RoySwkr
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I had heard there was a snowmobile trail up Avery Hill in Alton NH but was unable to find out about its route. The trail from the SE shown on the USGS map that I climbed a few decades ago has now been blocked by new home construction. I decided the best thing to do was to go look for it.
I parked S of the peak where the 22W snowmobile trail left Sunset Estates Rd. The trail is an old road between stone walls that was well groomed and easy walking and I perhaps could have driven it. Unfortunately I reached the connection to Frohock Brook Rd without any spur trails to the summit. At this point I decided to follow the blue trail to the summit and see which way the snowmobile trail went down.
This was not quite as easy as it sounds. There was several inches of fresh powder over a crust below that I often broke through also, and no sign of previous tracks. I had brought my smallest snowshoes expecting to be carrying them all day, and breaking trail alone in powder would have been easier with bigger ones. The blue blazes were badly faded and it wasn't really possible to follow them, you had to just guess where the trail went and if you were lucky would see a few flecks of paint on a tree as you went by it. Maybe 2/3 of the way up I came out on open ledges and never saw any more paint, presumably the blazes are on the ledges. It was no great trick to follow the ledges to the summit but now I can't count this for trail-bagging as I'm not sure I was on the trail!
The snow was much deeper walking around the summit that going up the W face angled like a solar collector. There were no snowmobile signs or tracks anywhere so that part of the plan was a total failure, and I decided the best thing was to return the way I'd come. Sometimes it was tricky going down when hidden objects in the powder caught the front of my snowshoes, but once back on the snowmobile trail it was a quick walk to the car. On a weekday late afternoon, I met only one snowmobile in over a mile of walking on their trail.
I checked out the parking at the end of Frohock Brook Rd which is only slightly skimpier than summer, but if I do this hike again I'll bushwhack from the town forest lot on Avery Hill Rd which was well plowed and sanded - in effect the blue trail was a bushwhack anyway.
I parked S of the peak where the 22W snowmobile trail left Sunset Estates Rd. The trail is an old road between stone walls that was well groomed and easy walking and I perhaps could have driven it. Unfortunately I reached the connection to Frohock Brook Rd without any spur trails to the summit. At this point I decided to follow the blue trail to the summit and see which way the snowmobile trail went down.
This was not quite as easy as it sounds. There was several inches of fresh powder over a crust below that I often broke through also, and no sign of previous tracks. I had brought my smallest snowshoes expecting to be carrying them all day, and breaking trail alone in powder would have been easier with bigger ones. The blue blazes were badly faded and it wasn't really possible to follow them, you had to just guess where the trail went and if you were lucky would see a few flecks of paint on a tree as you went by it. Maybe 2/3 of the way up I came out on open ledges and never saw any more paint, presumably the blazes are on the ledges. It was no great trick to follow the ledges to the summit but now I can't count this for trail-bagging as I'm not sure I was on the trail!
The snow was much deeper walking around the summit that going up the W face angled like a solar collector. There were no snowmobile signs or tracks anywhere so that part of the plan was a total failure, and I decided the best thing was to return the way I'd come. Sometimes it was tricky going down when hidden objects in the powder caught the front of my snowshoes, but once back on the snowmobile trail it was a quick walk to the car. On a weekday late afternoon, I met only one snowmobile in over a mile of walking on their trail.
I checked out the parking at the end of Frohock Brook Rd which is only slightly skimpier than summer, but if I do this hike again I'll bushwhack from the town forest lot on Avery Hill Rd which was well plowed and sanded - in effect the blue trail was a bushwhack anyway.
