Wapack Trail

 After a few weekends of "flat" hiking, I decided to tackle another mountain... or 4. I headed south to avoid the deeper snow areas and settled on a small section of the Wapack Trail in New Ipswich. The Wapack Trail is 21.9 miles long in total, stretching from Mt Watatic in MA to North Pack Monadnock. I opted for a 4.5 mile section in the middle. I parked opposite the former Windblown XC Ski Centre in the Wapack parking designated area. I had read strict instructions prior about not parking at Windblown, even though the Ski Centre is now closed, it appears there are still campsites and the area is clearly signed for no hiker parking. As I arrived at the parking, 2 other gentlemen were just finishing gearing up and headed out. I would leapfrog them a couple times throughout the day and ended up having a nice conversation at my turnaround point. They were continuing on with a car spot a little further down the trail. It was frigidly cold today, with wind chills in the single digits. I hoped I dressed appropriately and headed out. Turns out I didn't feel the cold much at all, so my layers were good. The weather probably kept most people off the trails as besides the 2 guys, I only saw 1 other man near my turnaround point and a couple heading up as I was finishing. Quiet, beautiful day on the trails. The gusty winds made it crystal clear and I had bluebird skies and sun all day. I had filled my pack with water as I've been testing the freeze point. It froze almost immediately, so it seems I'm OK to about 25°F. Thankfully I had my new Nalgene bottle and insulated case that I got for Christmas, so I was ready! The trail from this point starts out up the Windblown driveway then turns onto one of the outer trails from the old cross country network. This trail was a little uneven with frozen snow and ice. It appeared it had received traffic with people just wearing boots when the snow was soft, so when it froze, it made it an uneven surface to walk on. I had microspikes on the entire day, so it was OK as far as traction, I just had to be careful as I rolled my ankles a few times in boot marks.. the trail starts off descending (which is always a bummer on the return) and then climbs up to the summit of Barrett Mountain. The Windblown property boundary is just before the summit where there are signs indicating shelters and camping with permission. The summit is wooded, but was pretty with sunlight shining through the trees. Once up on the ridge, the trail became less icy and more solid hard packed snow, less ankle rolling. I continued on to New Ipswich Mountain, which was just over a mile from the summit of Barrett. There is a gorgeous outlook just below the summit over to Mt Monadnock, the first of many in that direction. The summit of New Ipswich is also wooded, currently marked with a cute little snowman. This is also the high point of the town of New Ipswich! Next up was Stony Top and finally (for me) onto Pratt Mountain. After New Ipswich, the woods clear and the views open up on both sides. It's a really, really pretty walk. Pratt Mountain summit is also wooded. I decided to make this my turnaround point at 4.5 miles one way. The climbs up to each summit were enough to get the heart rate up, but nothing really crazy. I would imagine many hikers create a traverse with a car spot, like the 2 gentlemen I passed today. Really great trail for that sort of hike with enough opportunities for parking to make the hike as long or as short as you'd like. I look forward to exploring the remaining 17 miles!

Strava Activity

Pictures uploaded in reverse

New Ipswich Mt summit

between Pratt and Stony Top

looking at Monadnock from just below Pratt summit

Pratt Mt summit

looking at Stony Top and Pratt from New Ipswich

Barrett Mt summit