Potash Mountain

 It's "Peak Week" in New England and we wanted to take advantage of that. Of course the one day we had available to hike it was cloudy and overcast. Oh well. The temperature was perfect, the company even better. Laura and I decided to visit Potash Mountain. The trail departs from the same parking area as Hedgehog, where we were a few months ago.. however there is a water crossing that is tricky on the best of days. Thankfully there is a bypass alternative, that only adds a tenth or so in mileage and keeps the feet completely dry. We opted for this bypass. The route starts on Logging Road 511 along the Kancamagus Highway. We started early, on the trail by 7:30am to avoid any potential crowds (and also because I had a commitment in the evening that I needed to be home for.. my husband's 50th birthday dinner!) There is parking at the gate to the logging road, space for a couple of cars taking care not to block the gate. The Kanc was mostly quiet as we drove along, which was beautiful, even in the misty weather, to enjoy the gorgeous colours. We headed up the logging road, which was a gentle climb for about 0.7 miles, enough to get the blood flowing, before reaching the Potash Mountain Trail. Turn right at the rock staircase and begin the ascent to the summit. The trail was just beautiful. Enough variety between hemlock forest, some rooty sections with lush mossy rocks and ground cover, a short but fun boulder section and some good old fashioned rock slab. Along the way you pass an outlook with unobstructed views across to Hedgehog Mountain and Mt Passaconaway beyond. We had some gorgeous low clouds creating a magical vista. It was wet lower down and there were a couple places with muddy sections, but these were short and easy to skooch around. I was concerned the upper slabs would be wet also but as we ascended it became drier. I had read in the guide book that some of the steeper pitches had awkward footing and were described as rough. We didn't find that at all. By no means a walk in the park, but we thoroughly enjoyed the entire trail. The rock slab at the top could definitely be sketchy if wet (and particularly icy), but today we had no issues. It wasn't until near the top we had a couple groups pass us, but there was plenty of room at the summit that we all took a corner and quietly enjoyed the views... briefly... the clouds rolled in almost immediately once we reached the summit, which was surreal as our actual mountain seemed clear, but all around was a wall of white! We stopped for a brief snack and the clouds cleared a little so we could see all that beautiful foliage. A yellow X marks the summit itself as well as an orange boundary marker for the Sandwich Range Wilderness. We didn't linger seeing as though there weren't really any views and started back down. Again, we found it much "easier" than we had anticipated. We passed several groups on their ascent and before we knew it, we were back at the logging road and out to the car. This time the Kanc was like a super highway with all those leaf peepers. This makes 30/52 for me and 23/52 for Laura on the 52 With A View list, and was definitely one of my favourites so far!

Strava Activity

Wapack Trail - Northern Terminus to Sharon Trailhead

 Our original plans changed due to rain forecast in the White Mountains. Laura and I decided to do a Wapack Trail traverse of about half the trail from the Northern Terminus on Old Mountain Road with a car spot on Temple Road in Sharon. We had previously ended at Temple Road over the Winter when doing Kidder Mountain, and I have previously done Windblown XC Ski Area to Pratt Mountain and back.. so after today, I just have the 5 miles of the southern most section of trail to complete. I have loved just about every inch of this trail (minus a couple boring short road hikes). There has been variety of terrain without anything being too technical or sketchy, but still challenging. The day turned out to be perfect as far as temperatures. Started a bit brisk, warmed just enough to make it comfortable and no bugs! There were some small sections of mud/wet rocks or roots, but nothing to make it dangerous. We spotted my car at the Temple Rd trailhead and drove back to the Northern Terminus. For the second time on a traverse, I almost forgot my keys. I don't know why that keeps happening! Thankfully I remembered at the last second and all was saved. We decided to go North-South, which worked for us, though we passed a lot of people heading South-North.. so either would work. The climb up North Pack was moderate, but not steep. There are a couple peekaboo views from the summit, the best views on this mountain are a little ways down the Cliff Walk trail, which we had been on a few months ago. We stopped for a brief snack before continuing onto Pack Monadnock. The section between North Pack and Pack was beautiful pine forest with rolling trail. We kept stopping to enjoy the beauty. It steepened a little right before the Pack Monadnock summit. Just below the summit is a view spur named Joanne Bass Bross Outlook. Not much in the way of views as the southern part of the state doesn't have the mountainous vistas as is found in the Whites, but still a pretty view. We knew the summit of Pack Monadnock would be busy, having an auto road to the top with picnic facilities, a fire tower, a small store and a raptor migration observation area, which was busy with scientists and nature lovers alike with their extra long lenses. We quickly pit stopped without bothering to go up the fire tower as there was a constant stream of folks heading up and down. The descent from Pack Monadnock to the Miller State Park entrance was only 1.4 miles, but was the steepest and most technical section of the day. We were starting to tire and the foot puzzle of boulders slowed us down a bit. It seemed never ending! Eventually we arrived at the parking area and paid our $4 day use fee for Miller State Park. After carefully crossing Rt 101, the trail ascends via an access road for the old Temple Mountain ski area. While a welcome relief from all the boulder hopping coming off Pack Monadnock, it was just steep enough to be rather tedious. Near the top, the trail re-enters the woods and becomes a nice cruisy roller coaster of ups and downs over several knobs. We were really tired by this point but still able to enjoy the peace and beauty of this trail. Several cairns along the way mark the town line between Temple and Sharon. The first signed peak was Holt Peak, which is also Sharon's town highpoint. Holt Peak is wooded and just off the Wapack Trail with an obvious short herd path to the true summit. We stopped here for another break before starting the descent towards Burton Peak. Burton Peak is also wooded, but not long after the summit was a short spur with an unobstructed view straight across to Mt Monadnock. One of the amazing things about this section was we followed an old stone wall for much of the way, marveling at the workmanship and time it must have taken to construct. The final descent to Temple Road did also seem never ending but thankfully was easy going with 2 short view spurs to outlooks over the surrounding area. There was just enough Fall color poking through and with the waning daylight it cast a magical glow over everything. Either that or we were just delirious by this point and ready to be done! Another fantastic day in the woods.

Strava Activity