WeRmudfun
New member
We had just read about a Piper plane crash on Belknap Mountain and our interests were peaked having already been to the crash sites on Waternomee and Mount Success. We had just been to Belknap Mountain for the fire tower on March 31st, and had no idea how close we were to the crash site, now we needed to go back.
When we head out Sunday morning it was rainy at our house, but as we got closer the Belknap Range the rain stopped. We went with friends and decided to hike up to Gunstock first and check out the views. We took the Blue Trail to the Saddle Trail, then hit the Gunstock summit using the Brook Trail. All the trails were in good condition and dry for the most part, but any mud was avoidable. Oh and the sign on the chair lift that says, “Caution lift can start at any time”, believe it, cause it ran for about 2 minutes. We’re just glad we didn’t decide to seat on the chairs for lunch.
After leaving the summit on Gunstock we headed over to Belknap using the Brook to Saddle then Blue Trails again. We hiked down to the crash site of a Piper private airplane that crashed in June of 1972. Getting down to the site is steep, the rocks and moss were wet and slippery, but it was doable with caution. We had the coordinates on the GPS, but once we found the herd path, it wasn't too hard to follow. The site is a Waymark Point and a Geocache area and yes, we found the cache.
Having accomplished what we set out to do we decided to continue on to Piper Mountain using the White Trail and the Orange/Old Piper Trail. These were some of the most blazed trails we have ever been on, almost to the point of being over done. The summit of North Peak of Piper Mountain was definitely unique. We felt like we were visiting the Flintstones in Bedrock (Hope I didn't just date us too much there lol). There was chairs and little couches made out of boulders up there and they were comfortable. There was also a fire place and a fire pit built. We were quite impressed. After enjoying the views and furniture for awhile we headed back down to the summer parking lot and ended our adventure. The whole hike was less than 5 miles and well worth it.
We did video the whole hike, but if you like the element of surprise, please be aware we did film the whole crash site. We did not show where the herd path starts, nor did we film where the Geocache is. If you would be interested in seeing the video here is the link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGizU47vlPo
When we head out Sunday morning it was rainy at our house, but as we got closer the Belknap Range the rain stopped. We went with friends and decided to hike up to Gunstock first and check out the views. We took the Blue Trail to the Saddle Trail, then hit the Gunstock summit using the Brook Trail. All the trails were in good condition and dry for the most part, but any mud was avoidable. Oh and the sign on the chair lift that says, “Caution lift can start at any time”, believe it, cause it ran for about 2 minutes. We’re just glad we didn’t decide to seat on the chairs for lunch.
After leaving the summit on Gunstock we headed over to Belknap using the Brook to Saddle then Blue Trails again. We hiked down to the crash site of a Piper private airplane that crashed in June of 1972. Getting down to the site is steep, the rocks and moss were wet and slippery, but it was doable with caution. We had the coordinates on the GPS, but once we found the herd path, it wasn't too hard to follow. The site is a Waymark Point and a Geocache area and yes, we found the cache.
Having accomplished what we set out to do we decided to continue on to Piper Mountain using the White Trail and the Orange/Old Piper Trail. These were some of the most blazed trails we have ever been on, almost to the point of being over done. The summit of North Peak of Piper Mountain was definitely unique. We felt like we were visiting the Flintstones in Bedrock (Hope I didn't just date us too much there lol). There was chairs and little couches made out of boulders up there and they were comfortable. There was also a fire place and a fire pit built. We were quite impressed. After enjoying the views and furniture for awhile we headed back down to the summer parking lot and ended our adventure. The whole hike was less than 5 miles and well worth it.
We did video the whole hike, but if you like the element of surprise, please be aware we did film the whole crash site. We did not show where the herd path starts, nor did we film where the Geocache is. If you would be interested in seeing the video here is the link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGizU47vlPo
