Belknap Mountain

Maps, Elevations & Summary

Route to Summit:  From upper lot:  Red Trail 
Return Route:  Blue Trail
Distance:  2.3 miles
Maximum Elevation: 2,392 ft.

Cumulative elevation gain: 763 ft.

Total Time: 3.2 hrs.

Trail Report

I arrived at the mountain at 9:15 a.m. and much to my surprise, the gate across the Carriage Rd. was open!  Turned out that it will remain open until mid-November, which meant I was able to drive up the Carriage Road to the upper lot, which had ample parking.  The lower lot looks like it may have space for a couple of cars, no more.

The temperature was in the low 40's but the shy was overcast with a pretty staff breeze which made me waste no time in gearing up and starting up the trail.  In no time at all, the trail passes an old shed which pointed the way to the trailheads and reminded me that the gate closed at 6 p.m.  Another hiker emailed me last night with word that the gate would close for the season by Nov. 15th.

I decided to pass up the first green trail which was supposed to be very steep and I thought the better of it with most of the leaves having freshly fallen on the trails.  Just a couple of yards beyond it was the reed trail trailhead so I started up.

The trail itself was moderate in steepness with a lot of standing water and some small brook crossings.  The wind definitely was picking up as I made my way up the trail.  There was lots of evidence of recent trail work where trail was cleared but there had yet to be any rocks put down which made for some muddy sections.  The wet leaves were very slippery indeed so I slowed the pace to be extremely careful that I had good footing.

After a while, the trail made an abrupt turn to the southeast and proceeded into a stand of hemlocks which was very pretty.  However, the shade in this area allowed some fine moss to grow on the larger rock slabs and there were a few times that my hiking poles prevented me from face-planting on the trail.  After two or three short, steep runs, I was just below the summit.  You could hear the wind was quite strong and the temperature had fallen to 40 degrees so I paused for a moment to pull out my rain jacket and woolen cap to try and block some of the wind.

A feet further and I was at the summit and took my token shot of the summit marker.

I met a very nice guy named Bob who had come up the blue trail and was heading back down the white.  We spent quite a while talking about some favorite hikes in the Belknaps over a couple of apples and water.  He set off and I decided to head up the fire tower itself.

Views were very nice but it was a shame that the cloud ceiling was so low.   There was a nice view of Laconia to the northwest.

The best view by far was of the Ossipee Mountains, on the far side of Lake Winnipesaukee.  They were catching just a small amount of sunshine through a break in the clouds.  I could make out Mt. Shaw, Mt. Roberts and Black Snout mountains which are all on my list of summits I'd like to try.

In the photo, Mount Washington is just to the the left of Black Snout but with the low, ragged ceiling, it was difficult to make it out.

It was starting to get cold, so I geared up once again and headed down the blue trail.  This trail was much less slippery, with a huge amount of trail work in the form of stairs made out of granite that made the descent wonderful.  In no time at all, I arrived at a major (and well marked) trail junction of the blue Overlook (orange) and Saddle (White) trails.  This junction is actually on the saddle point between Belknap and Gunstock mountains with the white trail ascending 250 feet up to the summit of Gunstock.

The ski lifts were running buy I decided to keep going down the blue trail and back to the parking lot, saving Gunstock for another day.  The rest of the blue trail was very well maintained with a pretty waterfall and stream crossing just before the trail flattened out prior to the junction with the red.  Another fun hike in the Belknaps. 

Skatutakee & Thumb Mountain Loop Hike

Maps, Elevations & Summary

Route to Summit:  Harriskat to Thumbs Up to Thumbs Down to Harriskat Trails
Return Route:  Loop
Distance:  5.5 miles
Maximum Elevation: 2,028 ft.

Cumulative elevation gain: 1,181 ft.

Total Time: 4.8 hrs.

Trail Report

This was to be an extension of a hike I did a couple of weeks back, to Skatutakee Mountain.  This time, however, I was going to continue on to a second summit, Thumb Mountain.  Arriving at the trailhead about 7:30 a.m., the temperature was hovering around freezing.  Donning a fleece and gloves, I left the Harris Center parking lot and made my way through the forest along the HArriskat trail which was already covered in leaves.

After a mostly level walk through numerous boulder fields, i found the junction of the HArriskat and Thumbs Down trails and headed up the Harriskat.  in no time at all, I was sweating and stopped to get rid of the fleece and gloves.  The temperature had risen into the 40's with the wind decreasing somewhat as I continued the climb, past two rock walls, a short but steep ledge and onto the familiar open ledge of the Skatutakee summit.

The trees have all but obscure the view of Monadnock but the Wapack trail ridge could be seen clearly.  Someone had left a mini-cairn made from some unique white rock, probably quart.

After a brief water and apple break, I geared up and headed down the Thumbs up trail which descended steeply a ridge between the two summits.  The mile long walk was pretty easy through very open hemlock forest until it finally intersected with the Thumbs down trail just below the Thumb Mountain summit.

The beginning if the summit spur was quite steep but there were plenty of rock to provide adequate footing.  After the initial, very steep 100 feet, the trail became less steep as it approached the summit. At the summit, I was greeted with a "Thumb Mountain" sign and a circular rock bench surrounding a cairn.  The ledges just beyond this point offered excellent views of Mount Monadnock.

After a sandwich and water break, I headed back down the mountain to the Thumbs up-Thumbs down trail junction.  At the junction, I continued down the mountain and hiked along the pretty lebel mountain base to the shores of Jack's pond.

The leaves were absolutely stunning.  After a brief respite, I continued on, intersecting the Harriskat trail again and proceeding back to the Harris Center parking lot.

Mount Rowe

Maps, Elevations & Summary

Route to Summit:  Mount Rowe Trail (blue) to Ridge Trail (white)
Return Route:  Ridge Trail to North Spur Trail (orange) to Benjamin Weeks Trail (purple) to Mt. Rowe Trail.
Distance:  5.2 miles
Maximum Elevation: 1,690ft.

Cumulative elevation gain: 1,257 ft.

Total Time: 3.9 hrs.

Trail Report

I started the day with a show of courage; namely, stepping out of the car at 8.a.m. into a 47 F rain for a couple of hours hiking.  When the cold rain wasn't falling, there was a pervasive mist that chilled me to the bone.  The trailhead was in the back of the Gilford Elementary School parking lot and was equipped with a convenient, though shaky, porta-potty.  About 10 yard beyond the lot stood a kiosk which contained a detailed map of the mountain and it's numerous trails.  Crossing a brook and swamp is a short wooden boardwalk.  The wetlands themselves were peppered with birdhouses, although I saw no birds during the brief crossing.  Once  off of the boardwalk, the red  blazed Gilford Elementary School nature trail departed to the left while the Mt. Rowe Tail, blazed in blue, headed up the hill ahead.

There was no pause as the trail started an immediate climb, which although relentless, was neither particularly steep nor rocky.  The trail climbed into dense forest which were even more dark in the gloom of the rainy overcast.  This initial part of the trail was once a commercial sugaring operation but I did not find and taps or equipment  that identified it as such. After 0.3 miles the trail intersects with the Benjamin Weeks Trail, blazed in purple, which came in from the right.  The blue trail  jogged slightly to the left and continued to climb, a bit more steeply.  At 0.6 miles, an old abandoned logging road appears on the left and the trail made an abrupt, 90 degree turn to the right. There was a reprieve as the trail continued along a level stretch until encountering the Yellow Trail on the left at 0.7 miles. This trail is a straight, unmaintained trail to the ridge line but is not maintained and may not be the best choice in rainy weather, so I continued on.

At 0.8 miles I came across a cellar hole on the left which is the last remnant of the Benjamin Weeks mountain house.

On the right side of the trail were the remnants of the old barn foundation.  The house was originally built in 1793 and a sign near the site describes the many generations that have lived on the mountain.

Just  0.1 miles beyond the cellar hole, the blue trail merged with the purple trail for a short distance until a Y in the trail.  At this point, the blue trail split to the left and began a relentless series of switchbacks that ascended the steepest portion of the mountain.  looking up the slop, I saw the remnants of an old marble quarry, some of the angular blocks still lying there as if waiting to be loaded and carried off.

At 1.5 miles, the switchbacks continue but the trees become noticeably smaller with white birch and pine predominating.  Because of this, there was much more light, in spite of the dreary sky, and I made out small clearings full of low blueberry bushes, although well past the season for finding any berries.  At this point, a small clearing opened up with views toward the south and east and one such clearing had a pair of tables made of branches and boards.  This made for an inviting stop so I doffed the pack and took a water and snack break.   After a 10 minute break, it was off again. Just beyond this clearing, at 1.6 miles, there stood an interesting, bonsai-like tree with a long, serpentine branch, a good photo op.

The switchbacks continued with more and more concrete ledges and decreasing slope.  Finally, at 1.9 miles, the trail leveled and intersected the top of the yellow trail, the North Spur Trail (orange) and the Ridge Trail (white) in rapid succession.  All  trails were well-marked with wooden signs and I tuned left to follow the Ridge Trail, which broke out of the trees and followed the open ledges along the ridge.

Not too far down the white trail, there were nice open vistas to the north- and southeast.  To the northeast, I could see a portion of Lake Winnipesaukee.

To the base of the ridge was the parking area from Gunstock Ski area and I could see how much easier it would have been to summit Mount Rowe from this site of the mountain which is about 350 feet higher than the Elementary school.  You could see the Quarrys, Mt. Rand and Mt. Klem.

Further to the south, Mts. Belknap and Gunstock predominated the skyline with the prominent ski slope of Mt. Gunstock.

The rain had stopped but the wind was whipping so although the temperature had risen into the low 50's, it was still chilling.  I cinched down my hood and closed the vents on my rain jacket as I made my way to the communications tower on Mt. Rowe, a short and level walk down the ridge line.  Since it was so windy, I decided not to rest at the summit, but rather head back to wind the Benjamin Weeks trail and rest in the shelter of the trees.

So restarting my mileage, I headed back along the white trail, meeting up with the North Spur Trail (orange) junction in 0.4 mile.  I followed this a short distance until at 0.6 miles, it joined the Benjamin Weeks (purple) trail.  At this point, I found some warm bear scat so I decided to make some noise by whistling a little as I descended down the trail.  The purple trail starts very wide and smooth, full of soft pine needles.  As it descends steeply, it becomes more narrow, rocky and less obvious, even though there are plenty of trail markings.  At 0.7 miles from the summit, the purple trail took a hard right turn.  Going straight would have led eventually to Old Weeks Rd. and away from the trailhead.

After descending into darker and damper forest, the trail winds up intersecting and sharing the blue trail at 1.4 miles.  After a very short period of time, I decided to take the purple trail as it again split off from the shared trail and plunged into deep hemlock forest.  This path turned out to be considerably longer and more strenuous that if I'd have kept on the blue trail.  There is a stream which had flowing water inspire of this summer's drought and the trail steeply descended about 20- feet toward the stream.

The trail plunged in and out of this ravines a number of times before it finally turned north to intersect the Blue Trail again at 2.0 miles from the summit.  The trail here was pretty mucky and rocky in spite of it being a pretty dry year.  I'd expect this would not be a favorable way to go in a very wet season.

Finally, at 2.4 miles I emerged from the dark woods to the waiting boardwalk for the short walk back to the parking area.

During the whole 4 hour excursion, I did not find a single person.  A nice morning of solitary hiking, inspire of the rain!