The Wapack - Hike #4 - Section 1A

Sunday, May 25

It is  unseasonably cold for Memorial Day weekend.  Gray clouds are overhead threatening rain and it is very windy.  Nonetheless, it is a good day to finish up the last segment of my current hiking adventure.  Matt is visiting from Philly for holiday and Nathaniel is home, too.

However, it has been raining hard for a few days, so it is going to be damp.  Muddy, actually.  Muddy with puddles to be more precise.  Fortunately, Mt. Watatic is close by so we can hike and still be home in time for home-cooked baby back ribs.  Barely.

The Wapack into New Hampshire and the Massachusetts Mid-State are co-incidental on most of this hike.  Check back to the Section 1A of last year's Mid-State hike to see how similar picture from both these hikes are.

A family of 6 hikers.  Only Betsy couldn't make it today, but it was just as well, because the hike took a little longer than anticipated.

For now, there is sunshine filtering through the trees shining on this babbling brook.

The excellent trail maintenance (i.e. the rocks) made it much easier to get through some  big puddles.

It doesn't take too long to get to the summit of Mt. Watatic.  However, it's still a mountain  at 1831' and there's a really big cairn at the top.

Part 1 of a 360 degree view from just below the summit.  The far left is due north.

The next 120 degrees sweeps past Mt. Wachusett in the distance, just to the left of center.

Finally a westerly view, with the summit of Mt. Watatic just a 5 minute walk above us (a bit to the right of center).  Notice all the gray clouds whichever way you look.

Here's a  better view of the that same big cairn on the summit of Mt. Watatic.

And zoomed in, the quintessential silhouette of Mt Wachusett, just like the logo from the ski area.  Happily, ski season's only 6 1/2 months away.  

Dominic got a new hat and enjoys many more trail snacks as he walks around the summit.

We're all chilly, but Nathaniel in t-shirt and shorts doesn't notice.  The "branches" graphic on the t-shirt print is a nice touch.

We made it to the state line.  The Mid-State sign is somwhat dilapidated compared to the Wapack sign.

Nathaniel's big hiking stick (actually more like a small tree), allowed him to explore some of the water features (aka hazards)  today.

At Binney Hill Road, I left everybody and hiked the last 1/4 mile to the point where Brian & I started  this trek several weeks earlier.  The sign behind me proves I was there.  Standing here, I have officially finished the Wapack Trail.  Now, we have to walk back to the car.

Matt, Nathaniel and I try an alternate route back:  the State Line Trail.   The large marker in the background is the former end of the Mid-State trail before it was rerouted.

At times it seemed longer, but today's hike covered 6.1 miles for me and 5.6 miles for everybody else.  The total elevation was also respectable:  1000'.  In all, it took us 2:45, and we were a little later than planned for those baby back ribs (sorry).  I'm going blame all the puddles on the trail for slowing us down.

The total mileage for the trail was 24.4 miles over 4 hikes, including the out-and-back on today's hike.

The ultimate prize:  the Wapack Trail Patch.

Stay tuned for another upcoming hiking adventure.  I hope to see you out on the trail soon.

The Wapack - Hike #3 - Section 3

Saturday, May 18

To be candid, this section of the trail exceeded our expectations if not abilities to some extent.  The trail guide listed this hike as 5.4 miles long.  From the elevation profile, I estimated our vertical feet to be about 1500', however, it actually exceeded 1600'.  The elevation profile had me fooled a little because the one for the south section uses a different scale that the one for the north section  In any event, those numbers calculate out to a hiking time of 3:30.  The fact that it took us 3:55 was due in part to the ruggedness of the terrain.  It was rough going at times, especially coming down.  In many ways, this hike was very similar to hiking Mt. Monadnock:  some steep sections with large granite rocks to navigate around including "steps" up to 4 feet high (that means going down on your butt).  Cassandra was right in stating that some of the steps were almost as tall as she is.

Only Nathaniel sustained a minor injury on the journey (skinned knee).  A couple of hiking dogs we encountered fared much worse, one with porcupine needles in him and another with an injury that caused him to howl in pain and requiring him to be carried off the mountain.

The weather was perfect and we started hiking (fortunately) at 12:32pm.  If we would have started later as originally planned, we really would have got off the mountain late.  Travel time to the Miller State Park parking area was nearly an hour.

Here's the elevation profile for today's hike.  We started on the left and traversed both North Pack and Pack Monadnock  mountains.

Six hikers today:  Me, Nathaniel, Alex, Dominic, Cassandra, and my friend Ed.

Once again, there were gorgeous views all along the trail.  Today, we had the  bonus of altitude.  Nathaniel said he wanted to get some exercise, but this may have been more than he bargained for.

This was on the way up.  Tough, but not too bad because you can actually see earth between the rocks.  Cassandra's in blue near the top.

A panorama to the west.  It was easy to see mountains in Vermont today.

Whew... we made it to the first summit.  This cairn marks to top of North Pack.

Dominic gets a break to show off his new walking skills.  His new hat kept getting in his eyes, so he managed without.

A good section of the hike was in the Wapack National Wildlife Refuge.  No hunters need apply.

In a view to the south we see the ridge to the next peak and a sea of green beyond.

Finally, a break.  In season, you can drive to the top of Pack Monadnock.  Today however you had to walk.  At the top, there are picnic tables to enjoy rest and snacks.

There was a cool fire tower here, too.  We didn't climb it.  We were high enough.

A family of happy (if not tired)  hikers.

This was on the way down.  No earth between these rocks.  Nathaniel is using the trees  to help as he steps carefully.  Ed is below (white shirt and hat).

A great day to be sure, but a dip in the spa was an essential post-hike ritual.  Just one more hike to go (1A) until I earn another patch.

The Wapack - Hike #2 - Section 2

Saturday April 27

Amazingly, Brian had a free Saturday, so he was anxious to continue what we had started the week before.   I ran some morning errands, and my day freed up, too.  After last week's hike, I ordered a Wapack Trail Guide, so we would have something better than a hand-drawn map for this week's excursion.  Alex, Cassandra, and Dominic were also looking forward to getting outside.  Dominic loves outside.

We parked cars on Old Rindge Road across the street from Windblown XC ski area (where we ended last week).  There were a lot of cars there when we arrived, so we expected the trail to be busy.  However, instead of starting our trek there, we drove north to the old Temple Mountain ski area of NH 101.  Like last year, I had to put my OCD tendencies aside and hike the opposite direction from last week.  I figured that since I really didn't start this adventure at the actual trail beginning anyway, I could be flexible for all these segments.

My camera battery died before we even got started, so I thank Alex for allowing me to use some of his photos.  The resolution is 16 mega-pixels, so if you zoom in you'll get lots of detail.

At the starting point, we are gearing up.  Dominic is in the new super-cool, high-tech backpack on the ground next to Brian.  This was the last hike with the Subaru.. Farewell, faithful friend!

Out initial climb was on this rocky road up Temple Mountain, a former downhill ski area that operated until 2001.  See http://www.nelsap.org/nh/templemtn.html for more information.

This concrete block is what remains of a ski lift standard half-way up the mountain.  The Wapack Trail marker is prominently displayed on the side.

This picture was just too cute.  Dominic is really enjoying the ride and scenery.  He sang little songs  most of the way.

Brian just had to climb to the top of this rock face to catch the view from the top.

This cairn had a very distinctive shape.

There were lots of interesting cairns littering some of the flat areas.

We were treated to fabulous views of Mt Monadnock.  It really sits out there all by itself.  

In this case, what goes down, must go back up again. 

We arrive at the Sharon Ledges, three quarters of a mile long providing a succession of  outstanding views.  We took an enjoyable 15 minute break here and let the baby out to stretch his legs.

"Mmmm, Mommy.  These sticks are delicious."

Cassandra loves the water, so a little mountain stream was a great spot  for a photo.

We hiked right through Dominic's nap time.  The walk ultimately tuckered him out.

This was really cool.  Another lost ski area: Flat Mountain (http://www.nelsap.org/nh/kidder.html).  However, this rope tow is still in use.  Brian talked to the owner who uses a jeep at the top of the hill to drive the rope.  He even has his own small grooming machine and opens for people to ski when the weather permits.  Not today, though.  Bummer.

We finished about 5 minutes after this last photo.  This hike took 3:40 and was 7.1 miles long.  As it turns out, there were quite a few hikers on this trail.  We even saw Aaron and Troop 26, Ashby hiking.  The scoutmaster recognized Alex from his Camp Wanocksett days.  Small world.

I am very impressed with this trail.  Mile-for-mile, the views are incredible for the amount of effort required.

The Wapack - Hike #1 - Section 1B

Augh, Spring!  Mud season - yuk.  Since ski season's over (boo-hoo), I have to do something to get outside.  And I would rather it not be yard work.  So with no pressing engagements, I decided to extend last year's hiking adventure with the shorter (albeit hillier) Wapack Trail.  The Wapack picks up near the northern terminus of the Midstate at Rt 119 in Ashburnham (see last year's Hike 1A).

Today, however, in order to save a little time, Brian and I started hiking at West Binney Hill Road.  FYI, this is a dirt road, and in pretty bad shape from the tough winter.  Lots of little potholes and a little rough on my 10yr-232K Outback.  Be that as it may, we left a car across the street from Windblown XC Ski Area, shuttled to our starting point and started hiking at 12:32pm.

 

Brian and I are ready to start at the mini-lot across the street from the ski area.

The scenery on this section of the trail was quite varied.

No blue sky but grand vistas and comfortable temperatures.

Brian is up at the shoulder (false summit) of Mt. New Ipswich.  On this section of trail we had to travel over 4 small mountains.  Nonetheless, they were still uphill.

A fine view of Mt. Mt. Monadnock in the distance.

At one of the summits, there was this relatively new dedication plaque.

We arrive at the boundary of Windblown XC ski area.  The trail travels the perimeter to avoid damaging the winter trails.

Late April, but still some snow left on this trail.

An XC trail sign and the Wapack sign share this tree.

The tree across the brook creates a natural reservoir and waterfall.

Our hiking time was 2:42, so Brian could make his next commitment.  We estimate the mileage to be about 5.8 miles, but the amount of elevation is unknown.  Let's just say that four small mountains definitely counts for something.