rambler
New member
This makes a nice four dy trip or plenty of day trip options out of Andover and the Pine Ellis Hostel and Shuttle service. Starting at Rte 26, Grafton Notch, my daughter and I found the shelters either too close or too far, but found excellent tentsites near all the road crossings.
There appeared to be sites along the Cascades' blue trail almost next to East B road, but pushing on up the easy grade to Surplus Pond there is a nice site between the pond and the little used logging road that ends at the pond. It is exposed to wind coming across the pond, however.
Just before the trail crosses Black Brook at South Arm Rd. there is a large site that borders the Brook. It is quite sandy so beware the bottom of your sleeping bag if you do not use a ground cover. There is a smaller grassy site near-by. Finding a fire pit, we got a small fire going to keep warm during dinner with plenty of dead branches near-by. Other than a few early morning trucks, there was almost no traffic on the road which is just on the other side of the Brook. All of the water crossings were rock hops.
With the leaves on the ground and in a beautiful area of hardwoods is a great campsite between the logging road and Bemis Stream, ie. just south of the stream. The climb down off First Peak is very steep and we expected the same going up the other side of the notch to highway 17. Thanks to switchbacks, however, the climb up to the road is comparitively easy. Whew!
Once leaving the Height of Land (wow what a view) there are no long, open views along the trail to Rte. 4, but the Ponds and campsites are beautiful. The spring at the Little Swift River Pond Campsite flows right out of a pipe at the edge of the pond, right next to the canoes! Long Pond has a sandy beach and great view, and the only "bump" in this section are the Bates Ledges. There is a nice grassy meadow under the power lines. This would be an excellent 13 mile section to do as an overnight backpack with young kids or first time backpackers. We saw a family taking two nights!
The Baldpates, East and West Peaks, are amazing. The new Grafton Loop trail comes in at West peak some 16 miles or so from Rte. 26. Mt. Blue has a view. Mt. Bemis is a mystery. Saw a one-mile-to the-summit sign, but never a sign on the wooded summit, just a guess as to when we passed over it. The same could be said for the first and third peaks of Bemis, but the ledge walk between them is another remarkable section of the trail. What a stretch of beautiful clear cool fall weather we enjoyed. Great hike.
http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi?action=viewall&albumID=198210768
There appeared to be sites along the Cascades' blue trail almost next to East B road, but pushing on up the easy grade to Surplus Pond there is a nice site between the pond and the little used logging road that ends at the pond. It is exposed to wind coming across the pond, however.
Just before the trail crosses Black Brook at South Arm Rd. there is a large site that borders the Brook. It is quite sandy so beware the bottom of your sleeping bag if you do not use a ground cover. There is a smaller grassy site near-by. Finding a fire pit, we got a small fire going to keep warm during dinner with plenty of dead branches near-by. Other than a few early morning trucks, there was almost no traffic on the road which is just on the other side of the Brook. All of the water crossings were rock hops.
With the leaves on the ground and in a beautiful area of hardwoods is a great campsite between the logging road and Bemis Stream, ie. just south of the stream. The climb down off First Peak is very steep and we expected the same going up the other side of the notch to highway 17. Thanks to switchbacks, however, the climb up to the road is comparitively easy. Whew!
Once leaving the Height of Land (wow what a view) there are no long, open views along the trail to Rte. 4, but the Ponds and campsites are beautiful. The spring at the Little Swift River Pond Campsite flows right out of a pipe at the edge of the pond, right next to the canoes! Long Pond has a sandy beach and great view, and the only "bump" in this section are the Bates Ledges. There is a nice grassy meadow under the power lines. This would be an excellent 13 mile section to do as an overnight backpack with young kids or first time backpackers. We saw a family taking two nights!
The Baldpates, East and West Peaks, are amazing. The new Grafton Loop trail comes in at West peak some 16 miles or so from Rte. 26. Mt. Blue has a view. Mt. Bemis is a mystery. Saw a one-mile-to the-summit sign, but never a sign on the wooded summit, just a guess as to when we passed over it. The same could be said for the first and third peaks of Bemis, but the ledge walk between them is another remarkable section of the trail. What a stretch of beautiful clear cool fall weather we enjoyed. Great hike.
http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi?action=viewall&albumID=198210768
