Eastern Belknap Loop

 Just over a year ago, Tim and I did this exact same loop.. in white out conditions with rain and fog. Today was the complete opposite and I loved getting to see all the views we missed last time. I started on the Boulder Loop Trail heading up Mt Major which was a first for me. I enjoyed it! Some nice scrambles. Amazingly, I had the Mt Major summit to myself. That has to be a rarity on a beautiful day! I continued on and over to Straightback South. Here I picked up the Quarry Spur Trail, and hit my biggest snag of the day. There was a large blowdown I had to navigate over/around and I lost the trail. I'm not sure how, but I did.. and I panicked briefly before just starting to head up. I figured eventually I'd hit the Dave Roberts Quarry Trail. Which I did thankfully.. though it seemed to take forever, felt like hours. I have never been so grateful to see a blaze or trail! Looking back at my tracks it was a very brief portion of the trail! I somehow missed the North Straightback sign, but did pass over it. I also somehow missed the East Quarry sign because before I knew it, I was on West Quarry! There are a lot of ups and downs on this side of the loop with some more technical steep pitches, and it was rather humid today, so I was super sweaty.. but I was so enamored with all the views we hadn't seen last time, it made it all worthwhile.  Over Rand and onto Klem and then some open ledges with more views and a lovely breeze. From Klem I picked up the Klem-Mack Loop over to Mack, then the Red trail to Anna. Belknap Range Trail back to Straightback South and the Brook Trail back to the car. What a great day! It was muggy and buggy, but the views were so well worth it! Amazingly I saw not a single soul until my descent on Brook Trail at the end of the day.

Strava Activity

Heading up Boulder Trail

Mt Major summit

first time noticing a second benchmark on the summit!

blowdown on Quarry Spur Trail

never been so grateful to see a sign in my life!

along Dave Roberts Quarry Trail

trees like this always look like art pieces to me

Klem summit

Anna Summit

Bald Knob & Turtleback Mountain

Today I did an out and back to Turtleback Mountain via Bald Knob. Parked the car on Rt 171 at the bottom of an unofficial trail at the Tuftonboro/Moultonborough town line sign. Oof, it was a steep climb up for just under a mile to Bald Knob. Although unofficial, the trail was marked with blue blazes and was mostly easy to follow. I got off course a couple of times, but was able to regroup easily enough. Way steeper than I had anticipated, but the views from Bald Knob are well worth the effort. I continued on Bald Knob Trail on the now superhighway of LRCT trails over to Turtleback Mountain Trail. The trails were mostly nice and dry with a little soft mud that could be easily avoided. The climb became a little more moderate until the final push on Turtleback Summit Trail. One large blowdown on the summit spur that I was able to duck under. Views from the summit are back towards the Ossipee Range rather than over the Lakes Region. It was a gorgeous day. I retraced my steps stopping again at Bald Knob for another quick picture opportunity before tackling the steep descent back to the car. The only people I saw all day were 2 women with their pups ascending as I was descending back to the car from Bald Knob. 

Strava Activity

from the start looking up to Bald Knob

Bald Knob views

Turtleback Mountain summit views

back at Bald Knob on the way down

one last look at where I had been

Mt Roberts

Today I ventured back out to Mt Roberts at the Castle In the Clouds. My last visit with Robin was a whiteout, and this peak is on the 52 With a View.. so I decided to go back and check those views out! It was a gorgeous day, first short sleeve hike for me this year. The hike up via Mt Roberts Trail is moderate but was in great shape today. I picked up High Ridge Trail to the Faraway Trail which was very wet and muddy in some spots with some small patches of lingering snow that I hadn't anticipated. There were also quite a few blowdowns, nothing you couldn't navigate around easily enough but overall it was a bit of a messy section. In fact, I had the intentions of taking the unofficial trail/access road up to the true summit of Faraway Mountain, but must have been too focused on avoiding mud/snow and missed it. I picked up Faraway Trail which is smooth sailing, wide carriage roads to Cold Springs Trail and then completed the loop on Cold Springs Road. Bluebird day. 

Strava Activity