Cooley – Jericho Community Forest

I love when the hardest decision of our day is “where to hike?”. Today was a toss-up between a close and familiar hike, the North and Middle Sugarloaf or a new to us, bit further away hike, the Cooley-Jericho Community Forest. The deciding factor was two blog reports, one from Mountain Wanderer and the other from 1HappyHiker.

We set out a little after 7:30 and were on the trailhead by 8:15 a.m in Sugar Hill.

At one time it appeared parking was allowed closer to the kiosk. We parked before the gate on the side of the road. Sadly it looked like someone had removed the map that should be hanging on the kiosk. Lucky for us we downloaded this map, before we left the cottage. There was no cell service at the start of the hike, once we reached higher elevation LTE came in strong and clear.

We choose to follow the South Blue Ascent and return via the North Blue Ascent.

The trail started with a small water crossing and provided us with a nice gurgle as we approached it.

The trail was a steady incline, full of mud, moose prints and wildflowers.

We reached the ledges in good time and admired the views. Unfortunately the sky wasn’t a vibrant blue, but a dull gray, limiting the grandeur of the mountains in the distance.

Throughout the first part of the trail there were small windows looking out at the mountains.

This is not a well trodden trail, the flowers were growing smack dab in the center of the trail.

We meandered through the lovely woods until the trail met the logging road.

We took the logging road for a bit until it returned to the forest.

The forest trail returned us to our starting point, making for an almost 3 mile loop hike.

We plan to return to this beautiful little forest, hoping we can do the point to point. On a bluebird day, the views will be breathtaking.

This hike was a little shy of 3 miles and took us an hour and 48 minutes.

May 13, 2017 1

Mossy Glenn – Rambling in Randolph, NH

We were just looking for a small easy hike, away from Columbus Day weekend popular trails full of people. The trails around Mossy Glenn, Randolph, NH were just perfect, beautiful, easy, and away from the crowds. The hardest part of this hike was finding the proper starting part on Durand Road.

Once on Durand Road, go only about .5 miles to one of the trail heads, it is before the Mossy Glen Way sign and before the Library. We went past it, only to turn around and find where we wanted to enter. We parked on the side of the road, hopped out and began the little meandering.

We follow the faint path through a person’s orchard.

Spotting the “path” sign, we knew we were in the right place, turning around to see the sugar frosted mountains rising behind us.

The mountains of Adams and Madison were sugar coated with a nice little layer of snow and rime.

The signage on the trail was outstanding. There were signs everywhere indicating the network of trails. We should have continued on the Bee Line trail, but instead went to Mossy Glen first.

We decided to go this way first, instead of the Bee Line.

The trail itself was soft underfoot, narrow and decorated with many wet fall leaves. A little further we crossed the Nepalese inspired bridge.

On the bridge, Mike’s battery camera died and when he went to replace it, the spare sd card fell to demise under the bridge. Mike did spend some time looking for it, but could not find it.

The views in this area were simply beautiful.

We followed this sign next, which did cause us to double back and go over the bridge again.

We crossed back over the stream, which is used for drinking water and a sign request you keep the water pure (so no swimming).

The little path leading back the bridge was lovely and offered more photographic moments.

After crossing the bridge we went this way, towards Burnbrae and Beeline.

Again another sweet path, just ramble on.

We crossed the Peeko Folsom Memorial Bridge. On the other side of the bridge was a memorial bench where I found Mike posing.

I scurried down to the banks of the little stream to snap a few photos.

The next sign pointing us where to go appeared. We went towards the Ravine House Site.

Along the way a rock with fern hair materialized and added to our enjoyment.

Then we followed this sign to exit the trail near the library.

As we tramped along, we came to unexpected surprise, an amphitheater in the words. Mike scurried down while I waited at the top, goofing off.

The trial ended with these trees marking our exit.

We exited the trail, by some summer homes and came out here on Mossy Glen Dr. Private Way.

The views were majestic looking at the mountains.

It was just a short road walk back to our car.

The Details: Maybe 1.5 miles, 40 minutes of just wandering the Mossy Glen area. No strenuous elevation gain. Just a beautiful day to be out in the woods.

October 11, 2015 0

Iron Mountain, New Hampshire

Monday was a hot, hazy and humid hiking day with barely a breeze. We thought a short little hike wouldn’t that require much effort would be perfect for weather conditions like these. We were wrong, any hike in this type of weather requires an effort.

Our decision was made to hike Iron Mountain in Jackson NH. We had attempted this mountain, one fall, but when we drove up to the trail head there were no views, all socked in. As this is on the 52 With a VIew List we knew we wanted to wait till we had a chance to see the mountains that surround this one.

After parking below Hayes Farm, we started up the grassy hill.

I just kept thinking, as we walked this grassy bit, I would be happy here with just a bench, the views were so spectacular, even on a hazy day.

We entered the woods by the sign.

Into the woods we ambled for a short distance, then out on another grassy field and returned to the woods. At around .3 miles we began the climb up. Parts of this trail are eroded and I wouldn’t hike it right after we have a major rain storm.

Due to the absence of a cooling breeze and humidity increasing, we didn’t snap a great amount of photos, we just wanted to keep going.

We did encounter one rock slab and coming up to it I thought, this might be long and arduous, however in true White Mountain style, nothing is as it appears to be. It was minor and easy.

After this little section, we were treated to an outlook, about 20 yards off to the right. It granted us a fine view of the Presidentials.

In .3 miles from this view you summit Iron Mountain, where an old fire tower used to stand. This is a no view mountain.

After briefly checking out the ruins, we scurried on the path to find the south cliffs, where the views were to found. The only sign denoting the path was this piece of wood. At this point, cairns helped to guide our way.

It was a descent to the cliffs with one steep section.

Around 1.5 miles the trails splits if you go to the left you are heading towards the mine. We met a man coming up from that area. He said he searched for the mine but couldn’t find it, so he abandoned his quest. We veered right to the cliffs. The views that awaited us were justified to be on 52 With a View List.

If wasn’t so darn hot, I think we would have easily spent an hour or two exploring all over the rock slab, just enjoying the views. We quickly retreated back to the woods, out of the blazing sun.

We quickly made it back to our car from the cliffs (only about 60 minutes). We briefly stopped twice on the descent. Once to chat with a man and his daughter who were going to try to find the cliffs (it was the man’s third attempt to reach them, signage is poor) and one more time to snap photos from the field.

After the hike we drove the short distance to The Sunrise Shack in Glen for a burger, salad and a brew. I would highly recommend this place for an after hike food stop.

It was a great little hike, one I would repeat in cooler weather and in the fall to see the colors displayed.

The Details: Around 3 miles, elevation gain of 1100 feet, 3 hours.

August 18, 2015 0

Waterfalls of Dolly Copp Road

It’s a Tuesday, it’s July and the trails are packed in the White Mountains. So what to do? Go to some waterfalls that aren’t popular. We decided to hit the waterfalls off of Dolly Copp Road in Randolph. Our first stop was Triple Falls.

We never saw a sign for Erebus Falls, so I am assuming this is it:

We came to Evans Falls after Erebus.

On our way down, I sat while Mike went exploring. I found a great little spot and enjoyed the solitude.

After a bit, we reached the car and drove over to a parking lot that served the Howker Ridge Trail and the Randolph Path.

Follow the Howker Ridge Trail.

Cross a few bridges to avoid mud.

The Bumpus Brook calls out as you walk along.

We came to Stairs Fall first.

However the stairs looked dry, but to the left of them there was a nice cascade. Our our way out, there was a professional photographer down in there snapping pictures.

Thank you to person who owns the private property for allowing access.

Next stop was the Devil’s Kitchen, but we couldn’t get down there to see it.

Next up was Coosauk Falls at .7 miles. Mike attempted to get down to it, but the footing wasn’t secure and even though we have our hikesafe cards, he didn’t want to chance it.

The way down to the Coosauk Falls.

Didn’t get there, but was able to grab a close up from the trail.

Stay on the Howker Ridge trail.

Until the Hitchcock Falls at .3 miles past the Coosauk Falls. So happy I brought my water shoes. Both of us scrambled around this part and had a blast.

Well I had to wash my hair.

After the Hitchcock Falls we turned around and returned to our car. We really enjoyed our late morning jaunt visiting these falls on the Dolly Copp Way.

July 22, 2015 5

Georgiana Falls Path

Another spectacular day in the White Mountains. We were short on time and had to leave the longer hikes for another visit, so we decided a hike to Georgiana Falls. It would give us the oh wow factor in a short amount of time. We were not disappointed.

The path started at the end of Hanson Farm Road. Parking was ample. We went through an opening in the gate and walked under Route 93 twice.

The walk at first was very easy.

Slowly the easy trail gave way to trail that was a rooty and a bit rocky. Harvard Brook remained on our left.

Boulders started to line the trail and had us going over them. Follow the red blazes that were very easy to see.

The first views of the falls were after an altar of lovely green moss.

We continued up, climbing over boulders.

Shortly we reached a lovely pool at the lower Georgiana Falls. At this point, Mike kept repeating “oh man, oh man.” This was about .7 mile mark. I continued on ahead.

I was a bit ahead and started echoing his sentiments, but maybe with a curse word or two added in. I or rather we, were in disbelief at how beautiful these falls are.

We knew that more falls existed, so up we went.

The fungus on this log didn’t look real, it was so shiny.

Right after seeing the fungus, I found a perfect viewing spot, well until the mosquitoes discovered me. Mike went on ahead to scout out the trail. I started to go, but lost the trail. So I returned to my spot, until he returned. He then called me (yes, on the cell phone) to tell me where to pick up the trail, though the thunder of the cascades made it hard to hear him.

Mike brought me up to this spot, where the red blazes ended. We looked down on Route 93 and admired the views. We stood and snacked at this perfect spot.

After a while, we descended. We decided that this area deserves more time than we had. We really want to return and spend more time exploring this area and maybe find that bog.

The hike was a little over 2 miles and we spent a little over 2 hours in this area.

June 26, 2015 0

Zealand Trail to Ethan Pond Trail to Thoreau Falls

It was a beautiful day to ramble off to see some falls. We trekked out to Thoreau Falls via Zealand Trail to Ethan Pond Trail to Thoreau Falls Trail to the falls.

The first 2.5 miles on the Zealand Trail is a comfortable stroll hopping over rocks, avoiding roots, viewing the occasional peaks to the mountains and enjoying the easiness of the trail.

As we neared the junction, we could hear the roaring of Zealand Falls.

At 2.5 miles we began trekking on the Ethan Pond Trail.

This trail truly enchanted us. We loved the narrow corridor that was the path.

A little over a mile on the Ethan Pond Trail the view opened up and I couldn’t stop grinning. The views, the beauty, the wilderness, the boulders, were simply beautiful.

We then took a little side venture on the Zeacliff trail, just to get different views.

We headed back to the Ethan Pond Trail and continued on, marveling at the immense boulders.

After this amazing open space we returned to the forest. We followed corridors that were simple and refreshing.

We then turned off onto the Thoreau Falls Trail to spend time at the falls.

Just a few hundred yards down we came to the falls. We spent about 40 minutes, lunching and exploring. These falls were raging due to the recent rains. I even laid down for a while, listening to the thundering of the falls.

We returned the way we came, just capturing a few images on the way back.

We were out there for 5 hours, 4 hours and 20 minutes of it, active hiking time for a total of 9.4 miles. We loved the Ethan Pond Trail for (anytime I get a piece of the A.T., I get giddy), its remoteness, beauty and solitude. The Thoreau Falls were beautiful and I have a feeling we will return.

June 25, 2015 4