Surry Mountain Preserve

 I headed out to Surry Mountain Preserve today. Really pretty day, but it was very windy. Luckily, I was never exposed and the wind didn't affect me too much. What it had affected was the debris. I parked at the trailhead on Old Gilsum Road. This was a lollipop hike again. Lots of those lately! First surprise of the day was a boot brush right at the trailhead with a sign to brush off your muddy boots! Never seen that before. The trails were creatively called Red Trail and Yellow Trail. Red Trail started at the trailhead and is also used by mountain bikes, although I thought it was very technical for bikes (but not being a rider, I can't truly say). Red Trail was more of an old road, wide and relatively easy going. Just over a mile in, the Yellow Trail splits off giving the option for a loop. I decided to take Yellow Trail first, returning the entire way on Red. The trails don't hit any actual peaks or anything scenic, rather head over a small ridge. They are well marked, but Yellow was a bit harder to follow in places, particularly with all the debris. Lots of small to medium sized debris, and a couple larger blowdowns as well. Nothing impassable, but I did find myself wandering off trail quite a few times. I never got far before realizing and was able to backtrack and reset easily enough. Along the trail at one point there were some rock cairns and structures that the guide says the source and origin is unknown, which was interesting. It was here that I had my only real problem, which once I figured it out, it was obvious, but I saw a blaze (the blazes are arrows) and headed in the direction of the arrow only to realize it wasn't the trail. It took me a solid 5 minutes before I realized the blaze I was looking at was for people coming in the opposite direction. Once I made that correction, it was was obvious and I was able to continue. The destination of both the Red and Yellow trails is Lily Pond. Just before reaching the pond on Yellow Trail, per the AMC Guide there was an unmarked path that led 0.2 miles to Rocky Gorge. I was a bit nervous about finding and following this path after the adventures on Yellow Trail with debris, but it ended up being very obvious and rather easy to follow. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for, but once I reached it, I knew I had arrived. A small brook with an impressive eroded rock formation. I backtracked to Yellow Trail and continued around to meet back up with Red Trail and took the short spur down to the pond. There was a little lean to shelter with a firepit where I stopped for a brief rest. I then just followed Red Trail back to the car. 

Strava Activity

Hedgehog Hill

 This one took me by complete surprise. I loved it. Hedgehog Ridge Trail is about 4 miles long in total, so I am breaking it up into 2 trips, and today I did a lollipop from Hedgehog Mountain Road. The parking area is about a quarter mile from the trailhead, however the road is a quiet dirt road so no issues walking down to the trailhead. The stick of the lollipop is only about a tenth of a mile long. At the junction with Woods Road, I turned right and headed up Hedgehog Mountain Trail to the summit area, which was a steep little climb, but less than a mile. The summit area was gorgeous, a huge firepit and gorgeous views over to Kearsarge and surrounds. I spent quite a bit of time up there enjoying the views. It was very clear. From here I picked up Hedgehog Ridge Trail. I can almost guarantee, if a trail has the word Ridge in it, I'm probably going to enjoy it. And I did. I only went about 1.1 miles along Hedgehog Ridge Trail to the intersection with Woods Road, but it was really nice. Some undulating ups and downs, nothing crazy but enough to keep it interesting. A variety of terrain from rock slab to pine needle path. There were clearings here and there along the way so you could see the views. A couple of twists and turns, but it was well marked so easy to follow. There was one tiny little scramble (really tiny) that was almost a bit too tall for me, but I figured it out, which led up to another beautiful viewpoint. Once on Woods Road, it alternated between Class VI type terrain, smoother woods road and narrow footpath. The initial descent on the Class VI terrain was a bit steep, and with the leaves hiding rocks it was a bit slow going, but once on the more level areas it was smooth sailing. The last quarter mile or so turned off the road back into the woods and was a bit more rustic, but thankfully well marked and easy enough to follow. The trail rejoined Hedgehog Mountain Trail back near the start and it was an easy walk back to the car. 12/10, I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Strava Activity

Manchester Cedar Swamp Preserve

 Take 2 on this one. I had come over to do it a few weeks ago, but there was a car in the parking lot that made me uncomfortable so I called an audible.. back again and mission was successful. There were a couple cars in the lot when I arrived, and the lot was almost full when I finished, yet I only saw 6 people the entire time! I started on the All Persons Trail, which is a lollipop trail that is graded gravel, that very gently climbs ever so slightly before reaching a lollipop loop called Cedar Swamp Trail that included some wooden bridges. The whole thing was very pretty. Several different areas to stop with fancy benches and educational plaques along the way. I picked up Woodland Trail here, which becomes a true hiking trail. Woodland Trail is essentially a big circle, which I took in a clockwise direction. Nothing really of note to see, but the temps were perfect and the light filtering through the trees was perfect. The trails are all really well maintained and marked. On the backside of Woodland Loop is another offshoot called Rhododendron Trail, which drops down and crosses a brook to create another lollipop through some rhododendron stands. The loop essentially follows an inner circle between 2 brooks. The only faux pas of my day was just before crossing the brook to start the lollipop, I inadvertently followed a trail that appeared well established and was flagged following alongside a pond.. this trail however is not on the map (perhaps the flagging indicates it is in the process of being built?). It ended at a road/driveway. I had questioned myself as my little dot on my digital map was off the trail, but sometimes the GPS coordinates on my phone are off, so I wasn't sure and kept going. When I reached the road and determined I really was off track, I just turned around and backtracked before getting on the actual trail and completing the Rhododendron Loop trail. Only added about half a mile extra, so no harm, no foul. Once back at Woodland Trail, I completed the loop and repeated the first section again to return to the parking lot. Super pretty area!

Strava Activity

intersection of All Persons Trail and Woodland Trail near the kiosk

Cedar Swamp Trail off the All Persons Trail

Woodland Trail 

lots of boulders and open woods with beautiful light this time of year

Rhododendron Loop crossed a power line swath before the loop part

this is where I went wrong. I went straight instead of turning left

gorgeous light along the not correct part

back on track on Rhododendron Loop

rhododendrons!

Mt Wallingford

 Laura and I headed to Weare today. Where? Yes, Weare.. in fact we had a giggle on our hike that the residents must be completely tired of people making that joke! We headed for Mt Wallingford on a straightforward out and back hike. The trailhead is a small parking area on Flanders Memorial Rd in Weare that could hold 3-4 cars if parked carefully. There was 1 truck there when we arrived and we ended up seeing 2 groups on our hike. The trail started through some taller grasses before dropping down near a pond and heading through some gorgeous open woods meandering just over a mile and a half to the summit. The first mile or so is relatively tame, the last half mile was really quite steep, but not technical in any way, just a solid cardio workout. There was a restricted clearing just below the summit, but we were in a low cloud today so had no views. A large cairn seemed to mark the end of the trail, even though it did continue unmarked heading down the other side. We weren't sure where that went, so didn't wander too far. We could see where the true summit appeared to be and due to the very open nature of the woods, we bushwhacked the short distance over and found a very small cairn and called that good. A very simple, but very pleasant wander in the woods. 

Strava Activity

trail head

start of trail

passing the pond

end of official trail

true summit

"the view"

another view of the pond

fun on the trail