Today I wanted a short walk (60-90 minutes) in the woods, so I drove to the Smart's Brook trailhead planning to do the classic loop over the XC ski trails: Tritown -> Yellow Jacket -> Pine Flats. But:
When I was about ¼ mile from the upper end on the Tritown Trail I noticed a well worn path heading south. No need for much thought ... when I see something new and interesting I explore it!
The path was narrow but surprisingly well beaten, with definite evidence of prior trail work. It went to the south, and my initial assumption was that it led to Sandwich Notch Road. That interested me very much ... would it help doing a loop up the Algonquin Trail and down Smart's Brook Trail with only one car?
I noticed a few paths branching off in various directions, but always chose to go south. I met one moutain biker, who told me that indeed the trail led to the road, and that there were many trails in the area, mainly used by the mountain biking community. He did not mention Atwood Pond, though he did speak of wet areas.
My GPSr showed clearly that I was heading to the pond, and I spent some time exploring its northern shore, where there is an elevated rock with an excellent view of the pond. No photos ... I had planned a trip to my (outdoors) gym. (The GPSr is always with me to measure distances and elevation gains.)
I was late, the trail to the road was not obvious, and in any case I was far more interested in having found the pond from the north than in finding the road, so that will have to wait for another exploration.
The trail is a bit over a mile from the Tritown Trail to the pond, with a couple of hundred feet of elevation each way.
Since the real fun was the exploration I will not share the GPS track!
When I was about ¼ mile from the upper end on the Tritown Trail I noticed a well worn path heading south. No need for much thought ... when I see something new and interesting I explore it!
The path was narrow but surprisingly well beaten, with definite evidence of prior trail work. It went to the south, and my initial assumption was that it led to Sandwich Notch Road. That interested me very much ... would it help doing a loop up the Algonquin Trail and down Smart's Brook Trail with only one car?
I noticed a few paths branching off in various directions, but always chose to go south. I met one moutain biker, who told me that indeed the trail led to the road, and that there were many trails in the area, mainly used by the mountain biking community. He did not mention Atwood Pond, though he did speak of wet areas.
My GPSr showed clearly that I was heading to the pond, and I spent some time exploring its northern shore, where there is an elevated rock with an excellent view of the pond. No photos ... I had planned a trip to my (outdoors) gym. (The GPSr is always with me to measure distances and elevation gains.)
I was late, the trail to the road was not obvious, and in any case I was far more interested in having found the pond from the north than in finding the road, so that will have to wait for another exploration.
The trail is a bit over a mile from the Tritown Trail to the pond, with a couple of hundred feet of elevation each way.
Since the real fun was the exploration I will not share the GPS track!
