I needed 2 more trails in the Joe English Reservation for redlining and decided on this warm Spring day to get them completed. Bicentennial Trail is 4 miles long and connects Brook Road and Dodge Road in Amherst. Hemlock Trail starts just over 3/4 of the way down Bicentennial and gives the option for a lollipop. I parked at the Peabody Environmental Center on Brook Road and for the first time this year, did not need to gear up. Short sleeves and bug spray today! I was grateful for the continuous tree cover as it was a warm one and thankfully the bugs were not bad at all. Bicentennial Trail starts in the Joe English Reservation, transitions to the Betty Arnold Forest and Dacqino Forest. The trail is well marked with white blazes the entire length. It was easy to follow and well maintained. As you get closer to residential development, lots of private side trails come and go (as well as other trails in the above mentioned forest networks) so be sure to keep your eye on the white blazes. NEMBA maintains quite a lot of the area along with Amherst Conservation Commission, so any particularly wet or muddy areas have nice bridges. I did see lots of bike tracks in the mud, but didn't see any actual bikes today, just a few groups of hikers/trail runners. There's no real scenic vistas along the trail, just lots of vernal pools. If you're into trees and plants, there is plenty to see there! The Dodge Road end of the trail skirts between houses, but does stay in the woods the entire time. A couple of quieter roads are crossed, but the trail was always well marked where to re-enter. I followed Bicentennial Trail the entire way out, then opted for a small section of Humpty Dumpty Trail on the return, just to break it up and then Hemlock Trail which was a more gradual descent back to the trailhead. A pleasant day in the woods.

Saturday, May 8, 2021

Mt Hayes

The forecast for today was a little iffy, but ended up being perfect. Initially a cloudy day was predicted, and while the sun didn't really come out, the views were clear and the colours were spectacular. Laura and I decided to hike Mt Hayes. On the 52 With a View list, there are 2 trails to reach the summit. We chose the Mahoosuc Trail, which actually begins with a 1.2 mile gravel road walk from Rt 16 in Gorham. There is a small parking area alongside a bridge that crosses the Androscoggin River. Signage points the way, so it's not overly difficult to follow. The bridge was a little scary, only due to my fear of heights. It was solid. The road walk was uneventful, however the view at the true trailhead was beautiful. The trail begins with a small stone staircase and follows alongside a brook with lots of pretty little cascades. It was wet in areas, but we were able to keep our feet dry with careful foot placement. We quickly needed to layer down as it was definitely not the forecast real feel of 29°F. Once away from the brook, the trail turned to pine needles with amazing footing. It steepened, but I'll take good footing any day! We continued past the spur to Mascot Pond saving that for our descent. Continuing up, we crossed an old skidder road which is marked with a cairn where the trail reenters the woods. The trail eventually turns to an eroded rocky climb, that was rather wet and muddy. This slowed us down a little as we worked through the foot puzzle to keep our feet dry. Above that, the trail alternated between wet/muddy and dry and eventually came out onto rock ledges where the views are. Thankfully these were mostly dry. We again continued on wanting to hit the summit first, then we'd be back to sit and relax and enjoy the views for a bit. The actual summit is about 0.3 miles beyond the ledges and is mostly wooded, marked with a little baby cairn. Back on the ledges, and the views are spectacular. The muted tones of the day really made the surrounding mountains pop. It was amazing. We stopped for a little while to enjoy a snack and the views before beginning our descent. I had been worried the down would be tough with the wet rocks, but I actually found it much easier than anticipated. Before we knew it, we were back at the Mascot Pond spur and took the 0.2 miles to this beautiful little area. A couple of old firepits are set up and the pond is overlooked by an incredibly steep gravel incline with an old lead mine atop. You couldn't see the entrance to the mine from down below, but I have seen pictures of an another adventurous person who went up that incline. Laura and I were decidedly against that idea and just enjoyed the pond from our vantage point on flat ground. Back to the gravel road walk and to the car. This was Laura's 15th on the 52 List and my 27th. Another successful day.

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Saturday, May 1, 2021

Mt Monadnock

After my adventure on Monadnock last Fall, I had been hesitant to go back, but had also been anxious to make amends with this mountain and get to work on redlining. The best part was I hiked with Laura today. She kept me sane when I got scared and made the 7 hours it took tolerable! We parked at the State Headquarters (reservations are required) and geared up. It was very chilly to begin. We took the White Dot Trail up, which is 2 miles. It was super muddy for the first half mile or so, which wasn't unexpected as we had some decent rain over the last couple of days. We wore our Winter boots to keep our feet warm and dry. While this was a hindrance on some of the steep climbs with smaller footholds, it was also a massive benefit with traction. We were happy with our decision. After the White Cross Trail and Cascade Link intersections, we reached a stone staircase. I joked that on Pumpelly Trail last year I encountered a similar scenario, not realizing at that time it was the beginning of the never ending ups and downs! Much the same here, just half the distance thankfully. We took our time. There were some areas of wet that we were able to avoid. The trees not being fully in bloom yet provided us some peekaboo views which made it nice. We reached an awesome outlook and enjoyed for a moment. As we had been driving in, it looked like the summit was in clouds, so we hoped this wasn't the only view of the day. We continued to go up and up and the trail got steeper and steeper. I don't like trail that just drops right off the side, which this felt like it did in some places. That's where Laura was able to keep me calm and we safely got to the ledges where you can see the summit and it looks close, but also really far at the same time! The trail started to get busier and we stepped aside and let many people pass. Finally at the summit, what felt like gale force winds met us, it was difficult to stand upright at times! It was also very cold. But clear and the winds kept all bugs at bay. We quickly took some videos and pictures and headed down Pumpelly Trail to find a nook to sit and have some lunch. After a bite, we continued down Pumpelly to Red Spot Trail. The first section of this trail I just loved. It meandered down some ledges, but wasn't overly steep and there were amazing views across to the Wapack Ridge. We could even see the Boston skyline! We did eventually hit a point where the trail just went straight down. It was very rocky and several times I had to sit and slide a bit as it was too far for my knees to jump! This section also had quite a bit of water from the rains, but we were able to safely navigate around most of it. Even though this section was steep, I preferred it to the White Dot Trail as it didn't just drop off a cliff on the side. There were trees that gave you a bit more of a sense of safety! The climb down seemed endless, but we eventually reached the section of trail that was more "trail" than rock climb. We were so tired at this point and Cascade Link was a welcome sight.. knowing it was just over a mile left, but the hard part was done. There is a gorgeous section along Cascade Link which gives it its name, cascades almost as far as you can see. Just little baby ones, but so pretty. A couple water crossings on this section also, but all were easily crossed by rock hopping. Back at White Dot Trail which also seemed endless on tired legs. We made it!

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