Like fall, without color

March 1, 2016 / Ellen Kolb

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If you peer closely at the photo, you’ll see ice on the this southern New Hampshire trail. I was in Horse Hill Nature Preserve for an hour on the first of March for cryin’ out loud, and this is as close to winter conditions as I could find. A sign at the trailhead warned about muddy conditions, but I had no trouble in regular athletic shoes. Boots would have been overkill. A sweater and thin gloves were my only concessions to the weather.

My snowshoes remain in the basement. I know winter’s far from over, and I may yet this month rave about a beautiful day in fresh powder. That won’t be happening this week, though.

All the local paved trails are clear. Dirt trails have some ice in shady spots. Overnight freezes make for some interesting texture in muddy areas. On a Seacoast trip I took a few days ago, it felt like fall at Odiorne Point in Rye and Peirce Island in Portsmouth.

I haven’t investigated the auto roads up Pack Monadnock and Mt. Kearsarge lately, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were in good condition for pedestrians with light traction aids. Let me know if you’ve scouted out those paths.

Clock shift

November 17, 2015 / Ellen Kolb / 2 Comments

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.

Parking lot: full. Trail: all clear. Horse Hill Nature Preserve, New Hampshire.

My favorite tree along the way. It’s survived some rough weather in recent years.

It’s been a dry autumn. I barely needed the bridge to cross this little stream.

A foot of powder? Yes, please!

December 18, 2013May 23, 2014 / Ellen Kolb

Horse Hill Nature Preserve, Merrimack NH. Ellen Kolb photo.

We’ve had two snowfalls in my area in recent days, both nice fluffy powder. I was one of the first hikers since yesterday’s snowstorm to walk through the nature preserve nearby. It was a lunchtime trip and I had less than an hour, but with the preserve less than three miles away, I couldn’t pass it up.

I met only a couple of fellow hikers on the way. Like me, they were wedging a walk into the workday. They looked as relaxed as I felt. Aside from our greetings to each other, things were pretty quiet. I would hear aircraft approaching the regional airport to the north and the community airport to the south and the corporate helipad nearby, and then all the flights would be over for a few minutes and I would hear nothing but the wind in the bare trees. Those are the bonus moments.

This made a good break in a day when too much was racing through my mind. Today is the web site launch for another project of mine, and I am at the mercy of my techie-pro colleagues. I’m baking for a holiday celebration. (Food is love where I come from.) Christmas is next week, and I feel the loss and separation from some of my loved ones more keenly now than at other times of the year. The car needs work. Real life is in high gear, in other words.

Hooray for high gear. It makes me appreciate low gear in snowshoes.

Busy beavers at Horse Hill

May 3, 2013February 23, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

After a walk through Horse Hill Nature Preserve in Merrimack, New Hampshire, last December, I posted this photo of a snow-covered beaver lodge. Nothing dramatic. That was winter…

Stiff breezes will probably take some snow off this lodge tonight.

…and now, it’s spring. Today, I smiled at the sight of the same lodge, this time in spring sunshine.

In Horse Hill Nature Preserve, 3 May 2013

A few moments later, as I looked across the pond, I caught sight of a MUCH bigger lodge, which I do not recall seeing before. I think the older lodge must now be the servants’ quarters. Amazing what these creatures can build.

beaver lodge in the distance across a pond — New & improved lodge

Packed Powder at Horse Hill, Merrimack NH

December 30, 2012February 23, 2026 / Ellen Kolb / 2 Comments

A trail report after a December 2012 snowfall:

My timing couldn’t have been better. I drove into the Horse Hill Nature Preserve parking lot on Amherst Road in Merrimack this afternoon just as a snowmobile emerged from the trail after grooming the snow. (That’s a job done by volunteers, as is so much other maintenance on New Hampshire trails.) We’ve had about a foot of snow over the past three days, topped with lovely powder, and I was eager to bring my snowshoes out from storage. I usually don’t get out on trails after snowfalls until the snow’s been chewed up & packed by lots of other people. Today, I had two great hours on the main loop trail: no ice, no bare spots, no skiers. I love skiers – in fact, I’m married to one – but today, I didn’t have to worry about staying off to one side to make room for them. Today was for snowshoers.

There were ten cars in the lot when I arrived, but that didn’t presage a traffic jam on the trail. Horse Hill covers a lot of ground. I passed maybe a dozen people altogether, along with four friendly dogs. The presence of the dogs probably accounted for the absence of wildlife along my way.

snow-covered trail at a municipal conservation area — Horse Hill Nature Preserve, Merrimack NH

Horse Hill in Merrimack is ready for you

March 7, 2008February 22, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

Horse Hill Nature Preserve in Merrimack, New Hampshire almost didn’t happen. Town residents voted awhile back to purchase the land from a developer, and then they worked to make the property into a recreational asset for the town. Today, it’s ready for you to discover.

I’m happy that I can finally go to HHNP and spend several hours wandering around on marked trails without having to maneuver around junked cars and piles of spent shells from years of target practice on the land. I owe thanks to a lot of volunteers. The whole area’s cleaned up, and the trails are marked much more clearly than they were last year. The parking lot off of Amherst Road has been plowed out every time I’ve been by there this season, which means the town is making an effort to keep the preserve accessible year-round. I can spend an afternoon there without retracing my steps.

HHNP is going to become more important as Merrimack grows and new residents seek outdoor recreation close to home. It’s great to see this asset ready for the future.