This weekend we were able to check two mountain tops off of our Belknap Range list: Mount Mack and Mount Klem. We were able to do so by following 6.8 mile loop (I believe the maps say 6.5, but we clocked it in exactly at 6.8 due to some breaks and going around the water – which you’ll read about soon enough) that brought us out to an elevated mountain pond called Round Pond, climbed up Mount Mack, went over a col that brought us straight up Mount Klem to then returned us back to Round Pond again for a full circle. It was roughly 1.5 miles and a 50…
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Climbed Mountain number three on my Belknap Range Hiking Series, this time it was Gunstock Mountain. My wife and I traversed up the brook trail. Once we found it, the trail was easy to follow but finding the “trail head” was slightly more of a challenge than we thought it should be. Thankfully the description on our trail map said it was to the left of the Panorama chair lift. Which it was. It was the other descriptor that made it more difficult: Right next to the fire place. Fireplace? I never saw a fireplace. But sure enough as we found the opening of the trail, just to the left…
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We spent this past Fourth of July hiking. It was still during this last heat wave, but we had water and it was much cooler in the woods. We decided to pick Pack Monadnock as it is also on our list of mountains to hike. This one in particular is due to its Fire Tower on top and we can check it off on our Fire Tower Quest. You can find the mountain list here: http://4000footers.com/list_towerquest.shtml We had already gone up Belknap Mountain to the fire tower there, so it was time to check another one off of our list. Panoramic view from up the Fire Tower On the way down…
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The old local rails are all gone. With their demise they’ve left behind a perfectly graded and nearly straight path that cuts through the landside that town after town have been either paving over or packing down allowing for a great resource for running, walking, biking, etc. My town is no different. While our rail is short and currently doesn’t lead very far (they’re working on it!) it is still a great resource and I’ve started enjoying it more and more. I’ve run into walkers, joggers, bikers, folks walking their dog. I’ve done the latter myself. There’s a great bridge a mile down the trail where you can go down…
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Sunday the family decided it would be a good day to go for a hike. By family I mean my wife. I’m up for about anything and our daughter, well, she allows us to drag her along. It started with a sour face but got better as the hike went on. Today we decided to hike up Belknap mountain. It is rated an Easy hike by the Family Hike page found here: http://nhfamilyhikes.com/hikes.php?hike=Belknap%20Mountain But I call BS on that. Is the trail challenging? No. I’ve been on hikes where I need both hands and feet. This was a nice trail but the trail was straight up! I was wiped out by…
