I have been somewhat hesitant about this little spur I needed as the description reads that it is a rough, somewhat hard to follow and steep spur to a cave in a col between Cardigan and Firescrew. Today, the weather was absolutely perfect, so Laura and I headed back down New Colony Road for the 3rd and final time to the Mowglis Trail intersection. We headed up Mowglis Trail and really just took our time enjoying the incredible weather and peace and quiet. We saw no one on our ascent. We enjoyed a quick break at the Crag Shelter before starting the climb up to Firescrew. This is by far one of my favorite mountains. The views are incredible, but the majority of the crowds are over on Cardigan. Even if you do encounter others, the summit is large, plenty of space for everyone to find a corner and just take it all in. We didn't stop on our way up, as I just wanted to get this cave over and done with. We did have one little mishap on our way off Firescrew where we followed a cairn, but that ended up leading nowhere. Not sure what that was about, but once we realized we backtracked and saw where we had gone wrong. Back on track, we headed towards Cardigan. I had pinned where I thought the Grotto Cave spur might begin based on some tracks I had been sent by a fellow Southern NH redliner I know in the Facebook group. Plus I knew there was a very faded blue blaze painted on the rock, however I wasn't sure if that was right along Mowglis Trail or a little ways along the spur. My pin ended up being pretty spot on and at a cairn along the trail, I spotted the faded blue blaze indicating the spur heading to our left. I was pretty psyched that we found it so easily and hoped that would bode well for the remainder of the spur. Initially the spur is flat and with a little looking around and basic intuition on where the trail might be we were able to spot the blue blazes quite easily. The views up alongside the Cardigan cone were a different perspective and show the craziness of Holt Trail, the one remaining trail I now have to do over there. The spur quickly starts to drop steeply. We still were able to find the blue blazes and were surprised to hear some voices come up behind us. A Father and his 2 young sons. I was concerned they were lost, but no they were also looking for the cave. We let them pass and it was actually nice having them there as they did the detective work of finding the blazes! We came upon a short, but really steep slope that required a butt slide down and I pushed to the back of my mind how we would get back up that. At the bottom of this slope was the one area it was tricky to determine which way to go. Follow the bottom of the slope to the right and there is a blaze hidden behind a fallen tree showing the trail continuing down. Here the trail is more of a woods section and wasn't marked, but the path was obvious. We quickly arrived at the cave, with a very overgrown section just before it, but the cave itself was visible by now so just pushing through the overgrown section was not a problem. There is a huge overhanging rock just before the cave, which I thought was cooler than the actual cave.. which is rather small and unassuming. The trail continues through the cave and I've read ends just on the other side. We ventured into the cave, but neither of us could really fit out the other end, so called it done. After some pictures and a quick break we started the steep climb back up. This time we stopped on the summit of Firescrew for a snack break and to enjoy the gorgeous weather before heading back down Mowglis Trail for the car.

faded blue blaze at the start of the Grotto Cave spur

blue blaze is opposite this cairn along Mowglis Trail

along the Grotto Cave spur

from the bottom of the short steep slope

looking up at Cardigan

Firescrew summit views

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Finishing Elwell and Hanging Rocks

It was a simply gorgeous day today. I headed back over to the Cardigan area with the intent of finishing everything on the Mowglis Trail side of the mountain. I headed back in to the intersection of Mowglis Trail and New Colony Road. Some sections were a little rougher than I remembered, but we made it with no issue. This week I headed into the woods on Mowglis Trail. Here the trail immediately climbs a little and at roughly a quarter mile intersects with the end of Elwell Trail, which spans roughly 10 miles over to Wellington State Park. I needed the last 0.7 miles or so from this point to the intersection with Back 80 Trail coming up from the Cardigan AMC Lodge. It had rained overnight, so the trail was damp but the sun was shining. I headed down Elwell Trail which was level for a short distance then started a rather steep, but short descent to the Back 80 intersection. The biggest concern was the trail was very leafy, which hid wet rocks and roots. Once, I reached my turnaround point, I retraced my steps back up the now steep ascent. Just near the Mowglis Trail intersection, I saw a herd path heading over to what looked like a clearing so I headed in to see what the views were like. Spectacular views across to Firescrew and the surrounding area. Fall colors were popping. Back to Elwell Trail and I turned left on Mowglis Trail, heading for Firescrew. The first mile is really quite easy with gentle grades and only mild ascents. The trail is really beautiful. And on my way up, I saw no one. Just under half a mile from the intersection with Elwell Trail is a newly marked spur to the Hanging Rocks viewpoint. This viewpoint has existed previously, but not officially marked. I had read there was a new extension of this spur that takes you down and under Hanging Rocks, but I saw no indication of where that might be and since it's not described in the 5th edition of the AMC South Guide that I am working on, I considered it done to reach the viewpoint (as described in the book). Once the 6th edition is published, I can go back and find that new piece. The view was back across to where I had just been on Elwell Trail. More gorgeous colors. I continued on to Firescrew. Initially my plan had been to go up and over Firescrew and find the Grotto Cave spur, however I started much later than I had hoped, and had been taking my time on the climbs. The last quarter mile or so up to the Firescrew summit is quite steep. I was too tired and it was getting too late in the day to continue, so I'll come back and get that another time. Here is where I started to see more people, but thankfully Firescrew is much more quiet than Cardigan so it wasn't an overwhelming crowd. I enjoyed the 360 degree views for a little while before retracing my steps back down Mowglis Trail to the car.

Strava Activity

Mowglis Trail at the New Colony Rd intersection

end of Elwell Trail at Mowglis Trail

my turnaround point, which completed Elwell Trail

from the viewpoint just near the Mowglis Trail intersection

Hanging Rocks spur

view from Hanging Rock spur

Mowglis Trail is glorious

views from Firescrew

heading back down Mowglis Trail from Firescrew

views from along Mowglis Trail

driving in on New Colony Road

along New Colony Road

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Wantastiquet-Mondanock Trail - Keene Connector

Chipping away at this long trail. Per some intel from a fellow hiker, I drove to California Brook Rd in Swanzey to do an out and back on the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail. When I arrived initially at the point where the Class VI portion of California Brook Rd begins, I saw some No Trespassing signs that threw me off.. but the more I looked at them, I believe they were referring to the land alongside the road itself, as there was a sign that said "Pass with Caution" and "Unmaintained Road" so I figured they wouldn't have those signs if it was forbidden to access. So I carefully headed down as far as you could drive. For a Class VI road, it was actually in really great shape. A couple rough spots, but nothing compared to some of the Class VI roads I have driven down to access a trail ;) I parked in a small cleared area just before the trail intersection and got myself ready. Once on trail, I needed to do an out and back in each direction, so I headed to my left first. It was about 1.5 miles back to the last place I reached in April, but totally different conditions as it was snowy back then. I was surprised that there was quite a bit more actual trail than I had anticipated, I was expecting a Class VI type road the entire way, and while there was definitely some of that, there was also a lot of trail. It was rather overgrown in some places, but thankfully well blazed so I had no navigation issues. It was very leafy on the trail portion which hid lots of rocks and roots. I really didn't enjoy this section so much, so by the time I reached the small pond I had chosen as my turnaround point in April, I decided I was done for the day. I backtracked to the car and instead of doing an out and back in the other direction, called it a day. Fast forward a week, and I came back to grab the next out and back section. Expecting more of the same from last week, I was pleasantly surprised that this section was much more pleasant. There was still more trail than I had anticipated, but there were no overgrown sections, which just makes Class VI walking so much nicer. I actually went a little further than I had planned as I was enjoying myself so much. Once I reached the Horatio Colony Preserve along Forest Ave (Class VI), I ventured down Bailey Brook Trail for just over half a mile, choosing a random spot that I could easily identify on the map as my turnaround point. There was absolutely nothing of scenic value along this entire section, but I did see 2 porcupines! I have just over 3 miles left in Horatio Colony Preserve to finish the Wantastiquet-Monadock Trail in full.

Strava Activity

Strava Activity Part 2