Saturday, May 10, 2014

Sable Mountain (Operation Moose Shed): 5/10/2014

Mileage: 12.15
Elevation gain: 3615 feet
Trails Used: Slippery Brook Trail, bushwhack.
Highlight(s): open woods bushwhack, register on the summit of Sable Mountain.


Our friend Keith had wanted to go look for some moose shed's (antlers) in a extremely moose heavy area for quite some time now, so Brian and I agreed to join him for this jaunt. We had no idea what a productive day it would turn out to be. The day started off rather dreary with rain and overcast skies greeting us as we headed north for the hike. After a stop to get some breakfast and drinks, we arrived at the Baldface Circle trail head (off of 113) to an unexpected sight: an ambulance sitting on the side of the road where the trail goes into the woods. 

Shortly after we parked, a New Hampshire Fish and Game truck came and parked next to us. We geared up and headed to the trail, following the Fish and Game personnel into the woods. Apparently, a hiker injured his hip a short ways in and personnel were already at the scene putting him into a litter as we passed. We surely hope he is okay. We also hoped this wasn't a bad omen to start the day, as the weather was already dampening our spirits.


Sable Mountain is located in Chatham, New Hampshire, which is to the southwest of North Baldface and South Baldface (which are a very popular hike in summer). Sable Mountain is trail-less (a trail once ran over the summit of Sable and Chandler; you can find cairns and traces of the old trail still) so a lengthy bushwhack is required to reach the summit. There are limited views from the summit, but better views from various points on the way up/down.


Sable Mountain is on the New Hampshire 100 Highest and New Hampshire 200 Hundred Highest List, and the New Hampshire 3k List.




We took the Slippery Brook Trail up and the few streams we crossed on trail were flowing quite nicely today.


As we headed into the woods around the Slippery Brook Trail/Eastman Mountain Trail junction, Brian got hungry and stripped this tree in seconds.


These are typical of the open woods we saw most of the day, minus the climb up to Sable Mountain. Beautiful, open birch glades made for easy bushwhacking as well as seeing moose sheds.



The showpiece find of the day, found by Keith. It was about 15+ pounds and Keith hauled this beast for roughly 8 miles on his back.


A total of four antlers that I found that were too beat so we left them behind.



How could you not love bushwhacking in beautiful open birch glades like this? Early spring is a good time for bushwhacking, as long as there is no snow.


A lot of recent rubbings on the tree's as we start heading up the ridge to the summt area of Sable Mountain. You can almost follow which way the moose are headed.


We came across some recent moose bones where Brian tries out his moose dentures. To quote Arnold from the movie Predator..."You are one ugly looking mother....."


We came across even more good woods on the ridge up to the summit of Sable Mountain. This whole area is moose heaven even though we did not see a single one.


Keith looking towards the summit of Sable Mountain while also looking for moose antlers.


Another moose shed we found submerged in water. It took both Brian and I to pry it out. Yes, that is snow which was still around at about 2500-3000+ feet but not much. This also got left behind because it was in poor condition.


The register and sign on the summit of Sable Mountain (elevation:  feet). This is probably the fourth time in the last five years that I have been to this summit and the moose shed hanging there has been there every time.


Even more good woods heading back down to the Slippery Brook Trail. Other than a brief spot of stick woods, we walked through these kinds of woods most of the day.


Looking back towards Sable Mountain from a small ledge area as we are heading down.


Looking towards South Baldface through the trees.


An old woods road we found on the way back to the Slippery Brook Trail, which probably sees some snowmobile traffic.


All in all, this turned out to be a productive day. Keith found 2 keepers, I found two of my own. We found about 11 antlers total but we were walking in sun through open woods and with good company so the day was a big plus. We even managed to make the mileage a bit tough too: Brian possibly had a minor case of heat exhaustion, Greg is dealing with plantar fasciitis, and Keith was feeling the effects of a long hike after not hiking for quite some time. Still a nice day in the woods overall.

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