tripoli rd gate west end

tripoli rd gate west end
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Here's the summary of my trip:

• The entire loop was 10.4 miles, which I covered in about 5.5 hours of hiking, for an average pace of about 1.9 mph. The elevation gain from the ski area to Mt Tecumseh's summit was 2200 ft.
• There was no self-serve parking along Tripoli Rd!
• There was snow!
• You can park at Waterville Valley free of charge!
• Both the east and the west gates are open at Tripoli Rd, at this time.
• As I drove past the Mt Osceola parking lot for the last time, I saw an ambulance in the lot, lights flashing. Be careful out there!
• Doing Mt Tecumseh trail as a loop is certainly feasible, but not something I'd prefer to do often.
• At this rate, I wonder when I'll ever make it to the summit of Mt Osceola.

And here's a set of links to each part of this trip report, in chronological order, because blogger doesn't have a good way to group posts:

1. the plan
2. self-serve surprise
3. Mt Tecumseh trailhead at Waterville Valley Resort
4. start of the hike
5. Tecumseh Brook
6. a bit of snow
7. the turn of the trail
8. blue skies
9. recrossing Tecumseh Brook
10. interlude at ski trail view
11. there's snow on them thar hills
12. steeper, snowier
13. Tecumseh meets Sosman
14. summit either way
15. Mt Tecumseh cairn
16. View from Mt Tecumseh
17. bird
18. Moosilauke view
19. Tripoli Rd walk
20. Tripoli Rd continues
21. back to Waterville Valley

This might be my last hike in the Whites this season. It has been very enjoyable so far, despite some minor frustrations and changes of plan. I don't find the idea of hiking in serious snow very appealing, but I might change my mind.

For more info, you may want to check out these web sites:

• Hiker Matt also ran into snow in Nov 2008, but it doesn't look so deep as what I saw.
• Chris Oberg's trip report from who knows when.
• Some random site's trail description - beware, it contains a typo saying to get off on Exit 32 to get to Tripoli Rd, a typo that cost me even more in wasted time. It should have read Exit 31!
• David Metsky's trip report, later in the season of 1998.
• dirt_girl's trip report from August 2004. She did the Mt Osceola trail followed by Tecumseh, which was my original plan.

climb to waterville valley ski area

climb to waterville valley ski area
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

After what seemed like ages, I finally came to the turn off for the Waterville Valley ski area. At this point, the road goes sharply uphill - not the best way to end a hike! And there was even more traffic up and down from the resort. When I drove down, I discovered it's 0.7 miles from the turn off up to the parking area.

The entire distance from the Mt Tecumseh trailhead on Tripoli Rd back to the parking area at the Waterville Valley Resort is almost exactly 5 miles, and I did it in 2 hours - a pace of 2.5 mph. So it really wasn't as bad as it seemed; I think I was expecting it to be quicker, and I didn't like traveling out on a road for so long.

tripoli rd view

tripoli rd view
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I wasn't expecting the walk along Tripoli Rd to take as long as it did, and at some point it seemed endless. There are some nice views along the road... but I was passed by a car every five minutes or so.

osceola trailhead off tripoli rd

osceola trailhead off tripoli rd
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

From there on, the rest of the trip down to Tripoli Rd was pretty uneventful and relaxed, a slow and gradual descent. The entire trail, a distance of 5.6 miles from end to end, took me about 3.5 hours excluding breaks, for a pace of 1.6 mph.

At this point it was just a matter of following Tripoli Rd back to the ski area. It's a dirt road for a while. When I had driven over it earlier, I hadn't realized that it climbs for quite some time before finally descending.

As I passed the Mt Osceola trailhead again, I could see that cars had overflowed the parking lot and were spilling out along the road, as seen in this photo.

moosilauke view

moosilauke view
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Very soon, I had to store away my food bar, and put on the mittens that I'd brought along just in case. The trail heads down very steeply here after leaving the summit to the west. Even without the snow, I would have had to climb down using hands and feet. This is the most difficult section of the entire trail, and it doesn't last long. It's perhaps a 20 or 30 foot drop till the trail moderates.

After that, the trail gradually descends, fooling you into thinking you are done with climbing. But then it gradually begins to ascend, and soon you are going back up, up, up. The AMC White Mountain Guide says you cross three knobs. I didn't count them; I think the first climb was the steepest, and after that there were just a few minor bumps till I began to descend again.

The guide says there's a short trail to the left which leads to a view of Moosilauke from the third knob (p 338). I happened to notice what looked like a trail, all snow-covered, and followed it about 30 yards to the view. Nice! And the weather was still behaving nicely, the sun peaking out from behind clouds now and then.

grouse on tecumseh

grouse on tecumseh
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

As I departed Mt Tecumseh, I noticed this bird up ahead sitting on a boulder that stuck out into the trail. I slowly reached for my camera, expecting it to fly away, but it just sat there twitching nervously. I got a few shots in, approaching slowly.

Even when I passed it closely as I went around the boulder to continue my hike, it didn't fly away. It scrambled around the boulder a bit, but always remained in view. I'm not sure what it is; perhaps some sort of grouse. It's a pretty large bird, bigger than a pigeon.

view from mt tecumseh

tecumseh view
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

This is the best/only view that I saw looking out from near the cairn at the summit of Mt Tecumseh.

Once I had decided to continue on towards Tripoli Rd, I got moving. I took a few bites from a sweet'n'salty food bar (yum) and headed on out.

cairn at mt tecumseh

tecumseh cairn
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

This is the cairn at the summit of Mt Tecumseh.

I didn't stay here long. As soon as I stopped to look around, I started to feel the cold. With snow covering everything, I didn't feel like hanging around to explore.

There was only one obvious viewpoint, a break in the trees to the southeast (I think).

I wandered around the summit briefly, trying to decide what to do. It was 1 pm, and I was confident I could make it down to Tripoli Rd before dark, turning the hike into a loop, if I really wanted to. However, there was still that risk that I didn't know what to expect going down the other side of the trail. I waffled a bit and spontaneously decided to go for it. I also randomly predicted that it would be only about two hours of hiking from the Tripoli Rd trailhead back to the ski area. This turned out to be correct, for no reason I can think of, since I didn't bother to estimate the distance by looking at my trail map!

two routes to summit

two routes to summit
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

After following the Tecumseh trail a bit further, you come to another fork. The Sosman trail goes straight on and down, and the Tecumseh trail goes off to the left. Both branches lead to the summit, as the sign indicates.

I continued on the Tecumseh trail. Beyond this point, getting to the summit proved a little tricky. The trail is mostly level, but there's a point where there are lots of rocks to crawl over, and the trail drops off steeply to one side. There are trees to that side so it doesn't feel too dangerous. Normally it would have been no trouble at all, but with the snow, it made sense to be extra cautious.

mt tecumseh meets sosman trail

mt tecumseh sosman trail splits
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

This is where the Sosman trail first meets up with the Mt Tecumseh trail as you're coming from the east. I turned around, looking back, to take this picture.

I've read some trip reports that make it sound like this trail used to be poorly marked. But all the signs seemed pretty clear to me, including this one.

If it hadn't been for the snow, I would have explored the Sosman trail, which is pretty short, but I decided to stay on Tecumseh.

steeper and more snow

steeper
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

As I approached the summit, the trail got even more steep, and there was about an inch of snow over everything. My pace slowed a bit, but it was still very doable. At this point I had decided that I should probably go back the way I came, rather than attempting a loop, since I wouldn't know what conditions existed on the other end of the trail.

Despite the snow, the trail was still busy enough. I passed about five small groups of two or three people during the entire trip.

boots in the snow

snow close up
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Once you leave the ski trail, the climb becomes more straightforward - up and up. It's rocky, and fairly wide, but steeper than the trail had been up till this point.

Soon, snow completely covered the trail and clumps of it clung to the evergreen trees around me. Fortunately, the snow was very sticky. I was careful about how I stepped, and avoided any serious slips.

My boots performed well in the snow. I'm still pretty happy with them, although I did get some pretty nasty rub marks just above my heels, despite the judicious use of Dr Scholl's blister treatment cushions. Those have been helpful so far. I think they helped again, here, but not as much as I'd hoped.

view from the ski trail

view
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Soon after recrossing Tecumseh Brook, you can take a short spur to the left of the trail to walk out onto a ski trail, where there's a great view.

The vast ski trail which sprawls below you is kind of ugly, and I framed this photo to exclude it!

snow at brook crossing

snow at brook crossing
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

As I hiked on, the amount of snow on the trail increased. Here, at 1.1 miles, the trail recrosses Tecumseh Brook. There was a light smattering of snow over most of the trail at this point.

The trail is relatively easy up till here. There's a gradual uphill climb, but nothing too strenuous. That worried me a little, because it meant that a lot of the 2200 feet in elevation gain still had to be climbed over the next mile.

Just looking at the map now, it appears you've gained about 700 feet or so here, more than I had realized.

I was also beginning to wonder just how much snow I'd find as I continued on. I definitely had it in my mind that I might have to turn back before reaching the summit. A dismal thought!

sky is blue

sky is blue
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I enjoyed looking up and seeing blue sky - excellent day for a hike! There's still quite a lot of beautiful fall foliage, too.

go right, here

go right, here
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

The AMC White Mountain Guide says that the trail crosses the brook at about three-tenths of a mile in - that's here. There's a small cairn to mark the spot, and a small pile of branches "block" the trail just beyond it.

However, I was oblivious and wandered on up beyond the cairn for a while, where the trail slowly petered out. I had only been walking for about 10 minutes, and didn't expect to reach 0.3 miles so soon. At this point I "noticed" that the trail was unmarked - surprising, since the guide book had not mentioned that the trail was unmarked! In fact, the trail was not unmarked; what I had "noticed" was that I had wandered away from the trail.

I strolled back down the trail wondering what to do, and then I realized that I had missed the brook crossing, which now appeared to be clearly marked with a cairn. There were yellow trail blazes, too, but there's no big yellow arrow pointing the way at this spot.

the white stuff is snow

the white stuff is snow
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

As I walked along beside Tecumseh Brook, I looked down and noticed a bit of snow. Charming! Must be left over from that bit of precipitation a few days ago.

trail beside stream

trail beside stream
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

The Mt Tecumseh trail starts out as a nice ramble past Tecumseh Brook. Beautiful day! At this point, I was beginning to leave behind my frustration at the parking fiasco.

tecumseh trailhead

tecumseh trailhead
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Here's a close up view of the trailhead sign at Waterville Valley Ski Area. It's 2.2 miles to the summit from here, and 5.4 miles to Tripoli Rd.

In the back of my mind, I was considering hiking over to Tripoli Rd and then walking back along the road to make the hike into a loop. At this point, I had no clue that I'd find snow on the trails. The temperature was in the thirties right here, but I figured it would warm up as the day went on.

tecumseh trailhead waterville valley

tecumseh trailhead waterville valley
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I thought about parking without paying the fee, but decided not to risk it. As I searched my mind for other options, I vaguely recalled that the Waterville Valley Resort has a parking area which is mysteriously fee-free. And coincidentally, it is the other end of the Mt Tecumseh trail! So I threw out any plans I'd had to climb Mt Osceola, and drove on over to Waterville Valley.

As I passed by the Mt Osceola trailhead, I slowed my car to a crawl to take a look. I was shocked to see that the lot was nearly full! This was around 10 am... I'm guessing either a group had planned to do a hike there, or else this area is incredibly popular because it's one of the easier hikes in the Whites. In any case, I wasn't so dismayed anymore that I wouldn't be able to hike it; it must have been unpleasantly crowded.

It took a little hunting to find the Mt Tecumseh trailhead at Waterville Valley. I drove up past the main building at the top and circled back before I found it. It's just across from parking area 1, which is where I parked.

In the photo above, center right, if you zoom in, you can see the sign for the Mt Tecumseh trail head.

Note that although the weather forecast had mentioned clouds with a possibility of rain, I was happy to see quite a lot of blue sky at this point.