Hey, remember when I used to post things to my blog?
My original plan this past weekend was to head north to the Whites, join the AMC for a car camping weekend, and hike at least the 2 Osceolas. My tummy was pretty rumbly and grumbly though, and not in a good "let's have a snack Pooh Bear" kind of way. So I stayed put at home, chilled out, and then took my new hiking boots for a trail walk at one of the nature preserves here in town on Sunday afternoon.
I may not have climbed any 4000 footers this weekend, but I did bag 2 - count 'em, TWO! - 400 footers!
It's been several years since I was last at this preserve - usually I trek around at the one closer to me behind the High School. But this one has a little more varied terrain, which I definitely wanted so I could check out how the boots did.
It was almost 5 before I got on the trails. It's pretty flat going in for the first half mile or so on an old logging road.
Lots of swampy/marshy areas. The water is still pretty low in this neck of the woods, so there was a lot of mud, but luckily no mosquitoes this time of year.
Overall, the main loop trail is 4.5 miles long, with a lot of side loops and spurs in various areas. The nature preserve is 500+ acres in an area that used to be farmland, but for the most part the only place that's still open is the power line.
About a mile and a half in, the loop trail met back up with the power line, and I decided to cut the loop short and take the summit trail to the first of the immense mountains I would climb. Sadly, much like Zealand and the Tripyramids, it is a completely treed summit with no views.
Not even a USGS benchmark disk! Lame. I had to make due with a rock and a best guess for the summit location so I could take my usual feet picture, as well as the obligatory summit selfie.
Headed back down to another old woods road turned trail. Some portions looked like they are still driveable, while other sections have had quite a bit of wash out over the years.
The conservation department in town has discontinued some of the original trails, rerouted others, and created new ones. The originals are still pretty obvious. If it hadn't been getting so late, I definitely would have explored offtrail a little more. Good reason to go back soon though.
Note: do not enter the ground at this location. It is a dead end. Not sure if that notice is for the hikers, the snowmobilers, or the local wildlife.
I had joined up with the loop trail again by this point and started heading back towards the parking lot. But first I made a run up the other peak in the park. This one was significantly higher than the first at ~430' vs ~390'. Supposedly this was all pasture back in the day, but there appear to be plenty of trees nowadays.
As before, it was a little hard to tell where the summit was located. The free trail map at the park entrance was a little confusing in this area. Was the summit this lump of earth at the intersection with the mountain biking paths on the back side of the hill?
Or was the summit this pile of rocks just off the trail after I turned the corner?
Ah-HA. Twenty feet further along, there was a side path to a clearing with a cairn (and campfire remains and an empty beer can. Sigh.) I was so excited to reach the actual summit that I forgot all about feet fotos and just took my selfie. Who knows if I will ever make arduous the trek back there again!
It is much too early for there to be fallen leaves on the ground and I would like to register a complaint. There are still 2 more days of Summer left.
Back down off the mountain and heading back out to the trailhead, but there were still a few more sights to check out. There's a pretty good sized beaver lodge and dam just off the loop trail. No beavers were spotted this time! Since the last time I hiked here, they've added a couple of benches in this area, and it's supposed to be a nesting site for blue herons. It was definitely getting dusky by this time.
Headed back out the first woods road. About halfway between the beaver pond and the road, there's an old well just off the trail.
According to the town website, there are 2 old wells on the preserve property, and one is still useable.
I am thinking this well is not the useable one!
Overall, I wandered for about an hour and a half and covered somewhere around 3.5 miles. I didn't even come close to seeing half the preserve - I skipped the "back half" of the loop trail which is closer to 2.5 miles, and I didn't check out any of the spurs other than those heading to the 2 summits. There are at least a couple of old foundations on the far side of the property from where I was, as well as an intact segment of the King's Highway from the colonial era - a route created so that King George's tax collectors could move through NH more easily.
I also seem to recall an old rusted out jalopy hidden in the woods from when Merrow and I hiked this several years ago, that I didn't run across this time. Planning to go back soon when I have more time, more daylight, and a fresh camera battery.
