Moose Mountains Reservation 6/3 & 5/11

"Bowser Pond" (pictures)
(Moose Mountains Facebook Group)

Difficulty: Easy

Directions: From downtown Farmington, NH take Rt. 153 North into Middleton about 5 miles. Continue onto King's Highway for .9 miles. Turn right at the police station onto Ridge Road. At 1.6 miles turn left onto New Portsmouth Road. Bear left onto New Portsmouth Road Exd. The trail head and kiosk will be seen ahead.

Stats (Round Trip): Mileage> About 4 - Elevation Gain> About 200' - Our Time> 2hrs.  

Report: Having a short time before work Friday night Scott and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and make a short trip to Moose Mountains. We parked at the kiosk happy to see the "no wheeled vehicle" signs still up and the gate still closed. We walked up New Portsmouth Road and after crossing the river we took a right, crossing a landing area. Thousands of dragon flies were covering the road and flying every which way as we passed through.

We continued up the hill and at the next landing took a right down a smaller woods road. The road drops into a pine area laden with a multitude of pink moccasin flowers. It curves left and drops more steeply and continues to turn left. I spotted a small bunch of Pointed Blue Eyed Grass, something I hadn't yet seen in the wild. And we also found a Northern Leopard Frog crossing the road. They usually don't sit still for anything but this one allowed me to take some pictures of it :)

Soon we saw a glimpse of Bowser Pond which I had been wanting to check out for some time now. Scott spotted a Heron, and before I had a chance to pull out a camera or even focus my sights on it, it took off into the woods. We took a right onto an overgrown woods road and then climbed down the banking to the pond shore. We noticed a female mallard in the water that I took some pics of, only to realize it wasn't moving the slightest bit. Turns out it was a decoy, LOL! Got me! We took in the view then headed back up to the road. A tick check revealed two wood ticks on Scott.

We retraced our steps back to the truck and along the way I heard "Fee B" ... "Fee B". Ah hah! It was a Phoebe! I had just done some searches into why Phoebes Nable mountain was called what it was. Carrie with the Forest Society popped the question. After doing some google searches I determined the mountain was named for the Eastern Phoebe who likes farm land and open woods which is what this area was. And 'Nable" was a Greek word for music. Thus the meaning I got was "Phoebes Song". Hearing the Phoebe sing here made me all the more confident that I was correct!



"South Ridge Point" (pictures)

Difficulty: Easy


Directions: From downtown Farmington, NH take Rt. 153 North into Middleton about 5 miles. Continue onto King's Highway for .9 miles. Turn right at the police station onto Ridge Road. At about .7 miles there will be a yellow gate (snow mobile trail) on your left. Park here.

Stats (Round Trip): Mileage> About 2.5 - Elevation Gain> About 229' - Our Time> 2hrs.  

Report: Today instead of getting up early for a long hike in the Whites we slept in a bit and decided to check out more of Moose Mountains. Hope your all not sick of hearing about this property but there is so much for us to explore and we are trying to find, and learn the trails so that they can be marked! We pass by a gated snow mobile trail I have been wanting to check out for some time now. According to my studying of the maps and satellite this road should take us to a view point on Moose Mountains South Ridge.

We parked and headed up the trail. After swatting at some mosquito's we grudgingly applied the bug spray. The road passes by a marsh and climbs very gradually. There are grown in skid roads along the way so just be sure to stay on the main road that is more open. Pink moccasin flowers were still in bloom along the sunny road side. Dragon Flies were also scattered about and Red Spotted Newts were here-and-there along the trail.

A little ways in we were startled when a ruffed grouse came booking down the trail! It's head was down and it had it's body crouched to the ground as it squawked right on by us and into the woods. "OK then!" We passed through a small grassy landing and then were really startled by another grouse that jumped out of the woods at us squawking! It went back in the woods and Scott noticed it had babies with it! It jumped back out at us, puffed up, and spun around kicking up dirt and spreading it's wings out at us. It was quite the spectacle! I managed to get some great pics of this display!

Continuing on we passed through a couple more landings, mud ruts (from off road vehicles) and passed the red blazed property line into the Forest Society Land. We came to a three way intersection and took a right here. The trail continues a gradual climb up to a larger landing where a mud pond was present. The trail then becomes more overgrown and steep from here up to the next intersection. Here you want to take a left but we went right just to check things out. We came out to a large landing with a restricted view North to the Moose Mountains. 

Back at the intersection we continued down to a fork in the road. Taking a right the road climbs moderately. Views begin to open up to the East and the road then makes a tiny loop around the high point all of which has become overgrown. There is a partial view to Moose Mountain to the North and various mountains and hills to the South and East including Prospect, Nubble and Hussey Mountains. Perhaps we can clear some of the small trees here to open the view back up to the North.

Our goal achieved we headed back down the way we came. And no, it wasn't a boring trip back! The grouse jumped back out at us again scaring the crap out of us! This time it came right up close to us, squawked and flapped it's wings. Then it ran back into the woods. This was such a neat experience! As we reached the start point we were met by a lady hiking up. We introduced ourselves and told her about the "killer" grouse. This was a great trip! Plenty of wildlife to enjoy and saw deer and moose tracks too! We hope to blaze this trail this summer!!

SPNHF Moose Mountains Land Steward

MMR Trailhead Sign

(Moose Mountains Facebook Group)
Scott and I just finished taking a two day SPNHF core training coarse to be land stewards of the very large Moose Mountains Reservation in Middleton and Brookfield, NH! Comprising of 2,325 acres and three mountain ranges Moose Mountains Reservation is one of the largest non-developed forests in Southern New Hampshire! It is a crucial tract of land, harboring important headwaters of the Salmon Falls River.  For directions to MMR see my trip report HERE.

Phoebes Nable Spur Trail

The forests and hills contain a host of native wildlife such as black bear, moose and a heron rookery. Hiking, bird watching, hunting, snowmobiling and other low impact outdoor recreation can be enjoyed on the property. With more than 8 miles of woods roads and foot paths, several ponds and marshes, open summit peaks and ledges, early 1800's cemeteries an farmland there is plenty to explore! The Forest Society will work to retain public use for recreation and to protect the properties water shed and natural resources including sustainable forestry or harvesting.

Since the term harvesting and the sheer thought or even sight of logging makes you quiver, as it did us. It is important to understand what SUSTAINABLE Forestry is! It is defined as such: "The stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfill, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems." Thus our States economic value in it's vast and lush forests are an important piece of our way of life, as is the pride we have of our natural and untouched woods, mountains and ponds. These aspects are all kept in balance for the future generations to benefit and enjoy from! You can learn more by joining the Forest Society on a tour of an active timber harvest. Meet logging contractors and Consulting Foresters; learn about sustainable forest management in relation to improving timber quality, wildlife habitat, and recreation; and get the latest news about logging practices, equipment, wood products, and the timber markets where products are shipped and sold. Check there field trip page for these tours.

Phoebes Nable Summit

Where do we come into play? It is our job as volunteer land stewards to be the caretakers and ambassadors of this forest. Our responsibilities are numerous from picking up trash, monitoring property lines, marking/building/maintaining hiking trails, watching for illegal uses, assisting in sustainable tree harvesting and speaking to land abuttors. Trails on this property are in need of signs and marking and that will be our main focus over the next two years as we explore the vast forest ourselves, learning the features and finding the best suitable paths to those features. We look forward to be able to care for such a large tract of land so close to home! While sustainable tree harvesting is an important part of these forests for our economy and the future, it is our primary goal to retain and improve the recreational, scenic and natural benefits of this Reservation. These aspects of SPNHF land are all weighed in harmony as necessary parts on a balanced scale.

New Portsmouth Road Trail

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests "envisions a living landscape where managed woodlands, farms and wild lands are woven into the fabric of community life. We envision people caring for lands that sustain dynamic communities with clean water and air, forest and agricultural products, habitat for native plants and animals, scenic beauty, good jobs, and recreational opportunities."

Check the SPNHF Blog for a post on the 2011 Land Steward Class!

William H. Champlin Jr. Forest Preserve 3/20/11

"A Late Day Jaunt" (pictures)

Plans for hiking on Saturday ensued during the week as always and the weather was looking pretty good. Laurie and Russ were hitting Mt. Carrigain with some friends and invited us along. Not really up for a long 4000 footer hike, especially on snow shoes we passed up o it. (Too bad too, they turned out to have a great day and got to see a Black Hawk Helicopter hover over Signal Ridge!!) I went to bed Friday night not knowing what we would be hiking in the morning but confident it would be a nice day. Well the morning proved to be cold and it was blowing a mix of snow and rain on us. YUCK! We moped around a bit, just enough to not want to hike anymore! I had a house rental that needed to be cleaned anyway so we decided to get all our work done and try for Sunday. Well Sunday morning was again cold...clear, but cold. And we just were NOT in the mood! So, after some walking around in Lowe's I headed off to get the rest of my work done.

The end of winter was turning out to be a bummer-of-a-weekend! I finished my work late in the day and called Scott. At the end of our conversation Scott mentioned we should meet in Gonic for a short walk. Funny, I was thinking this earlier! So we planned on meeting instead at the SPNHF William H. Champlin Forest Preserve across from the Sky Haven Airport in Rochester. I arrived in the parking lot ahead of Scott and decided to pick up some of the trash. I did this in the summer and was glad to see it hadn't gotten too bad since. Aside from a large suitcase sitting out in the field....are freakin' kidding me!? Scott pulled up and we headed down the trail at 6:20pm, the sun beginning to touch the tree line. Through the wet field, I stopped to take some pics of the Milk Thistle Pods.

The logging roads to the lower marsh were intermittent with snow and standing water. We went as quickly as we could without getting wet! At the pine grove just before the marsh I noticed a dozen or more bullet shell casings in the snow with the letter 'F' marking. We arrived at the marsh at 6:38pm just as the sun was setting. Perfect! A few pictures, most of which didn't come out all that great and it was back to the vehicles before it got dark! We got back to the field, picked up a stinky "doggy bag" and plastic bottle and headed out just as it was getting dark at 7pm. A nice brisk walk to end the weekend! And the best part, "hiking" equals Chinese Food and a Coke N' Rum! :) HAPPY SPRING!!