marnof
New member
Each year, in the middle of October, I like to head out to the Kancamagus Highway to do a couple of hikes and check out the brilliant autumn foliage. I'm a sort of "connect the dot" hiker, in that I enjoy exploring areas I've seen from previous hikes and summits. With that in mind, I decided to wander over to Birch Hill, having seen it from different vantage points over the years. Colder than average temps, rain and gusty wind were forecasted, but convertible shorts were in order for this hike in on Rob Brook Road. I thought I might see at least a mountain biker cruise by, but didn't see a soul all day. Pretty cool actually, and a contrast to the next day's hike.
I headed north on the Sawyer Pond Trail until I was due west of Birch Hill's summit, then whacked ze bush in an easterly direction. Visibility on that course was about 50ft, and the traveling was not too difficult. I topped out a couple hundred yards north of the summit and started looking for any views toward Owl's Cliff when something gave a low growl ahead of me. Hmmm. Thinking I may have disturbed a resting bear, I decided to head back down the hill a bit, then sideskirt the ticked off ursa and approach the summit from the south. I stepped over one bear scat, then started to reconsider my plan a bit. After the next, newer scat I saw, I thought perhaps this could wait for another day. I would have loved to peacefully share the summit with the bears, but I'm not sure they would enjoy my company as much. Then again, maybe they would…
When I reached Rob Brook Road again, the weather had changed to intermittent gusty snow, mainly corn snow, and some sun would break through occasionally. Not long after heading back I turned a corner and caught a cow and calf browsing the shrubs in the middle of the trail. It took a little time to de-glove and get the camera out but I did catch them walking away.
All in all a very memorable hike: people-0, moose-2, growls-1.
I've read that Mt. Chocorua is a great peak to hike, so that was on tap for Saturday. The Champney Falls lot on the Kanc was filling up quickly at 8:30am. The weather was very sunny, but still cold, and as a result there was a fair amount of ice on the trail on the way up, but nothing to slow one down too much. This is a very well-built trail with plenty of stone steps and great footing. The summit was abuzz with people, reminding me a bit of Mt. Washington's, with people clamoring for photos---mainly because the summit rock is about the size of the average bathroom in square feet, so all decorum is seemingly cast aside.
The return via the Piper/Champney Falls trails was a little more problematic. All the foot traffic through frozen puddles had glazed over the safe spots to place one's feet with a sheen of ice, and the going was slow in spots. Once past that, it was a speedy descent to the car and more leaf peeping on the return trip to CT. One of my favorite views is from Rt. 118, west of Woodstock. Great views of the Franconia Range and even Washington's peak peeking over the top.
I'm already looking forward to next fall in the White Mountains--and this fall in CT!
I headed north on the Sawyer Pond Trail until I was due west of Birch Hill's summit, then whacked ze bush in an easterly direction. Visibility on that course was about 50ft, and the traveling was not too difficult. I topped out a couple hundred yards north of the summit and started looking for any views toward Owl's Cliff when something gave a low growl ahead of me. Hmmm. Thinking I may have disturbed a resting bear, I decided to head back down the hill a bit, then sideskirt the ticked off ursa and approach the summit from the south. I stepped over one bear scat, then started to reconsider my plan a bit. After the next, newer scat I saw, I thought perhaps this could wait for another day. I would have loved to peacefully share the summit with the bears, but I'm not sure they would enjoy my company as much. Then again, maybe they would…
When I reached Rob Brook Road again, the weather had changed to intermittent gusty snow, mainly corn snow, and some sun would break through occasionally. Not long after heading back I turned a corner and caught a cow and calf browsing the shrubs in the middle of the trail. It took a little time to de-glove and get the camera out but I did catch them walking away.
All in all a very memorable hike: people-0, moose-2, growls-1.
I've read that Mt. Chocorua is a great peak to hike, so that was on tap for Saturday. The Champney Falls lot on the Kanc was filling up quickly at 8:30am. The weather was very sunny, but still cold, and as a result there was a fair amount of ice on the trail on the way up, but nothing to slow one down too much. This is a very well-built trail with plenty of stone steps and great footing. The summit was abuzz with people, reminding me a bit of Mt. Washington's, with people clamoring for photos---mainly because the summit rock is about the size of the average bathroom in square feet, so all decorum is seemingly cast aside.
The return via the Piper/Champney Falls trails was a little more problematic. All the foot traffic through frozen puddles had glazed over the safe spots to place one's feet with a sheen of ice, and the going was slow in spots. Once past that, it was a speedy descent to the car and more leaf peeping on the return trip to CT. One of my favorite views is from Rt. 118, west of Woodstock. Great views of the Franconia Range and even Washington's peak peeking over the top.
I'm already looking forward to next fall in the White Mountains--and this fall in CT!
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