Beauty Ledge and Ridge Line 3/9/13

"Sign's of Spring" (pictures)

MMR Map/Directions/Trail Descriptions

- Visit the Forest Society's website for more info. and the updated map -

Moose Mountains Reservation in Middleton and Brookfield, NH covers roughly 2,500 acres and in conjunction with town land, Ellis Hatch and Copple Crown conservation areas it is one of the largest non-developed forests in Southern New Hampshire! It is a crucial tract of land, harboring important headwaters of the Salmon Falls River.

The forests and hills contain a host of native wildlife such as black bear, moose, porcupine, coyote and a heron rookery. As well as a plentiful array of wildflowers including some rare orchids, wild columbine, rock harlequin, sundew's and wild berries. Hiking, bird watching, fishing, hunting, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and other low impact outdoor recreation can be enjoyed on the property. Hiking trails are a combined woods roads and foot paths taking you to several ponds and marshes, open summit peaks and ledges, early 1800's cemeteries and old farmland. There is plenty to explore here!

The main trails are signed and blazed and we continue to work on getting the less traveled trails cleared out and marked as well.

DIRECTIONS TO MAIN PARKING/KIOSK: directions obtained from Google Maps


* Please drive carefully along the narrow road and watch for other drivers and residents.
* Currently there may not be winter parking access and parking is not permitted along the road or at the parking lot entrance.

From NH Rt. 16 Spaulding Turnpike (Portsmouth/Rochester/Milton/White Mountains)
About 3.3 miles from Rt. 16 in Milton, NH

-From Rt. 16 Spaulding Turnpike in Milton turn onto NH 125/153 South (Main St.)
-Take the 2nd right onto NH 153 South (Middleton Hill Rd.)
-Take the 1st right onto Ridge Rd.
-Take the 2nd right onto New Portsmouth Rd. (sharp corner w/ cemetery on a hill)
-Follow this road to it's end at a small parking area and kiosk.

From NH Rt. 28 (Wolfeboro) 
About 11.2 miles from Rt. 28 in Wolfeboro, NH

-From NH Rt. 28 (South Main St.) in Wolfeboro turn onto Kings Highway (Middleton Rd.) at the sharp corner.
-Follow for almost 7 miles and turn left onto Ridge Rd. at the Town Offices
-After about 1.6 miles turn left onto New Portsmouth Rd. (sharp corner w/ cemetery on a hill)
-Follow this road to it's end at a small parking area and kiosk.

From NH Rt. 11 (Concord/Laconia/Alton/New Durham/Farmington) 
About 10.2 miles from Rt.11 in Farmington, NH

-From NH Rt. 11 in Farmington turn onto NH 75 East (Central St.)
-Turn left onto NH 153 North (Charles St./Kings Highway)
-Follow for nearly 6 miles and turn right onto Ridge Rd. at the Town Offices
-After about 1.6 miles turn left onto New Portsmouth Rd. (sharp corner w/ cemetery on a hill)
-Follow this road to it's end at a small parking area and kiosk.

TRAIL DESCRIPTIONS:

<GREEN – Easy and Moderate grades> <BLUE – Moderate some steep/loose footing> <RED – Difficult with steep/loose footing>

PHOEBES NABLE MT. LOOP ~ 2.2 MILES ~ 550' ELEVATION GAIN:
- via Phoebes Nable Mt. trail, Phoebes Nable Loop trail and Burrows Farm trail

BEAUTY LEDGE LOOP ~ 3 MILES ~ 600' ELEVATION GAIN:
- via Burrows Farm trail, North trail, Beauty Ledge trail, Beauty Knob tr, North tr, Burrows Farm tr

Phoebes Nable Mt. Trail ~ .6 MILES ~ 550' ELEVATION GAIN: Starting at the kiosk climb moderately using several logging roads and making several steep climbs. The trail begins at the bottom of the parking lot over rock stepping stones. Follow the path for 70 yards and bear left onto a woods road. Continue for another 100 yards climbing stone steps and at .1 miles take a sharp right onto another woods road. Climb a steep hill with restricted views behind you. The trail levels out and then climbs again. At .3 miles turn left and again climb steeply along a skid road. Ferns grow plentiful along this section and as the trail levels out the woods begin to open up around you. The trail hugs a patch of pine trees and makes a sharp right onto a foot path, curving left and then right again as you make the final push to the summit. A view will open up on the left and at .6 miles the spur trail leads 25 yards to the summit of Phoebes Nable Mt. 1,178'. There is a 180* view down to the valley below across several marshes and ponds and out to the Teneriffe range and into Maine. Panning right you look over to the Blue Hills range. From here you can make a loop via Loop trail and Burrows Farm trail.

Burrows Farm Trail ~ 1.1 MILES: From the parking lot Kiosk this trail is the heart of the trail system connecting you to all of MMR's scenic points. Begin at the green gate along a woods road that runs parralell to a brook just through the trees. At .2 miles on the left is the Hall Spring. At .3 miles you cross a bridge over the brook and bear left away from North trail to the right. Climb gradually and cross over the brook again. At .8 miles turn left at the Moose Mountains trail junction, crossing the brook once again and past another green gate. Make a short climb and at .9 miles you enter out to an open field. To the left down the hill is the Steven's Cemetery. Just ahead and to the right you can make a short climb to the Burrows Farm home site. A large rock with a plaque sits here. Continuing on the main trail pass the Burrows Cemetery on the left and near the top of the field bear left at the sign post. There are views across the field to the long ridge which once was sheep pasture hence the name Bald Mt. Cross the field and enter the woods where at 1.1 miles the Burrows Farm trail ends at the Phoebes Nable Loop trail.

Phoebes Nable Loop Trail ~ .5 MILES
1.6 MILES ~ 550' ELEVATION GAIN (from parking lot via Burrows Farm trail): This newly constructed (2015) trail begins at the end of Burrows Farm trail, just as you enter the woods from the field. The trail begins almost level until you come to the first switch-back. At the top of the switch-back you climb slightly and pass along a couple rock boulders. You then pass alongside a ledge and gently climb to the second switch-back which passes through a pine glade. The trail enters back into hard-wood than descends slightly again through pine forest before climbing to a stone staircase built by volunteers. From here you make the final climb slightly right past more ledges and take a sharp left onto the old woods road (lower portion no longer maintained). The summit of Phoebes Nable Mt. is reached in 150 feet.

Bowser Pond Trail: Beginning on New Portsmouth Rd. a few hundred feet below the kiosk this woods road climbs moderately before leveling off (blue blazes). Bear right shortly past this and follow the unmarked road (Private Property – stay on trail) to the shore of Bowser Pond with excellent views up to Beauty Ledge. Back on the main trail continue along level ground passing a short path on the right to the West shore of the pond and soon ending at Piper Mt. Trail.

North Trail: Beginning off of Burrows Farm trail past the river crossing this logging road serves as a connection to the trails on the East side of the Reservation. Grades are moderate and offer various restricted views along the way. The trail bears right at a large clearing and continues past a gate.

Moose Mountains Trail: Beginning from Burrows Farm trail make a very steep, rocky climb to an open, pretty rocky-ridge pitch pine forest with various restricted views. (Upper section crosses onto Private Property – stay on trail.)

Piper Mt. Trail: This woods road makes various steep drops and climbs down to Bowser Pond. It bears left at Bowser Pond trail and curls around a marsh area before climbing up to Piper Mt. Road. Crossing onto Middleton Town Forest take a right and at the top of the hill another right onto a foot path to Piper Mt. and it's ledges.

Beauty Ledge Trail ~ 1.2 MILES ~ 600' ELEVATION GAIN: The trail begins via Burrows Farm trail and .4 miles up North trail. Trail head is on the left at a collection of rock ledge. The trail climbs steeply up a banking of young pine and birch making some small switchbacks and passing various large rocks and a rock wall. The trail levels off and you pass Snapping Turtle Rock at ___. From here bear right passing several other large rocks as you follow the base of the massive ledge. The trail switchbacks through a pine glade then breaks away from the ledges and then coming back to them again. At a sharp left make a short steep climb up stone steps and switch back up a steep section. The trail levels again as you pass an attractive granite lichen hill with wild columbine and rock harlequin in season. The trail curves around this hill, over the top of it and back down again to the Beauty Knob trail junction at .4 miles. Here you can make a loop on your way back (keeping right at the bottom of Beauty Knob trail onto North trail). From the junction hike ahead towards the knob and climbing around it's North end. Pass just a few feet from Beauty Knob (1,238') on the left and continue, bearing left and out to the top of the ledges. Here there is a partial view North to Milton Mills. Now descend down rock with some loose footing and across to Beauty Ledge (.5 miles) where the trail ends at a 180* view looking below to Bowser Pond and several marshes and out to the Piper Mt. range, the Teneriffe Mt. range, Blue Hills Range, Prospect Mt. and Phoebes Nable Mt. at the far right and beyond out to the horizon to the Mt. Agamenticus in York, Maine. 

Beauty Knob Trail ~ .2 MILES: This trail begins from the large clearing at the upper section of North trail at 1 mile. It can be used as a loop with Beauty Ledge trail. Following blue blazes climb easily through young forest taking a left past broken rock where a porcupine lives. Walk over a sandy area where a tree fell over leaving exposed sand. Look down just past this on the right...there are snake skin orchids growing here! Begin climbing as you switchback moderately through a pine glade over a few large stones. Entering back into hardwoods make a short level walk to Beauty Ledge trail. Take a right to climb to the knob and ledges.

SPNHF Moose Mountain Hike 10/22/11

"A one-of-a-kind Pitch Pine Community" (pictures)

Since Scott and I became volunteer land stewards for Moose Mountains Reservation in Middleton, NH we had only made the steep hike up to the pitch pine forest a couple times. We were spending all of our time on the lower trails and getting them blazed and trimmed first. And so, this Forest Society field trip sparked my interest and I had hoped to learn about it, including why exactly it is considered "one-of-a-kind in NH"! We hadn't been up to this area from the old Ski area yet and that is where the trip began.

There was a large turn-out! I was rather surprised to see two dozen people bundled up in the windy, overcast morning ready to do some exploring. This trip was led by Forest Society's Mike Speltz along with some staff from Moose Mountains Regional Greenway's whom have worked closely with SPNHF on Moose Mountains. Today we would be viewing acreage that flanks the ski area and continues above it along the pitch pine hill tops covering several summit areas.

The purpose; to get public support for the purchase/easement of this property which would add 500 acres to Moose Mountains Reservation's which already sits at 2300! This would also permanently protect this rare pitch pine community. *Picture to left: The proposed property is in RED. It flanks the Moose Mountain Recreation area and includes all of the property from half-way up the old ski lift and up to the Moose Mountains Reservation property. The trails we used are marked in YELLOW

The trip began at 10am. As the land stewards for MMR we wanted to join this trip so we could help out in any way we could and so we could lend any knowledge we had obtained of the property in our short 5 months of exploring it. We set out for the left side of the ski area (Moose Mountain Recreation) and headed up an old skid road which I believe was also a ski trail when it was in operation. Mike took the lead while we kept the rear of the group with an MMRG lady (whose name I can't recall...sorry!) The hike was steep as it climbed nearly 800 feet in about a mile! Along the way Mike introduced us to the group and let them know some of what we do and to chat with us if they wanted to learn more. He also talked about the different hardwood and pine tree's as we got more and more glances of colorful views as we climbed.

When we arrived at the flat area at the top of the ski area we gathered around the old ski lift and looked out at the wonderful view of foliage. Wentworth and Kingswood lakes were in view. We could also see Chocorua, which seemed to be hogging the sunlight all day as it's rocky summit and ledgy ridges glowed against the cloudy sky's. To the left the Sandwich range was in view as well as the Ossipee range. To the right, Carter notch was barely visible.

After a short break we continued the hike over more easier elevation and finally emerged into the "rocky-ridge pitch pine forest". The bright red and orange blueberry bushes were a sharp contrast to the gray ledge and scruffy barked green pines. Mike stopped to tell us about this area. Namely that the pitch pine should not be growing here. It is one-of-a-kind in NH that a pitch pine forest of this size is growing at such relatively low elevation.

At the 3 way intersection at the height-of-land we went right and followed the road to a flat shelf-like ledge. Scott and I had been in this area before! Mike led a bush-whack down further and onto another ledge area. Here we stopped and had our lunch. Mike talked more about the forest we were in and we enjoyed some laughs and small talk. Once lunch was done I asked if Mike new there was a road just through the woods that leads down to the South side into the reservation. There is more pitch pine and a nice view not far that I wanted the group to see. He told us to lead the way!

We made a short whack to the road and out into a ledgy area with partial views. I informed the group that the road we were on connects down to the reservation and let everyone know about my MMR blog in hopes to get more people interested and hiking in the reservation. After some talking and photo shots we headed up the road. Back at the three way intersection the group stopped ahead. I figured Mike new where he was going or at least recognized this junction but he began to head left. He looked down at us and I signaled right. We all got a good laugh out of it!

The trip down was a bit tricky with the steep, loose and wet rock but we descended quickly. Back at the ski lift Mike decided we'd try the other ski trail on the opposite side of the ski area. And so we descended down the steep trail. We had two guys (from what I saw) slip on the way down, but nothing major. We all arrived back down at the parking lot from what was an enjoyable hike and not to bad of a day for weather. Could have been better, but could have been worse too. At least we had some views and it didn't rain! And we got to talk with friends we had already met at MMR and got to talk with others interested in what a volunteer land steward does.

MMR Bowser Pond 8/12/11

"Searching the Woods for a Direct Route to Bowser Pond" (Pictures)

Mushrooms

It was such a beautiful day Friday I just couldn't sit inside all day! I was up unusually early and so after hanging around home in my office and sipping on my coffee I decided to head to Moose Mountains again and work on finding a route from near the kiosk to attach to the Bowser Pond Trail. I arrived at around 11:15am. I decided to head down the banking to the river and follow it up to find the best crossing, keeping in mind the higher water and run-off streams in the Spring. All sorts of mushrooms were found along the river and I was obliged to take their picture!

Amphibian Trap

A little ways up the river I came to a beaver dam and a small pool where Moose tracks indicated that one was here getting a drink of water. So I dubbed this Moose Pool. A short ways further upstream I came to an unusual contraption in the water. Upon closer inspection this is what I found. Four separate clumps of leaves wrapped in netting, held down in the water by a rock which was tied off to a pink nylon string to a tree. Interesting to say the least. All I could think of was it was some sort of salamander/newt trap or a water mineral test of some kind. After e-mailing the Forest Society about it they said it looked like a salamander/larvae trap. This made sense! If the person who put these here is reading this, just please contact us as we would appreciate you completing a educational/scientific form and we would love to see your results/findings :)

Mushroom

Shortly further upstream I found my crossing point. There is a small clearing here and a banking that climbs through some trees to an overgrown skid road. I taped the trees with pink tape up to the main trail/road. Along the way I found an orange mushroom that was glowing in the sunlight, it was amazing! This small starting point taped off it was now time to head through the woods onto the road. This is were I get a little skittish. I am fine solo hiking on trails and familiar mountains. But the idea of Moose and Bear that are plentiful on this property and me squeezing my way through dense forest and old skid roads (which are probably used as herd paths by these animals), makes me a little unsettled and jumpy. I know these animals are more scared of humans than we are of them and the chance of a bear attack is like zero, I still am very cautious and try to be as loud as I can!

Dragonfly

So, I took a right on this road and followed it. Dragonfly's seem to love these semi-open old roads and I was chasing them around from tree branch to tree branch! A ways down the road became very overgrown with young pine trees. Then it abruptly ended. Dang! I found some animal bones in a pile here and I got a little squeamish! I believe I was right near the spot where I found a dead moose and I wondered why I was finding more bones. I followed the bones through the woods and came to the spine and jaw sitting next to each other. 30 feet away was the spot where I had found the dead moose and it was not there. So something dragged it through the woods and I guess was picking off what little, if any meat that was still on the bones. This freaked me out! Just then a very loud knocking made me jump and nearly have a heart-attack! I remember hearing this before and I believe it is a tree blowing in the wind. At any rate this particular spot gives me the creeps every time I'm here. It feels haunted and cursed or something. So I bolted outta there and across the river to the kiosk!

Mushroom

Safe and sound back at my truck I took a break and cleared my head. I wasn't giving up just yet. I walked up the road (Burrows Farm Trail) and followed my pink tape back up to the river. I then spotted a mushroom. It was nearly half-a-foot tall and in perfect condition! Nice! I continued on to the skid road. I went left this time and almost immediately came out onto Piper Mt. trail/road where it takes a sharp left and goes uphill. I new this spot was close to Burrows Farm trail but didn't realize it was THAT close! At this point I decided to just head down this trail to Bowser Pond and check things out down there. If I felt like it I could continue my woods exploration from above and maybe it would be easier to find my way down to the river.

Pickerellweed

I arrived at the Bowser Pond trail and headed down the banking where I had blazed a side path. I hung out on the pond shore and took some pictures and looked for birds or maybe a moose across the other side. All was quite...very quite! I made my way along the shoreline, stopping at various open areas where there were small rocks to sit on. The Pickerellweed was in full bloom and was very pretty up close. I am always surprised to not find any frogs or turtles laying in the sun on the logs over here. Perhaps they are in the pond, but I've yet to see any. I did find one little lonely frog on a rock though.

Bowser Pond

I found the duck decoy thingy Scott and I had spotted on our first visit here and I was going to take it with me and get rid of it. But I didn't want to carry it and didn't feel like it was doing any harm, so I placed it back in the water. I also spotted another out in the water along the marsh section. Bee's were busy collecting pollen from them and dragonfly's were whizzing by skimming the water. Such a beautiful relaxing area! I made my way to the Southern end of the pond where there is a small clearing which I believe is part of the pond floor when the water is high. This is a beautiful spot! Across the pond you can look up to MMR's East peaks and there are tons of dragonfly's.

Sundew

I hung out here for a while before heading out. Just then I spotted this small, weird looking plant on a log at the shoreline. It was so weird looking! There were hair-like tendrils that came out from a succulent leaf that appeared to have drops of water on the tips of them. Very awesome! I did some research when I got home, Scott helping by saying it looked like a fly catcher. He was almost right! It is a Sundew. The droplets of water are actually a gluey substance it secretes to capture insects. One of New England's Carnivorous plants. What a great find! Very excited now, I headed up the road and back onto SPNHF property and Bowser Pond trail. I came to the top of the hill where I was hoping to bring the Bowser Pond trail into the woods.

Boulder

I explored this area and actually found a herd path about 100 feet to yet another overgrown skid road. Perfect! I followed this shortly to the top of a steep drop over the banking. The woods here were open and the ridge was covered with boulders! I followed alongside the banking down to a gully of sorts and up to a good sized boulder on the top of a hill. What a great trail side feature! This route is great! The banking here was much less steep and provided the perfect spot for the trail to ascend/descend easily. So down I went and back into the trees. I reached the young Pine trees, which I now know is part of the old skid road I was on before. I found the road and was unsure if this is exactly where I wanted my trail to go.

Boulder Field

Tired, hot and happy with my findings I called it a day. I just have to connect the dots now and find the best trail in the middle section. Then I can begin trimming and blazing! Should be pretty straight forward. Most of the trail will follow old skid roads! I plan on having this trail finished by the end of August! I can't wait! A direct route from Burrows Farm trail to Bowser Pond Trail will provide an easier hike to this beautiful spot and will provide a nice loop option using Piper Mt. trail :) Once this is complete I will be searching the woods off of North Trail to find the ledge that overlooks Bowser Pond!!

MMR "East Peak" 8/6/11

Rock on a Ledge & Pitch Pine

"Moose Mt., Moose Mt., Where for Art Thou Moose Mt.?" (pictures)

Finally getting this report done! Scott and I were undecided on our Saturday hike. The weather was looking unsettled and Sunday looked crappy. We really wanted to climb Garfield and get Scott another peak caught up to me on the 4000 footer list. Also, a couple that are friends of ours was planning there final 48 on Mt. Isolation Saturday. We planned on joining them for a surprise show-up in the morning. Well, the morning came along and the weather report looked worst than the night before. We had done Isolation in the cloud cover before and really didn't want another no-view hike or getting caught in rain showers! So we stayed in our area and headed back to Moose Mountains....again!

Helliborine Orchid

We arrived there mid morning and decided to make another attempt at finding Moose Mountain (the main peak). I found the Helliborine Orchid at the parking lot to get a better picture of it now that I know what it is. At the North trail junction we fixed the trail sign and added a bolt...the other broke as we were screwing it in. A giant millipede had just come out of a hole in the loose sand on the banking. I've only seen one of these guys once before at Pawtuckaway State Park and was excited to see and hold this cool insect!

Phoebes Nable Mt. & Burrows Field

We continued straight where the trail junction goes left to Burrows Farm. We climbed the steep trail up to the height-of-land where the woods begin to open up a bit to some ledge. I went off trail here and explored some of it. Scott followed and we found a great view spot down to Phoebes Nable Mt. and Burrows Field! We could even see the trail sign at the top of the field!

Summit area of East Peak ?

We continued climbing through the ledge with colorful rock and pitch pine trees becoming more numerous. After following some herd paths and climbing through the blueberry bushes we came back out onto the trail/road and soon came out to the semi-open mountain top. I call this Middle peak for lack of knowing a name for it. But Scott found out that Moose Mountains consist of two main peaks set a mile apart. So this could actually be the East/South peak. I don't know exactly. More questions to ask the SPNHF staff on our next visit! We continued to a junction in the road. We went right a little ways to check it out then went back and went in the Westerly direction.

Green Frog

Soon, however the road disappeared and we were not able to make out any trail. We explored various ledges and found no definitive trail or road. The deer and Moose must love it up here. There droppings were everywhere. There were a couple piles of fresh droppings, so there was a Moose nearby no doubt! We grudgingly made our way back to the main road. The humidity was awful and we'd had enough bush-whacking. So we headed back down, making a quick stop at the field.

Mushroom

On the way I caught a cute little green frog, we found a bunch of mushrooms and I caught a dragonfly who hung out on my hand for a ways down the road.We stopped at the North trail junction again. The sign just didn't look right there as the arrows just didn't line up. So we cleared a tree on the other side of the road and attempted to put it on that tree. This proved difficult as it was a very tuff tree and we had to perch ourselves on a rock at an awkward angle. But we got it up, and it looked so much better there! We will keep looking for a through way to Moose Mountain and get a trail up there some day!

Phoebes Nable Mt. 8/4/11

"Off-Roadin' Stroller" (pictures)

On the Summit of Phoebes Nable

Thursday I picked up my sister and her two daughters for a hike up Phoebes Nable at Moose Mountains Reservation in Middleton, NH. Me, Jill, Sarah (5) and Taylor (2months) arrived at the parking lot at noon time. As Jill got the baby ready in the jogging stroller I checked out the grown-in woods road that Scott and I are hoping to build a trail on. Right there was some sort of orchid-like flower growing. According to my research I think it might have been an Helliborine Orchid. It's amazing how many flowers are growing up here!

Sarah holding a Toad

We applied bug spray as the overcast sky's were keeping the mosquito's out and the horsefly's were also on the attack! We made our way up Burrows Farm trail, Sarah asking a hundred questions and announcing every little thing she saw, and every time she would trip on something....kids, LOL! It was neat however to see her curiosity for mushrooms and once she saw me taking pictures of flowers and shrooms she was telling me to take pictures of everything. Guess I'll have to get her a little camera!

Sarah on Phoebes Nable Mt. Trail

At one point she spotted some black-eyed Susan's and yanked one right out of the ground. We explained to her not to pick the flowers. It was very funny to find small shoe prints of another kid in the mud further up the trail, and a black-eyed Susan sitting nearby pulled up. All kids are alike I guess! We got a chuckle out of it. I also got a good laugh when she told me to take a picture of the "yellow flowers". Those being Goldenrod. I told her they were just a weed that make people sneeze. So for the rest of the day she would point them out and say they were "sneeze flowers". Too funny!

Sarah & Jill Climbing the trail

Well, we stopped at the Burrows cemetery for a break then headed up and across the field. From here Jill continued pushing the baby through the alternating terrain. I had to lift the stroller a couple times over rocky, steep sections. Did I mention the baby slept the ENTIRE time! Amazing!! We made the summit just after 1pm and took a nice long lunch break in some shade. Baby Taylor finally awoke and was just staring up to the sky. What was she staring at? There was a huge pine branch over head and she was just captured by it! Oh yes, she's gonna be a nature girl too!I chased a White Admiral Butterfly around for a few minutes much to the amusement of Sarah. Then we walked a little ways into the ledgy area to look for a hawk feather where I had found one before. Instead we found a huge orange mushroom cluster which was just as exciting!

Jill picking some Black Berries

Once we all ate and Taylor finished her bottle we made the trek back down. Along the way I spotted a tiny pink flower that I believe is Showy Tick Trefoil and also found Orange Jewelweed that was passing by. We stopped below the field where we had found a nice patch of wild black berries to snag a few more to eat. They were so good! Further down the trail was this big yellow dragonfly that literally stayed ahead of us and followed us for nearly half a mile. It was pretty neat! We made it back to the parking lot at about 2:15pm. A great hike with my sister and two of her three kiddo's. Maybe we'll have to head to Castle in the Clouds next week. Sarah wants to see some waterfalls! And Jill might have a baby back pack by then to carry Taylor in!

Moose Mountains Trail Sign Work 7/31/11

"Erecting MMR's First Trail Signs!" (pictures)

Refurbished Kiosk Sign

On Thursday 7/29 Scott and I headed back to Concord to finish up the trail signs that were done the previous week. We arrived at the SPNHF head quarters and we got the MMR Kiosk sign completed and worked on the many others. We brought the signs for MMR home and finished those up that night. Friday we drove up to MMR and returned the beautifully refurbished kiosk sign. And boy did it look great!

Snake-skin Plantain

The weekend rolled around and we decided we would head to the White Mountains Sunday to hike a 4000 footer. But by the end of the day we both didn't want to make the drive and we really wanted to get our posts and signs up to MMR and get them up! So excited the next morning we spent a couple hours putting the finishing touches on and getting the tools all together and loaded in the truck. We drove up the road stopping at the re-painted Hall Spring sign to put a larger bolt in it. I took a picture of an interesting plant (Wooly Snake-skin Plantain) that grows there that was flowering. It has neat green leaves with white veins and long slender flowers.

Breaking Ground for the First Post

We continued the drive up to the "Stevens Cemetery Road" and trimmed some branches and put up a "trail" arrow. Then it was up to the Burrows Farm field. We parked and loaded up the sign for Phoebes Nable Mt. trail at a junction below the summit. We made the walk all the way up the hill to find that I had left the long bolts at home and brought the wrong ones up with me! So, bummed out we headed back down. Now it was time for some post hole digging! The new post digger the Forest Society lent us worked great. And thanks to the many years of this field being dug the were little rocks that stood in our way!

First Sign Post

We had the first post and trail signs up really quick! We packed rocks and soil in around the post then decided to build a rock cairn around the post. It was an exciting accomplishment for us and we were thrilled to get the next one in! So we drove down to the river crossing and got the tools out. We noticed a truck parked on the landing up the road and wondered who it was and what they were up to.

Second Sign Post

This area proved to be a little more difficult. It was rocky and needed to be shoveled out. But again, between the two of us we went rather quick and got the post in. Another truck came up the road then and we chatted with the father and son briefly who was out just checking out the trails. Then a couple came down the road who turned out to be land owners of the property just above the field. We were glad to finally meet them and they were very nice and helpful and knowledgeable of the area. After a long chat they took off. We finished off the post with a cairn around it and sat and ate our lunch.

Phoebes Nable Mt. Trail Sign

We then headed back down, made the 15 minute trip home. We decided to grab the long bolts and head back to put the Phoebes Nable Mt. trail sign up. We drove back and parked half-way up the road. We passed by our new signs and admired them with excitement and pride. We crossed the field and began the climb up the hill. We reached a couple hiking halfway up and chatted with them. The lady turned out to be a face book friend and was checking out the property she had been reading so much about. The two maintain a trail on the Ossipee range were eager to offer there help to us should we ever need it. How nice of them to offer! I'm sure we'll be calling on them at some point! We quickly attached the sign to the tree, admired our work and headed back down. Almost back at the truck we smelled an unusual smell. Not a terrible Moose smell but some sort of animal. Perhaps it was a bear! Not sure!

End of the Day

A rewarding day for us, beautiful weather and a job well done :o) We can't wait to get going on the rest of the signs and making more! We really want to find the trail to Moose Mountain and get started on blazing and signing that, then there's the North View trail, South View trail, Bowser Pond trail, Mountain Trail and so much more! We'll be at it for years no doubt! And we are loving every minute of it. Such a beautiful property with so much to offer!

Bowser Pond Trail Work 7/27/11

"A Dead Moose and a Beautiful Pond" (pictures)

Dead Moose

I headed out this beautiful day to Moose Mountains to do some trail work. I set my sights for Bowser Pond. Previously I trimmed back the trees taking over this woods road from Piper Mt. Road and 200 feet in. From here I blazed a small trail down the banking to the pond side which looks across the water towards Piper Mt. Today I wanted to scout out a potential through-way from the kiosk to the lower portion of the road so that I could make a more direct hiking trail to the pond and a possible loop option. So from the parking lot I hiked up Burrows Farm trail a hundred feet and took a right into the woods. I crossed the river over a barb wire fence and followed the waters edge South. At one point I passed by a decayed small moose skeleton. It still smelled horrible and was not a pleasant thing to find!

Bowser Pond

Past this I entered a little deeper into the woods and followed a young, thick pine glade. Soon I came onto the woods road. I followed a yellow dragonfly around until I got a couple pictures of it and I headed uphill and at the fork I decided to take a right which crosses onto non-SPNHF property. The road arrives at the South end of the pond and a beautiful view across the water up to a South facing ledge and the East peaks. I must find that ledge and build a trail to it! A blue heron flew over head and circled the pond. Then he quickly vanished back over the trees. Guess I was in his spot or he didn't want to see me! I took some picks and headed back up to the main road.

Bowser Pond Trail

I hiked down the junction with Piper Mt. Trail and began trimming branches. This section was already done once but Scott said it needed to be trimmed a little more. I worked my way down the road, at one point hearing a large animal walking through the woods. Being alone and so close to the largest body of water in 2,000 acres I was already nervous of Bear and Moose! So, startled I yelled out "hey" and began to make a lot of noise. Silence was all I heard in return! I then pulled my keys out and hooked them to my backpack strap so they would jingle and make some extra noise.

Old Row Boat

Back to work I continued cutting, noticing an old row boat in the woods near the fork in the road. I worked my way all the way back to the top of the hill and explored this spot as a possible trail entrance for a straight shot back down to the parking lot. There was thick young pine here as below so I decided to wait on this until I had Scott with me. So I walked down the road, down the hill and came out at it's end on New Portsmouth Rd. next to an old home. Tired and hot I called it a day and headed home. I hope to finish cutting this trail and blazing it by the end of August!

Phoebes Nable Mt. & Burrows Farm 7/24/11

"Crispy With a Chance of Being Stung!" (pictures)

Phoebes Nable Mt.

With another humid day Saturday and the promise of a slightly more comfortable, sunny day for Sunday we opted to work Saturday and hike Sunday. We planned for Garfield but decided to see if we got up early and how we felt. Scott got up at 6am and watched the weather report. The forecast called for morning showers and it didn't look promising outside! I also woke up at 6am, turned the alarm off and rolled back over and was back out in no time! I crawled out of bed at 7:30, woke Scott who was now back in bed also and we dragged ourselves downstairs. We then spent the morning doing yard word and running errands ... so much for hiking, LOL!

Steeplebush

3pm rolled around and simultaneously we both thought about doing a small hike on Moose Mountains Reservation! I've said it once and I'll say it again, as much time as I've spent up there it still hasn't gotten old! There's always something different! So we arrived at the empty parking lot at 3:30pm. We checked the map box to find 3 maps had been taken since Friday! That's about 16 maps total in the 3 weeks I've been printing them off :^) We parked further up the road and began our hike. I wanted to hike to the junction below Phoebes Nable and down to Mountain Road hoping to finally find Moose Mountain!

Dried-up "crispy" blueberry bushes

We passed through the field and checked on the Burrows Cemetery. The Lily's we planted were still blooming despite the obvious burning they had received from the excessive heat we had! The field was lined with flowering Meadowsweet and Steeplebush, there seems to be something different flowering up here every week! We took a left across the field to continue on Burrows Farm Trail and up to the height-of-land at the Phoebes Nable junction. Here the blueberry bushes and trees were notably dried-up, yellow and very crispy!

Dried-up 'summit' brush

We headed on down the other side to the corner. Here I looked my map over and realized just how long Mountain road was as it looped around near the Moose Mountain Summits and back to the field. So I thought we should head back and start out at the field and try and find our way to the mountains from there. As we passed the Phoebes Nable Trail we looked around for a sign of a skid road. By the looks of the satellite maps there is a skid road that possibly connect from the kiosk parking to just above this junction. We walked the woods up to the summit of Phoebes Nable with no luck. Brush was dried-up here too and we headed back down deeper in the woods looking for a road of some kind.

Bouncing Bet (soapwort)

With no luck again we continued through the woods past several ledge outcrops and we came out on Burrows Farm trail below the Phoebes Nable junction. From here we walked back down to the field and up another woods road that connects to the road behind the Burrows Farm site and up past the mountains to Mountain road. After passing the road junction we soon lost the woods road. It was just too overgrown to make out it's route. So we turned back and headed down the other road back out to the Burrows Farm site. Confused yet!? Here there were Bouncing Bet flowers in bloom. Always something new!

Bald-faced Hornet Nest

Just past the large rock I walked in the thicket of plants to take a picture of the apple tree. I looked down next to my left foot to see a hornet nest. Yikes! Glad I didn't step on it!! They turned out to be Bald-faced hornets! The paper nest was the size of one of those mini-basketballs. Careful should you walk off trail in a thicket! That was it. We headed back down and finished our explorations at 4:30pm.

Most Current MMR Hiker Map

Updated 7/21/11
For a larger clearer map, view on flickr> MAP

Bowser Pond 7/18/11

"A weekday walk-around" (pictures)

Just a quick walk today. I printed 2 maps to put in the mailbox. All five were gone after only 4 days! So I guess I'll have to print more off! We hiked up to the Burrows Cemetery to check on the lily's. A couple had flowered and it looked nice! Then we headed back down and up North Trail, took a right onto Piper Mt. Trail. We checked out Bowser Pond then continued down Piper Mt. trail as we hadn't been down past this point.

On the left was a grown-in skid road. Scott wanted to check it out so we climbed the hill for a pretty good view across to the pond. We then snaked our way through the various grown-in roads to arrive back onto Piper Mt. Trail at the top of the hill. We made the walk back to the truck and called it a day.