Mt Pemi Loop, April 30, 2012

Mount Pemi is close to my home, and is therefore my usual destination when I want a short non demanding hike.  In winter the trailhead on Rt. 3 is not plowed, so I do an up and down from the Flume side.  In all other seasons I usually do a loop, going up from Rt. 3, descending to the Flume, and returning to my car by a combination of snowmobile trail and road.




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On Monday April 30^th I drove to the trailhead and about a mile before reaching it decided to stop and take a photo of my destination. Not easy with all the phone and power lines, but I eventually got a clear view!

 Shortly after leaving the trailhead I crossed a small field, and saw a flowering shadbush

Between the two I-93 underpasses Hanson Brook has a nice small cascade

The trail itself is not very interesting, but it does pass by a few large boulders that I assume are glacial erratics, here is one of them

There were lots of flowers out, this is the first time this year I have seen wild flowers.  Lots of painted trillium

including a nice pair

and a closeup

I also saw three flowers in various stages of opening up, from just starting to open

to more open

to almost fully open with the "leaves" (bracts to be accurate) still dark and curled

There were lots of purple trilliums,  but most were hanging their heads down and not very photogenic, here is one that was looking up

and a closeup

There were lots and lots of hobblebush, but I only saw two flowers, one barely starting to open its buds

and the other a bit further along

I was at least half way up the mountain before I came across the first trout lilies, but once started they were abundant.  Here are a bunch of them

and here is one that was smiling at the camera

From the south facing ledge just before the summit I took this photo to the southeast (click for larger view)

Little Coolidge Mountain is in the foreground.  Behind it is the ridge from Loon Mountain (with remains of snow on the ski slopes), over Scar Ridge (with its slides) to Mount Osceola and its East Peak. Finally in the background we have Mount Tecumseh with the ridge over Green Mountain and Mount Dickey (many thanks to Steve Smith for help with the identifications!).

The east facing ledge is getting very grown in, but still has excellent views on Mounts Liberty and Flume through a gap in the trees

The view of Mount Lafayette is much more limited

A whimsical trail maintainer has marked the summit in an unusual way

I went down by the Mt. Pemi Trail towards the Flume, and soon saw an interesting band around a tree

No flowers on the north facing slope of the mountain!  No views until the parking area, where there is a view from Mount Lincoln to Whaleback Mountain

The Corridor 11 snowmobile trail leaves the parking area at the western end (closest to Rt 3) of the most southern parking area, and a spur leads from it to the Indian Head Resort.  In the photo below the arrow points to the continuation of the main trail, while the spur continues south to the resort

From Rt 3 there is a final view of Franconia Ridge