I had 3 miles left of the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail to complete. It was a grey overcast and chilly day. Perfect day for a wander in the woods. I headed out to Horatio Colony Preserve to do an out and back on part of the section known as the Keene Connector. I parked on Whitcomb Mill Rd at the trailhead, geared up and headed out. Horatio Colony Preserve provides an interpretive trail system (without having a trail guide, I didn't know what any of the markers were, but I saw up to Marker #23 on my journey!). There are several trails in the Preserve, but I opted to stay on the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail which utilizes the Red Diamond Trail, Ridgeline Trail and Bailey Brook Trail. Straightforward, really well maintained, though a bit more rustic the further into the park you get. I'd say Red Diamond is the most well used section as it's the most clean area as far as debris. It's a short and relatively steep little climb initially up Red Diamond Trail, and once you reach the ridge, there was an old cellar foundation and lovely view across into Vermont. Then the trail rolls up and down past some rock wall formations, but mostly just pleasant woods. Along Ridgeline Trail is a designated camp site for the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail. It was a ridiculously winding and long 0.3 miles to reach the cleared area with no amenities, but would serve its purposes if you needed to overnight. The most frustrating part of the day was all the leaves on the ground. So many leaves, it was so deep. I slipped and skidded and tripped and even fell once in all that leaf cover. Going up some of the steeper inclines was difficult as I'd slip back down. I reached my turnaround point halfway along Bailey Brook Trail, where I had reached a few weeks and started to retrace my steps. Once I reached where West Hill Road crosses the trail (Class VI not accessible by vehicle), I looked at the map, and decided to take my chances as the road looked a bit clearer as far as leaf cover. It also looked a tad shorter on the map (I didn't have mileage to know for sure, I was eyeballing it) and would involve a short road walk to complete the loop back to the car. The leaf cover had annoyed me so much, I was willing to risk the condition of this Class VI road and do the road walk. As it turned out, although it was still leafy and had a lot more debris, though nothing impassable, it was definitely the better choice. I was able to make good time and was really, pleasantly surprised about halfway along to encounter a hard packed gravel road, which led up to a communications tower. That's how bad the leaves had been, I was excited at a road walk. I followed it back to Daniels Mountain Road and then completed the loop back to the trailhead.

I have 2 planned hikes (3 trails and just a couple miles) to complete my Redlining Project of the Southern NH AMC Trail Guide. Unfortunately I'm not going to meet my goal of completing by year end as 1 of the hikes requires good weather and we've run out of that now with the onset of frosty conditions at elevation. I'm OK with this and will put this project on hold until next Summer. I'm proud of myself for having made it this far and being so close to my goal. I'll get it done!

this was my turnaround point

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Grotto Cave

I have been somewhat hesitant about this little spur I needed as the description reads that it is a rough, somewhat hard to follow and steep spur to a cave in a col between Cardigan and Firescrew. Today, the weather was absolutely perfect, so Laura and I headed back down New Colony Road for the 3rd and final time to the Mowglis Trail intersection. We headed up Mowglis Trail and really just took our time enjoying the incredible weather and peace and quiet. We saw no one on our ascent. We enjoyed a quick break at the Crag Shelter before starting the climb up to Firescrew. This is by far one of my favorite mountains. The views are incredible, but the majority of the crowds are over on Cardigan. Even if you do encounter others, the summit is large, plenty of space for everyone to find a corner and just take it all in. We didn't stop on our way up, as I just wanted to get this cave over and done with. We did have one little mishap on our way off Firescrew where we followed a cairn, but that ended up leading nowhere. Not sure what that was about, but once we realized we backtracked and saw where we had gone wrong. Back on track, we headed towards Cardigan. I had pinned where I thought the Grotto Cave spur might begin based on some tracks I had been sent by a fellow Southern NH redliner I know in the Facebook group. Plus I knew there was a very faded blue blaze painted on the rock, however I wasn't sure if that was right along Mowglis Trail or a little ways along the spur. My pin ended up being pretty spot on and at a cairn along the trail, I spotted the faded blue blaze indicating the spur heading to our left. I was pretty psyched that we found it so easily and hoped that would bode well for the remainder of the spur. Initially the spur is flat and with a little looking around and basic intuition on where the trail might be we were able to spot the blue blazes quite easily. The views up alongside the Cardigan cone were a different perspective and show the craziness of Holt Trail, the one remaining trail I now have to do over there. The spur quickly starts to drop steeply. We still were able to find the blue blazes and were surprised to hear some voices come up behind us. A Father and his 2 young sons. I was concerned they were lost, but no they were also looking for the cave. We let them pass and it was actually nice having them there as they did the detective work of finding the blazes! We came upon a short, but really steep slope that required a butt slide down and I pushed to the back of my mind how we would get back up that. At the bottom of this slope was the one area it was tricky to determine which way to go. Follow the bottom of the slope to the right and there is a blaze hidden behind a fallen tree showing the trail continuing down. Here the trail is more of a woods section and wasn't marked, but the path was obvious. We quickly arrived at the cave, with a very overgrown section just before it, but the cave itself was visible by now so just pushing through the overgrown section was not a problem. There is a huge overhanging rock just before the cave, which I thought was cooler than the actual cave.. which is rather small and unassuming. The trail continues through the cave and I've read ends just on the other side. We ventured into the cave, but neither of us could really fit out the other end, so called it done. After some pictures and a quick break we started the steep climb back up. This time we stopped on the summit of Firescrew for a snack break and to enjoy the gorgeous weather before heading back down Mowglis Trail for the car.

Strava Activity

faded blue blaze at the start of the Grotto Cave spur

blue blaze is opposite this cairn along Mowglis Trail

along the Grotto Cave spur

from the bottom of the short steep slope

looking up at Cardigan

Firescrew summit views

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Finishing Elwell and Hanging Rocks

It was a simply gorgeous day today. I headed back over to the Cardigan area with the intent of finishing everything on the Mowglis Trail side of the mountain. I headed back in to the intersection of Mowglis Trail and New Colony Road. Some sections were a little rougher than I remembered, but we made it with no issue. This week I headed into the woods on Mowglis Trail. Here the trail immediately climbs a little and at roughly a quarter mile intersects with the end of Elwell Trail, which spans roughly 10 miles over to Wellington State Park. I needed the last 0.7 miles or so from this point to the intersection with Back 80 Trail coming up from the Cardigan AMC Lodge. It had rained overnight, so the trail was damp but the sun was shining. I headed down Elwell Trail which was level for a short distance then started a rather steep, but short descent to the Back 80 intersection. The biggest concern was the trail was very leafy, which hid wet rocks and roots. Once, I reached my turnaround point, I retraced my steps back up the now steep ascent. Just near the Mowglis Trail intersection, I saw a herd path heading over to what looked like a clearing so I headed in to see what the views were like. Spectacular views across to Firescrew and the surrounding area. Fall colors were popping. Back to Elwell Trail and I turned left on Mowglis Trail, heading for Firescrew. The first mile is really quite easy with gentle grades and only mild ascents. The trail is really beautiful. And on my way up, I saw no one. Just under half a mile from the intersection with Elwell Trail is a newly marked spur to the Hanging Rocks viewpoint. This viewpoint has existed previously, but not officially marked. I had read there was a new extension of this spur that takes you down and under Hanging Rocks, but I saw no indication of where that might be and since it's not described in the 5th edition of the AMC South Guide that I am working on, I considered it done to reach the viewpoint (as described in the book). Once the 6th edition is published, I can go back and find that new piece. The view was back across to where I had just been on Elwell Trail. More gorgeous colors. I continued on to Firescrew. Initially my plan had been to go up and over Firescrew and find the Grotto Cave spur, however I started much later than I had hoped, and had been taking my time on the climbs. The last quarter mile or so up to the Firescrew summit is quite steep. I was too tired and it was getting too late in the day to continue, so I'll come back and get that another time. Here is where I started to see more people, but thankfully Firescrew is much more quiet than Cardigan so it wasn't an overwhelming crowd. I enjoyed the 360 degree views for a little while before retracing my steps back down Mowglis Trail to the car.

Strava Activity