You Are Here: Mt Shannon, Goat Pasture Hill & Pine Mountain

Today was a much more successful outing mentally than last week. I belong to a group on Facebook called 'Belknap Range Hikers' which has been a great resource as many fellow hikers post about their own adventures with pictures and trip reports. As you know I like to research as much as I can before heading out on new trails. Just gives me that sense of peace to have a clue what I'm doing! (well at least convince myself that I do). So today I met up with a new friend, Tracy from Hooksett, who also belongs to the FB group and has been working on her redlining as well. We met up at the Hidden Valley Scout Camp and briefly introduced ourselves before heading off.. in the opposite direction than I went last week. I was now going to complete the Mt Shannon/Goat Pasture Hill area. We headed up towards Sunset Lake on the Red/Yellow trail, which separated once we reached the lake. We took Yellow just over half a mile to the summit of Mt Shannon. Felt much better than when I was there not even a week ago.. still lots of annoying black flies, but I was a little more prepared this time with long sleeves which definitely helped a lot. They were still annoying around our faces, but nowhere near as bad as last week. No matter how many times I visit a summit, I'm going to take a picture. It is never the same. So I like to remember that moment in time, even if I experience it 1000 times over! Summit shots taken we headed down the Blue/Yellow trail and then Blue Trail to Old Stage Road. This section that seemed neverending last week when I battled mental fatigue felt so quick today. Having a buddy to talk to makes all the difference in the world! We turned onto Old Stage Road and headed down to the intersection with the Anna-Goat Pasture Hill Trail. We passed the ladies from earlier as they were heading in the opposite direction to us and reached the red blazes. Funny thing is, having just come down the northern part of this trail a few weeks ago with Vanessa, I knew the trail continued on over Old Stage Road and even commented that I wondered where, as we didn't spot any additional red blazes.. but there they were. Definitely didn't look like a trail as it was rather overgrown at first, but the blazes on the trees were obvious enough if you were looking for them! There were a couple of steep little climbs (at least I thought) for a small peak, and we actually didn't even really realize we had passed over the summit.. although we inadvertently had stopped for a break/picture opportunity and to reapply bug spray, without realizing that was the summit. Once over Goat Pasture Hill and heading back down, we met up with the other end of the Blue Trail and took the quick 0.2 mile trip up the one section of Blue we had yet to complete. That was a nice little section following a brook for most of the way. Back on Red and over the brook, the trail flattened considerably and was really quite enjoyable. It made its way back over to Sunset Lake with a lovely vista alongside a firepit and then followed the edge of the lake back for about 0.5 miles to the Scout Camp. We ended up with right around 6 miles for the day. Although we had been out for 3 hours, it really went by fast and was a very enjoyable morning. Tracy and I parted ways and I headed over to Pine Mountain on Alton Mountain Road. I had hiked this mountain 2 years ago, long before learning of the redlining patch and I've since discovered there is another trail on the opposite side than where we had been that I needed to explore. I had been passing the trailhead each time driving to Camp Bell and Hidden Valley and kept thinking "I should just stop and do this one of these days on the way back".. today, was the day. I'm not sure you are supposed to park where I did, so I parked with care not to block the gate. The trail is essentially an old jeep road, in pretty good condition. The ascent is gradual but my legs felt a bit tired from the earlier hike. The view is pretty stunning from this little mountain. Not only does it look over Lake Winnipesaukee, there is a great view over the Belknaps, the Ossipees and the White Mountains beyond. On a clear day like I had today it is really quite spectacular. I could have stood and just taken it all in for hours. The breeze kept the bugs away. Pretty much perfect. I had spotted a really large boulder on my way up and on the way back saw a herd path leading over to it, so I decided to go check it out.. and found the geographical benchmark is actually atop the boulder! I tried from several different angles to climb up the boulder, but it was just sheer enough and without any real footholds, that I couldn't do it.. even with the small rock step someone had placed alongside. I just wasn't quite tall enough. So I reached up with the camera as best I could to snap a shot of the benchmark and headed back down to the car. Having the view in front of you on the way down is extra amazing. A really beautiful area. I passed a couple walking their dogs near the bottom of the trail, they must live in the area as there were no other cars when I got back. They also mentioned the black flies, so ordinarily there must be a lot on the trail or at the summit. So glad that wasn't the case today! Another successful day in the Belknaps.

Mt Shannon and Goat Pasture Hill

Pine Mountain