connor pond area

i didn't want to hike in the rain but then it started raining when i got near connor pond.

i wanted to go for a walk around that area. i saw this sign for a tree farm, i think the chocorua forestlands own most of the property in this area and log it.

after i got past the sign i saw this old building.

i must have made a wrong turn because i ended up in a muddy area with lots of logging junk.

i got sick of tripping on all of the brush so i turned around. i like walking but this wasnt much fun.

bald mountain try

i must have heard the weather wrong because i thought today was supposed to not be as hot as the others have been. anyway i tried to hike bald mountain in the ossipee mountains.

i started on gilman valley road where there are lots of signs

i walked through the hidden gravel pit. the dirt piles had changed and the bucket loader had moved since i last was here (http://ossipeemtnhiker.blogspot.com/2010/06/walk-in-stony-brook-valley.html)

the logging company agreed to close the gravel pit when they were given government money to preserve the land. it was supposed to be closed and rehabilatated a few years ago but theyre still using it.

it was hard to climb up the steep embankments of the pit as i tried to get up to the logging road to bald mountain.

i then saw a machine parked on a snowmobile trail. they were doing something in the woods next to a snowmobile bridge.

i went up the logging road to bald mountain. when i got around the corner a little while, the logging road got pretty rocky.

it was really eroded. i didn't see any water bars and it got worse as i went higher up.

finally it got really eroded and i was getting worried i'd get hurt so i turned around.

the walking was really rough. i'm surprised the government let them do this to the protected land. i want to visit bald mountain but i think this road may be too rough for me.

bayle again

i didn't get around to posting this right away until i emptied my camera for my next post. but i went to bayle on a hot day recently. i thought there would be other people out but there weren't.

there were still lots of trees down on the trail
but it wasn't as bad as when i was here in the spring. come to find out it looks like a nother hiker must have removed some of them according to the notebook at the mountaintop of bayle mountain:

i wonder if they saw the government sign saying no trail maintence. hopefully they don't get into trouble. they could need bail because of bayle.

the views werent that great because it was so hot but it was still a nice day.

bayle.

awhile ago i went on a hike to bayle mountain but didn't post the photos because i hadn't figured out a way to put them on here. i first found out about this mountain from a friend and it was a good find. it was closed last year by the government for awhile.

it was kind of confusing to find the trail. first i found this sign, which i think, explains why the trail wasn't in good shape.

the trail wasn't too well maintained, like how there was this tree laying in it

and this tree was kind of hard to get over.

if no one is allowed to maintain this trail then i wonder if it will eventually become impassable. that would be a shame because there are good views from the ledge:

grant peak (almost)

today i tried to hike grant peak in the ossipees. grant peak is the highest part of nickerson mountain.

i started at gilman valley road. there were some nice flowers:

i started up a logging road i saw on google earth:

it was wicked steep for long straight stretches:


there werent too many water bars but there was a big one at the bottom:

it looks like the logging road is washing down into the stony brook:

there were lots of logging remains:

there were also some deep ruts. it must have been a big skidder:

it was also a little bit muddy in places even though its been dry lately:

more logging remains:

more mucky stuff:

there was a view though i think of mount whitter:

the straight steep sections of the logging road, as well as trying to step over lots of branches and stuff made this a tougher hike than i thought. i was surprised how little stuff was growing up in the logging road even though the wood looks like it was cut awhile ago. im surprised the government is allowing this on the forest legacy area.

sentinal mountain

sentinal mountain is near dan hole pond. the summit has some ledges but it isn't 360 degree views. the hike up is quite a workout on a hot day.


but you can see the bellnaps

there's also a nice view if you keep walking west toward the camp merrowvista trails.

a walk in the stony brook valley

the other day i went for a walk in the stony brook valley. it is located between mount whittier and grant peak.

there were some neat ferns at the entrance:

awhile later i saw a nice field on my left. i decided to walk up it to get a view:

i saw a gravel pit behind it:

there was fresh dirt. they must have been using the bucket loader recently:


it was a pretty big gravel pit.

it started to rain a little bit so i turned around. i didn't know there was a gravel pit out here i thought it was just woods. it was nice to get out for a walk though.

update i read that in the "Grant of Conservation Easement" document filed with the carroll county registry on march 28 2002, chocorua forestlands had an "obligation to restore and reclaim the Gravel Reserve" after "two (2) years commencing on the date this Conservation Deed is signed". interesting. i think that would mean that in 2004 the gravel pit would have been closed. it looked active to me when i was there this year (2010).

a favorite trail of mine

a favorite trail of mine in the ossipee mountains is the gorilla trail. the gorilla trail goes from mount shaw to mount flag.

parts of it are very grassy and remind me of the south a little bit.















it is also really rocky.
















it was illegal to use the trail last year because it got closed by the government. it is now open again.

the ossipees from mount whiteface

here is what the ossipees look like from mount whiteface. mount whiteface is north of the ossipees.

welcome to my first blog post.

my interest in the ossipees started many years ago visiting the area as a young person. i have hiked many of the trails, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

the ossipees are not part of the national forest. i have seen some troubling things happening. while there is a lot of conservation going on there is also a lot of destruction.

i hope to share with you photos of the good things, as well as the bad things.