I’ve spent nearly three months hobbling with a knee injury. It was a triumph for me to cover three miles in an hour on the Nashua River Rail Trail this morning.
It’s bone-dry in my area, as in most of New Hampshire. Even so, buds and blossoms are turning up. A week ago, a few sprigs of grass were poking through the dry leaves at trailside. Today, bluets and violets were blossoming, and there’s much more greenery despite the drought. Rain is forecast for later this week – and a day of that should brighten up the trail in earnest.
What’s new in your area? What’s blossoming in spite of the weather?
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.
Unkety Brook, Dunstable MA; osprey nest atop tree at right. All photos by Ellen Kolb
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.
Unkety Brook, Dunstable MA
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.
Nashua River Rail Trail, Pepperell MA
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.
Nashua River, East Pepperell MA
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.
August 2015: new span will soon link the Goffstown and Piscataquog (Manchester NH) rail trails. Ellen Kolb photo.
I take back every pessimistic word I ever wrote about the difficulties that would have to be overcome in order to link the rail trails in Goffstown and Manchester, New Hampshire.
A month ago, there was a great big empty spot where the old railroad trestle over the Piscataquog River used to be. Now, sooner than I thought possible, a new bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists is in place. It’s not yet open, but I checked out the area today and saw a serious construction effort underway on the approach to the Manchester end.
I headed south of the border into Massachusetts on the Nashua River Rail Trail for a walk through the Groton stretch. Of the four towns along the trail, Groton is where the history of the rail line is most evident. The town is also home to the most park-like section of the trail, situated within the J. Harry Rich State Forest.
The harsh shadows in the photos are from the full midday sun, cheerfully blazing away on a summer day.
The trail crosses over Rt. 119 in Groton on a nicely rehabbed bridge. All photos by Ellen Kolb.
There are three trailheads in Groton, with the most parking available off of Broadmeadow Street. Smaller unpaved lots are at Sand Hill Road and Common Street.
Local students painted the walls of the trail’s underpass at Rt. 225 with scenes of area history.
There are no portajohns along the way. Near the trailhead at Broadmeadow Road are a couple of benches and an informational kiosk. The posted information and illustrations are worth a look.
The best-maintained and most informative kiosk along the NRRT.
Groton must have strict zoning laws that keep commercial signs tiny. How am I supposed to find the nearest place to buy a large iced beverage? That kiosk near Broadmeadow has a bonus: a map of Main Street and the roads connecting it to the trail, with nearby businesses listed. That large iced beverage is only a short walk away.
Marker on Main Street in Groton, a short distance from the trail.
Some of the old rail line’s granite mile markers are still in place, and they’re kept painted by area volunteers. “P” is for Portland, Maine, and “W” is for Worcester, Massachusetts – once upon a time, the two ends of a line of the Boston and Maine Railroad. Of the 120 or so miles of that old line, twelve miles now make up the Nashua River Rail Trail.
“P” is for Portland, Maine, 114 miles from Groton by way of the old Boston & Maine rail line.
Crowning the day was an abundance of Queen Anne’s Lace all along the trail.
I seldom get to the Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire, despite its many attractions. When my husband The Runner had a race around Mascoma Lake in Enfield, I went along for the ride on a warm early-summer day.
On a quiet Sunday morning, I spent time on the quiet paths of the Shrine of Our Lady of LaSalette. Enfield Shaker Village is just across the street, and it surely rates a visit on another trip. I turned onto Main Street and the only bridge over Mascoma Lake to get to the Northern Rail Trail on the lake’s north side. I could have gone west on the NRT to Lebanon or southeast toward Grafton, but this was a lazy day, and I simply meandered on the trail and on town roads as I waited for the runners to come through.
Never turn down a Sunday drive with someone special. You might discover a lovely spot.
Marker honoring the Enfield NH SHakersA path at the Shrine of Our Lady of LaSaletteMascoma Lake, looking west from Enfield’s Main StreetNorthern Rail Trail, Enfield, NH: wide and shadyRunners in the sun while I’m in the shade on a rail trail bridge
I see no columbines yet on the Nashua River Rail Trail in Dunstable, Massachusetts, just over the New Hampshire border. I knew today was kind of early in the season, but I was eager for the year’s first visit to this old friend of a trail. I spotted a columbine along the way in this stretch about three years ago. The following year, a second plant sprang up a few feet away. Since then, I haven’t been able to spot them – pulled up? died? I don’t know, but I look for them anyway.
Tiny violets – harbingers of wildflower season
Blossoms were few this weekend – a dandelion, and a few of the tiny violets that I refuse to call weeds. The deciduous trees along the trail are just beginning to leaf out, and little pines are taking root in the shadow of big ones. The skunk cabbages down in the wetlands are the brightest green in sight. Spring cleanup has already been done by some wonderful volunteers who have moved the winter’s deadfall off the pavement.
Columbine: what I’m waiting for.
Most flowers are still a few weeks off, and I’m impatient for them. Still, I liked what I saw today – if not for its own sake, then for what it means for the coming season. Clumps of green grasses and ground cover are poking up through the dead leaves along the edge of the trail. The farm in Dunstable has sheets of white row-cover already out on one field, so something’s been planted – will it be pumpkins or butternut squash this year? The soda vending machine that one whimsical family sets up annually in their back yard adjacent to the trail is back, and the price per soda is unchanged at $1.
No plane from Skydive Pepperell. I’m not sure if that was due to the weather or the calendar. From late spring through fall, I’m accustomed to the every-20-minutes rhythm of the prop plane as it takes off from its airstrip near the trail, makes lazy circles up to what I’m told is 13,000 feet to let out the skydivers, then descends and returns.
From a good NRRT neighbor: the soda stand
Weekend traffic was far below summer levels. There were very few cyclists riding as though on a mission, zooming past everyone. This was a family day, featuring kids on training wheels or on very shiny bikes that were probably under the Christmas tree. One high-spirited six-year-old had a BMX-style helmet that probably cost more than his bike.
No helmet or bike for me this weekend, just sneakers and a hankering for wildflowers. They’re not out yet, but I’ll see them soon.
Granite State Walker 