Beaver Brook Hike - December 31, 2006
Activity and Photo by Sarah H.
Beaver Brook (Hollis, NH) is one of
Your Webmaster's favorite haunts. It was through a GONewEngland
activity years ago that he was introduced to the place.
Sarah H. invited a number of GONewEnglanders out for a walk on a
beautiful New Year's Eve Day.
Dave, Maryellen, Sarah, Jim, Arnie, Jeff and Tessie |
Boxford State Forest Hike - November 26, 2006
Activity and Trip Report by Ken L.
Amy, Sara, Warren, and little Buzz joined Your Webmaster at the
Boxford State Forest on November 26. The weather had been ridiculously
warm all through the fall, and for November this wasn't bad. Even the
abundant ticks thought so!
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As usual the first stop is the old quarry where the
missles were supposed to go. Missles? Oh yeah. This was
supposed to be a NIKE site. Buzz couldn't wait to get out in the woods
and was running around all over the place. He's a bundle of
energy! |
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If you take the loop up to Towne Pond, you'll see that
the beavers have been busy. In fact, the beavers have been very busy
over in the eastern part of the Boxford State Forest, managing to just
about close off a road and forcing some trails to be cut further into
the woods. |
| Our loop brought us to the cemetery where it's nice to
take a break, sit on the rock wall, and reflect on the people who worked
hard to make this rocky land their home and who put their lives on the
line during the Revolutionary War. |
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Heading back out, we noticed the amount of work the
beavers have been doing. Remember the Boy Scout bridge that had
been there for years? Gone. Where it was is a huge wall of
sticks, which you can see crossing just above the center of the picture.
Where much of that water is in front of the camera used to be the road.
Fortunately someone either moved the old bridge or put in a new one, so
crossing the main part of the little stream is easy. But when you
get to the other side, it gets tricky. The whole area is wet and
muddy, courtesy of North America's largest rodent! |
Thanks, everyone, for a nice walk in the woods! 
The Big Ol' Tree
The Big Ol' Tree is no more
Below: The Big Ol' Tree in December 2005
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Crotched Mt. Hike - November 25, 2006
Activity and Trip Report by Ken L.
Mt. Monadnock
Your Webmaster decided to head over to Crotched Mt., which doesn't have
much height but is a pleasant trail system with nice views of the Mt.
Monadnock area. Many people head in along
the road, up by the glacial erratics, and to the lunch spot just below the
summit. But usually I go beyond that along the whole ridge and back along the
base, a neat loop.
No GONewEnglanders popped by (oops...the activity was posted kinda late),
but at the trailhead I met Barbara, an avid hiker who decided to take
advantage of the warm weather and head over to Crotched Mt., where she'd
never been. Having no hiking partner for the day myself, we got our
boots on and wandered into the trail system.
The weather was just wonderful, and it was good to have some company
along for the day. Barbara decided she wanted to do the loop
counter-clockwise, and that was fine by me. We weren't in any hurry,
and we stopped for lunch a tad late at the usual resting spot on the far end
of the loop where we took the picture above.
Barbara and I had the remainder of the hike to go (we were about halfway)
and made it along the ridge to the "usual" lunch spot. Barbara
wandered up to the true summit to check it out while Your Webmaster lounged
out on the rocks and noticed that the sun was setting...but with luck we'd
be at the open area near the trailhead to see the sunset.
Unfortunately we missed the actual sunset, but when we arrived at the
open area near the trailhead, we were greeted with some stunning views...
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The colors changed every few seconds, and we each got a few good snaps.
Spectacular!
Barbara and I waited until the sunset was mostly gone and a few stars
appeared, then we wandered back down the road to the cars.
The warm weather, the sunset, and the company can turn a simple hike into
something special. Get Outdoors! |
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