Birch Ridge Community Forest

 I was last here at Birch Ridge back in 2022. SELT has since expanded the network some, and new trails have been added in the AMC 6th edition. Decided to spend the day today cleaning up those new to me trails, as it was a raw, grey day and I didn't want to venture too far from home. I started at the Brienne Rd trailhead which is a big cul-de-sac that allows parking. A very short connector joins up with Corridor 22 of the NH Snowmobile trail network. I had done this section previously, but it was the best access point to grab the new to me trails. I took a left onto Corridor 22 and started a gentle ascent up the slopes of Birch Ridge. I was on snowmobile trail for 95% of the day, so mostly wide open trail and nothing technical. At about 1.3 miles, I took a left onto Lion Camp Pride Trail, which was one of the new to me sections. This trail descended for roughly 2 miles. I'm glad I chose to come in this direction as I ended up having some lovely views opening up in front of over Merrymeeting Lake and the surrounding peaks. There was one cleared section with a nice open view. At the lowest point, the trail actually leaves SELT property and crosses through Camp Pride (this area is closed from June-September while the camp is in use). It was here I saw the only other hikers of the day, a group with their fur children. Once through the camp, the trail takes a sharp right at a gate on Lions Camp Pride Way and starts to climb back up the slope of Mt Jesse. The trail ended back at Corridor 22, just below the summit of Mt Jesse, which appeared to be on private land with signs indicating an active rifle range. The walk along Corridor 22 from here was really, really nice for a snowmobile trail. While some areas were more of a true class VI style road, there were long stretches of super smooth, relatively flat terrain that made it easy going. I loved that section. Back on SELT property, I continued to Lookout Trail, which I had done previously but at that time it was an out and back. Now it is expanded to a loop. I could see on the map that the section of Corridor 22 between the 2 ends of the loop looked quite steep, so I chose to descend that section, and take the loop back up. I think that was a good move, as it was really quite steep and I wouldn't have loved that after about 7-8 miles already. So I continued past the top end of Lookout Trail and descended down to a kiosk intersection between Corridor 22 and Webber Rd. Continuing straight on Webber Road for just a few hundred feet was the bottom end of Lookout Trail. I turned left here and it was a much gentler ascent back up. The actual "lookout" is right near the top end of the trail, but today I couldn't see much as rains and mist was moving in. Back on Corridor 22, I turned right and went a very short distance to Reuben Webster Trail, which was the only non-snowmobile trail I took today. It started and ended as a wide open old road, but the middle was narrow and very windy with thick leaf cover in places today. While there were a few white SELT markers on trees, I was thankful someone had left the pink flagging tape from when the trail was created.. that made it much easier to follow. This is a roughly 0.5 mile trail that cuts off a corner of Corridor 22 including that steep descent and then ascent back up Birch Ridge. Once back at Corridor 22, I did my only double up, which was just a quarter mile or so back down to the car. The only other person I saw all day was a hunter heading up towards Mt Jesse. I ended up with 9 miles and 1300ft of gain! Solid day!

Strava Activity

Brienne Rd trailhead

heading up Corridor 22

looking up at Mt Jesse summit

more of Corridor 22

top end of Lookout Trail

bottom end of Lookout Trail

the lookout on Lookout Trail

Reuben Webster Trail

Surry Mountain Preserve

 I headed out to Surry Mountain Preserve today. Really pretty day, but it was very windy. Luckily, I was never exposed and the wind didn't affect me too much. What it had affected was the debris. I parked at the trailhead on Old Gilsum Road. This was a lollipop hike again. Lots of those lately! First surprise of the day was a boot brush right at the trailhead with a sign to brush off your muddy boots! Never seen that before. The trails were creatively called Red Trail and Yellow Trail. Red Trail started at the trailhead and is also used by mountain bikes, although I thought it was very technical for bikes (but not being a rider, I can't truly say). Red Trail was more of an old road, wide and relatively easy going. Just over a mile in, the Yellow Trail splits off giving the option for a loop. I decided to take Yellow Trail first, returning the entire way on Red. The trails don't hit any actual peaks or anything scenic, rather head over a small ridge. They are well marked, but Yellow was a bit harder to follow in places, particularly with all the debris. Lots of small to medium sized debris, and a couple larger blowdowns as well. Nothing impassable, but I did find myself wandering off trail quite a few times. I never got far before realizing and was able to backtrack and reset easily enough. Along the trail at one point there were some rock cairns and structures that the guide says the source and origin is unknown, which was interesting. It was here that I had my only real problem, which once I figured it out, it was obvious, but I saw a blaze (the blazes are arrows) and headed in the direction of the arrow only to realize it wasn't the trail. It took me a solid 5 minutes before I realized the blaze I was looking at was for people coming in the opposite direction. Once I made that correction, it was was obvious and I was able to continue. The destination of both the Red and Yellow trails is Lily Pond. Just before reaching the pond on Yellow Trail, per the AMC Guide there was an unmarked path that led 0.2 miles to Rocky Gorge. I was a bit nervous about finding and following this path after the adventures on Yellow Trail with debris, but it ended up being very obvious and rather easy to follow. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for, but once I reached it, I knew I had arrived. A small brook with an impressive eroded rock formation. I backtracked to Yellow Trail and continued around to meet back up with Red Trail and took the short spur down to the pond. There was a little lean to shelter with a firepit where I stopped for a brief rest. I then just followed Red Trail back to the car. 

Strava Activity