The snowless days are ending; I’ll be shoveling my driveway in just a few days, if the forecast holds. This was my last chance to visit some nearby trails before winter conditions set in. I had planned to walk up a hill with a pretty view, but decided at the last minute to stick to level paths. I went to Pawtuckaway State Park and explored the northwest corner of the park via Reservation Road and Round Pond Road.
I spent a foggy and snowless December day driving from the Merrimack River to the Connecticut River and back through New Hampshire’s southern tier, stopping for walks now and then. Visibility was too limited to make a mountain hike worthwhile, but rail trails and roadside parks were ready for me.
I chose a short segment between the nicely-restored depot in Troy and Rockwood Pond in Fitzwilliam. It was a round trip of just over four miles on a wide, straight trail. The only sounds were from birds and my own steps. No ice or snow, just a bit of mud on the southern half of the walk. On a clear day there’s a splendid view of Mount Monadnock from the shore of Rockwood Pond, though the fog obscured all the surrounding hills today.
Swanzey was next, and I managed to work a pair of the town’s famed covered bridges into my route. The most exciting sight of the day was a bald eagle I spotted near the Ashuelot River, and it was too swift for me to snag a photo.
The village of Ashuelot is in Winchester, with a covered bridge of its own.
After some business in Brattleboro, Vermont, I took the more-or-less direct route back east, along New Hampshire routes 9 and 101. I stopped for a half hour at Chesterfield Gorge, a small roadside state park on NH route 9.
As the photos show, this is a very mild late autumn. In a fit of irrational exuberance, I almost tossed sandals in the car before I left home. Good thing I refrained; there was just enough mud and chill to make me glad I wore sensible shoes.
Daylight Savings Time is over, cutting into my late-day trail time. All I ask is just enough daylight to enjoy a leaf-covered trail without twisting my ankle.
So far, so good. I’m sharing Horse Hill with lots of neighbors who are trying to fit some outdoor time between work and dinner, including a fair number of mountain bikers. The preserve is large enough that I don’t feel at all crowded, even when the parking lot’s full.
New Hampshire’s Piscataquog Rail Trail finally reaches across the Piscataquog River, connecting Manchester with Goffstown. I put off some workday tasks long enough to walk the trail from its east end all the way across the new bridge. With all due respect and gratitude to the many people who made the project happen, I didn’t stay for the ribbon-cutting and speechifyin’. Trails are for walking.
It’s Saturday, and I walked today another nine miles on a very familiar path. I’m reminded again that I’m no photographer, My pictures, taken on a phone, might seem like generic New Hampshire foliage shots – but each one is of a spot I’ve seen in all seasons for more than a decade now, on unhurried walks like this one.
When the Nashua River Rail Trail opened in 2002, an osprey nest was visible from the bridge over Unkety Brook. I look for it every year. It has taken a beating, and after one storm – was it the Halloween snowstorm of 2011? – it looked destroyed. Two springs later, the osprey were back.
There’s a farm field bordering Unkety Brook on the north side. Nothing but corn stubble remains from this year’s crop, visible as the whitish ground cover in the center left of the photo above. We had a very dry summer, and Unkety looked low in July and August. The water level looks better heading into fall.
The glaring sun reminded me all afternoon that it would have been a good idea to wear a visor. It’s definitely autumn, though: the sun was much lower than at the same hour even a month ago, and it was fleece-pullover weather.
I have an AMC River Guide from 1978, more useful at this point for history than for navigation. About the Nashua River in Pepperell, the writers fretted: “From [Groton] to East Pepperell, the river is not attractive, as the increase in water level has flooded swampland and killed the trees.” Much has changed in 30-plus years, and the area upstream from the dam in Pepperell is now in my opinion the loveliest part of the river.
The Andres Institute of Art – “a sculpture park to delight the whole family,” as its website proclaims – occupies much of a hill alongside Route 13 in Brookline, New Hampshire. Over 70 sculptures are scattered around the property, which is laced with walking trails. The property is open dawn to dusk daily, and there’s no fee although donations are welcomed.
I spent an hour here on summer’s final weekend, and took these photos that show a sample of the artwork to be found along the Andres trails.
Granite State Walker 