Distance: 4.02 mi.
Elevation: 785 ft. (Overall) 908 ft. (Total)
Time: 0:56 (Fletcher's Cascade) 1:53 (Total)
Trails: Drakes Brook Trail, Fletcher's Cascade Trail
Since I haven't been out hiking for a while, it was time to hit the trails some. I wanted to get in some new trails and work on a bit of redlining, so I decided to go spend the day in the Waterville Valley area so that I could get a side trail I passed on a previous hike and then have options down in the village to make the rest of the hike as long as I wanted for the day. The first time I hiked Sandwich Dome I passed by the trail leading to Fletcher's Cascades. I didn't know much about the cascade and if I was going to hike that far to a waterfall I was going to have my tripod for my camera with me (which I did not have that day) so I could take some good pictures. So today I started off with that trail so I could get the hike carrying the extra weight done first.
The first half of the hike is pretty easy with good trails and solid footing. There is one water crossing along the trail before the cascades, but today it was easy enough to cross on the rocks that were exposed in the brook. As you near the cascades, the trail does start to get steeper, but I didn't think it was that bad until you get close the final cascade. I didn't look up many pictures of the cascades before this hike, so I wasn't really sure what to expect once I got there. There are some smaller cascades next to the trail as you climb towards the end of the trail and these were mostly what I was expecting all of them to be like. But once you reach these small cascades, the trail gets steeper, rougher, and a bit harder to follow (some people might not go past here). As I got closer to the upper cascades, I was both surprised and impressed with the view of them that appeared through the trees. This was a nice surprise and make them that much cooler.
Once at the top of the trail at the highest cascade, the trail turns sharp left and crosses at the smaller cascade on the right of the two cascades. The left most cascade is the bigger and more impressive of the two. You can also get right up next to it and really get the full effect of it. After spending some time enjoying the falls, taking pictures, and getting startled by a collapsing chunk of ice bigger than a home refrigerator, I turned around and headed back down the trail exactly the way that I came in. While there were a couple cars in the small parking lot, I didn't see anyone else out here as I am sure they were all hiking up to the peaks.
One of the early lower cascades
The trail to the upper portion of the cascades appears less traveled
Looking through the trees to the upper cascades
The main cascade
A smaller cascade to the right of the main cascade
Google Earth representation of the hike
Redlining in Waterville Valley Village Area
Distance: 10.3 mi.
Elevation: 1,281 ft. (Overall) 2,406 ft. (Total)
Time: 0:42 (The Boulder) 0:49 (Big Pines) 1:41 (Cascades) 2:50 (Top of Ski Lift) 4:00 (Snow's Mountain) 4:43 (Road) 5:05 (Total)
Trails: Cascade Path, Boulder Path, Livermore Trail, Big Pines Path, Norway Rapids Trail, Cascade Path, Elephant Rock Trail, Greeley Ledges Trail, Snow's Mountain Trail, Road Walk
After Fletcher's Cascades, I headed further into Waterville Valley to hike the trails there. I parked at the start of the Cascade Path, once I could find it. I was looking for more of a sign as to where the parking was in missed a turn on my way through the village which resulted in doing a loop around the village and coming right back to somewhere I had already been. There is a sign at the start of the trail, but it certainly would help to look up directions before hand as it isn't super obvious that you are in the right spot. Parking isn't really marked as being for hiking, and the trail starts out crossing a grassy area which seems more like someone's lawn than part of a hiking trail. With the decription from the White Mountain Hiking Guide though, the path does make sense.
With multiple loops possible, I tried to pick one that would get me full lengths of trail and hopefully eliminate much back tracking or overlapping. I started up the Cascade Path and went until the junction with Elephant Rock Trail. Once there, I turned back around to do the only backtracking of the day that wasn't on a dead end trail. Next I headed out the Boulder Path which follows a nice wide path to start. It then drops down into the trees more down to a stream where I wasn't sure which way to go as there appears to be a trail heading both ways. I quickly figured out the trail actually turns left to go downstream a short distance. It then reaches the boulder at a stream crossing I wasn't expecting on this cool April day. After assesing how deep and difficult the crossing would be, I decided I would just take off my boots and socks and wade across since I was wearing shorts. I also always have a small towel in my pack incase I ever get wet and I could quickly dry my feet off on the other side and get them back into warm boots. The water was cold, but it wasn't horrible doing this today. Be smart when making your own choice though in situations like this one.
The boulder
After the crossing, I headed up the Livermore Trail to get up to the Norway Rapids Trail. It made since while walking by to do the short out and back of the Big Pines Path. This was a short easy detour to an area with some larger pines trees with a cluster of three of them being at the end of the path.
Main attraction of the Big Pines Path
After going a ways up the Livermore Trail, I made the right hand turn onto the Norway Rapids Trail. Pretty soon there was a stream crossing here as well. This one didn't seem like it would be good to wade across with faster moving water and slippery looking rocks. Luckily there was a large dead tree across the brook maybe 30 feet downstream from the intended crossing. From here the trail was mostly level with one slightly hard to follow section through what seems like it could be a bit of a swampy area. Some more blazes could be helpful through here. I was able to stay on the trail partly by looking at my gps, but mostly by paying close attention to the ground and how worn it was until I saw a clear indication of which way the trail was going.
Norway Rapids crossing
Once the Norway Rapids Trail comes to the Cascade Path, I turned left to go up to the cascades at the upper end of the Cascade Path, making for another out and back. At the first/biggest cascade, the trail crosses the brook. Today the rocks looked wet enough and had just enough of a gap that I wasn't sure about where/how to cross with dry feet. Seeing a sign for the Cascade Path West on the same side of the stream as me, I decided to go up this to hit the old road at the top and come back down the other side of the brook and reassess from there. This ended up being a good idea as that path was also needed for readlining without me realizing it until I got home and logged my hike. Once back to the brook crossing, I still wasn't sure I could do it with dry feet even going down stream a bit, so I found a place I could quickly cross with my boots and socks off again. Being much narrower, this crossing wasn't as bad as the one earlier in the day.
Cascade Path's main attraction
Back to the junction with the Norway Rapids Trail, I went left to keep going down the Cascade Path to the junction with the Elephant Rock Trail that I had hiked up to from the other direction earlier. I then went up the Elephant Rock Trail until it comes out onto the ski trails near the top of the lift. After the lift the trail becomes the Greeley Ledges Trail and I took this until it got down to the Snow's Mountain Trail.
Looking down the chair lift line
Once at the junction with the Snow's Mountain Trail I had to decide if I wanted to hike down to the bottom and come back up, or if I would later hike up to here from the bottom. I picked the second option and starting hiking up the trail. This side of the loop that this trail makes seems to be much less used. It has less wear one it and is harder to follow. There are not many blazes on the trees at times and most of what you do find are very faded. At one spot the trail made a 90 degree turn to the right without any indication until after you had done it and you turned around to look back and wonder if you did the right thing. Once into the softwoods the trail is easier to follow at least and I made good time up to the spur at the high end of it. The spur leads out to a limited view that includes Sandwich Dome and Jennings Peak. The better viewpoint is actually after you turn and start to head back down on the southern side of the loop the trail makes. There is a nice view out over Waterville Valley here. This side of the trail is also clearly more used and better maintained. The blazes are also much newer, more frequent, and easier to find.
Going this direction, the trail comes down to a road next to a house where it doesn't look like there is any parking. From here, I was hoping to hike up the road and cut through the trees to get back to where the Snow's Mountain Trail goes up the ski trails and eliminate some of my uphill hiking. But while I was trying this, I found there to be lots of houses where I wanted to go through and I didn't want to just walk through someone's yard to shortcut my hike. So I headed back down the road so I could hike back up the trail along the ski trails. As I did this though, I made the decision that it was late enough and my feet and legs had had enough for the day, so I just headed back to my truck. I need to get other trails in this area at a later time, so I can just come back and do it then.
Outlook over Waterville Valley
Google Earth representation of the hike
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
