s a full day of hiking.  We begin the journey ascending Cotton Mtn (1,210’), jaunting over Mt. Livermore (1,490’), meandering along to Mt. Webster (2,076’) all in preparation to tag the popular peaks of Mt. Morgan (2,220’) and Mt. Percival (2,212’).  We finish the day by hitting the high mark, Mt. Squam (2,223’) and lumbering over Doublehead Mtn (2,158’) before the final descent to the cars.  The hike is an undulating journey through the forest ranging from moderate to strenuous.  This is a moderate hike for elevations, strenuous for distance and dips between peaks.  Endurance will be tested in all the best ways a hike can give you.

We’ll be meeting at the Crawford-Ridgepole Trailhead along Sandwich Notch Road at 8:15am.  Per the AMC guide, there is space for two cars at the trail head – hopefully we’ll have one – if not, we’ll have to regroup just a short jaunt away to other parking spaces a ¼ mile from the trail head.  Sandwich Notch Road is not maintained in the winter but should be open to the fork where the lower parking is.  The road could be rough – sedan style cars use extra caution – but you should be fine.  We’ll spot a car and make our way back to the trailhead for Cotton Mountain to begin the journey.  I’ll be driving a grey Honda CRV.

If you’ve never done a traverse or hiked this distance – this is a great starter hike.  Standard hiking gear is required, no cotton, cooler temps prevail.  Be sure to layer and all your extras need to fit in your day pack.  At this time I don’t anticipate the need for microspikes.  Bring snacks, lunch and plenty of water – on this hike – three liters should be sufficient.  Ordinarily I’d say bring a towel and clothes to change into – but the water is probably just a touch too cold for a dip (but it would make for a great challenge). For those interested – we can grab a bite to eat afterwards.  A forecast of steady rain will cancel but anything equal to or greater than cloudy-cool- dry – we hike on!

A good description of what to expect can be found here as we’ll be doing this hike:

http://www.hikenewengland.com/SquamRange081018.html

Cheers Mates!!