Wachusett Meadow Audubon Society Reservation--Brown Hill Loop

The weekend was turning out a bit better than predicted--the rains were going to hold off until Sunday afternoon instead of Saturday afternoon, so we went out on Saturday. One of us did not want to goto Mt. Wachusett, so we decided to head for another nearby location with hills, Wachusett Meadow, a property held by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. 

We have a membership, so we just signed in and checked the map fo rthe route we wanted to take, and off we went.  On the way in, we noted that the Meadow was holding a "Bird and Breakfast" event, so I was concerned that it would be very crowded, but this was already afternoon, so it wasn't too bad.  We had barely gotten started though, when we ran into old friends who had stopped to look for a yellow warbler that they had heard.We spent a few minutes in conversation, then we went our separate ways.

The Brown Hill Loop is reached at the upper reaches of a meadow. We considered starting up the Birch Trail to cut off some of the hike, but after going along it for a short distance we were unsure that it was going where we wanted. A quick look at the map revealed our problem: We had grabbed a Mt. Wachusett map by mistake and couldn't confirm how the Birch Trail went.  So we backtracked a hundred yards or so to take the more certain route.

The day was mostly cloudy, but not too dark. The leaves were still coming out on the trees, so the canopy was thin and the leaves themselves were a light green. This gave the hike thorugh the woods a lighter feeling than we would have in the middle of summer. The black flies, unfortunately, were getting to be quite annoying.

The trail undulates up and down, left and right as it slowly makes its way around Brown Hill. While we did pass a few small groups of fellow hikers, it was generally pretty quiet. Quiet enough that I kept reminding my fellow hikers to keep the noise down.  That advice paid off--suddenly, a deer burst out from very close in front of us! It ran into the woods to our left not too far away so we could still make it out.  Frances and Gary stopped to get photos while I continued on. The trail swung a bit to the left, bringing me closer to the deer, who was now watching me intently.

Deer along the Brown Hill Loop trail at Wachusett Meadow. (Click to enlarge.)

The deer watched as my route turned back to the right and went away from it. Then Frances and Gary started to follow the trail, and the deer became nervous, bounding off farther into the woods. It was then that I saw the second deer, ahead of the one we initially spotted. By watching carefully, we could see the two of them making their way more slowly through the woods and up the hill.  While we thought we'd get to see them later, it turned out that we didn't.

We passed the eastern junction of the trail up to the Brown Hill Summit and enjoyed the walk around it, until we got to the western junction of the summit trail. Here, we waited as a group we had passed earlier came down from the summit, and headed up, ourselves.

Right around now, Gary found a collection of dog ticks on his socks.  Frances quickly picked them off and threw them away from the trail while Gary barely was able to keep from panicking--or pretending to nearly panick as a pre-teen can do.

After a quick look around from the top of Brown Hill, where the black flies were least bothersome, we turned back the way we can, went by the Glacial Boulder, and finally through the meadow. Gary managed to pick up one more tick along the way. We gave each other a tick check, then headed home. (We managed to find one more tick, on Frances, after we got home. It had found itself a comfortable spot and was starting to attach itself, but hadn't quite gotten there yet.)

Monadnock--The Marlboro Trail

On Saturday, we got a late start but managed to get to Mt. Monadnock's Marlboro Trail head in New Hampshire at about 2:00 PM.  The day had been pretty variable--beautfully clear in the morning, then increasing clouds. It was supposed to clear again, but it looked a bit threatening as we started the hike.

This was my first time on the Marlboro Trail in perhaps four years. A couple of years of various physical issues interfered drastically with the weekly hikes I used to make. But Saturday was going to be the first time for the year, and maybe we'd be able to do some fairly frequent hikes later on.

I should have re-read my own description of the trail. The foot of the trail was steeper than I had recalled it. Not terribly steep, mind you, but certainly it went up a lot more than I thought it would. And depsite the hiking I've been doing on Mt. Wachusett, I was still struggling here.  (My friends Richard and Beverly had commiserated with me a couple of hours early about how much slower we had gotten in the past few years.)

The weather cleared as we continued up the trail, which on the lower slopes had a number of soggy and muddy areas. There were a few small sets of stairs here and there that Jim had managed to install. Generally, the trail was in good shape. Cairns were common even at the lower elevations, although the painted square trail blaze wasn't the capital M I expected until we got up to the first rocky clearing. 

We stopped to rest there--the other two seemed to be more tired than me at that point, although I was breathing hard when I caught up to them there.  We looked around a bit and enjoyed the views. Gary wanted to see Mt. Wachusett, but we couldn't quite pick it out from this spot. (On the way down, we saw that it was just at the shoulder of the mountain to the south.)

We continued up, taking a few minutes at the junction with the Marian Trail, just a little more than half way to the top.  We were all starting to get pretty beat by this point, but oped to continue up a little farther.

After leaving the deciduous trees behind, we were in all evergreen forest. A steep part was ahead of us, and lots of evergreens. The other two were looking like they had had enough, even though they said they'd go all the way if I did. Check the time: An hour and a half to this point,with at least half an hour to go--and probably more like 45 minutes. And then back down.  We decided not to push it, so we caught our breath, and a few photos, and turned around.  Half an hour later we were in the car and heading home, with a commitment to climb Mt. Wachusett again midweek, and to come back to Monadnock on the next weekend to head for the top.

The view to the northwest from the Marlboro Trail.

See the information about the trails on Mt. Monadnock.

Mt. Wachusett--Bolton Pond and Semuhenna Trail

Well, we've been up Mt. Wachusett several times this spring as we try to get back into hiking condition. Most often I go up the Pine Hill Trail--fast and furious to the top, but this weekend we decided to see how the Bolton Pond Trail looked.

The Bolton Pond Trail starts off Bolton Road in Westminster.  Coming from Rt. 140 and heading to the parking for the skiing trails but before you get to the main parking area, you'll find Bolton Road to your right. Perhaps half a mile along that road, watch carefully for the trailhead on the left. The road widens briefly about 30 meters (100 feet) past that trailhead, giving you space to park.

This trail is not heavily used. From this location, you have one of the longest hikes to the summit, and it's also one that gains you the most altitude. 

The trail begins with a short, steep section, that turns sharply to the right and follows the contours of the hillside for perhaps 400 meters (440 yards). You pass an old building site--it looks like a hole in the ground but look carefully and you can see foundation stones and obvious man-made features. The trail quickly comes to the edge of a steep gully on your right with a rushing stream at the bottom. As you follow the gully upstream, you eventually come to Bolton Pond.

An old mill dam creates the pond, but beavers have added to the dam so now the water level is at least 30 cm (1 foot) higher than the top of the dam. You can nonetheless turn to your right and walk across the stone dam to one of the two beaver lodges that are found here. It's a pretty interesting feature!

The Bolton Pond Trail goes to the left, opposite the direction of the dam, continuing uphill through a mix of forest. The trail is mostly uphill from here on to the end. Right now, in the spring or after heavy rain, it is quite wet and muddy. Conscientious hikers will walk up through the running water and mud so we don't make the trail wider and cause more erosion.

After some distance, you'll come across Balance Rock. It is, as you might suspect, one very large rock sitting on top of another very large rock. They are both "glacial erratics" for those of you interested in such things. The trail joins the Balance Rock Trail and goes to the right past the rocks, meeting Balance Rock Road, one of the old roads criss-crossing Wachusett Mountain State Reservation. Across the street you'll find the Semuhenna Trail and the Old Indian Trail. You are also now following the Midstate Trail on it's trek from Connecticut to New Hampshire.

Perhaps 400 meters (440 yards) from the road, the Semuhenna Trail turns to the right. Looking to the left past the Old Indian Trail, we could see snow on the ski slopes still hanging in there in mid-April. The Semuhenna Trail continues uphill, steeply in some areas, until it reaches the Up Summit Road. At  this time, hiking along the road is prohibited, as it is under construction. (I hope to have more information on that later.) To the right, the North Road comes to the Up Summit Road as well.

This week, this is as far as we went. Rain was starting to fall, and some of us were feeling a bit tired. We'll see about doing more of the trail on another day. Maybe next week we'll complete this hike or perhaps take one of the other trails to the top.

Don't forget to visit the Hiking Trails on Mt. Monadnock home page.