Ghost Trail: Flat Mtn Pond to Crawford Ridgepole Trail

Flat Mountain Pond Trail

I packed up my gear in a dark morning mist by headlamp. After my excitement with the bull moose stamping and scraping and peeing away near my tent the night before, I was on high alert as I retrieved my bear bag.  In the dark. It was hanging just a few feet from the moose drama from the night before. I kept looking over my shoulder in case the bull moose returned to his special place. Then I wandered down the dark, misty trail, looking for the moose. All I saw was a lot of tracks, though. 

Beaver Pond detour

Flat Mountain Pond Trail continued easily through the gradually lightening sky along the old railroad bed to Guinea Pond Trail, which was also pretty easy. The most challenging part was getting past a beaver pond that appears to have flooded out the trail. 

Lowlands near Guinea Pond

I tried to get to Guinea Pond for a look, but the unmarked access trail was flooded out, probably by beaver. 

Mead Trail goes up Mt. Israel

And then it was time to head up Mt. Israel via Mead Trail. This would be the last peak of White Mountain National Forest.  The climb up would be about 1100 feet, but the descent would be closer to 1600 feet as the trail drops down from the White Mountains.

Red Eft

The heavy, wet fog changed over to light rain as I headed up the slope. Moody forest. Quiet. Lovely. There was nothing too difficult with the ascent. Just a beautiful White Mountain Forest. 

Mead Trail

The rain let up as neared the top, and I suddenly got a cell phone signal, so I checked the forecast: showers the next five days. Super! I fixed up some food while there was a break in the rain and headed down the hill on the Wentworth Trail. No view in the fog up there, no reason to linger.

Junction with Wentworth Trail, top of Mt. Israel

Mt. Israel non-view

 The showers came and went all the way down. Sometimes the sun almost came out. 

The forest changed as the trail dropped down off the White Mountains. The spruce-fir forest of the mountain top had switched to an oak forest by the time I got to the bottom. It was the first patch of oaks I remember seeing. Oaks are much more common as you go south, so it really punctuated the new terrain I was entering. There were so many acorn-marbles on the trail I had to slow down. 

Mead Base Conservation Center

The trail popped out behind the Mead Base Conservation Center, which appeared to be closed. I thought it was someone's house at first. And then it wasn't all that clear how to get on Bearcamp River Trail, so I just kept to the right without going out to the main road, following a dirt drive that slipped between a small brown building and a parking lot with just one car in it. What I thought was a trail sign just said "TOILET -->". But it was the correct way.  

Bearcamp River Trail follows the dirt drive
behind the little brown building

The drive passed a couple fairly large areas marked for tenting. I had no idea what the deal was there, so I just walked past. It turns out there are three tent sites and you can reserve one for $25 a night (see website). But they were still closed due to Covid. 

Entering Sandwich Notch Park

After a short stroll down the Bearcamp River Trail, the trail enters Sandwich Notch Park, a municipal park that was surprisingly magical that day. Zero people were there at the time, although it clearly gets much love from many people. First there lots of rock features just covered with moss and ferns and liverworts. Then there was the "cow cave." This was a very long, deeply overhanging rock. I've never seen one so long in New England. 

"Cow Cave"

Then there was Beede Falls, where a stream basically drops down off the overhanging rock formation. Wow. I had the place all to myself. In fact I had not seen a human being all day. This was the last water source before heading up the Crawford Ridgepole Trail, which has no water. So I stopped to fill up all my bottles, and it started raining pretty good at that point. There's a lower falls as well which is a "must see", but I just didn't have it in me. 

Beede Falls, just before the rain hit

The trek requires a walk up Sandwich Notch Road for a ways, and it rained pretty good the entire way. It's a gravel road and a couple pickup trucks passed by. Did you know that the official New Hampshire vehicle is a faded black pickup? It's true. The Crawford Ridgepole Trailhead was well marked, though the parking area was small. The trail heads uphill pretty quickly. 

Somewhere along the line, the official trail must have taken a right and I followed the herd path straight ahead. At this point I should note that this trail has blazes, unlike most everything else I'd been following in the White Mountains, and you should definitely follow those blazes really carefully. I did not. I do when I'm in Connecticut, but the trails up in the Whites are different. You just follow the herd path. Which is fine, but once you're on the Crawford Ridgepole Trail, do yourself a favor and look for the blazes. 

Wrong turn:
The most hazardous 20 minutes of hiking in my life

At any rate, the "trail" I was on got steeper and steeper. It was a mud cliff bound with tree roots. Small footholds had been carved into the cliff mud. It was insane. I grabbed desperately onto whatever tree root or sapling I could find, clawing at the ground for a better grip, hauling myself and my gear and three liters of water up the mud cliff inch by inch. What the hell kind of trail was this?? There was no going back down, the only way was to go keep going up. So I did. Eventually the nightmare of trail leveled out. And then... I could find the trail tread. After checking Gaia on my phone, it turned out I wasn't even on the trail. It was off to the right. Eventually I found the real trail, and it had curved around the cliff I had just climbed. So the lesson is: Look for those blazes. Also, the trail managers should put up a sign or something because I was obviously not the only person missing the bend in the trail, and that was super hazardous. 

Forest boundaries per USDA Forest Service GIS map

The rain had let up by that point, and the next step was to find a spot to set up the tent that was within of White Mountain National Forest. The rest of the Crawford Ridgepole Trail is on private property, and I may do some stealth camping at times, but never, ever, ever on private property. The boundaries are complex in this area, with the trail passing out of the National Forest and then back into it again. Gaia, the AMC Trail Map, and an online map hosted by the Forest Service all show an arm of the National Forest protruding south over a level area prior to the summit of Doublehead Mountain. That's where I was headed. 

It worked out great. I found a spot well off the trail that was still within the National Forest, and set up the tent in between periods of rain. Phew!