I didn't want to be cooped up in the house on a day like this, so I decided to spend it hiking; however, I was low on gas, so it had to be relatively close. I was up for a southern NH 2,000 footer and remembered the Crotched Mountain Town Forest parking area, which is a few miles closer to my house than the other trailheads, so the CMTF it was. I was not disappointed at all; these trails were great!
I started up the Link Trail, which went through open woods to the Summit Trail at 0.7 mi, crossing Bullard Rd. in the process. Shortly after I hit the Summit Trail, it forked. The east loop went right, while the west loop went left. I decided to turn left onto the Summit West Trail since I had hiked the part of it that ascends the main part of the mountain before.
Grades were easy until I got to a junction with the Lower Link (that trail leads to Shannon's Trail and was part of a loop hike I did in November 2013); after that the trail had moderate to steep grades. The top part climbed over some rocks and cliffs, which made the ascent a little more fun. Before this part, I passed the "Old Man of Crotched Mountain"- a profile-shaped rock formation you may remember if you saw my video of Crotched from November '13. Once at the junction with the Summit East Trail and the Upper Link, the woods were more shady and nice. Unfortunately, the black flies were around, and whenever I stopped and the wind died down, they were biting.
The summit was unattractive as always, but the ledge viewpoint below it was excellent as always. Here, I stopped and chatted with another hiker who came up from the rehab center for an hour or so; she was the first other hiker I had ever saw on the mountain. We then went our separate ways.
Wanting to add a little more mileage to the trip, I opted to head back to the junction I mentioned earlier and descend the Summit East Trail. It went over some low bumps on the main ridge and then descended, steeply at times, past a talus field and to the base of Crotched Mountain. Near a field, I saw my very first porcupine, and when the little guy saw me, he waddled up to a tree and started climbing it, and then I took a quick pic of him. I passed Scot's Trail near Bullard Rd. and then veered left toward and onto the Link Trail, eventually returning to my truck about 3.25 hours after I started.
This was a great hike (besides my leg hurting the entire way down), and it made an awesome White Mountain training hike. 70 degree temps, a nice breeze, and short sleeves and shorts! Just what I've been waiting for (sans the black flies, which were getting bad).
Here's a video from the day's hike, if anyone has the time to watch a 14 minute video:
http://youtu.be/5imGl7Di_qA
I started up the Link Trail, which went through open woods to the Summit Trail at 0.7 mi, crossing Bullard Rd. in the process. Shortly after I hit the Summit Trail, it forked. The east loop went right, while the west loop went left. I decided to turn left onto the Summit West Trail since I had hiked the part of it that ascends the main part of the mountain before.
Grades were easy until I got to a junction with the Lower Link (that trail leads to Shannon's Trail and was part of a loop hike I did in November 2013); after that the trail had moderate to steep grades. The top part climbed over some rocks and cliffs, which made the ascent a little more fun. Before this part, I passed the "Old Man of Crotched Mountain"- a profile-shaped rock formation you may remember if you saw my video of Crotched from November '13. Once at the junction with the Summit East Trail and the Upper Link, the woods were more shady and nice. Unfortunately, the black flies were around, and whenever I stopped and the wind died down, they were biting.
The summit was unattractive as always, but the ledge viewpoint below it was excellent as always. Here, I stopped and chatted with another hiker who came up from the rehab center for an hour or so; she was the first other hiker I had ever saw on the mountain. We then went our separate ways.
Wanting to add a little more mileage to the trip, I opted to head back to the junction I mentioned earlier and descend the Summit East Trail. It went over some low bumps on the main ridge and then descended, steeply at times, past a talus field and to the base of Crotched Mountain. Near a field, I saw my very first porcupine, and when the little guy saw me, he waddled up to a tree and started climbing it, and then I took a quick pic of him. I passed Scot's Trail near Bullard Rd. and then veered left toward and onto the Link Trail, eventually returning to my truck about 3.25 hours after I started.
This was a great hike (besides my leg hurting the entire way down), and it made an awesome White Mountain training hike. 70 degree temps, a nice breeze, and short sleeves and shorts! Just what I've been waiting for (sans the black flies, which were getting bad).
Here's a video from the day's hike, if anyone has the time to watch a 14 minute video:
http://youtu.be/5imGl7Di_qA
