TRIP
LOCATION: Blueberry and Speckled
Mountains in Evans Notch
MEETING
TIME: met at 9:15 a.m. in front of Conant Lodge at Cold River Camp for the short carpooled ride to the Brickett Place trailhead three miles up the road in Evans Notch.
NUMBER OF
PARTICIPANTS (INCLUDING LEADERS): 12
(including 5 from Blueberry Mountain-only contingent
TOTAL HIKING
TIME (IN HOURS): app. 6 hours
LENGTH IN
MILES: app. 8.5 miles
TOTAL
ELEVATION GAIN (IN FEET): app. 2,000
feet
DIFFICULTY: B/C –semi-strenuous (A=very strenuous; B=strenuous; C=average;
D=easy)
LEADER
NAME(S): Paul Miller & Eva
Borsody Das
CO-LEADER NAME(S): Sandy Santilli
CAR SPOTTING REQUIRED?: No TIME REQUIRED TO SPOT CARS: N/A
WAS TRIP WITHIN WHITE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST? Yes
IF YES TO ABOVE, DESCRIBE SPECIFIC TRAILS HIKED AND TRAIL CONDITIONS ENCOUNTERED: Hiked Bicknell Ridge Trail as short distance to Blueberry Ridge Trail, which we took up over Blueberry Mountain to rejoin with Bicknell Ridge Trail, which we took up to the summit of Speckled Mtn. Returned to cars via Bicknell Ridge Trail. All trails were in very good condition with a very minor blowdown on the Blueberry Ridge Trail
WEATHER
CONDITIONS FOR HIKE: Mostly sunny and warm, but fairly humid, with
a light breeze in exposed places.
OTHER
COMMENTS (problems, views, terrain, etc.): Excellent near-360-degree views from
the summit of Speckled Mtn, with some “teaser” views on exposed ledges on the
way up to the summit. As John mentioned
in his earlier post, the trip up to Blueberry Mtn. involves a few fairly steep scrambles,
which while fun, can be a bit challenging for newer hikers. This group didn’t seem to have any problems
or complaints. Also, hitting Blueberry
first is definitely the best way to do this loop hike, since it gets the more
challenging scrambles out of the way on the way up, and is a very easy hike
down on the relatively gentle and civilized Bicknell Brook Trail (which used to
serve as an access road to the former fire tower on the summit of Speckled.
Mtn.