Message from a New Hampshire bridge: connect, slowly

November 10, 2014February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb / 6 Comments

I live in a textured place. Nothing dramatic or showy, but interesting. Hills here, watercourses there, ledge all over the place: it adds up to very few straight roads and not nearly enough bridges for convenience. The Nashua River in southern New Hampshire could use a few more bridges, and if you don’t believe me, try driving through Nashua during rush hour. Hollis, the next town upstream, is a much quieter place. It gets by quite comfortably with one bridge over the river, connecting a small quiet town with a much busier one. There’s something about this bridge, though, that speaks to me less about connection than about rest and pause. I wouldn’t be surprised if someday I saw a sign here saying Don’t be in such a hurry to get from here to there. Stop awhile.

Close to Home: Naticook Lake, Wasserman Park

November 3, 2014February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb / 3 Comments

A few short weeks ago, this was the view of Blueberry Island from a park near my New Hampshire home. Fall was coming. I knew that within days I’d be wearing a sweater and raking the lawn (and I was right), but on this particular afternoon, something drew me to this dock, a three-mile walk from my house. It’s on the town beach at Wasserman Park on Naticook Lake. I used to take my kids here for swimming lessons every summer. This is where my son got a trophy at the cardboard boat race the library used to sponsor. In this park is the nagging little hill that I used for uphill intervals as I trained for my first half-marathon. Near the beach is the community tennis court where my mother-in-law liked to take her grandchildren.

I remember when our town acquired this land. A family that had operated a summer camp on the site for many years offered the land for a ridiculously low price, and at town meeting, residents voted to accept the offer. I didn’t know then how much time I’d be spending at the park and its trails and its little beach.

On this day, camera in hand, I simply stood on the dock and breathed in the early-fall air at the end of a workday. The place, the view, the sheer delight of not having to be anywhere else: I was home.

View from Stratham Hill Tower, Stratham NH

October 12, 2014February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

A decommissioned fire tower is a five-minute walk uphill from the parking lot at Stratham Hill Park on Route 33 in Stratham, New Hampshire. I paid it a quick visit on a sunny and clear fall afternoon.

Stratham Hill tower can’r be seen from Route 33, but it’s only a short walk uphill from Stratham Hill Park’s parking lot.

Early fall, Weeks State Park, Lancaster NH

September 28, 2014February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

View of the Presidentials and Mt. Martha (right) from Weeks State Park auto road, Lancaster NH — _{View of the Presidentials (center) and Cherry Mountain (right) from Weeks State Park auto road, Lancaster NH. All photos by Ellen Kolb.}

I had the good fortune to have business in Lancaster recently as fall was setting in across the North Country. I stopped for a walk up the Weeks State Park auto road, which is currently closed to auto traffic on weekdays. I wasn’t the only pedestrian enjoying the unseasonably warm day. The leaves are turning; my guess is that peak color in this part of Coos County is still a week away.

From Mt. Prospect: town of Jefferson and Mt. Starr King — From Mt. Prospect: town of Jefferson and Mts. Starr King & Waumbek

The oaks lining the auto road are still in full leaf, with just a hint of color. Squirrels were busy gathering acorns and dropping more than a few onto the pavement (but I dodged ’em). The green canopy was out of sync with all the colorful foliage visible from the auto road’s pullouts.

Since my last visit to Weeks, a small unpaved parking lot’s been added just outside the gate to the auto road. That’s an improvement over having to walk across two lanes of 50 m.p,h. highway to get to the park from the pretty little lot on the other side of U.S. 3.

The fire tower was locked, unfortunately. Perhaps summer weekends are the only time to get a look at the inside of this unique structure.

Pack Monadnock via Raymond Trail: Miller State Park, NH

August 21, 2014February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

The view from Pack Monadnock’s summit was a treat even on this cloudy day. I hiked up via the Raymond Trail for the first time. The score is Ledge 1, Hiker 0 after a slight slip on the way down, and I keep a first aid kit in my pack for such occasions. The hike was otherwise uneventful. There are rocky stretches, but the Raymond Trail is not as ledgy as the Wapack Trail up the mountain. Unlike the Wapack and Marion Davis trails, Raymond Trail doesn’t start from the Miller State Park parking lot. It goes up the west side of the mountain from a trailhead on East Mountain Road that has parking for three cars (maybe four in a pinch).

Cell tower on mountaintop with view to distant hills — The Wapack Range stretches to the south, with the ridge of Temple Mountain in foreground.

meadowsweet flowers — The Wapack Range stretches to the south, with the ridge of Temple Mountain in foreground.

Coming from Manchester via NH 101: drive west through Milford, Wilton, and Temple. Take a right at Mountain Road, about 0.2 mile past the Miller State Park entrance. Mountain Road becomes East Mountain Road. The trailhead is on the right, about a mile off of 101.

Over the Merrimack River on the Piscataquog Trail

August 19, 2014February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

I was early for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats game a few days ago (that’s baseball, for all you out-of-towners). It’s been too long since my last stroll over the Hands Across the Merrimack bridge, part of the rail trail that begins behind the baseball stadium and extends a couple of miles west along the Piscataquog river, clear over to West Side Arena.

The Hands Across the Merrimack bridge over the Merrimack River, seen from the trail behind Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

The odd bit of graffiti aside, the bridge is in good shape structurally and aesthetically. And for crossing the Merrimack river, it sure beats dodging the auto traffic on the nearby Granite Street bridge.