Silver Mountain

Great little hidden gem in Lempster, NH. I only knew about this peak due to the NH Fire Tower list. It's off the beaten path (literally, trailhead is 2 miles down a dirt, often quite rough road), however the trail is well blazed and super easy to follow. Space for several cars on South Road at a cabin for the Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest. Trail begins behind a gate with yellow blazes. Only about 0.6 miles in each direction, the trail begins easily and moderately then climbs onto some ledgey areas. When you reach the first open area with a cairn on the left overlooking the first viewpoint, which my family tried to convince me was the summit.. look to the right and there is a small yellow blaze on the rock slab pointing you to the left into some scrub and another 0.1 miles up to the actual summit. Here you will find a yellow x and combination cairn/summit chair with small American flag. Almost 360 degree views give you massive bang for your buck for very little effort.

Strava Activity

The Pinnacle

Pinnacle Park is located on a small side street in Hooksett. Relatively "newly" added to the NH Fire Tower list, it is a short, easy walk around some nicely maintained trails. There is a kiosk with map in the parking area and some picnic tables. The trails themselves aren't really blazed or signed, bar a couple pointing you to the summit or switchbacks to avoid a steep ascent. It's easy to navigate however as you can tell which direction you need to be headed and most of the trails eventually meet up with each other at some point. We took the most direct way up, which included the short but steep ascent near the top. The entire trail network is pine needles, so that steep little ascent can be a bit slippery but enough rocks and trees to hold on to for balance. The summit is a rocky outcrop with views over the Merrimack River. We had a gorgeous clear afternoon, so the views were plentiful. There are a couple of short spur paths around the summit with a variety of views of the Greater Hooksett area. Sounds of traffic on nearby I-93 remind you that you are in fact not way out in the country. On our way down we took the switchback section of trail and made our way back to the car in roughly a mile total. Nice little trail to add onto a day of hiking!

Strava Activity

Stewarts Peak

On our continued quest to hike in isolation during this Pandemic as well as checking off peaks on the NH Fire Tower list, we found ourselves at Stewarts Peak in Warner. There is a yellow blazed trail, that I have read was illegally cut and blazed, but everyone seems to hike all the same. Not seeing any private property or no trespassing signs, we headed up the short but feisty trail. My Suunto measured 0.8 miles each way and after a relatively tame 0.3 miles it just goes up, up and up. The first half of that incline included a lot of loose leaves and rocks, which at times was a bit tricky. The second half was pine needle and much better footing. I haven't done an incline that steep in several years, so it took me much longer than the average person. So much so, my kids bailed on waiting for me at the top and headed back down passing me and grabbing keys to wait in the car! My tolerant husband hung out and waited for me thankfully. The summit is viewless. There is a red blazed trail that I have read will have some limited views a little ways down from the summit, but we did not explore. There is a cairn with giant pole on the summit and that's about it. It was a gorgeous day, and since at the moment this is the only time I am leaving the house, I am grateful for my health and my family accompanying me on these adventures.

Suunto Activity

Catamount Mountain, Pittsfield

As we continue living in isolation and practicing social distancing, the one benefit has been spending some quality weekend time with my family and pursuing our quest to reach all those fire towers. This weekend we headed to Catamount Mountain in nearby Pittsfield, NH. I had read several reports on this one and was a little hesitant as there are no official trails, so this would be our first bushwhack. I chose this one as all the reports I had read said it was relatively easy to navigate, even without a trail, and the total roundtrip was anywhere from 1-1.5 miles. We checked the access road to the cell tower on Governor's Road first, as I wasn't sure if it truly was a No Trespassing zone. It is. Gated and very clearly marked. We headed back to Route 107 and the pulloff just near Johnson Road. There is a woods road that heads off from this pulloff, but if you look just to the right of that road, there is a clear indentation and herd path that people have taken. We quickly discovered that someone has marked an entire route up with orange flag tape and cairns. So our bushwhack wasn't really a bushwhack. There is also a fairly clearly worn in trail from previous hikers taking this same route. It was almost easier to navigate than some other actual real trails I have taken that are maintained and officially blazed! That being said, you can take whatever route you feel, since there really are no official trails to keep on! About 2/3 of the way up you will encounter some moderately steep rock cliffs that are completely doable, just watch your footing with all the loose leaves around. We mostly followed the orange flag tape and had little issues. Once up the cliffs you will encounter a number of Posted signs for the cell tower on the summit. It was hard to tell where the private land truly was/if all the summit is private land or what the situation is. We looked around quickly, we didn't go near the actual cell tower, I later found out there is quite a collection of cairns on the other side, which I'm kind of bummed we didn't see.. but according to my Strava tracks, we did hit the high point elevation, so I'll happily check this one off the list.

Strava Activity