Friday, April 8, 2016

Belknap Mountain

Today's plans changed last minute.. which is totally fine. So I figured I would work on my redlining of the Belknap Region. It's been snowing/raining off and on all week, so I was a bit hesitant on which trails to tackle for fear of ice. I knew it wouldn't be completely awful, but I also know there is quite a bit of rock ledge on some of those trails, so even minimal ice can be tricky. I decided on Belknap Mountain ascending via the Blue Trail and descending via the White Trail. This would complete my redlining of the trails that actually take you directly to the Belknap summit. I had read in a recent trail report that the gate on Carriage Road was closed, and likely to remain that way indefinitely as there is a dispute over some contracts with the gatekeeper volunteers.. I was bummed as I had hoped the gate would be open and I could park in the upper Carriage Road parking area. The road walk isn't my favorite. Upon arrival, the gate was in fact closed. So, I got myself ready and headed on up the road. Ironically, 2 electrical contractor trucks went through the gate and drove up. I briefly considered sticking my thumb out and hitching a ride ;) There were a lot of busy brooks and cascades along the road which made it pleasant. All the rain lately has made these very active. Finally reached the parking area and headed for the little 0.1 mile trail called Wayne's Way, which takes you from the parking lot to a lovely overlook.. Ideal for those folks who don't want to hike for some gorgeous views! I then headed for the Blue Trail and was met with lots (and lots) of mud and water and leaves and general muck. I had expected this and wore my Winter hiking boots as I knew my feet would stay dry even if I had to trek through some water.. which I did.. and they did! I ascended the Blue Trail up to the junction with the Saddle Trail and Overlook Trail, took the right and kept on the Blue Trail up to the summit of Belknap. I wasn't going to climb the fire tower as it was fairly breezy.. but I did and was thankful as the views were quite clear. I then descended via the White Trail which I really enjoyed.. a nice combination of woods and rock ledges. I started to get a bit too confident with my pace and took a nice slide down one of said rock ledges.. that always seems to happen in slow motion, I felt it happen the moment I put my foot down. I landed on my butt, which is well padded so nothing worse for wear. I then cautiously continued and passed a gorgeous overlook, particularly of Piper Mountain. Made it back to the Carriage Road and continued back to my car. I'm now 52% complete on my redlining. I shall now think of it as "the home stretch"! 


Wayne's Way

view from the overlook along Wayne's Way

Today = Blue up and White down


The only real water crossing


Junction with Saddle and Overlook trails

staying on Blue and heading for Belknap

no complaints on trail markings here

looking back over to Gunstock






Looking down the White Trail from the fire tower




junction with East Gilford Trail

the worst patch of ice encountered.. avoidable with care



looking over to Piper Mountain

staying on White.. I'll be back to do Orange


The start of White (or the end in my case)

back to the Carriage Road

the start of White Trail from the Carriage Road



Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 25, 2016 at 10:12 AM

    Can you give me a clue to the start of Wayne's Way? Somehow I missed it redlining in that area yesterday. I was all around there, bagging Red, Green, and Blue trails, plus some others, but I must have walked right past Wayne's Way. I didn't know it existed until I spotted it on the redlining spreadsheet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GianinaApril 25, 2016 at 10:18 AM

      I'm in the same boat, didn't know it existed until I started working the redlining spreadsheet! Wayne's Way begins in the parking area of the upper parking lot on Carriage Road. While heading into the parking area from the access road, about halfway down on the right hand side are some steps and the sign that I posted the picture of above. It heads up to the overlook area, then instead of heading back down to the parking area, there is another trail off to the left (when facing away from the overlook) that heads down to the garage building with the Red/Blue/Green/White signs on it. Easy to miss, and not really a trail as such, more a short walkway from the parking lot to a lovely lookout area. Hope that helps!

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)