Hewes Hill/Tippin Rock

 Right around the corner from Carrolls Hill is the trailhead for Hewes Hill and the Tippin Rock Trail. The guide plus all descriptions I had read said parking was at the entrance to a hay field on Warmac Road. Swanzey Conservation Commission has since developed a small official parking area which was nice. Crossing the field, the trail begins in the far right hand corner marked with a sign and map. This trail was night and day from the Carrolls Hill Trail. Super clean and great footing the whole way. Blazed with blue blazes, the trail gently climbs and reaches Tippin Rock in just over half a mile. Tippin Rock is a huge boulder right in the middle of the trail. Supposedly you can make the rock tip back and forth, but I didn't try. This boulder can also be found on the "NH Rocks that Rock" list that I am loosely keeping track of (all the patches!). The blazes continue a couple tenths of a mile to the top of some really high, steep cliffs with a lovely overlook of the surrounding area. Some Fall colors were just starting to peep through. Although I didn't see any, this area is apparently used by rock climbers and some anchors can be found at the top of the cliffs. The blazes stop at the top of the cliffs, but the trail clearly continues to the summit area of Hewes Hill. No views up here, but I headed up and "bushwhacked" (I use the term lightly as the area is very open and not very whacky) to what appeared the highest point a few hundred yards off trail atop a giant pile of erratics. The trail continued over the summit and I noticed a red blaze down a steep descent. Not knowing where it headed and not interested in having to climb back up, I just turned back around and retraced my steps to the car. I have since read this trail may be for rock climbers to descend after climbing up the cliffs. I passed a couple at the overlook as I was descending. They were the only folks I saw all day (on the trails). Another short hike coming in at just about a mile all the way to the summit. 

Strava Activity

parking on Warmac Rd

trail entrance from the field

                                                  cliffs at the end of the blazed section of trail

Carrolls Hill

 It was too nice of a day to not get back out again, but I knew my legs were tired from yesterday. I headed over to the town of Swanzey to grab the last 2 hikes I needed there from the AMC South Trail Guide. First up was Carroll's Hill. Make sure you read trail descriptions should you decide to hike this trail. It's a bit obscure to find, but once there, the trail was straight forward. Located on private land off Westbrook Court in Swanzey, parking is in a field. There is a small upside down sign saying "Enter" with 2 brown "P" signs along some brush on the left side of the field. The field was very wet, and I was afraid of getting bogged in, so I opted to park off the road in the far right hand corner of the field. I followed the perimeter of the field and at the woods line is a sign and box with maps. Although on private land, the trail is maintained by the Swanzey Conservation Commission. The first tenth or so was in the woods, and while there were signs of trail maintenance with big trees chopped and moved aside, there was a lot of small debris over the trail. About a tenth in, you meet up with a private driveway. This was a bit unnerving as there is a (fabric) garage which had a car in it, a gate and a path to a house. The gate has a lot of No OHRV type signs, but foot travel is permitted. For the next half mile or so, the trail follows an old rough road. There are no blazes, but orange flagging tape was hanging periodically from the trees. At any major turns there were wooden signs with arrows or the word "Trail" so it was not difficult to follow. About 3/4 of the way in, the trail turns off the road and enters the woods. Until now the climb had been easy to moderate. At this point it did become quite steep, although just a short climb. At the top of the climb, the trail veered left with a sign and followed along a ridge reaching some huge rocks and ending at a lovely viewpoint with a bench. That last little section was my favorite of the hike, I didn't love the rest of it, but the view was pretty and made it worth the effort. Total was 1.1 miles to the viewpoint. 

Strava Activity

Carrolls Hill from where I parked in the corner of the field

trail as it turned off from the road

Newbury Trail - Mt Sunapee

 It was a spectacular day, albeit it windy.. I knew I wanted something with some views potentially, thinking the wind would clear the skies. I decided to head back to Mt Sunapee and finish the Newbury Trail that I half hiked last year and grab the last tenth of a mile I needed on Solitude Trail down to Lake Solitude. Having read all the trail reports and descriptions, I knew parking was a little ways away from the trailhead on Rt 103 at Newbury Harbor near the Visitors Information kiosk. Parking on Lake View Ave where the trailhead is, is prohibited by the town of Newbury. I arrived sort of early and was surprised to find only a couple cars there ahead of me. Carefully crossing Rt 103 and heading up Newbury Heights Rd, the second right is Lake View Ave. Heading up this, the trailhead is just a little ways up on the right, about 0.2 miles from the parking area total. The trail starts on private land and immediately crosses a small brook. We had some decent rains yesterday, so it was nice to see water flowing and a little cascade after all the dry weather we've had. I had read there were some steeper sections on this trail, and those started almost immediately. The first mile and half is a pretty steady up most of the way. There were some small reprieves, but mostly up. At 0.4 miles there is a cairn in the middle of the trail. This marks the Eagles Nest Trail, which I took 0.2 miles to the Eagles Nest outlook. Starting to become restricted with tree growth, nonetheless a pretty overlook over Lake Sunapee and surrounding mountain tops. At about 1.3 miles the Rim Trail intersects Newbury Trail. This is where I had turned off last time I came down Newbury Trail. Continuing up Newbury, there are a couple of steep, yet short scrambles. A scenic overlook, again becoming restricted with tree growth is about 0.2 miles from the Rim Trail intersection. About 2 miles in, you pass just below the true summit of Sunapee South Peak and the trail really levels out. The last couple of tenths over to Solitude Trail were really pleasant, if not a bit muddy. I turned left at the intersection with Solitude Trail, and descended gently about one tenth of a mile to the Andrew Brook Trail intersection and Lake Solitude. Until now I had only passed 2 groups. It started to get busy from here, which I expected on such a crystal clear day. I didn't summit Mt Sunapee as I know the Solitude Trail once it reaches the service road for the ski trails is a steep incline and I wasn't interested in that today. Instead I retraced my steps from Lake Solitude (excluding a revisit to Eagles Nest) and carefully made my way back down, with only one slide on a wet root that had me sitting on the trail briefly! Thankfully no one around to witness that graceful move. 

Strava Activity

Newbury Harbor - where parking is located

Trailhead on Lake View Ave

Trail marker for Eagles Nest Trail

view from Eagles Nest

view from Eagles Nest

Partridge Woods - Osgood Hill

 I ascended Osgood Hill a few months ago on a hot and steamy day on the Kulish Ledges side. There are trails on the other side of Osgood Hill as part of the Partridge Woods trail network. A couple are relatively new and the whole system is rather rustic, but super well marked and easy to follow. Parking is off Brickyard Road, I actually missed the entrance the first time, at a large stack of mailboxes, look for a small sign just in from the road, there is a parking area and kiosk just down from that. Starting on Ethans Way, which is an old road, the trail ascends moderately but with easy footing. At half a mile, the Hurd Hill Trail leaves to the left. I took this trail, which is another old road. It intersects with Ridge Trail after 0.2 miles (in a rare instance, I found the mileage on the signs to be exactly as my watch recorded!) and then shortly thereafter veers off to the left, creating a loop over the summit of Hurd Hill. I started my hike with very low clouds/fog, so I didn't really have much by way of views.. not that there are many along this route. The summit of Hurd Hill is somewhat cleared, but also overgrown with a picnic table and bench amongst the tall grass. From here I picked up Ridge Trail, which starts as an old road, then becomes trail. The variety of terrain along here is cool, from open woods, to blueberry bushes to open area with tall grass and back into woods. There are a couple viewpoints noted on the trail guide which stem from cleared trees. Ridge Trail heads up and over a summit named Blacktop before a short, somewhat steep climb with a ton of little switchbacks up to the Osgood Hill summit. Another bench on the summit of Osgood Hill is in a cleared area, however no views here. I continued on Kulish Ledge Trail for about half a mile, then picked up Osgood Hill Link Trail. In about half a mile it meets up with Wheeler Trail. I went left first descending a couple tenths of a mile to a driveway marked semi private on the map but private on a sign on the road. I retraced my steps continuing on Wheeler Trail past the intersection with Osgood Hill Link Trail and Ethans Way to the intersection with Ridge Trail. Wheeler Trail is another old road, slightly rougher footing, but still easy going. Back to the intersection with Ethans Way and an old homestead site of the Wheeler property. From here I descended down Ethans Way (old road the entire way) and back to the car. I only saw 2 ladies hiking up within my last 3/4 mile on Ethans Way. 

Strava Activity

Hurd Hill Trail going left, Ridge Trail going right

funky tree along Ridge Trail

loved the sun burning through the fog

mixed variety of terrain along Ridge Trail

Kulish Ledge Trail 

Wheeler Trail at the private driveway

Wheeler Trail where Osgood Hill Link Trail ends

Wheeler Trail where Ethans Way meets up