Trip report

Montalban Ridge Traverse

Hiking/Walk DATE: 11/14/2015 - 11/14/2015

Trip/Event Location: Bartlett, NH
US

Trip Leader(s): shep5

Max # People: 12

Trip Guiding / Event Fee: No, I will not be asking participants for money

Difficulty Level: Moderate to Strenuous

Join me for this 9.2 mile hike along the ridge between Mt. Stanton (1716') and Mt. Langdon (2390').  Along the way we will also be traversing across Mt. Pickering (1930) and "the

...
Driving directions to the location and spot to meet at:

At the light in Barlett (at the junction of Rt 302 and Bear Notch Road) turn north onto River Street  Take this to the end where it "T's" with Cobb Farm Road.  There is parking here near this junction.  Look for a grey Hyundai Elantra.
NOTE:  Bear Notch Road may or may not still be open, so plan accordingly.  The status can be found at the USDA Forest Service Site.

GPS Coordinates for Trailhead:  44.084132, -71.286292 (68 Cobb Farm Rd; Bartlett, NH 03812)

We'll be meeting at the trailhead (described above) in Bartlett and carpooling over to the trailhead on Covered Bridge Lane in Glen for this traverse.  The address ONLY IF YOU'RE LATE:  44.095358, -71.212212 (45 Covered Bridge Lane; Glen, NH 03838).


Trip Report/Photos
Featured Photo

On Saturday, November 14th, Tim and I met up at the Langdon Trailhead at around 8AM.  It was early, but there had been some weather on the way up that made it a little slow going through the notches and required an early start.  Also, when I arrived construction workers were preparing to close the River Street bridge for repairs periodically during the day.  The crew had also taken up most of the trailhead parking lot.  By about 8:20 we figured we had better cross the bridge, so we left one car and headed back towards Route 302.  We didn't know at the time, that another Tim had taken himself off the list.  Once we learned that, we just headed over to the other trailhead for Mount Stanton on Covered Bridge Road.

The day started out with mostly cloudy skies and a light coating of snow on the ground.  The trailhead on Covered Bridge Road is nothing but a wide shoulder, which could accommodate maybe up to 3 cars.  We quickly got ready and started up the trail by 8:45AM.  The initial part of this trail navigated around some area houses before it began to climb up to the White Ledges.  The trail became somewhat steep for the climb, but we reached the first of many view points by 9:15AM.  Although it was still mostly gray and cloudy, there were good views down over Bartlett and over to the Attitash Ridge across the valley.  There were many open ledges along the stretch of trail up to Mount Stanton (1716').  We reached the top of Mount Pickering (1930') by around 9:50 with a partly open ledge with a northern view.  Although the Presidentials were in the clouds there was a good view of Iron Mountain.  From here the trail descended and crossed a series of "bumps" known as the Crippies.  Again, there were periodic views to the north and south as well as along the ridge.  By this time the sun was more prevalent overhead.  By 11:30 we were starting to climb the higher Mount Landgon (2390').  This was a little more aggressive in grade at times and by 12:15 we cross over its summit.  There was an opening here, but no views.  The winds were much stronger across this summit, so we started down the western side of this peak before having a lunch break.  It was about 12:30 and we took a much deserved break trailside.  We didn't linger too long though, since it was getting cold just sitting here.  We continued along the Mt. Stanton Trail and by just before 1PM we reached the Mt. Landgon Lean-to.  There were more persistent flurries in the air by this time and the clouds had returned.  With the leaf and snow-cover on the trail, it was a little confusing here.  There was only one trail sign and it ended up pointing back the way we came.  After bushwhacking around for a bit, it turned out that the blazed trail was hidden behind the shelter.  We continued following this trail as it passed around the outhouse and in little time we reached the trail junction with the Mt. Parker Trail.  It was almost 1:30 and we took the unsigned Mount Langdon Trail back off of the ridge (after climbing briefly).  The trail was still snow covered, but by 1:50 most of the snow was gone from the ground.  Thereafter this was mostly a nice walk through the woods as we left the Dry River Wilderness.  The trail widened in spots as this seemed to coincide with old logging/tote roads and there were numerous junctions...most of which were marked.

By about 2:35 we could see the parking lot and our car through the trees.  We had missed the junction for the Cave Mountain Trail!  After checking the map and seeing that it was only 0.3 mile from the parking lot, we backtracked up the trail to see how we missed it.  In just 5 minutes we came across it.  It was a dark sign that was really only obvious from this direction.  Anyway, we headed up this spur trail to check it out.  This relatively short trail was fairly easy, but the trail steepened significantly just below the rock face of this mountain.  The "cave" was situated on a ledge about half way up the rock face.  Even though there aren't any real caves in New England, this was an interesting formation.  The main chamber was about 12 feet deep with two smaller chambers off of it.  From the cave entrance the trail continued to the northeast and steeply climbed to an open ledge above.  It was 3PM and there were good views over the valley and towards Attitash Ski Area.  The summit of Mt. Chocorua could be seen to the south.  There was a herd path that headed further up Cave Mountain.  This quickly faded out but we continued through the open woods to the summit.  Unfortunately, this summit was in the trees with nothing of note to see, so we turned around re-tracing our steps back to the ledge, the cave and back to the main trail.  We reached our car again at 3:40.

Afterwards, we stopped at Matty B's for an early dinner of pizza before going and getting the other car.

A huge thanks to Tim for joining me and making it possible to still do the traverse.  It was a nice day of modest hiking, lots of views and great conversation, despite the mostly cloudy and cold weather.  This would be a nice hike to try again on a clearer day.  It has alot to offer for a relatively small amount of effort.

  There are 44 photos in Album (Note: Move mouse pointer over larger pic and click on NEXT for better viewing)

What Members Are Saying About This Trip/Event

  • Always a pleasure hiking with you Stephen! In typical fashion, you made another hike fresh, exciting, and I always go home with having learned something new. Thank-you! Actually, enjoyed the snow flurries today. It provided a perfect backdrop for the cold fall day. - TIMber64

Members That Participated

shep5

Outdoor Fitness Level: Very Strenuous


Jaffrey, NH


United States

Attended
TIMber64

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Casco, ME


United States

Attended
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