I ascended Osgood Hill a few months ago on a hot and steamy day on the Kulish Ledges side. There are trails on the other side of Osgood Hill as part of the Partridge Woods trail network. A couple are relatively new and the whole system is rather rustic, but super well marked and easy to follow. Parking is off Brickyard Road, I actually missed the entrance the first time, at a large stack of mailboxes, look for a small sign just in from the road, there is a parking area and kiosk just down from that. Starting on Ethans Way, which is an old road, the trail ascends moderately but with easy footing. At half a mile, the Hurd Hill Trail leaves to the left. I took this trail, which is another old road. It intersects with Ridge Trail after 0.2 miles (in a rare instance, I found the mileage on the signs to be exactly as my watch recorded!) and then shortly thereafter veers off to the left, creating a loop over the summit of Hurd Hill. I started my hike with very low clouds/fog, so I didn't really have much by way of views.. not that there are many along this route. The summit of Hurd Hill is somewhat cleared, but also overgrown with a picnic table and bench amongst the tall grass. From here I picked up Ridge Trail, which starts as an old road, then becomes trail. The variety of terrain along here is cool, from open woods, to blueberry bushes to open area with tall grass and back into woods. There are a couple viewpoints noted on the trail guide which stem from cleared trees. Ridge Trail heads up and over a summit named Blacktop before a short, somewhat steep climb with a ton of little switchbacks up to the Osgood Hill summit. Another bench on the summit of Osgood Hill is in a cleared area, however no views here. I continued on Kulish Ledge Trail for about half a mile, then picked up Osgood Hill Link Trail. In about half a mile it meets up with Wheeler Trail. I went left first descending a couple tenths of a mile to a driveway marked semi private on the map but private on a sign on the road. I retraced my steps continuing on Wheeler Trail past the intersection with Osgood Hill Link Trail and Ethans Way to the intersection with Ridge Trail. Wheeler Trail is another old road, slightly rougher footing, but still easy going. Back to the intersection with Ethans Way and an old homestead site of the Wheeler property. From here I descended down Ethans Way (old road the entire way) and back to the car. I only saw 2 ladies hiking up within my last 3/4 mile on Ethans Way.

Hurd Hill Trail going left, Ridge Trail going right

funky tree along Ridge Trail

loved the sun burning through the fog

mixed variety of terrain along Ridge Trail

Kulish Ledge Trail

Wheeler Trail at the private driveway

Wheeler Trail where Osgood Hill Link Trail ends

Wheeler Trail where Ethans Way meets up

Saturday, September 17, 2022

Lovewell Mountain

Having previously ascended Lovewell Mountain from Lovell Mountain Road, I needed to complete the trail from the other side. Lovewell Mountain Trail is a section of the Monadnock Sunapee Greenway and I needed to complete the section from Half Moon Pond Road to the summit. Having just been at this trailhead a few weeks ago when I hiked into Pillsbury State Park, I knew it needed to be accessed before Winter as the road is not maintained during that season. The last half mile of Half Moon Pond Road after Martin Road is very rough and should only be attempted by high clearance vehicles. As was the case last time, when I arrived there was already a vehicle parked, though I never saw the occupants. Today was absolutely perfect hiking weather, crisp temperatures without being cold, delicious light making everything glow and no bugs! I headed into the Max Israel State Forest where the trail immediately begins a gentle ascent. It is roughly 2.3 miles from Half Moon Pond Road to the summit and the trail goes over 3 knobs before the final ascent to Lovewell Mountain. The trail is impeccably maintained and just gorgeous meandering through the forest with a variety of up, down and flat to give you the ability to soak it all in without being too out of breath! I kept stopping to look around, it was so pretty. Roughly 0.8 miles from Half Moon Pond Road and atop the 2nd knob is Max Israel Shelter, which I visited on my descent. The shelter even has a not so private privy! The final ascent is more technical with rocks and roots, but made a little gentler with switchbacks. It was here I was passed by the only people I saw on the hike, 2 ladies and a pup named Norm. Along this final push you also enter Lovewell Mountain State Forest. The summit was bigger and more open than I had remembered from my previous visit and a bench has been added at the viewpoint, which was a pleasant surprise! Trees do restrict the view ever so slightly, but still a gorgeous view over towards Kearsarge and surrounding bumps is an added bonus. I remembering being pleasantly surprised on my first visit, and I was again this time around. Definite hidden gem of NH hiking! As I arrived back at my car, another car was just parking with a lady removing a bike. She had been planning on riding 7 miles back into Washington township to leave her bike and hike back to her car. She asked if I would mind driving her instead, which of course I was happy to do.. so if Carol from Grantham somehow ends up stumbling onto this page *waves hello*

Strava Activity

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway - Section Hiking

The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway is a roughly 50 mile trail stretching from the summit of Mt Sunapee to the summit of Mt Monadnock. I'm tackling this trail in small bits and pieces, although many do make it a multi-day thru hike. This was my 5th hike on the MSG and my adoration of the trail continues. It is impeccably maintained (in fact on my hike today, I passed a trail adopter making sure his section was clear) and very well marked. Today I started at Brown Road in Harrisville, where there was space for a few cars where the trail turned off the road and headed into the woods. Just as I was feeling a bit remote, a young family passed by that must live locally and were out for a stroll. That made me feel a bit better and I geared up and headed out. I was doing a 4 mile out and back section, with nothing really scenic along the way, just a pleasant walk in the woods. Within a half mile or so of starting I reached an area called Eliza Adams Gorge. There was some construction equipment parked and it looks like they must be doing some repair work on the Howe Reservoir Dam which is adjacent. Unfortunately at this time, the reservoir is practically dry and there was barely a trickle coming over the dam, thus the "Gorge" wasn't the spectacular sight I have seen in pictures on Google. Continuing on, I soon reached the Spiltoir Shelter. Amazingly, there was a large stockpile of water bottles, which the trail adopter I later passed said had been donated by the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail Club due to the drought conditions right now and lack of water supply. Continuing on, the trail was a rolling up and down, but nothing too strenuous. The highlight was a town line sign for the Harrisville/Dublin town line! At about 1.5 miles from where I started, I crossed over Rt 101, which thankfully on my way out was relatively quiet so I didn't have to wait too long to cross. On my way back it was a bit busier, but I made sure to wait till it was completely clear before attempting to cross. On the other side was a pull off with room for parking if needed and a gate. A lot of this section was old road, so wide with relatively good footing. Somewhere around a mile from Rt 101, the trail actually veered off the old road and became an actual trail, descending down until it met with Old Marlborough Road in Dublin. Turning right here, it was roughly a 0.5 mile road walk (dirt road) before heading back into the woods and the final (for me) 1.1 miles to the Dublin Trailhead for Mt Monadnock. Once I reached that point, I turned around and retraced my steps to the car. Highlight of the return trip was passing 4 horses and their humans on the trail. I love seeing horses on the trail, they are so beautiful.. but I don't love what they leave behind, always right in the middle of the trail meaning I have to pay extra attention to where I'm stepping! Just as I arrived back at my car, a lady riding an E-Bike mountain bike headed into the woods.. just going to show this trail is a great resource for all sorts of activity!

Strava Activity