Rowe's Revenge

 It's been 10 or so years since I've hiked in the Belknaps. There have been so many other places to explores, once I completed my patches for that area, I moved on.. however a few new trails have formally been added, so I figured today was a good day to go back and explore. I chose the trails on Mt Rowe. I parked at the pullout at the gate on Area Road. It was hot today and humid, so I really just took my time. My route was only about 3 miles, but 700ft of gain. To get to the trails, go through the gate and down the road a few hundred feet. There a sign here for the trails, turn right and up into a lot that has some materials dumped and a small sign points you up Rowe's Revenge. This is a ski trail, so nothing technical about it. Just a lot of up. In some areas the grass was a bit longer, but for the most part it was either gravelly or just grass. At one point it skirted close to some mountainside homes, otherwise felt far away from the bustle of this region. Just before the end of the trail there is an umarked spur out to the site of an old warming hut with some views over the lake. The trees are starting to grow up and it was very hazy today in the heat, but I could still see a bit and enjoyed a nice breather. I continued to the end of the trail, which is just below the actual summit of Mt Rowe. I opted not to revisit as I've been there several times already and it's essentially just a communications tower. I decided to take what the Guide has called BTTR - Better Than the Road, but the signage onsite called it Cutoff Trail and I've also seen it on some maps referred to as Bypass Trail. Either way, it was a nice quick descent marked with white and green blazes that was definitely a nicer alternative than the gravel road. It popped out at the top of the Mountain Coaster. I followed a short extension before ending on the road just above the main resort area and just had to walk back through the campground to complete my loop. 

Strava Activity

parked here

start of Rowe's Revenge

looks flat.. it wasn't

former warming hut site

heading down the BTTR Trail

Mountain Coaster

popped out looking over the resort

an old ski jump seen while walking through the campground

I didn't catch this sign on the way up, but turn for Rowe's Revenge off the road

looking back up at Mt Rowe