I've been procrastinating on hiking in the Cardigan back country as it intimidates me. The couple times I have been out there it feels very remote (which is a good thing) but it's not easy and the access points are limited, making redlining a challenge as most hikes end up being a little longer than I like with that sort of technical terrain and elevation gain. That being said, my bestie said "let's just get out there and do it". Initially my hiking plan had us parking at the end of Old Dicey Road/Welton Falls Road and walking up the entire length, but having done this before I wasn't overly excited at the prospect, when the night before I saw trip reports from others stating they had driven up and parked near the Back 80 Loop trailhead. It's only 1.2 miles, so not nearly as long as some of the rough roads into Pisgah. I didn't find it a bad drive at all, though it is very rocky, so I took lots of care to try and avoid any hidden sharp rocks. There is an open grassy area in between the turn up Old Dicey Road and the Back 80 Loop trailhead, so I pulled in there off the road. We were completely surprised to see a car camp setup right at the trailhead. The camper was already in the woods when we set out, but we saw him and his pup on our return. That's one way to get in a few hikes over a couple days! We set out on Back 80 Loop, which I had done a couple months ago. My memory of the trail was muddy and buggy.. it was still muddy, but thankfully a little less buggy. It's a good climb up and is a bit messy with debris, but nothing impassable. We reached Back 80 Trail and from here on out, it was all new miles for me. We took a right hand turn and headed for Elwell Trail. This section is a nice cruisy 1.6 miles. No real ups or downs. Lots of moss, lots of mud and a beaver pond near the intersection. The closer we got to Elwell Trail, the wetter it became. Right at the intersection of Elwell Trail it was very muddy, but we carefully rock hopped and skooched the best we could. I saw a description of Elwell Trail as PUDS.. pointless up and downs. We found this to be very accurate! Short steep little ups, followed by some gorgeous ridge hiking with lots of moss before heading back down. Repeat. There is one view point about half a mile from the Back 80 intersection, but as has been the case for most of this year, it was very hazy and the views were not as outstanding as they could have been had it been clear. The Mowglis Mountain summit felt like it would never arrive. We'd go up, it would level out and we'd think "this must be it" but it wasn't and we'd go up again! The summit is wooded and just about a mile from the Back 80 intersection. There is a giant rock with a memorial plaque to the founders of Camp Mowgli. Here the Oregon Mountain trail diverges and heads over to Oregon Mountain. Our original plan had been to do this, however the day was very hot and humid and we were getting zapped of energy. Thus, we stayed on Elwell Trail and headed down to Old Dicey Road and the car. The trail is so beautiful and mossy. I had heard this area was at times difficult to follow, but I have also seen a couple recent reports of someone who has begun actively maintaining the area and it shows. There was good signage at the intersections (with accurate mileage) and the plenty of blazes. The first half mile of Elwell Trail after the Oregon Mountain intersection has peekaboo views over the surrounding area and has more of those PUDS. I was starting to think we were never going to descend but once you do, down it goes. There was one more little up over a knob and then a pretty steep descent with some slabs that had me butt sliding at times to avoid slipping and falling. The trail descends into a gorgeous mossy col and at roughly 1.2 miles from the Mowglis summit meets up with Carter Gibbs trail. Turning right the trail continues to descend before meeting up with Old Dicey Road. Elwell Trail heads left here and continues on towards Newfound Lake. We stayed on Old Dicey Road which was a gravel road, rather steep and hot at times under the sun. At about 0.7 miles there is a gate and we turned right to arrive back at the car.

You can just see the tent of the car camper ahead

Back 80 Loop starts with a cascade crossing

then a little further along, there's another one

cellar hole at Back 80 Loop and Back 80 intersection

along Back 80 trail

heading up to the viewpoint on Elwell

lots of short steep ups on Elwell

but also lots of beautiful moss

Mowglis summit

from wide open space on Elwell

to tighter passageways

and some funky red water at the Carter Gibbs intersection

Old Dicey Rd

not seen: how steep it was down

Pisgah State Park - Beals Knob

Labor Day weekend. It was hot and humid. I have a bigger hike planned tomorrow with Laura, so today I wanted something a bit more low key so I'm not cooked for tomorrow. I headed back to Pisgah, for adventure #9. I parked in a very small area at the Beals Road trailhead on Stones Mill Road in Spofford. The trail starts at a kiosk and almost immediately splits. I headed right on Beals Knob Trail which gently climbed up to a spur taking you out a viewpoint towards Monadnock. It was very buggy and in places very muddy. That was the order of the day. These trails were a little less well maintained than some others I have been on in Pisgah, probably due to their remote location and light travel. All were well marked and easily navigable. Just lots of small debris from all those Winter storms and rain this year. The view from Beals Knob was towards Monadnock though as is also the continuing trend, very hazy. Mostly because of the bugs, I didn't linger at any point. Continuing around the Beals Knob Trail, I met up with Beals Road and turned left. This immediately began about a half mile descent down to Fullam Pond Trail. I kept thinking this would not be fun at the very end of my hike, since I was doing a reverse lollipop of sorts. This was also the buggiest section of my day. By the time I reached Fullam Pond Trail, I'd had enough and put on my bug net. I needed to complete the 1.6 miles from this intersection to Old Swanzey Road. Being a snowmobile trail, it was mostly wide, a mix between nice smooth and very rocky footing. Somewhat eroded in places. The first half was very wet and muddy. There is a relocated section for hiking around a very flooded spot at a pond and just as I was thinking this was one of the worst trails I'd been on in this park, it completely changed and became dry and nice smooth pine needle footing. I enjoyed the second half of this section. Nothing eventful to see except a nice little peekaboo view just before the gate at the property boundary. Once at the end, I turned around and retraced my footsteps to Beals Road. Climbed up that moderate climb (which of course by now and in the humidity felt like Mt Everest). At the intersection with Beals Knob Trail, I continued straight on Beals Road which descended and came along side a lovely pond. I was surprised to see a house on the opposite side of the pond, a very lovely remote house with a gorgeous view over the pond. A couple of trees were just starting to turn! Beyond the pond I arrived back at the kiosk and my car. Getting closer to finishing all the trails out here!

Strava Activity

view from Beals Knob vista

park boundary on Fullam Pond Trail

little view just after the gate on Fullam Pond Trail

relocated section around this flooded area on Fullam Pond Trail

pond near the end of Beals Road

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Dublin Trail - Mount Monadnock

It was supposed to be a gorgeous day today, and rainy yesterday. Guess what happened? It was gorgeous yesterday and I woke up to rain today. I wanted so badly to get out after a week off with family, that I headed out anyway. My plan had been the Dublin Trail on Mount Monadnock, but I had a plan B in mind should the rain continue on my drive over. The sun came out and it was gorgeous, so I decided to do Dublin Trail. What an adventure it ended up being. I was up and out early as I know this is a popular trail, being touted as one of the "easier" trails up Monadnock, and not being accessible in Winter.. so anyone, like me who may be working on redlining needs to do it in non-Winter conditions. There is a decent sized lot, and I was the 5th car there. As I was gearing up, there were just a few, but very annoying mosquitoes flying around so I decided to put on the spray. I'm glad I did (although I don't know how useful it is once you start to sweat and wipe the brow!). The trail starts at a kiosk at the back of the parking lot and follows very briefly through the woods to the road, crosses the road and continues. The first half mile or so is very mild, standard rocks and roots, but little to no elevation gain. As the trail continues, it gradually increases in steepness. The trail was wet today from the overnight rains. As the trail continued to head up, the terrain moved from traditional rocks and roots, to more of a slab/rock ledge. It was mossy in places, and the wet conditions made some of these very slippery. There were some real scramble type areas, and some were tricky for those of us who are vertically challenged. I never really found my groove on this hike, so it was very tough and slow going for me. It was beautiful, but I was riding the struggle bus. The trail breaks tree line and seemingly endlessly continues up the ledges, however now behind you are gorgeous views. Today however, those views included some incoming rains. The forecast had called for rain later in the day, I thought I'd have enough time, but I could see the rain coming in fast. I considered turning around now, but with less than half a mile to go I pushed on. I was not summiting today, I was just going as far as the Jim's Junction intersection with Marlboro Trail. I wanted to enjoy it much more than I was. Not only was I suffering with the climbs, I was anxious about the rain arriving and having to descend all those steep scrambles in the wet. I finally arrived at the intersection, took a couple quick pictures and immediately turned around. The rains were very close by now. I hadn't see many people on my way up, and I was amazed at the amount of people I passed on my descent who were heading up. A large group of young folk, who appeared to be a cross country group, quite a few groups of families with very young children (one of which the father was wearing flip flops!) and a gentleman carrying a baby on his front without any other supplies.. it always amazes me what people think is suitable hiking attire (or lack of supplies). By now the heavens had opened and it was raining. The trail filled with water and mud very quickly. The slabs were slippery.. yet the people kept coming! The rain was good and bad. I was attempting to move as quickly as I could (which in retrospect was not in the least bit fast) and I was just really focused on getting down each scramble as safely as possible. This involved a lot of butt sliding.. it lessened my anxiety. Had it been dry I think I would have spent more time contemplating each steep section, instead I just kept moving. I managed to get down without any incidents and I hope the same could be said for everyone else I passed heading up. Of course within the last mile or so, the rain stopped and the sun came out. I even saw a post on Facebook with a gorgeous rainbow taken from the summit. This mountain is undeniably beautiful, but it has tested me on each of my visits. I still have at least 6 more planned hikes to complete all the trails and I'll admit I'm nervous! I am always stunned at the amount of people who hike this mountain.. it's a hard one! Although the sense of accomplishment at completing another trail is always worth it.

Strava Activity