Hedgehog Hill

 This one took me by complete surprise. I loved it. Hedgehog Ridge Trail is about 4 miles long in total, so I am breaking it up into 2 trips, and today I did a lollipop from Hedgehog Mountain Road. The parking area is about a quarter mile from the trailhead, however the road is a quiet dirt road so no issues walking down to the trailhead. The stick of the lollipop is only about a tenth of a mile long. At the junction with Woods Road, I turned right and headed up Hedgehog Mountain Trail to the summit area, which was a steep little climb, but less than a mile. The summit area was gorgeous, a huge firepit and gorgeous views over to Kearsarge and surrounds. I spent quite a bit of time up there enjoying the views. It was very clear. From here I picked up Hedgehog Ridge Trail. I can almost guarantee, if a trail has the word Ridge in it, I'm probably going to enjoy it. And I did. I only went about 1.1 miles along Hedgehog Ridge Trail to the intersection with Woods Road, but it was really nice. Some undulating ups and downs, nothing crazy but enough to keep it interesting. A variety of terrain from rock slab to pine needle path. There were clearings here and there along the way so you could see the views. A couple of twists and turns, but it was well marked so easy to follow. There was one tiny little scramble (really tiny) that was almost a bit too tall for me, but I figured it out, which led up to another beautiful viewpoint. Once on Woods Road, it alternated between Class VI type terrain, smoother woods road and narrow footpath. The initial descent on the Class VI terrain was a bit steep, and with the leaves hiding rocks it was a bit slow going, but once on the more level areas it was smooth sailing. The last quarter mile or so turned off the road back into the woods and was a bit more rustic, but thankfully well marked and easy enough to follow. The trail rejoined Hedgehog Mountain Trail back near the start and it was an easy walk back to the car. 12/10, I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Strava Activity

Manchester Cedar Swamp Preserve

 Take 2 on this one. I had come over to do it a few weeks ago, but there was a car in the parking lot that made me uncomfortable so I called an audible.. back again and mission was successful. There were a couple cars in the lot when I arrived, and the lot was almost full when I finished, yet I only saw 6 people the entire time! I started on the All Persons Trail, which is a lollipop trail that is graded gravel, that very gently climbs ever so slightly before reaching a lollipop loop called Cedar Swamp Trail that included some wooden bridges. The whole thing was very pretty. Several different areas to stop with fancy benches and educational plaques along the way. I picked up Woodland Trail here, which becomes a true hiking trail. Woodland Trail is essentially a big circle, which I took in a clockwise direction. Nothing really of note to see, but the temps were perfect and the light filtering through the trees was perfect. The trails are all really well maintained and marked. On the backside of Woodland Loop is another offshoot called Rhododendron Trail, which drops down and crosses a brook to create another lollipop through some rhododendron stands. The loop essentially follows an inner circle between 2 brooks. The only faux pas of my day was just before crossing the brook to start the lollipop, I inadvertently followed a trail that appeared well established and was flagged following alongside a pond.. this trail however is not on the map (perhaps the flagging indicates it is in the process of being built?). It ended at a road/driveway. I had questioned myself as my little dot on my digital map was off the trail, but sometimes the GPS coordinates on my phone are off, so I wasn't sure and kept going. When I reached the road and determined I really was off track, I just turned around and backtracked before getting on the actual trail and completing the Rhododendron Loop trail. Only added about half a mile extra, so no harm, no foul. Once back at Woodland Trail, I completed the loop and repeated the first section again to return to the parking lot. Super pretty area!

Strava Activity

intersection of All Persons Trail and Woodland Trail near the kiosk

Cedar Swamp Trail off the All Persons Trail

Woodland Trail 

lots of boulders and open woods with beautiful light this time of year

Rhododendron Loop crossed a power line swath before the loop part

this is where I went wrong. I went straight instead of turning left

gorgeous light along the not correct part

back on track on Rhododendron Loop

rhododendrons!

Mt Wallingford

 Laura and I headed to Weare today. Where? Yes, Weare.. in fact we had a giggle on our hike that the residents must be completely tired of people making that joke! We headed for Mt Wallingford on a straightforward out and back hike. The trailhead is a small parking area on Flanders Memorial Rd in Weare that could hold 3-4 cars if parked carefully. There was 1 truck there when we arrived and we ended up seeing 2 groups on our hike. The trail started through some taller grasses before dropping down near a pond and heading through some gorgeous open woods meandering just over a mile and a half to the summit. The first mile or so is relatively tame, the last half mile was really quite steep, but not technical in any way, just a solid cardio workout. There was a restricted clearing just below the summit, but we were in a low cloud today so had no views. A large cairn seemed to mark the end of the trail, even though it did continue unmarked heading down the other side. We weren't sure where that went, so didn't wander too far. We could see where the true summit appeared to be and due to the very open nature of the woods, we bushwhacked the short distance over and found a very small cairn and called that good. A very simple, but very pleasant wander in the woods. 

Strava Activity

trail head

start of trail

passing the pond

end of official trail

true summit

"the view"

another view of the pond

fun on the trail

Cranberry Pond Meadow Trail

 I was in the mood for something a bit longer, but nothing crazy for elevation today, so headed over to Peterborough and the Cranberry Pond Meadow Trail. This trail has one end at the base of Pack Monadnock and the other in the town of Peterborough. A quarter mile or so heads up the mountain of Pack Monadnock intersecting with Raymond Trail. I had done this section previously with Laura, but needed the section of Raymond Trail back down to East Mountain Road.. so I parked at the Cranberry Pond Meadow parking area and headed up, then down Raymond Trail to complete that section. A short road walk and I turned left onto Cranberry Pond Meadow Trail. From here the trail starts to climb up and over a small hill called Oak Hill. Then just meanders along on private land until it reaches Cranberry Meadow Pond. There were 2 clearings with a bench and one had a firepit. It was a pretty area. Beyond that the trail followed a brook from the pond to a bog area with bridges and up to Old Street Rd. Crossing Old Street Rd, the trail continues through the woods until it meets up with Wheeler Trail, which is a V shaped trail that leads to a small parking area on Rt 101. The first branch coming from the Old Street Rd side wasn't marked with a sign, but I noticed a faded white blaze on a tree (I also had a pre-downloaded digital map which helped me identify I was in the right spot). It was just before a bridge crossing. The only place I got a bit confused was on Wheeler Trail, there was a bridge about 3/4 of the way down the trail that I thought was the end, but it wasn't.. turns out it's a connecting path to the other side of the V. I continued down to the parking area. Heading up the other side of the V, I did do an out and back on that connecting path, just to cover my bases, then continued up to Cranberry Pond Meadow Trail, which was now in a big field with a mowed section to cross. I followed up to Cheney Ave before turning around and heading back. There was some lovely views across to the Wapack Range from here and the colors made it extra pretty. Then, I just backtracked the way I came to the car. 

Strava Activity