Live Free and Hike: A NH Day Hiker's Blog: May 2015

Friday, May 29, 2015

Turtle Highway - Back in Business 2015!!!

And they're back!!! It seems early this year, but I'm already dodging Painted Turtles with my lawn mower. I saw one making the trek across my lawn on Wednesday and two on Thursday. Lucky for me, I even got see one laying its eggs down by my mailbox. See the photos I took below. Note, they aren't that great because they were taken with my phone and I needed to zoom in so that I didn't scare them!

Wednesday's Turtle!

Turtle 1 from Thursday, laying eggs!

Turtle 2 from Thursday!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Jackson Wildquack Duck River Festival 2015

This Memorial Day, we headed up to Jackson for a couple nights along with a few of our friends and attended the Jackson Wildquack Duck Festival! It was a great time for the kids with a bouncy castle, slot car racing, fire truck tours and of course, a Wildquack Duck Race down the Wildcat River! I highly recommend checking it out if you have kids and even if you don't. We had four ducks race, but unfortunately...they didn't win. We had a great time anyway!

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

First Time at Mount Agamenticus

In September of last year, Jill and I took a day off from work to go on a hike, just the two of us. It was some much needed time away from work and spending it on the trail seemed like the most logically way to unwind and relax. We were looking for something close to home to avoid a long drive but also wanted to try something new that we hadn't hiked or explored previously. For that reason, we chose Mount Agamenticus (Mount A) in York, Maine. It's very accessible from the seacoast region of NH and everyone I know that has hiked the Mount A trails has great things to say about it.

When doing my pre-hike research, I found they had a great website! They also had a PDF pamphlet that could be downloaded which contained an extremely clear and detailed map.

Kiosk at trailhead

Ring Trail

Signage

Detailed trail signage regarding wildlife

We decided to park at the first trailhead off from Mountain Road which Ring Trail (also part of "Turtle Loop") which loops around the base of the mountain. The trail was wide and had a lot of roots. We noticed right away that there were signs that displayed photos of the wildlife in the area with a detailed description. We came to a split in the trail pretty quickly and headed to the left.

Blueberry Bluff Trail

The trail then passed over the auto road, which ascends to the summit, and curved to the left. After passing the auto road, we soon came to a junction where the Blueberry Bluff Trail went up to the summit on the right. This trail was more like a hiking trails we are used to, ascending over ledge and slabs. It wasn't super steep, but we definitely gained some elevation pretty quickly. It wasn't long before the views opened up and we were on the top of the mountain.

Pawtuckaway Mountains to the west

Cell tower on summit

Welcome sign on summit

Learning Lodge on summit

Fire tower on summit

Mount A has large summit area. It has a Learning Lodge, barn, fire tower, multiple radio towers and observation deck and more. You could see 360 degrees off the mountain to the White Mountains and to the ocean. It was pretty impressive!

The observation deck was a very cool as it had you look toward the Whites. It had a really cool viewing chart of the skyline so that you could find notable mountains including Mount Chocorua and Mount Washington.

Observation deck

Skyline legend

Mount Chocorua on the skyline

Mount Washington in the "hazy" distance!

Once Jill and I were done taking in the views and relaxing a bit, we headed down the northeast side of the mountain via the Witch Hazel Trail. One cool thing about this trail is that it was part of an old ski slope/return that was in service on Mount A in the 1960's and 1970's. We saw a lot of old equipment including a snow packer and many ski lift structures. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love seeing these historical structures preserved in the woods.

Old ski machinery and snow packer

Old ski lift equipment

Ski machinery in a forest

Garter Snake on the trail

At the bottom of the Witch Hazel Trail, we took a right onto the Ring Trail. We continued on that and it brought us back to the original trailhead we started at. I believe in all, we only hiked 1.5 miles but it was a great time. From this point on, Mount A will be on the list of local mountains we'll visit often!

Us on Mount A!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

NH Fire Tower Quest #4 - Pack Monadnock Mountain

Every year at my work, we do something called Wellness Week where we try to do activities each day to promote a healthy lifestyle for our employees. Each year, I'm given the privilege of planning out a hike for everyone to go on that takes a few hours in the middle of the day. In 2014, I chose Pack Monadnock Mountain as it's not far from Manchester, NH, it's a pretty gentle ascent, and I had never had the chance to hike it before.

On September 9th, 2014, a few of us from work, as well as some of our children, set out for Miller State Park which is located in Peterborough, NH. It's probably worth noting that like most state parks, there is a fee of $4 for adults and $2 for children (ages 6-11) that is collected upon entering the parking area. Our chosen route to summit was a counterclockwise loop, ascending the Wapack Trail and descending the Marion Davis Trail. The length of each trail is approximately 1.4 miles making the loop about 2.8 miles.

Image of map from http://www.nhstateparks.org/uploads/pdf/MillerOnPakkMonad.pdf

Lylah came with me so that we could check off fire tower number 4 for her NH Fire Tower Quest Patch. That being the case, most of the guys headed up in front of us and we took on the rear of the party as her legs were the shortest in the group.

The Wapack Trail started off pretty rocky and steep and quickly opened up to some great views to the west, of the popular Mount Monadnock. The ledge and rock soon turned into forest and the ascent became more gentle. Throughout hiking, you could hear cars passing up and down the auto road which is just to the east of the Wapack Trail. With a lot of breaks and some carrying of my daughter, we did finally make it to the top of the mountain.

Kiosk at trailhead

Wapack Trail Sign

My buddy, Rob, on a scary rock overhanging a very high ledge!

First outlook to the west of Mount Monadnock

At the summit, there was a parking area for cars, the fire tower, a radio tower and some picnic tables. We ate lunch at the picnic tables and then headed up the fire tower for a 360 degree lookout containing Mount Monadnock, the Boston skyline and some other close by mountains.

Mount Monadnock to the west.

Close up of Mount Monadnock

Boston Skyline

North Pack Monadnock to the right, Crotched Mountain to the left, and Mount Kearsarge and Mount Cardigan beyond Crotched Mountain (harder to see).

USGS Bench Mark!

NH DOT Bench Mark

Fire Tower

Radio Tower

We descended the Marion Davis Trail, again trailing the pack of hikers. The descent was pretty gentle and did go by pretty fast. Once we got back to the parking area, we packed up and headed back to the office to try to get some productive work in before the end of the day. I would say it's probably the best way to spend a day in the office (but not really "in" the office).

After this mountain, we only need to hit one more active fire tower for Lylah to earn her Quest Patch. I'm pretty sure we're going to try Kearsarge (south) next, but I'll keep you posted!

Daddy-Daughter Hike #5, NH Fire Tower Quest #3 - Pawtuckaway Mountain, South

For the 3rd NH fire tower visit for Lylah's Quest Patch, I thought Pawtuckaway Mountain (South) would be a good candidate. I knew from past experience that the trail had pretty easy terrain and the fire tower was frequented daily so no dangerous wasp situations would occur as did on our previous visit to Warner Hill. We also invited my nephew, Jacob, along with us.

To summit, we parked at the south end of Tower Road, walked in and took a right onto the Mountain Trail for a short distance, until we hit the South Ridge Trail. We then ascended the South Ridge Trail to the summit where the Fire Tower is. For the most part, the terrain brings you through pine forest. The trail is pretty wide but has lots of exposed roots. There is one really nice lookout area where we stopped and had a snack before proceeding to the top where the fire tower is.