WeRmudfun
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On our continuing quest to complete the New Hampshire Fire Tower List, we completed #45, Lovewell Mountain, where a fire tower was once proposed. We parked at the bottom of Lovell Mtn Rd (an unmaintained Class VI road) to begin our hike. Why the two different names? A little history…
This mountain is named after Captain John Lovewell, a famous Indian fighter. When his family came to America back in 1635 they changed their name from Lovell to Lovewell. ‘ Lovewell’ Pond in Fryeburg, Maine and’ Lovell’, Maine are also named in his honor. Hence the two different names, according to the research we found.
Anyway, Lovell Mtn Road, which is part of the 50 mile Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway, was semi packed down due to the snowmobiles. We followed it for 0.9 miles until The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway turns left off Lovell Mtn Rd and continues into the Lovewell Mountain State Forest. There is also a homemade yellow sign showing the turn, nailed to a tree.
At this point we were happy to see that the trail had been broken out, but snowshoes where still required as the snow was soft and powdery. The day was better than predicated as we only had light winds vs the 35 MPH winds we were expecting. The sky was also very clear and very blue. The trail had been broken out with snowshoes and cross country skis. It is also blazed in white.
The trail itself did not present any real challenge the first 1.75 miles but after that it all changed. The trail we were following was no longer broken out. It is now (or was before this latest storm. LOL). We did break it out all the way to the summit. It was deep in some spots and we lost the trail a couple times, due to the snow weighing down the branches so the blazes were hidden. The last 0.3 miles kicked our butts. The snow was deep and a real challenge to break out going up the only real incline on the mountain.
We made it to the summit, checked out the views from the outlook off to the right of the big cairn marking the summit. We didn’t stay to long as it was a little cold and we were tired. Cheryl did try butt sliding coming down, but the snow seemed too soft. The hike back down went a lot quicker than the hike up.
We did post a video for anyone who might be interested in seeing what our day was like or what the trail conditions were like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qhRFFV0uY&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvonD5mWIH03yQY3eosLwcQ
This mountain is named after Captain John Lovewell, a famous Indian fighter. When his family came to America back in 1635 they changed their name from Lovell to Lovewell. ‘ Lovewell’ Pond in Fryeburg, Maine and’ Lovell’, Maine are also named in his honor. Hence the two different names, according to the research we found.
Anyway, Lovell Mtn Road, which is part of the 50 mile Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway, was semi packed down due to the snowmobiles. We followed it for 0.9 miles until The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway turns left off Lovell Mtn Rd and continues into the Lovewell Mountain State Forest. There is also a homemade yellow sign showing the turn, nailed to a tree.
At this point we were happy to see that the trail had been broken out, but snowshoes where still required as the snow was soft and powdery. The day was better than predicated as we only had light winds vs the 35 MPH winds we were expecting. The sky was also very clear and very blue. The trail had been broken out with snowshoes and cross country skis. It is also blazed in white.
The trail itself did not present any real challenge the first 1.75 miles but after that it all changed. The trail we were following was no longer broken out. It is now (or was before this latest storm. LOL). We did break it out all the way to the summit. It was deep in some spots and we lost the trail a couple times, due to the snow weighing down the branches so the blazes were hidden. The last 0.3 miles kicked our butts. The snow was deep and a real challenge to break out going up the only real incline on the mountain.
We made it to the summit, checked out the views from the outlook off to the right of the big cairn marking the summit. We didn’t stay to long as it was a little cold and we were tired. Cheryl did try butt sliding coming down, but the snow seemed too soft. The hike back down went a lot quicker than the hike up.
We did post a video for anyone who might be interested in seeing what our day was like or what the trail conditions were like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qhRFFV0uY&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvonD5mWIH03yQY3eosLwcQ
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