Midstate Trail Part 6

Well, last year was a terrible hiking year! 2011 is going to be so much better. Unfortunately, I have lots more free time as I lost my full-time job last month. Since then, I've been running more and getting out on the local trails. I pulled out my books a few days into unemployment and decided I'm going to start finishing some of these hiking lists I'm working on. SO we went off to the Midstate once again. This little guy was at the parking lot of Intervale Road in Rutland, where we would end our 12 mile trek.

In Massachusetts it had been raining for over a week so we were prepared for very wet trails. Saturday was the first partially sunny day and we were all itching to get outside. We started hiking from East Hill Road in Rutland and less than a mile in we found this really nice open shelter. Compared to the other shelters we'd already seen on the Midstate, we were very impressed with how well-kept it seemed.

Near the shelter we spotted one of many garter snakes sunning themselves near the trail. He was going to be disturbed very soon.

As we walked on towardsRt. 122 we encountered a large group of what appeared to be Boy Scouts heading in the direction of Treasure Valley. The looked like they had just started out with brand new backpacking gear and sleepy looks.

We crossed over Highway 122 and shed a layer of clothes while admiring the Mass. Central Rail Trail. Quickly we were swarmed by mosquitoes that seemed undeterred by deet. We all talked about bringing our bikes back to do some cycling but it was time for some hiking. As we re-entered the woods we discovered the first of our many water obstacles. It was easy enough to get over but deep enough to soak up to the knee.

As we continued to hike the sun started to peek out. We ran across a pair of women on horseback who commented on the buggy climate. Little did we know our bug misery would increase. When we reached Dike #3, we found that there had been recent work to the rail trail.

Then we entered a swampy woods. The map indicated that the swamp had been named Blood Swamp. It was more like Blood Sucker Swamp.

We pushed through as quickly as possible to avoid the bites, but it was slow going when the trail disappeared in the water. We found some interesting bridge rebuilding along the way.

As much as we were challenged with the dampness and the mosquitoes near the swamp, the frogs and toads were loving it!

Then we emerged from the swamp. It was like a breath of fresh air. There was a lovely grove of flowering trees and two granite benches in memorial for Bob Ellis and Rolf Larsen.

There was a nice couple from Worcester having a snack at the benches. We chatted with them and had a snack ourselves while overlooking the swamp. A gentle breeze kept the bugs away and the sun was out. They told us about Barre Falls Dam and how they came to discover this hidden jewel. They checked out the map book that I had from the Midstate Trail Committee. I looked at their map of the dam. They generously let us keep the map. We went on our way determined to lunch at the dam. We knew we were getting close when we found the old cemetery.

Then we found the picnic areas. We ate lunch while watching disc golfers play hole number 18. Then we pushed on. Here are a few pictures from the Barre Falls Dam.

We lost the trail briefly near hole 13 but found it after a little poking around. The blazes weren't as obvious here as the side of the road had overgrown some. We followed old roads through the woods and met up with a father and son fishing. They had just discovered this area as well and we all agreed it was terrific. The father told us that about 2 miles straight down the path is an old prison camp that looked interesting to explore. We, however, were turning to follow the yellow triangles.

For the most part the trail was dry. We worried about the warning in the guide book about high water conditions in this section of the trail. There were some wet and flooded trails but nothing worse than earlier in the day. It is amazing how after hiking 8 miles the last 4 can just drag! WE continued to make good time but managed to take in some of the forest as well. We did find these lovelies at the side of the trail.

Lady-Slippers were in abundance throughout this section. We followed old stonewalls that had stood through many winters and summers. There was some logging projects that we came across as well. Some of them, I'm sure, were to prevent the beetle infestation from spreading. The last bit of trail had a slight incline to it. We had our first accident here. Mel slipped and cut her hand on a rock. Minor injury but still not fun for her. Then as we hiked, there was the creepiness of following a trail of blood. Kev guessed that it was from a deer kill that had been hauled out on the trail. Ick! We eventually found our last cart road and Intervale Road.

I was so turned around at the end. In the morning, I thought we would come out on the other side of the trail. We managed to complete the 12 miles in 6 hours (with lunch and snack breaks). I'm super encouraged that there are only 3 sections left to hike. The next section will have one of the high points of this trail.

Whiteface in the Belknaps

A few weeks back we had a rare free afternoon on a Saturday. We looked at each other and said "let's head for the hills!" We decided to check another one off of the Belknap list and drove up to The trailhead for Piper/Whiteface trail.

The hike up was pretty easy. A gradual ascent up to the jeep roads and then a slightly steep climb to the summit. The weather was hot and humid. At the summit we found lots of biting bugs... though they mainly were after the husband.

While everything was very green, there were very few wildflowers in bloom which did surprise me. I did manage to take a quick shot of these pretty ones that were on the summit near where I was seated.


As you can tell from our pictures, the skies were very clear and we could see far off into the distance. We could see Winnisquam and further!




It was a great day for a quick hike. Hopefully we'll have more hiking tales this summer!

Midstate Trail Part 5

Spring is here in New England, though I hear tomorrow is supposed to feel like summer with 80 degree temperatures. Two weekends ago, I gathered the troops together and we hiked another segment of the Midstate Trail. We started with gray clouds at the Spencer Country Inn and hiked approximately 12 miles.

The trail was pretty flat with small changes in elevation. We became a bit misguided in the beginning due to a lack of signage but we found our way after a few moments of wandering by a resevoir. We also found signs of beaver....

We hiked over the top of the dam and enjoyed the "most New England" scenery. There were wide views of farm land and sheep all around Moose Hill!



There was some street travel as well but for the most part the roads were quiet ones. I found a small snake catching some sunshine on the side of one of the roads. There also were amusing No Dumping Signs. Of course I took a picture...


Once we entered one of the state land, we found trails that were less traveled. This is the shelter near Moose Hill.

With all of the rain and flooding that southern New England has had this month,we thought we would encounter more muddy trails. Truth is the trails were pretty clear of debris and fairly dry. We did pause to play Pooh Sticks on this bridge in Spencer State Forest. The water was rushing pretty quickly.


There were all sorts of signs of life popping up along the trails. Trees just started to develop their buds and shades of green were emerging. I took a picture of this plant growing in one of the many swampy areas that we hiked though.



The last few miles of this hike, the sun started to hide behind the clouds and the temperatures dropped significantly. We hiked quickly, sometimes it caused us to miss turns on the trail. Even ones very well labeled!




Eventually, we found the Sampson's Pebble. At that point we realized how much further we still needed to hike. It was tough to judge distance at times. Mountain hiking gives you a different measurement of distance than this low land hiking.

We reached a sign for the midpoint of the Midstate within a half mile of our finishing point. It was amusing because we could see our car waiting patiently for us but we couldn't get there without following the winding trail due to water.


Not a bad start for the season. The Midstate is going to start getting a bit more challenging as we get closer to Wachusett and Watatic. I've hiked both of those mountains in the past but not in connection with the Midstate. I'm excited that I'm nearly completed on this trail. Now it's time to plan the next trip!

Post Thanksgiving Hike

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we had beautiful and unseasonably warm weather so we decided to head up to Gunstock to bag a few more of the Belknaps. Unfortunately we had not managed to get in a lot of hiking this summer so it was nice to get out.

We parked at the base lodge and hunted for the trailhead. The information we had was vague and even though there were lots of cars around there were very few people to be seen. We hiked up under one of the ski lifts towards Mt. Rowe and then crossed over to the right. We found a mountain bike path that appeared to be a trail.

We followed this up and eventually ran into some other hikers. It was a steep climb and we were both winded. Apparently walking in our neighborhood is a bit different than hiking. Should have expected that.

We followed the trail to a cell tower that had lots of construction equipment next to it. Not exactly a pretty summit but it is what it is.

We crossed the ridge towards Gunstock and enjoyed the views of Winnipesaukee. The skies were blue with scattered clouds. As we looked to the north we could see the Presidentials were covered with snow.

We were surprised to find equipment set up on the mountain that tracks the movement of the Earth's crust. Living in the east I never think about earthquakes or shifting plates. We read the information signage and thought about how these mountains were created years ago.

As we continued on the ridge trail we became confused as it crossed over the ski trails. We lost the trail several times and at one point we were hiking up a steep grade under the ski lifts. Eventually we made it to the summit of Gunstock and stopped at the "Pub" to look out over the scenery. The ground had permafrost and was crunchy but there wasn't much in the way of snow. The resort had its snow guns prepared to go. They are scheduled to open up before Christmas. We crossed over to the Brook Trail and headed back down the mountain. This trail did have some snow on it.

The signage said it would take us 1 hour and 40 minutes to make it down. We took about 30 minutes which was fortunate because it was getting dark and cold! When we reached the car the moon was out and the sun had set behind the mountains.

This was an easy hike but with a few struggles in finding the trails. As long as the resort doesn't mind hikers stomping on their ski trails I would recommend it for the views from the summit lodge. Perhaps we'll get up there to ski this winter.

Labor Day Weekend!

Finally I got a chance to head up to the White Mountains. Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends have been a standard around here. We head up to the mountains and camp occasionally throwing in a difficult hike. Since I hadn't been up to the mountains the entire summer, I wanted to try either Jefferson or Monroe. The group opted for Mount Jefferson.

We decided to hike the Cap Ridge Trail up from Jefferson Notch Road for the 5 mile round trip hike. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. When we arrived at the lot around 11:30 we didn't even make it in. There were that many people hiking. We parked on the road and made our way to the trailhead. The lower portion of the hike was fairly easy. We made it to the "potholed" rocks and took a break to enjoy the views and a snack. Some gray jays were scoping out our food too!




We pushed on to reach the caps. Each cap gave us a terrific view of the surrounding mountains. The trail was tough from this point on. Lots of rocks to navigate on and around. I'm very glad that there was little water on the trail so the rocks were dry. The heat would have been tough but we had a wonderful breeze. At the second trail junction we stopped for some lunch before the .4 mile push to the top. We thought we could see the summit from here but in truth we couldn't. We would think this several times!



We reached the summit about 3 PM. There were tons of people up there. Some had done loops up and around the other Presidentials and others were just up and back like us. We chatted with some of them and rested admiring the views. Jefferson is the 3rd highest on the list of 4000-footers and we could see many of the mountains we had already conquered.


Below the summit was a cairn that was taller than our tallest hiker. I went down to the trail junction and took a picture of it. Being at the top of a mountain like this made me strongly desire that we could go on and tackle Mount Clay and head up to Washington! But fortunately, I have some friends that remind me that even when you reach the top you have to hike back down to the car and civilization.


The hike down was treacherous at some points. Dan hiked backwards which he stated saves his knees. It caused quite a stir with some of the other hikers. We made our way down and chatted with several other groups. During this point, Ben slowed quite a bit. His head cold was getting the best of him it seemed. We quickly made it below the Alpine Zone and then back into the forests.


The group arrived back at the car around 5 PM. We definitely did not make "book" time. However, I definitely feel that this was one of my favorite hikes. There were people of all abilities on the mountain. Some stopped at the potholes and others trekked their way to the top. The views were outstanding and the challenge was just enough. So here's the only 4k that I'll get to do this year. I hope to get a few more hikes in before winter decides to show up but I doubt I'll be able to head back up to the White Mountains again for a hike like this.