The Pier Bridge is also called the Chandler Station Bridge and is only open to foot traffic. It was built in 1907 and crosses the Sugar River. This is a tall bridge that is located off the side of the road and easily accessible.
The bridge was built for the Boston and Maine railroad around the turn of the 20 centery. The rail road is long gone but the Sugar River Rail Trail is still there and offers some great biking, walking and ATVing.
Date:
10-10-2021
Location:
Newport, NH
Water Body:
Sugar River
Year Built:
1907
NH Bridge Number:
57
Bridge Length:
216′ 7″
Truss Type:
Double Town Lattice Truss
Parking
2 Cars
Pier Covered Brdige
This bridge is very tall and long and consists of two Town-Pratt lattice trusses. The bridge spans 106 feet in length. The bridge got its name because it has a central pier.
In 1954 the bridge was sold to the B&M Railroad to the Claremont & Concord Railway. The C&C ran its last train in 1977 before the line became abandoned. This is one of two surviving bridges on this line. The Wright Bridge is located just a little ways down the trail.
Double Town Lattice Truss inside the Pier BridgeSign with some history of the Pier Bridge
The Corbin Covered Bridge is located in Newport, NH. It is a wooden bridge with a town lattice truss structure. It was originally built in 1845. It spans 96’ across the North Branch Sugar River.
The bridge was listed on the National register of Historic Place in 1976 but was removed In 1993 when the bridge was destroyed by a fire. It has since been beautifully rebuilt. The bridge is a single car lane bridge and sits next to a nice park that offers many beautiful views from different angles.
Date:
10-10-2021
Location:
Newport, NH
Water Body:
Croydon Branch of the Sugar River
Year Built:
1845
NH Bridge Number:
17
Bridge Length:
96′ 2″
Truss Type:
Town Lattice Truss
Parking
5+ Cars
Corbin Covered Bridge reflecting on the water belowTown lattice truss on the Corbin Covered Bridge
The Bement bridge is located in Bradford, NH. It was originally built in 1854. This is a wooden bridge that spans 60’6” across the West Branch of the Warner River. It has been refinished numerous times. Once in 1947, 1968-69 and again in 2016.
The bridge is maintained by the town of Bradford and is open to vehicle traffic. It’s official NH Bridge Number is 14
It was a rainy and sleety morning and I did not have a lot of motivation to travel up north to ski but my buddy and I were planning to go to Gunstock and check out a few more trails there.
The weather forecasted some sunny breaks between 12 pm. and 3 pm. So we decided to meet about noon at the mountain. On the way up it was still raining my friend asked if I wanted to check out Bolduc Park in Gilford, NH instead. The pass there was only $5 compaired to $25 at Gunstock. Since we did not know what he conditions were we choose to try Bolduc XC Park.
Date:
03-06-2022
Location:
Gilford, NH
Distance:
1.9 mi
Fee/Pass
$5
Elevation Gain:
16′
Total Time:
1 hr 13 min
Parking:
10+ cars
Difficultly Rating:
easy
It is getting warm our and the snow cover is soft and thin.
Once we bought our pass we set out on the disc golf course and followed the groomed tracks. We started out in the woods along the short trails. These were fun and had a few hills on some trails. The hill on Dippsy Doodle was fun.
We then made our way out the open area of the trails that is on the disc golf course. Here we skied around the pond and marsh areas to another hill. We rode that hill a few times. The snow was now very soft and slow moving but fortunately we did not experience any sticking snow on our skis.
Once we completed all the trails that were skiable we decided to call it a day and hit a Canerbury Ale House in Canterberry, NH.
I’ve wanted to try the Mooseway trail at Pondicherry on my skis for a while now. It is only open in winter and since the conditions were just about perfect I decided to take the 2 hour drive up to the Mud Pond Trail head at the Pondicherry Wild Life Refuge.
I got to the trail head around 11am and there was plenty of parking left. The temperature was about 28 degrees. The trail looked well packed with snowshoes but there was some ski tracks in areas from others before me.
Date:
03-05-2022
Location:
Jefferson, NH
Distance:
5.1 mi
Fee/Pass
$0
Elevation Gain:
179′
Total Time:
3 hr 52 min
Parking:
10+ cars
Difficultly Rating:
easy
Mud Pond kiosk
I started out on the Mud Pond Trail for about a quarter of a mile then got to the junction of the Mooseway Trail. This trial is only open to winter traffic when the wetland is frozen.
There was about 4 to 5 inches of powder snow along the side of the trail. So I decided to make a track. The snow was fluffy but kept sticking to my skis making it hard to get any glide. So after breaking out a long straight away I decided to ride in the snowshoe monorail.
Mooseway Trail Sign
As I continued down Mooseway I came across some fresh moose tracks and some scrapings on a tree. It was nice to know that the trail lives up to its name.
A little further down the trail I entered a hemlock forest that was beautiful to walk through. The trail has been pretty flat with some fun little hills on the skies. So far the trail has been very enjoyable.
Once I got to the junction with the Cherry Pond Trails I noticed that they were all skiable too. These trails have a loop that connects Cherry Pond with Little Cherry Pond. So I decided to go clockwise around the loop and start with Cherry Pond.
Walking through an evergreen forest
This was not a long section of the loop and soon found myself a the junction to the Cherry Pond Spur. I made my way down to the water. The pond and views were starting to open up. I eventually came to a bench with some outstanding views of the Northern Presidentials.
Here I took a break and hand a snack. The sky was blue, the sun shining and the mountains were snow covered. Life is good. So took a few photos and just enjoyed the moment for a little while.
After my break I headed back to the loop trail and continued on toward Little Cherry Pond. This trail was also well packed and a little thin in some areas. There were a few bog bridges that were a little tricky to navigate with the skis.
Looking out over Cherry Pond at the Northern Presidentials
Once I got to the junction, I headed down the trail toward Little Cherry Pond. This trail also had a nice bridge. At the end of the trail there was a clearing. There were a few hikers there when I arrived so I talked with them a bit.
I headed back the trail junction and finished off the loop. Back to Mooseway and headed back to the car. I felt Mooseway was my favorite trail of the day. It had a number of fun hills and dips in both directions. There was nothing very technical on this trail either. It had a lot of changing scenery and I liked that.
When I got back to the car I couldn’t believe what a great day I had. Beautiful weather, almost perfect snow conditions and very few people. Pondicherry is a small gem that is worth visiting especially on skis!!
One of the few obstacles I came across on the trail
It has been a long time since I’ve gone on a group hike. While I do enjoy escaping into nature by myself, I also like sharing the trial with friends.
So when one of the hiking groups I belong to decided to organize a hike up Little Sugarloaf in Twin Mountain, New Hampshire, I decided to join them.
I’ve hiked the Sugarloafs before in the summer. But in the winter the access road is closed so you have to park about 1.5 miles from the trail head. Or in our case, snowshoe in.
Date:
2-12-2022
Location:
Twin Mountain, NH
Distance:
5.36 mi
Elevation Gain:
542′
Total Time:
2 hr 29 min
Parking:
10+ cars
Difficultly Rating:
Easy
Making our way up Zealand Road
We all met up at the snowmobile lot located just past Zealand Road on Rt. 302. The lot is large and is shared with hikers, skiers, and snowmobilers.
From the parking lot we crossed the road to the snowmobile trail. Once across we geared up with spikes and snowshoes. We followed the snowmobile trail to Zealand Road. After we crossed the bridge the snowmobile track veers to the left and the hiking and skiing trail continue on straight.
The trail was well packed and easy traveling with snowshoes. There was also a nice XC track along side the hiking track. Lots of untouched snow as well.
Regrouping at the Sugarloaf trail head
We finally reached the trail junction and started in. At first we followed a frozen stream before starting to ascend up the mountain.
The snow was about shin to knee deep along the packed monorail. The trail started up at a moderate pace and then it slowly got steeper and started to switch back a bit until we hit the ridge line.
From here the trail leveled out for a little bit and started to get steep again near the summit. The last push to the summit involved a ladder that was snowed in. Fortunately my snowshoes had enough traction to climb up this final incline.
Hiking up through the boulder fields
Once at the summit the views were fantastic. The sky was overcast but all the clouds were well above the mountains. We had almost full 360 degree views. The full Presidential Range from Madison to Jackson was in our view. The Twins, Hale and I think Zealand were all in view as well.
We stayed at the summit for a bit and had a bite to eat and drink then take a few pictures. After we had our fill of summit fun we started back down.
I know the ladder would be tricky. So I decided to go down on my butt one step at a time. From here we continued down again. After a short time I decided to take my snowshoes off which helped speed up my decent.
View of Mt. Washington from Middle Sugarloaf summit
The monorail was strong and firm but with the mild temps I could not help but post hole a number of times. Once we we were back on Zealand Road it was a straight shot down. I wish I had my but sled with me.
Back at the car we all had a drink and took a few more pics. We all had a great time. And It was great to see everyone.
