Phoebe's Nable Mt. & North Trail 6/15/11

"Trash and Wildflowers, and a Double Whammy of Moose!" (pictures)
(Moose Mountains Facebook Group)

Well I finally got myself in the mood for picking up trash at Moose Mountains Reservation. After a wet and cold week, a nice day on Wednesday had me wanting to get out and do some hiking. So I finagled an old hiking pole with an unused bowie knife to create my bad-ass trash picker! And off I went....hold on, gotta have trash bags....OK, now I'm ready! As I rounded a corner on Ridge Road I spotted a fawn in the road. It crouched down against the pavement as I passed. Not sure if it was hurt or just scared I parked. I began to jump out for a closer look and it jumped up and darted into the woods. Off you go Bambi!  I parked in the parking area and put the gate back up. Then beginning on the right side of the road I began the search for trash.

Along the way wildflowers that had passed, where replaced with new kinds. It was an interesting balance holding a trash bag in one hand, a pole in the other and taking out my camera constantly to snap pics of the flowers! A few bugs made there way into my lens as well but the flying insects would have to be on hold today as I didn't have the time or patience for them! At one section of the roadside I passed by a beautiful colony of Bird's-Foot Trefoil and found a small bunch of Larger Blue Flag Iris's. Spectacular! I continued my walk up to the Burrows Farm site, took some pics and continued on.

I took a left onto Phoebe's Nable spur trail, collected bottles we had stashed from picking them up on a previous hike and continued up the hillside. Temperatures were rising and I was getting pretty hot up this steep section of trail. This area was apparently where the ticks had moved too as I began to find them on my legs. Ah the beauty of hairy legs! They have trouble climbing and I can feel them when they disturb a hair follicle, LOL! I arrived at the summit, took a picture and headed back down quickly to get back home for 3.

I did have to stop a few times for more flower pics. I just can't help myself! They were so pretty! One flowering plant on the picture to the left was all over. I've yet to figure out what it is, but very pretty! The task completed I had one 33 gallon bag of trash! I passed a couple my age coming up from the parking lot whom I introduced myself too and spoke with shortly. Nice to see people hiking this area each time I'm here, more than I had previously thought!

I got back home just before Scott arrived from work. He wanted to go for a hike and I was totally down for another hike! It was after all, a beautiful afternoon! We threw some peaks around but really didn't want to drive to them. Doesn't help that we have to head to work at 6/6:30. So it was back to Moose Mountains. I decided we would try the North trail as I recall reading there was some sort of view up there. We got a slight view South from a banking along a landing area where two birds were making noise and flying about. Not sure what they were, Northern Rough-Winged Swallow was the best I could come up with.

We passed by more wildflowers, tiger beetles along the road and dragon fly's. We passed by some open rock ledge with a pretty good view of Piper Mt. and arrived at a large landing zone. It was here I believed we were to take a left but everything looked to be grown in. So we continued on the only open road to the right over a gated bridge which we re-gated. Tick checks kept turning up a couple of the little buggers. Ticks...ick! We continued for a ways upward then as the trail began to drastically descend it was getting too late so we turned back. Another trip not finding the views we had heard about, ugh! Soon we WILL find what we are looking for and can mark and trim these trails!

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!!

Moose Mountain East Knob 5/26/11

"More Moose!" (pictures)
(Moose Mountains Facebook Group)

Difficulty: Hard (steep/loose/rocky up Burrows Farm Trail)

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. You can park at the kiosk or continue 400 feet on an unmaintained road to an upper parking area just past the river.

Report: My third day at Moose Mountains Reservation. I wasn't sure just how much time I would spend as a land steward of this mountain range, but there is so much to see here I will never tire of it! Wildflowers, frogs and so much more! We returned to remove the cable I put over the gate the day before. Apparently it can't be locked because it is a class 6 road. So hopefully it can be locked elsewhere to keep the off road vehicles off the fields and hiking trails! Wendy, a Forester with SPNHF will be giving a tour soon and we will be discussing these things.

Anyhow, once this was done we hiked up New Portsmouth Road passing mud pits from the off road truck use which the Green and Northern Leopard Frogs were enjoying. There were dozens of them! Up to the junction with Burrows Farm Trail which is straight ahead. A left here brings you up to the Burrows Farm Site and field and up to Phoebes Nable Mt. Scott destroyed a fire circle here making sure not to leave a single rock, kicking them down the banking. The trail enters a timber landing zone then climbs passing carpets of violets and patches of pink moccasin flowers.

Once passing a "No Motorized Vehicles" sign the trail began a steep, rocky climb up a slippery, rock filled skid road. The heat and humidity was really killing us but didn't slow us down one bit! We passed a ledgy stream then over some ledgy parts of the trail. Soon we were passing by blue berry bushes and more ledge. Snow Mobile trail markers were present up here. The trail levels off and enters a semi-open plateau of Pitch Pine, Red Pine, Blue Berries, rock erratics and ledges. It was a beautiful area!

The breeze was blowing a welcomed coolness and helped keep the black flies at bay. We found deer and moose tracks as well as some fox scat. We also found a 10 gallon plastic pail chained and locked to a tree and wondered what it was there for. We passed through some high brush and came out with a few ticks, one of which was a deer tick, yuck! We did good all day until we hit the tall brush! Getting late, we had to head back down from here to have a quick dinner and head to work. This hike took about 1.5 hours.

Moose Mountain Reservation 5/25/11

"Tigers and Leopards and Wildflowers Oh, Yah!" (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. You can park at the kiosk or continue 400 feet on an unmaintained road to an upper parking area just past the river.

Report: I returned to Moose Mountains Reservation Wednesday to do some work in the access road culverts and to attach a cable to the gate. It was such a beautiful day! I drove my truck up to the point where a stream crosses the road and parked. I did a quick walk up to the Burrows Farm area to make sure no one was up here in a 4x4 or ATV. Such a wonderful spot. Mountains all around, new leaves on trees a bright green, apple trees flowering and blue sky with white wispy clouds. Ahhhh, so lovely!

I then noticed a bug flying ground level across the dirt. It was an Eastern 6 Spotted Tiger Beetle! I love these florescent green beetles! I returned to the main trail heading back and spotted a couple Northern Leopard Frogs. They are so darn quick and blend right in with the ground cover. I did manage to coax one back out of the leaves for a photo op! Wild Flowers caught my attention again as I traveled along. Yellow Downy Violets and Pink Moccasin flowers where the choice today. Surprisingly after having so many ticks on us the day before I did not have a single one today! Must be they come out later in the day. Or because I was staying away from tall grass, mud and trees!

After getting my hiking, photo fix I then got back to my truck and stopped at each culvert to clean the leaves out and get water flowing again. Black flies began to attack as I affixed a cable over the gate and put up "No Wheeled Vehicle" signage. I kind-of felt bad about blocking this 4x4/ATV paradise, not my thing but every one is different and if that's what they like they should be able to have a place to "play"! But it's not allowed, and even if it was, the property is being abused. I can only hope this doesn't end up being a never ending battle! I don't give up easily and this is a beautiful property needing some TLC, so I am in it for the long haul!

Moose Mountain Reservation 5/24/11

"Wildflowers, Mud, Ruts and Ticks" (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. You can park at the kiosk or continue 400 feet on an unmaintained road to an upper parking area just past the river.

Report: Recently completing our Land Steward training with the SPNHF I thought we would check on the Moose Mountains Reservation property when Scott got home from work Tuesday. A quick 15 minute drive and we pulled into the parking lot. Someone had put the gate back in place but is still in need of a lock. Wildflowers were out in full force as we walked the road. Black flies were a little bothersome but not all that bad. As we walked the road signs of ATV use was evident worse than when we were here exactly a month ago. Muddy ruts were numerous. As we reached the Cemetery section that passes through private property we noticed the cable had been re-attached and locked across the bridge. Again ATV users had dug up the road along the cemetery and up the field entering the Burrows Farm area.

Once up at the Burrows Farm fields of wild strawberry and grasses were torn up by mud tire tread. It was rather upsetting to see so much disregard to this scenic, historic area. We walked up to what we determined to be the home site and found a boulder with a plaque on it. The apple trees were in bloom and it was such a nice spot. Someone had done target practice on the farm site itself filling some old tin pales up with bullet holes. The over shots had nicked the pine tree that marks one of the corners to the Burrows 1800's cemetery. This got me on a vendetta to do everything in my power to stop the illegal use of this property. To add to all this dismay ticks were racing up our clothing and backs quicker than anything I've ever seen!

Past the field we made our way through muddy ruts and up the RV trail. I rolled a large rock into the large pool of water here for easier crossing and to discourage ATV use across it. We continued to the junction below Phoebes Nable Mt. From here we headed back down the main trail where we erected an old gate across the road that had been thrown in the woods. More ticks and black flies we headed back out and to the truck. We have a lot of work on our hands here. Once we can stop the ATV use on this reservation, trails need to be repaired, foot bridges built, blazing needed and culverts cleaned out! All told Scott had 12 ticks on him in just an hour of hiking and I had 6 on me. YUCK!