Horatio Colony Preserve - Wantastiquet Monadnock Trail

 I had 3 miles left of the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail to complete. It was a grey overcast and chilly day. Perfect day for a wander in the woods. I headed out to Horatio Colony Preserve to do an out and back on part of the section known as the Keene Connector. I parked on Whitcomb Mill Rd at the trailhead, geared up and headed out. Horatio Colony Preserve provides an interpretive trail system (without having a trail guide, I didn't know what any of the markers were, but I saw up to Marker #23 on my journey!). There are several trails in the Preserve, but I opted to stay on the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail which utilizes the Red Diamond Trail, Ridgeline Trail and Bailey Brook Trail. Straightforward, really well maintained, though a bit more rustic the further into the park you get. I'd say Red Diamond is the most well used section as it's the most clean area as far as debris. It's a short and relatively steep little climb initially up Red Diamond Trail, and once you reach the ridge, there was an old cellar foundation and lovely view across into Vermont. Then the trail rolls up and down past some rock wall formations, but mostly just pleasant woods. Along Ridgeline Trail is a designated camp site for the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail. It was a ridiculously winding and long 0.3 miles to reach the cleared area with no amenities, but would serve its purposes if you needed to overnight. The most frustrating part of the day was all the leaves on the ground. So many leaves, it was so deep. I slipped and skidded and tripped and even fell once in all that leaf cover. Going up some of the steeper inclines was difficult as I'd slip back down. I reached my turnaround point halfway along Bailey Brook Trail, where I had reached a few weeks and started to retrace my steps. Once I reached where West Hill Road crosses the trail (Class VI not accessible by vehicle), I looked at the map, and decided to take my chances as the road looked a bit clearer as far as leaf cover. It also looked a tad shorter on the map (I didn't have mileage to know for sure, I was eyeballing it) and would involve a short road walk to complete the loop back to the car. The leaf cover had annoyed me so much, I was willing to risk the condition of this Class VI road and do the road walk. As it turned out, although it was still leafy and had a lot more debris, though nothing impassable, it was definitely the better choice. I was able to make good time and was really, pleasantly surprised about halfway along to encounter a hard packed gravel road, which led up to a communications tower. That's how bad the leaves had been, I was excited at a road walk. I followed it back to Daniels Mountain Road and then completed the loop back to the trailhead. 

I have 2 planned hikes (3 trails and just a couple miles) to complete my Redlining Project of the Southern NH AMC Trail Guide. Unfortunately I'm not going to meet my goal of completing by year end as 1 of the hikes requires good weather and we've run out of that now with the onset of frosty conditions at elevation. I'm OK with this and will put this project on hold until next Summer. I'm proud of myself for having made it this far and being so close to my goal. I'll get it done!

Strava Activity

this was my turnaround point