Sunday, 07 November 2010 Mt. Ingalls, New Hampshire
My other half joined be today for a visit to Mt. Ingalls via the newly reopened Scudder Trail. The drive in along the Mill Brook Road was easy enough and the parking lot was obvious as it had 4 other cars in it. We saddled up and set out. The trail at first was a gravel road which became grassy and brushy old roads for a couple of kilometers before finally become a trail. The lower part moved through a jumble of old logging roads but the way was marked with orange blazes and, with a little care in some places, was easily followed.
At a point perhaps halfway up a trail signed for Mt. Cabot went to the right and just after the Scudder trail turned sharp left and began to go over the first ledges of the day. The ledges looked south and west and we found another group taking in the view including HappyHiker and seven Shelburne residents (four humans and three dogs). From here the trail ascended, occasionally rather steeply, crossing over more ledges with good views. The trail hasn't seen much use yet and the lichens are quite slippery in places. After about an hour and 15 minutes (and a few more meetings with HappyHiker) we reached the summit which was wooded and green with moss. A trail continued from the summit, also orange blazed and a bit rougher, down to Ray's Pond only a couple minutes further. This tiny little pond had a skim of ice over its surface.
We retraced our steps and decided to take the side trail over to Mt. Cabot which was only a few minutes' brisk climb away. We took the side trail back to the Scudder Trail and returned to our car. Total car-to-car time was 3:18. GPS said the round trip distance was just under 10 km.
At a point perhaps halfway up a trail signed for Mt. Cabot went to the right and just after the Scudder trail turned sharp left and began to go over the first ledges of the day. The ledges looked south and west and we found another group taking in the view including HappyHiker and seven Shelburne residents (four humans and three dogs). From here the trail ascended, occasionally rather steeply, crossing over more ledges with good views. The trail hasn't seen much use yet and the lichens are quite slippery in places. After about an hour and 15 minutes (and a few more meetings with HappyHiker) we reached the summit which was wooded and green with moss. A trail continued from the summit, also orange blazed and a bit rougher, down to Ray's Pond only a couple minutes further. This tiny little pond had a skim of ice over its surface.
We retraced our steps and decided to take the side trail over to Mt. Cabot which was only a few minutes' brisk climb away. We took the side trail back to the Scudder Trail and returned to our car. Total car-to-car time was 3:18. GPS said the round trip distance was just under 10 km.
