Silverfox
New member
We had a relatively short time window today and talk of deteriorating weather this afternoon kept us low and close to home...
Claude and I met at the Cotton Mt trailhead in Holderness at 8:15 and left cars there while Sandy ferried us up to the Mt Morgan trailhead...The air was cold and still..the sky gray but not yet threatening..
The Mt Morgan trail was well packed out and we made good time to the Ridgepole junction in 1.7 miles..There is solid snow cover here..varying from 6 to 12 inches..a bit of a glaze on top..I had asked them to bring traction control and I had microspikes but they were not needed at this point..
The Ridgepole trail heading south towards Mt Webster had been broken out and offered very nice footing..just enough sinkage in the snow to provide a grip..just enough snow to cover over the roots and rocks of summer..There were a couple of wet spots along this section of the trail where flowing water had washed the snow away.. Claude , a seasoned trapper, pointed out many tracks along the way..rabbit, many deer, at least 2 seperate sets of bear prints..(different size) fishercat, what he thought was a fox, and the usual squirrel. We reached the first viewpoint and enjoyed the fine outlook towards Red Hill and the Ossipees..Squam lake was as still as glass..
Past Webster the trail meanders a bit crossing and following many old stone walls and the remnantsof the old roads that once crossed over to Perch Pond..One fine old road marks the final climb to Mt Livermore which offered the best views of the day though at this point the clouds were lowering and snow flurries began to kick..The zig zaggy descent of Livermore quickly drops you into the Cotton Col..at this point I decided to save my achy knees another descent and after pointing out the way to Claude and Sandy I followed an old woods road out to the gravel pit and avoids the short but steep up and down over Cotton.....This area was marked by HEAVY deer traffic of all sizes..Some heavy erosion from the flash floods of August scarrs the gravel pit deeply in places..a rather round about route got me back to the trail and I warmed the car abit before the rest of the group joined me...
This is Claude's first year trying the winter hiking and this was a good introduction...I enjoyed chatting a bit with Jabberwalk at the Holderness Store where i grabbed a coffee....nice day in the woods with good folks..
Pics to hopefully follow..new camera..this will be a test
Claude and I met at the Cotton Mt trailhead in Holderness at 8:15 and left cars there while Sandy ferried us up to the Mt Morgan trailhead...The air was cold and still..the sky gray but not yet threatening..
The Mt Morgan trail was well packed out and we made good time to the Ridgepole junction in 1.7 miles..There is solid snow cover here..varying from 6 to 12 inches..a bit of a glaze on top..I had asked them to bring traction control and I had microspikes but they were not needed at this point..
The Ridgepole trail heading south towards Mt Webster had been broken out and offered very nice footing..just enough sinkage in the snow to provide a grip..just enough snow to cover over the roots and rocks of summer..There were a couple of wet spots along this section of the trail where flowing water had washed the snow away.. Claude , a seasoned trapper, pointed out many tracks along the way..rabbit, many deer, at least 2 seperate sets of bear prints..(different size) fishercat, what he thought was a fox, and the usual squirrel. We reached the first viewpoint and enjoyed the fine outlook towards Red Hill and the Ossipees..Squam lake was as still as glass..
Past Webster the trail meanders a bit crossing and following many old stone walls and the remnantsof the old roads that once crossed over to Perch Pond..One fine old road marks the final climb to Mt Livermore which offered the best views of the day though at this point the clouds were lowering and snow flurries began to kick..The zig zaggy descent of Livermore quickly drops you into the Cotton Col..at this point I decided to save my achy knees another descent and after pointing out the way to Claude and Sandy I followed an old woods road out to the gravel pit and avoids the short but steep up and down over Cotton.....This area was marked by HEAVY deer traffic of all sizes..Some heavy erosion from the flash floods of August scarrs the gravel pit deeply in places..a rather round about route got me back to the trail and I warmed the car abit before the rest of the group joined me...
This is Claude's first year trying the winter hiking and this was a good introduction...I enjoyed chatting a bit with Jabberwalk at the Holderness Store where i grabbed a coffee....nice day in the woods with good folks..
Pics to hopefully follow..new camera..this will be a test
