You Are Here: November 2023

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Pisgah State Park - Habitat Loop Trail

When I did my first hike at Pisgah State Park, I was thinking it would take forever to complete all the trails and all the miles.. I hiked in Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.. there were some amazing days, and some not so amazing days (it gets reeeeeallly buggy there in Spring/Summer).. but looking back, I can say this place is special. There is nothing specific to see, no high summits or must see places.. just miles and miles of peaceful trails. Some lovely ponds.. an overlook here and there. If you don't want to see many people, this is the place to go. Today I tackled my last 2 trails to complete the park. I had a half mile on South Woods Trail and the newly built Habitat Loop Trail. I spent almost as much time driving out there than I did on the hike, and it was bittersweet after all this time to be done.. I lingered a little longer than normal today. I parked at the Horseshoe Road parking lot, where there were already a few cars.. but I only ever saw folks while in the parking lot, none out on the trails. I was looking for no snow, as I'm not mentally ready for Winter hiking yet.. there were small traces of snow and ice, but nothing that caused any issues and I needed no traction. I continued down Horseshoe Road. Just a couple tenths down this road, the first of the Habitat Loop Trail markers can be seen. There are 26 markers along a roughly 2.5 mile loop pointing out places of interest.. being almost Winter, most of them today were not really visible, but I took a peek each time I passed one. A guide to what each marker represents can be found on the Friends of Pisgah website, along with a map. I continued past South Woods Trail, which also coincides with Habitat Loop Trail as this would be my return. At the fork where Winchester Road meets Horsehoe Road, Habitat Loop Trail veers right, but having done that section on my very first hike in the park, I opted to head towards Old Chesterfield Road and cut off that corner of the Habitat Loop Trail. Continuing onto Old Chesterfield Road, just about a tenth of a mile down, Habitat Loop branches off to the left. This whole section is snowmobile trail/gravel road so the footing is easy going. After 0.3 miles, Habitat Loop rejoins Old Chesterfield Road for 0.2 miles before taking a left hand turn at a cleared section which is clearly marked with blazed stakes and crosses into the woods. The next half mile or so was a lovely ramble through the woods before reaching an intersection with a spur path to a marsh overlook. I followed the spur, which is only about a tenth of a mile long reaching a nice spot to stop for a snack with 2 lovely long new wooden benches overlooking said marsh and surrounds. Back on the main trail, it continues for another tenth of a mile before reaching the intersection with South Woods Trail, which was my turnaround point a couple months ago. I did take a right and head back down to the scenic overlook where I had visited previously. Along my final half mile South Woods Trail and Habitat Loop Trail follow the same route, which is more lovely trail before reaching back to Horseshoe Road and my completion of every mile in Pisgah State Park. It took me 15 trips and roughly 100 miles of hiking total!

Strava Activity

looking down Horseshoe Road

marker 1 was remnants of an original house

where Habitat Loop branches of Old Chesterfield Road

a pond created by beaver

Habitat Loop off Old Chesterfield Road again

new and old bridges

this marker was for the hemlock trees, but I liked the fungus!

new benches at the marsh overlook

South Woods Trail/Habitat Loop intersection

but first the scenic overlook on South Woods Trail

Eastern White Pine

and that's a wrap on Pisgah State Park!

Sunday, November 19, 2023

Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Oak Hill

My adoration of the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway continues. Today I had both my besties, Laura and Vanessa with me. We spotted a car at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Washington, NH on Kings Highway (a gravel road only maintained in Summer months). We then drove back and started on Halfmoon Pond Road at the Martin Road intersection. There is a pull off right opposite Martin Road that would fit a few cars. Halfmoon Pond Road is a hard packed gravel road, generally quiet.. though be careful as sometimes dirt bikes or as we experienced, a dozen or so jeeps/SUVs came tearing along from Pillsbury State Park. The Greenway itself goes over Lovewell Mountain, and we picked it up at the Lovell Mountain Road intersection, which is also the trailhead to get up to Lovewell Mountain about 1.4 miles from the car. Easy going on this section, we made quick time. Halfmoon Pond Road bears right about 1.3 miles from Lovell Mountain Road and gently climbs up towards the center of the town of Washington in about 0.7 miles. Here there is a general store that I have read has wonderful meals and snacks for thru-hikers (or anyone, but a popular stop for thru-hikers). We didn't have a need for a meal at this time, so continued. Carefully crossing Route 31, continue down Faxon Hill Road for just about a tenth of a mile and turn onto the first left (there is a Greenway arrow on the signpost) onto Symonds Lane. A short distance down this lane the trail turns off the road and heads into the woods. There were arrows and and a cairn marking the trail entrance. The trail follows a farm fence line for a bit and in about another tenth of a mile reaches the General Washington shelter. We stopped for a morning tea snack. It's a really clean shelter with a privy. The trail continues through the woods, over some mossy rocks and a couple of small brook crossings. A couple tenths from the shelter the trail starts gentle to moderate climb up towards the Oak Hill summit. With the leaves off the trees and some logging done in recent years, we had some lovely views to the surrounding peaks. The trail climbs moderately then levels off before making another moderate climb up to the summit. I was surprised to see it was very open, I had read that the views were being restricted to tree growth.. that has all been cleared and there are 180 degree views over to Lovewell Mountain and towards Vermont. It was lovely! We stopped for another quick snack, but could see weather coming in, so didn't linger. The descent down was a bit steep, which I had read about, but short, and honestly nothing like I was anticipating. The worst part was the slippery leaves hiding rocks and holes. The descent is about half a mile before it levels off and continues through the woods. The trail joins an old road/snowmobile trail which is actually a private driveway (we met the homeowner, a really nice gent who told us about his retirement plans from CT to the property). The trail rejoins Faxon Hill Road, which is paved and descends a few tenths before veering left onto gravel Kings Highway and back to the Seventh Day Adventist Church and our car spot. There is some good parking at this spot that the church allows hikers to use, plus some "antique" toilets and picnic tables. I have about 8 miles left on the Greenway, and I've loved just about every inch!

Strava Activity

parked opposite Martin Rd

Halfmoon Pond

downtown Washington, NH

crossing Rt 31

left onto Symonds Lane

and into the woods

General Washington shelter

Laura making herself comfortable

Vanessa exploring the trail

this wasn't a fallen branch, the tree was growing this way!

views from Oak Hill summit

NH 500 summit cannister

turning onto the snowmobile/driveway

back onto Faxon Hill Road

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Monadnock Wanderings

I have the most hikes left in the Monadnock and Cardigan areas. I've always been intimidated with the vastness and technicality of the trails in these areas and had been putting them off. It's getting down to the wire, and I'm trying to save the trails that will be more accessible in Winter.. which means it's time to tackle Cardigan and Monadnock. I headed for Monadnock today with the goal of knocking out some of the side connector trails on the Halfway House side of the mountain. I've done a few of the lower ones, today I would do some of the higher ones. I made my reservation for the Halfway House parking lot. This was my first time parking here. It was smaller than I had expected, but there was plenty of room when I arrived around 830am. The cold has finally set in, and I have a new Winter coat I was excited to try out. We had some snow last week, but thankfully most has melted, though I did have my spikes packed just in case they were needed at higher elevations (they were not). I started up the Old Toll Road, which is a 1.1 mile gravel road walk with moderate incline. I found myself getting too hot, so when I reached the Halfway House site, I took off the coat and found just my long sleeve base layer and polar fleece zip up was sufficient. There was little wind today which made a huge difference. My first trail was Fairy Spring Trail. I immediately started down the wrong trail, as the Guide Book says Fairy Spring is off Monte Rosa, when in fact it is off White Arrow Trail. I realized this quickly and backtracked. Fairy Spring Trail climbs moderately then rather steeply for 0.3 miles. There is one small water crossing (Fairy Spring) then some mossy, rock scrambling. Before I knew it, I was at the Monte Rosa/Smith Bypass intersection. I turned right and then immediately right again, following the yellow blazes onto Smith Bypass. This climbs 0.1 miles and becomes more of a ledgey/slab climb up to the Smith Summit Trail at a big rock that I think is called the Incisor (though to me it looked much more like a whale!) The first views of the day opened up here. I continued a couple tenths up Smith Summit Trail, which was now all rock slab (I like this kind of trail) to the Amphitheatre intersection which was marked with "To Black Precipice" painted on the rock. Amphitheatre started in the woods then opened up at Black Precipice onto a super steep rock slab. I didn't realize at the time that's what it was, I was just trying not to get too scared by the sheer drop off to my right. Amphitheatre continued over some more steep rock slab and came to an intersection with White Arrow Trail. I looked down White Arrow Trail, which I had planned for a second loop and wondered if I had it in me to do another climb.. but pushed that thought aside for the moment and scrambled my way down to Smith Connecting Trail and Sidefoot Trail. I was in and out of the trees and the views were amazing when it opened up. I was initially a bit nervous about going down Sidefoot Trail as I had seen an old comment one time where the poster called it "Slidefoot Trail" but I didn't find it too bad overall. It was steep, but not nearly as overwhelmingly so as I had anticipated. As I descended, and feeling really good overall still, I started to wonder if a second loop was a good idea. I didn't want to get too worn out and put myself in danger on another steep descent. I kept debating with myself the entire time on whether to continue with my plan or return to the car and come back another day. Once back at the Halfway House site, I decided to push on. I started up White Arrow Trail and immediately my legs started to tell me this maybe wasn't a great idea. There were a lot (A LOT) of rock steps.. which are helpful, but also very tiring.. before turning into a full on rock scramble that got steeper and steeper. I contemplated turning around, but my mind won out and I continued. As I got higher there was a little more ice than I had seen anywhere else on the trail, but with careful foot placement it was avoidable. I made it back to the intersection with Amphitheatre Trail and exhaled knowing it was all downhill from here... or so I thought.. and being oblivious to the type of downhill that was coming! I retraced my steps to Smith Connecting Trail, this time passing by Sidefoot and continuing on towards Bald Rock. From here it was some of the gnarliest, steepest descent I've done in a really long while. Lots of butt sliding because by now my legs were toast and I was afraid of falling.. and quite honestly, a lot of it was steeper and taller than I could have walked anyway.. if I wasn't butt sliding, I was grabbing onto trees and hoping they would hold me as I skooched down. I popped out of the woods and was at the base of the climb up Bald Rock. It looked worse than it was and I was bathed in some glorious sunlight that distracted from the climb. At the top of Bald Rock I stopped and enjoyed the 360 degree views, including a low flying small plane as well as the little bitty people over on the actual Monadnock summit. I got a bit confused leaving Bald Rock, but with my digital map I finally saw the trail marker painted on the rock and continued on Cliff Walk a couple more tenths to the Noble Trail intersection. I didn't see a sign here, but luckily saw Noble Trail painted on the rock (also with the aid of my digital map to help me out). Noble Trail started out as rock slab, rather steep descent before re-entering the woods and being a short but really step climb down. I did lose the trail briefly once as there were no blazes that I could see. For the most part it was easy to follow, it was just at a right hand turn that I got a bit off track, but was able to regroup quickly without any drama. Back at Sidefoot Trail, I was so glad to be off the worst of the steepness. On to the Toll Road and I was able to pick up my pace back to the car. 6 miles exactly and just over 1900ft of gain is the most gain I've done in a long while! I was proud of myself for pushing through some tough terrain for me with no incidents or accidents!

Strava Activity