Take it to the bridge! - Wild River Loop 10/5 2009

GOING WILD

The leaves had turned and were looking spectacular so I decided to head to Evans Notch to do a trip into the Wild River Valley on the ME/NH border. We were playing our annual gig the Fryeburg Fair on Monday, about a half an hour from the Notch. It had been a busy weekend of gigs so I chose to sleep in on Sunday and take it easy, I reached the parking lot at the Wild River Campground just a bit after sundown. I was going to stay at the Blue Brook Shelter - 2.3 miles up the Basin Trail and then get up early and do a nice long loop of trails I had never walked before.

I passed the cascades and stopped for a drink. I never get tired of hiking by headlamp, you end up seeing things on a different level.  The full moon was beginning to rise above the ridge to my left, lighting the water on my right. I sat there for quite a while, in no hurry to get to camp.

I headed out again and soon was at the junction of the spur trail leading to the shelter. I decided to continue on to Rim Junction to get the clear view of the valley in the moonlight. The ledgy outlook is much like a large granite couch, I rolled out my pad and sat back and enjoyed the scene below. Basin Pond and it's feeder stream looked like mercury as they reflected the moonlight. I decided that I had to walk some more - the Basin Rim Trail hugs the edge of the upper rim of the valley passing over several open ledges. My friend RJ and I had done this section in the winter once before and I knew the terrain.

I set out and had a great time making my way along the trail, I had to search around a couple of times to find the way from open ledges back into the woods once again. I was nearing Mount Meader and was feeling ready for some sleep. Soon I reached the summit of Ragged Jacket and headed well off the trail to camp on a nice ledge. I quickly made camp and decided to forgo cooking dinner, it was going to be cold tonight as it was quite clear and I thought the hot meal would be better in the morning. I quickly setup the tent and was in the bag and asleep in about 20 minutes.

I slept like a log and awoke at 6 am.  I cooked breakfast and sat on a boulder and waited for the sunrise, which didn't disappoint. The valley was filled with mist and it looked to be a great day. The summit of Mount Meader appeared before me, after passing a particularly interesting ledgy area completely carpeted in moss. I sang most of the tunes on the album "Tony Rice Plays and Sings Bluegrass", I did Brown Mountain Light twice when I realized I was a half step to low the first time. The Meader Rim trail was as easy and rolling as can be, with constantly changing views as it wound around.

East and West Royce

Mists in the Valley

Two Miles to Eagle Link

It was such a nice morning, the sun felt warm after such a cold night. I was making great time, feeling strong and thankful. It was a couple more nice miles to Eagle Crag alternately weaving through the woods and open ledges, with increasing views to the south.

View to the North from Eagle Crag

South Baldface and it's ledgy shoulder

I stopped for a break on Eagle Crag, there were a lot of clouds over the Carter range - there was a hole in the clouds that lit up the orange foot hills of Carter Dome, it almost looked like a forest fire. It was time to head west down the Eagle Link trail to the Wild River. The trail was rough and wet at first but soon entered a beautiful section of white birch all with with golden leaves. I cleared a few blown down trees along the way and soon was at the river.

The trail here joined an old logging road and was smooth and easy. I came upon the Spruce Brook Shelter - well, the spot where it used to be! I read the notice saying how this shelter as well as the Blue Brook Shelter (where I had planned to stay last night) had be removed. I left the site and quickly reached to the Black Angel Trail junction. I turned to cross the river on the Spider Bridge, walked down the large granite steps to find... NO BRIDGE!  Hmmm... I could have taken the Highwater trail back to the trailhead, but the goal of this trip was to do as much new trail as possible - I was close to the car, it was a nice day so I took my changes with crossing and made it 3/4 of the way across before having to commit to fording knee deep - it was fine and I rested on the other side. The shoes I use in the summer are almost all mesh so I try and avoid stepping in puddles etc. When I have to ford a river it's almost a relief to not have to bother anymore since my feet couldn't get any wetter! Unlike boots, they always dry out.

View back across the river

The last 2.6 miles were flat and easy and I passed through this meadow which smelled excellent. Soon I was back at the trailhead and noticed the large signs posted telling hikers about the shelter and bridge removals! After years of looking at them and never seeing any important or relevant info - I will have to start looking again. I ended up back at the car quite ahead of schedule so I drove around to Pinkham Notch and took a shower in the pack room downstairs followed by dinner in North Conway. We had a great time playing at the fair as usual - and I discovered the best fair food of all time: MINI DONUTS!