Amicus
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2005
- Messages
- 1,145
- Reaction score
- 112
I met rocket21 at the main office parking lot for Camp Merrowvista, at the end of Canaan Road in Tuftonboro, NH, near the trailhead for the Gorilla (a/k/a Mt. Flagg) Trail. We picked a good day to park there, as the Camp was holding an open house.
We drove rocket's truck to parking for the Banana (a/k/a Big Ball) Trail - just 0.7 mile away - a sort of logging clearing on the left side of McDuffie Road, with room for at least six vehicles. One hundred or two yards north, we came to the first house, on the right, where we had an amiable chat with the proprietor, who sported a sharp turquoise string-tie. Right opposite, an old road begins the Banana Trail.
Neither Banana nor Gorilla appears on the standard hiking map for the Ossipees, published by the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, since they are mostly east and south of the Trust's property. I learned of them from signs, on a hike to Shaw in 2006, and got more details after that from carole, who maintains trails in the Ossipees and knows them better than anyone else I know. carole recently obtained from Trail Bandit, who seems to have reblazed these trails after decades of neglect, his own map of the Ossipees, which displays them and much else, and her kind loan of same to me prompted this hike.
The Banana Trail, to start, is an old road, used by snowmobilers now, that crosses Canaan Brook, follows its left bank north to a culvert, then veers west, as a real trail, up to a junction with the Tate Mt. Trail on ledges just north of Little Ball Mt. Blue blazes mark the Trail clearly throughout its length, and someone maintains it well - no blowdowns.
From there, it follows open ledges up and over Big Ball (a/k/a Tate) Mt. up to Black Snout (so-called - the lower, south peak of Mt. Shaw - not the "real" Black Snout to the NW). This Trail over open ledges, with views south and west over Winnepausaukee, equals any I know in New Hampshire for scenery.
From Black Snout's top, rocket led us on a herd path N that cut out c. .3 mile of carriage road, depositing us not far south of Mt. Shaw - New Hampshire's tallest 2K. From there, the yellow-blazed Gorilla Trail took us two mellow miles east to Mt. Flagg. This winds gently over two knobs, with fine views through little birches that are growing back after a big fire quite a while ago, I've heard.
Mt. Flagg's summit offers wonderful views north, with Washington lined up directly over the horn of Chocorua. From the ledges to the south, views E, S, and W include a unique (since this is the eastern prominence of the Ossipee range) panorama east, over Ossipee Lake, of Green Mt. and the High Hills of Hiram and Parsonsfield in York Co., Maine.
The blackflies came out only over the last mile or so, above the Camp, perhaps because the sun was warming things up. Either they weren't biting or my DEET worked.
A senior poster here once quoted Gene Daniell's opinion that Mt. Shaw is the most underhiked mountain in NH. I think that may be so.
Some photos are here.
We drove rocket's truck to parking for the Banana (a/k/a Big Ball) Trail - just 0.7 mile away - a sort of logging clearing on the left side of McDuffie Road, with room for at least six vehicles. One hundred or two yards north, we came to the first house, on the right, where we had an amiable chat with the proprietor, who sported a sharp turquoise string-tie. Right opposite, an old road begins the Banana Trail.
Neither Banana nor Gorilla appears on the standard hiking map for the Ossipees, published by the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, since they are mostly east and south of the Trust's property. I learned of them from signs, on a hike to Shaw in 2006, and got more details after that from carole, who maintains trails in the Ossipees and knows them better than anyone else I know. carole recently obtained from Trail Bandit, who seems to have reblazed these trails after decades of neglect, his own map of the Ossipees, which displays them and much else, and her kind loan of same to me prompted this hike.
The Banana Trail, to start, is an old road, used by snowmobilers now, that crosses Canaan Brook, follows its left bank north to a culvert, then veers west, as a real trail, up to a junction with the Tate Mt. Trail on ledges just north of Little Ball Mt. Blue blazes mark the Trail clearly throughout its length, and someone maintains it well - no blowdowns.
From there, it follows open ledges up and over Big Ball (a/k/a Tate) Mt. up to Black Snout (so-called - the lower, south peak of Mt. Shaw - not the "real" Black Snout to the NW). This Trail over open ledges, with views south and west over Winnepausaukee, equals any I know in New Hampshire for scenery.
From Black Snout's top, rocket led us on a herd path N that cut out c. .3 mile of carriage road, depositing us not far south of Mt. Shaw - New Hampshire's tallest 2K. From there, the yellow-blazed Gorilla Trail took us two mellow miles east to Mt. Flagg. This winds gently over two knobs, with fine views through little birches that are growing back after a big fire quite a while ago, I've heard.
Mt. Flagg's summit offers wonderful views north, with Washington lined up directly over the horn of Chocorua. From the ledges to the south, views E, S, and W include a unique (since this is the eastern prominence of the Ossipee range) panorama east, over Ossipee Lake, of Green Mt. and the High Hills of Hiram and Parsonsfield in York Co., Maine.
The blackflies came out only over the last mile or so, above the Camp, perhaps because the sun was warming things up. Either they weren't biting or my DEET worked.
A senior poster here once quoted Gene Daniell's opinion that Mt. Shaw is the most underhiked mountain in NH. I think that may be so.
Some photos are here.
Last edited: