Joe English Reservation Part Deux – Winter Solstice
| Date: | 12-21-2024 |
| Location: | New Boston, NH |
| Distance: | 7.02 mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 753′ |
| Total Time: | 4 hr 21 min |
| Parking: | 10+ cars |
Today is the Winter Solstice and I always try to go for a hike on the solstices and equinoxes during the year. There is something special about those days. Something, unordinary. Today was no different.
Another chilly morning brought me back to the Joe English Reservation. This time I planned on visiting a few trails I didn’t get to see last time.
I went to the same parking lot as last week. When I got there, there were already a number of cars in both lots. The skies were cloudy, and temps were in the low 20’s. There was also a half inch of fresh snow on the ground.
I headed down the trail to do the southern loop. I choose to do the loop clockwise and started down the Bicentennial trail. The trail starts off level until you get to a water crossing with a bridge.
This trail climbed very gently up toward an un-named mountain. Once I got toward the top, I found the spur trial that loops around the summit called the Un-named trail.
Once back at the spur trail junction I continued down the Hemlock Trail. This trail is a little steeper than the one I came up but was still pretty easy going as far as trails go.
Once I was back at the parking lot, I started up the Old Brook Road. This trail is very easy going and would be one of the first trails I would take my xc skis on if we got some snow.
I followed this trail all the way up to the Ledge Trail which takes me by a pond with the benches and the wooden bridge. It connects with the Bacon trail for a bit and goes around the back side of the pond.
Once I got to the Oak trail I started to climb lightly up the slope for a while. This trial goes by some interesting rock formations. It soon connects again with the Bacon Trail. There are some small water crossings, but they all had bridges.
Soon after I arrived at the Ledge Trail. Then I came to the intersection of the Highland Trail. This is a nice trail and would also be good for xc skiing. I continued up this to the Harding Trail junction and followed the Harding Trail loop.
This is an interesting trail. Lots of small features and it is pretty easy going. There is a small gradual climb when the trail switches back. But it was barley noticeable. I took a break near the crest of the trail. There was an interesting old dead pine that was pecked out by woodpeckers.
When I finished the loop, I ended up back at the Highland Trial, I thought about going to see the Rocky and Bullwinkle Trail. But that would add about 2 more miles. I thought about it. It would be an additional 45 minutes. There were no tracks on the trail at this point so I decided to go for it. I was out here to hike.
I continued down the Highland Trail. After a bit. It opened from some logging. Then went back into the woods for a bit. The sun was shining through the clouds at times.
Soon I was at the junction of the Rocky and Bullwinkle trail. The Rocky trail is a bit longer (.8mi) so I thought I would start on that. This trail slowly descends and has some small ups and downs. You don’t notice the elevation drop till the end.
When I reached the end of this trail, I took the Bullwinkle trail back up to the first junction. From there I backtracked to the Harding Trail. Then continued down the Highland Trail to the Pine Trail.
The Pine Trail zig zags down some of the slopes. I had taken this trail before, and it leads you back to the parking lot.
This was a longer hike than I was planning on taking today. Seven miles in total. But it was pretty easy going. The trails here are very well marked and have a lot of beautiful stone walls and vegetation.
There are a few surrounding forests that have some trails that I’ll be coming back to explore as well. I’ll also be back when the snow gets deeper. Lots to explore here.
