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Mt. Roberts Hike – Ugly Sweater Edition

Date:	12-6-2024
Location:	Moultonbrough, NH
Distance:	5.25 mi
Elevation Gain:	1324′
Total Time:	5 hr 52 min
Parking:	10+ cars

Today I hiked with a festive group of friends. Up to Mt. Roberts. We met up at the Castle in the Clouds parking area. I rode up with my buddy Jack. When we arrived, there were a few people from our group already there. Temps were in the low 20’ maybe even teens with a cool breeze and clouds covered the sky.

As we got our bags together more people started to arrive. I think there might have been 10-15 of us in all and most people were hiking in their festive ugly sweaters.

I love a good view point. Even if there was not much of a view.

We headed out toward the trail head and started marching. Some wore snowshoes but most wore microspikes. At the bottom the snow was ok. The trail was well trampled and would really get packed down with all these people.

As we hiked up we took a few phots of everyone and the spectacle that we were. Before long we came to the first viewpoint. A small .01 mile spur that looks over the lake’s region. At this point there were clouds blocking most of the distance view.

After that first view we were now climbing up for or a little while until we got to another clearing. Again, not much for views. Just a solid gray background.

Now that we were on somewhat a ridgeline the snow was a little deeper. Because the snow was so cold the it did not pack down very well and that made it a little difficult. It was kind of like walking on marshmallow. Everyone looked like they were a bid drunk hiking up.

Not much to see at the second view point

The higher we got the deeper the snow got. The last .5 miles would have been a bit easier with snowshoes but we did ok and everyone made it to the summit.

At the summit we were all having a good time. I had a quick bite to eat got something to drink. We managed to get a group photo of everyone before starting back down.

Its cold out and more clouds blocking the views

One by one people started leaving. I was in the last group to leave. The trek back down was much faster going then the way up. I noticed that I broke the tip of my pole off somewhere along the way.

When we got to that last down hill Jack and I tried to do a short buttsled run. But the snow was to thin and the rock were to big so we did not make it far.

Before long we were back to the open fields of Castle in the Clouds and we could see our cars. We could also see the other waiting for us.

I always have a great time with these group hikes. The people are wonderful and everyone is always laughing and smiling.

The Three Cemeteries in Pawtuckaway State Park

Graves, Graveyards and Memorials

One of the graves in the Goodrich Cemetery

Date:	6-19-2024
Location:	Deerfield/Nottingham, NH

It was the day after Thanksgiving and it was the last somewhat nice day before some snow is supposed to arrive over the weekend. So, I decided to take a ride back to Pawtuckaway and look for the three cemeteries that are inside the State Park boundaries.

Foundation next to the Goodrich Cemetery

My research showed that two the cemeteries were off of the same trail and the third one was right off tower road. There is a lot of debate over how many cemeteries are actually within the park boundaries. This is partly due to the many cemeteries are just outside the boundary but are still remote.

Walking along the North Mountain Bypass traiil

To the best of my knowledge I found only three. If anyone knows of one I missed, please let me know in the comments.

The Goodrich Cemetery

The Goodrich Cemetery is also sometimes called the Tower Road cemetery. This may add to the confusion about how many cemeteries are in the park.

This cemetery is located between the Middle Mountain trail and the Tower Trail along Tower Road. There is a small parking lot right next to the cemetery.

View of the Goodrich Cemetery from the opening

Some of the stones are still in great condition and still very readable. The cemetery is boarded by a nice stone wall. There is also a foundation next to the cemetery. Likely the home of one of the Goodrich family members. Or maybe a barn of some sort. Not really sure.

A few of the smaller grave stones in the Goodrich Cemetery

Overall the cemetery is in pretty good shape and most of the stones are still up right.

Chase Cemetery

The Chase Cemetery is located on Round Pond Road along the North Mountain Bypass trail. About a quarter of a mile in there are some foundations on the left hand side and one really large foundation that might have been a barn at one point.

After checking out the foundations I traveled into the woods a bit, about 100 yards and saw the old metal gate that surrounded the small family plot.

The Chase Cemetery in Pawtuckaway State Park

I could see the fence was breaking down and falling over in many areas. It has seen better days.

Close up of one of the graves in the Chase Cemetery

It looked like some of the graves had been broken but someone stood them back up. There were also a few small stones that I could not make anything out on. Over all there were not many graves. After a few pictures I continued on to the next cemetery.

Bartlett Cemetery

The Bartlett Cemetery is located further up the North Mountain Bypass trail. This is located about another quarter mile up the trail.

At one point the trail takes a sharp left and there is a stone wall with a heard path next to this. This path leads to a large split rock and behind this rock is the Bartlett Cemetery.

There were a few veterans buried in this one. It was large but not all the grave markers were professional and readable. Some looked like just stones popping out of the leaves. The cemetery is boarded with a stone wall along most of its sides.

A small grave marker sticking out through the leaves

I enjoyed this one because it was kind of hidden and kind of significant as well.

Harrisville to Dublin Trailhead – Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway

Hiking

I loved this sign on this section of trail. I felt like a VIP.

Date:	11-23-2025
Location:	Harrisville – Dublin, NH
Distance:	6.09 mi
Elevation Gain:	653′
Total Time:	3 hr 28 min
Parking:	2+ cars

Jack and I decided to close out the southern portion of the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway and travel from where we left off in Harrisville and walk down to the Dubline trailhead.

Little Road walk heading up to the Town of Nelson

When we met at the Dublin Trailhead it was cold out. Temps in the 30’s. From here we got in to my car and made our way to Harrisville. We parked on a pull off on Seaver Road near the lake.

Cool stone bridge going over a drainage ditch

After a small road walk, we got to the trail, this part of the trail was pretty wide and easy to follow. We passed a cool single stone bridge. There was another wooden bridge a bit further down and a large beaver dam at the low point holding back the whole pond.

After more walking we came across a dam for a reservoir that had a small waterfall below it. Got a few pictures from on top of the dam. Below the dam there is a crooked bridge that goes over the running water.

We followed the water line a bit and even went down to the water. The reservoir is very low. Not far from here we arrived at Splitoir Shelter. We took break here and had some coffee. We checked out the accommodations and signed the logbook.

We also checked out the privy. Again, pretty standard. Upper pooper and a lower pooper all right out in the open. After that we packed up and moved on.

As we were walking the trail changed quite a bit. Sometimes wide open and sometimes a tunnel of sticks and grass. We came upon an old foundation. It had a sign that noted its first owner was a revolutionary war veteran.

The trail got really diverse when we got to the Wildwood Wilderness Preserve. We walked through hardwood forests, then then evergreen forests, by swamps, by old shed, stonewalls, marshes and all kinds of cool things.

Walking through some cool sections of the trail

The last mile was mostly through a hardwood forest. It was a bit of a slog for me but when I saw the register at the beginning of the trail by the parking lot I was happy. Jack was already at the car and unpacked so I made my way over and we were off to grab my car where we started.

This was more interesting than I thought it would be. Good hike for a cold cloudy day.

Wachusett Mountain – Westminster, MA

Fire Tower, Hiking

Date:	11-20-2025
Location:	Westminster, NH
Distance:	3.59 mi
Elevation Gain:	967′
Total Time:	3 hr 2 min
Parking:	20+ cars

I’m smart enough to know now that if a go to a show over an hour away I should stay the night in a hotel. So, After a GWAR in Worcester, MA the night before. I decided to drive up 30 minutes and hike Wachusett Mountain in Westminster, MA. I’ve seen this mountain from many other mountain peaks. So I was excited to finaly get a chance to hike it.

When I got to the main parking lot where the trail head was, there was tons of parking available. It was sunny and cold out. Temps in the 40’s. So gloves were a must.

I started up the Balanced Rock trail which gradually climbs .5 miles until you get to Balanced Rock. The two rocks that are stacked on top of each other are pretty large.

I continued up on the Old Indian Path. This crossed some of the ski trails that had snow on them from the snowmaking. A lot of ice too. There were some cools signs for the Old Indian Trail. There was one point about half way up that was really icy and I was about two steps away from putting spikes on.

The Old Indian Trail is pretty wide and easy to follow. Footing was pretty stable as well. I followed it up to the Summit of Wachusett.

As I approached the summit, I could see the large fire tower. There is a lot to read and see at the summit. I could see the Uncanoonucs, Mt. Monadnock, I could see Boston and lots more. I could even see Pinnacle and Rose Mountain that I had previously just hiked.

On the way down I took the Pine Hill Trail. This trail is all constructed out of stone. Almost like a staircase. The craftsmanship on this trail is awesome. Some areas were pretty icey due to some of the ice flowing over the stones.

When I made to the bottom of this trail I continued on Donborow Trail. This is a little bit of a road walk but a nice way to end the hike.

When I got back to the car there were many more cars there than when I arrived. This was a cool mountain to explore, especially at the summit. I’ll have to come back and ski it sometime.

The Pinnacle, Lyndeborough Mt. and Rose Mt.

Hiking

Date:	11-11-2025
Location:	Lyndeborough, NH
Distance:	5.43 mi
Elevation Gain:	1006′
Total Time:	3 hr 30 min
Parking:	2-4 cars

It was Veterans Day, and I was on my way to Lyndeborough, NH to meet my friends Laura, Onyx and Summit for a hike over some smaller NH peaks. I had seen this route on my Gaia GPS app awhile back. I thought this would be a fun route to check out.

It also offered an option to loop over the peaks and walk a short dirt road back to the car so that was our plan.

We both arrived at the trail head about the same time. There are pull offs on the side of the road that can fit about 3-4 cars. Temps were in the high 20s, and it was spitting snow at the start.

In the foreground there are the Uncanoonucs and between them are the Pawtuckaway Mountains.

The trail up to the Pinnacle was very leafy and easy to follow. It starts off moderate and got a little more aggressive as we moved toward the summit. This part of the trail seemed to go quick.

When we reached the summit of the Pinnacle there was a large open ledge with a cairn on the top. One thing that stood out to me was a view through some pine trees of the Pawtuckaway Mountains viewable between the Uncanoonuc Mountains.

We continued on the trail with some small ups and downs until we go to the junction of Lyndenborough Mountain. We went up to its summit and grabbed a few pics. This summit is marked by a cairn among some broken granite. Not much for views on this one.

From Lyndeborough Mountain to Rose Mountain is pressy easy going. We came across some old artifacts and a cool old car. There were some views approaching the summit of Rose. We took a break there and a few photos before going down a small heard path to a giant cairn.

Going down from Rose Mountain was straight forward and noneventful. It seemed like it took a bit longer. When we got to the junction of French Road there is a gate. We continued down French Road which was an old dirt road lined with stone walls. Very pretty!

When we reached Mountain Road, we had a big uphill climb to the car. Paved road walks are bad enough, but this was a serious uphill. I was happy to see the car at the top.

Stark Road Cemetery – Conway, NH

Graves, Graveyards and Memorials, Roadside Attractions and Oddities

Date:	11-8-2025
Location:	Conway, NH
Cost:	$0
Parking:	Roadside

Our last stop on our haunted hike day was by far the most haunted. So it was a perfect way to end the day.

When we arrived the sun was low on the horizon casting some gold beams of light over the cemetery. This cemetery has many stories about it. We parked off on the side of the road. The cemetery is old and the ground is uneven. The cemetery is fenced in with a large stone wall.

Stark Cemetery is named after a Revolutionary War General, John Stark. Many of Starks family are buried here but the General himself is said to be laid to rest in Manchester, NH with his wife Molly. Although there is a grave marker here for him no one knows who is buried below.

It is also interesting that the birth date and death date are different in the two different cemeteries. According to Fritz Weatherbee the Gen. John Stark that is buried in Manchester could have attended the birth and funeral of the Gen. John Stark that is buried in Conway.

Close up of the marker for GEN. John Stark

Many of the gravestones are old and broken. Some cemented back together. Most of them are covered with lichen and weathered making them hard to read.

The front of Samual Stark’s grave marker. This was General John Stark’s brother. The grave had been cemented back together.

The back the Samual Stark’s grave. Clean cement and they mark the flag post with veteran names so the grave can be identified.

One of the haunted stories says there are red glowing eyes that appear at night. These eyes are said to follow you down the road. It would be interesting to sit out here one night with my camera to see what would come out.

As we walked around and took pictures of the different gravestones, I noticed one had some giant letters on the back side. An H and an O kind of cut off. They were in a bold blocky serif font, the kind you might see in an old western move. I tried looking up what that might be and I couldn’t make out who occupied the grave due to the amount of lichen on the font of the grave.

Grave stone with strange letters on the back

The font of the same grave could not be read becasue of the lichen on it

If anyone has any information about this grave and what the letters on the back are, let me know. This is perhaps the most interesting mystery to me in this cemetery.

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