Ascent of Savage Mountain on 2018-08-25| Other People: | Solo Ascent
Only Party on Mountain | | Date: | Saturday, August 25, 2018 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Car | | Peak: | Savage Mountain | | Location: | USA-New Hampshire | | Elevation: | 3500 ft / 1066 m |
Ascent Trip ReportThat weekend, the weather was uncertain so I decided to go hiking on Saturday instead of my planned Sunday. It was a good idea as the sky was clear and temperature wasn't abusive. I left home around 07:00 and drove south on HWY 55. I took exit 21 and followed HWY141 east through Ayer's Cliff and Coaticook. I missed the turn for HWY141 but decided to keep going on HWY147 and cross the border in Norton, VT. I then followed VT114 south and took VT105 east in Island Pond. In Bloomfield, I crossed Connecticut River and turned right on US3. A few kilometers down the road, I spotted Lamms trail and turned left. The shoulder was rough and I slammed the front bumper as I got off the highway.
From there, I followed the dirt track past the house and into the woods. I went by some logging machinery and debris, and the trail became smoother afterwards. I kept going on the relatively good trail until I reached a few cabins, where a slight hill proved a bit rocky. I have seen far worse though, and it's nothing a street car can't handle. Just past the cabins, the slope steepened slightly and went through a right bend. As I came out of the bend, I saw a man walking uphill just ahead. I slowed down and let him keep going, soon arriving at what looked like an old junction. The clearing was wide and I decided to make this my trailhead. I parked the car and geared up.
A few minutes later I was off, in the man's footsteps. The trail soon became quite rough - I couldn't have driven much further up the road. I then saw the man walking downhill towards me. We greeted politely as we passed each other but nothing more. I was suprised to see someone on the trail and thought at first it was another peakbagger. It's more likely he was just a local enjoying the weather after all.
From there the trail became progressively rougher until it was nothing but a windy foot path in tall grass. The ground was uneven and eventually I had to cross into a boggy patch where I tried to follow the old trail but decided to simply go bushwhacking instead. I tried to keep to higher ground while traversing along the valley, above the audible creek below. I waited until there was no significant elevation loss to cross the stream, and then climbed on the other side. I almost immediately emerged on a wide trail that looked very good. I followed it northwest for some distance until I judged I should aim uphill towards the goal.
I found a less dense patch of forest and dove in. It was clear there were logging ruts all around and I followed some easy paths for the first few hundred meters. When the slope steepened dramatically, the paths disappeared. The forest was still surprisingly sparse and I was making good speed. I reached a slightly rocky spot where there was a lot of younger regrowth. This area was the most difficult, but not too long. I eventually made it on the ridge and the slope lessened. The trees were larger, and I encountered a few blowdown patches along the way. The ridge was very flat at the top and it was some dsitance until I reached the summit and the canister.
After signing and marking the spot in my GPS, I started downhill. I found a decent path that was further south than on the ascent but it still went through a rocky regrowth patch. When I was back in the sparse woods, I followed the faint trails I could see and ended up on better paths all the way back to the main trail. I decided to follow it west as I suspected it would connect with the network I could see on old maps. There were recnt ATV tracks and it was very easy to follow the windy trail to a junction where a hairpin turn brought me back in the right direction.
I kept going but it was soon apparent the trail would overshoot my parking. I decided to bushwhack towards it but soon realized I was running parallel to the trail. I went back to it, again finding out I really had to bushwhack. This time I went in straight towards the trailhead. I had to cross the brook and then emerged at the clearing where I dumped my gear in the car and drove off. I decided to skip visiting Blue Mountain as I wasn't sure I was game for another bushwhack so I headed towards Monadnock Mountain. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 2039 ft / 620 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 2039 ft / 620 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 4.5 mi / 7.2 km | | Grade/Class: | 1 | | Quality: | 7 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Unmaintained Trail, Open Country, Bushwhack | | Weather: | Pleasant, Calm, Clear
~20-25°C | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 2000 ft / 609 m | | Gain Breakdown: | Net: 1974 ft / 601 m; Extra: 26 ft / 7m | | Loss on way in: | 26 ft / 7 m | | Distance: | 2.2 mi / 3.5 km | | Route: | Forest trails, bushwhack | | Start Trailhead: | Junction on Lamms trail 1526 ft / 465 m | | Time: | 1 Hours 31 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 2013 ft / 613 m | | Loss Breakdown: | Net: 1974 ft / 601 m; Extra: 39 ft / 11m | | Gain on way out: | 39 ft / 11 m | | Distance: | 2.3 mi / 3.6 km | | Route: | Forest trails, bushwhack | | End Trailhead: | Junction on Lamms trail 1526 ft / 465 m | | Time: | 1 Hours 4 Minutes | GPS Data for Ascent/Trip
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Peaks:  climbed and  unclimbed by Gabriel C
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