Like the Belknaps a couple weeks ago, it's been about 10 years since I've hiked in the Ossipee Mountain Range.. once I had completed my patches for that area, I moved on and started working on other lists. I had forgotten how beautiful it is over there. With the AMC South 6th edition, there are a couple of spurs and trails now added that I needed to go and get. I wanted something relatively quick and easy since it's Sunday and I didn't want to be out all day, so I planned a 4 mile hike that would pick up 3 of those spurs. I opted to add on Brook Walk for a little scenic bonus. They've done a lot of updating and refurbing of the trails in that area since I was last there, so it was fun to see the improvements. I parked in the hiker lot at Shannon Pond and started with Brook Walk. Considering we've not had rain for quite a while, the waterfalls were still flowing. They were so pretty.. and until Falls of Song, which was the very last one, I saw no one.. perfect! I continued on Brook Walk which ascended moderately up to Shannon Brook Trail. I turned left and went the short distance to Connector Trail, which was one of the new pieces I needed, as on my previous visit I had taken the now closed section of Shannon Brook Trail back to Shannon Pond. Connector Trail went up to Turtleback Mountain Trail, I turned right here and went the short distance down to Oak Ridge Trail. There are 2 branches coming off Oak Ridge Trail, and I needed to complete that little triangle. I couldn't remember which side I'd done before, so I just did a small loop-de-loop and did both to cover myself regardless. I then went up Oak Ridge Trail, which coincided with an Interpretative Trail. Despite there being a lot of cars in the parking area, outside the small group I saw at Falls of Song, the only other people I encountered was a guy hiking along Turtleback Mountain Trail, and a couple on Lower Bridle Path. Always amazes me when that happens! I've always described the Ossipee's like a mountain super highway.. the signs remind me of street signs, and a lot of the trails are old carriage roads, so wide. It was really, really, really leafy today.. made it pretty, but slowed me a down a little as the leaves were hiding lots of tripping hazards and were a bit slippery in places.. that's OK, I took my time and kept myself upright. There was a lookout along Oak Ridge Cutoff which was gorgeous. I continued up to the intersection with Lower Bridle Path. The last new spur I needed was at a right hand turn along that trail which lead up to another viewpoint towards the lake. So pretty and peaceful! I headed back down Lower Bridle Path to Pond Trail and back to the car. Super big bang for the buck!
Strava Activity
 |
| view from the parking area near Pond Trail |
 |
| Brook Walk |
 |
| along Brook Walk where the trail leaves the road |
 |
| Oak Ridge Trail viewpoint |
 |
| spur off Lower Bridle Path viewpoint |
No comments:
Post a Comment