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.
Battery Point is located on Lake Massabesic in Auburn New Hampshire. Today, I decided to take a ski to this location. There are a series of fire roads and nature trails that lead to Battery point so there are lots of points of entry to choose from.
I decided to park on Route 28 near Deer Neck Bridge. It looked like the plows had cleared some of the pull off and other cars were parked there. In the winter the parking lot is gated shut so all parking is in the road. The fire road I wanted to start from was there so I got my skis on and headed out.
Date:
01-30-2022
Location:
Auburn, NH
Distance:
3 mi
Fee/Pass
$0
Elevation Gain:
196′
Total Time:
2 hr 38 min
Parking:
10+ cars
Difficultly Rating:
moderate
A packed down trail
There were a few people on this road already. A few of them were skiers so I tried to follow their tracks as best I could. I knew these trails would be packed out but my Fisher S-Bound’s work great in these situations.
There was enough snow on most of the trails for the skis but at times the snow was thin. Especially out toward the point where the wind was whipping off the water. It was cold but once I got moving I stayed warm most of the trip.
Sun peeking through the trees
I chose to do counter clockwise loop and head over toward the Auburn Audubon Center first. The Audubon Center is a very popular place for snowshoers and an easy way to access the trails.
After I reached the center the trail was really packed down from all the foot traffic. The snow was squeaking with every glide from being so cold.
Shadow figure
Once at Battery Point the wind was was very strong. The ground was all wind blown with just a layer of ice on the ground so I just snapped.a few pics and started heading back.
The glide back to the car was pretty smooth. The terrain was pretty flat throughout the whole trip. When I started to get near the parking lot there were some nice views of the lake and the sun starting to set in the sky.
At the tip of Battery Point
Once I made it to parking lot I headed toward the road. I thought I was going to have to take my skies off here but noticed people had packed down a small trail in the snow bank. I followed that trail almost to my car.
The best park of this little trip was it was local. I didn’t have to drive 2 hours to find good snow. The trails around Massabesic are fun all year round. I look forward to do doing some more skiing around the lake in the near future.
You can first see the bride from above before you start to switch back down the trail. Once there you can see that this bridge looks almost new and well cared for.
The bride was first built in 1871 with a Paddleford truss and spans 50 feet in length. There is a foot path on the bridge for hikers to cross. The bridge itself is used to bring tourists and maintenance works into the Flume Gorge, a very popular tourist area in Franconia Notch.
Date:
12-31-2021
Location:
Franconia Notch, NH
Water Body:
Pemigewasset River
Year Built:
1871
NH Bridge Number:
39
Bridge Length:
50′
Truss Type:
Paddleford Truss
Parking
10+ Cars
Interesting fact: Many people debate whether or not this bridge was originally built at this site or moved from another site.
It was first constructed in 1939 and has been repaired several times since. It got its name from a large pine that is said to have stood over 90 feet high and over 5 feed in diameter.
Date:
12-31-2021
Location:
Franconia Notch, NH
Water Body:
Pemigewasset River
Year Built:
1939
NH Bridge Number:
38
Bridge Length:
60′ 5″
Truss Type:
KingPost
Parking
10+ Cars
Sentinel Pine Bridge
This pine was known as the Sentinel Pine that overlooked the pool below. In 1938 a hurricane blue this tree and a number of others over. Workers then constructed this bridge to cross the river and named it after the tree.
The bridge was built as a foot path over the fallen pine and the water. The bridge spans over 60 feet but It is only 8 feed wide with only five feet of width to walk across.
Looking through the Sentinel Pine Bridge
The SPC uses a King Post Truss design. The bridge is held together with wooden pegs. It is fun to walk across a piece of history. This bridge has a lot of character.
Ive done this hike many times in different seasons. It is beautiful in all of them. While this post is of a winter hike around it is also a great time to visit in the summer or fall. It is a must see if you are in the area.
