Mt. Israel with a side trip the Beede Falls.

[DayTrip]

Here's a link to the Bandit's website where you can access free downloads of his maps.

Thanks. I had found the site and used it for some of the planning.

 

[sierra]

I went up SAT and did a 17 mile loop: up Mt Roberts Trail > High Ridge Trail > Turtleback Trail back to car with stops on Black Snout and Turtleback spurs. One thing I did not realize was that the trails are actually roads because they are also snowmobile trails in Winter. Not a big road fan. I thought the Mount Roberts Trail was AWESOME. Love trails like that with grassy areas, stunted oaks covered in lichens and lots of outlooks. I thought I was going to have a hike for the ages thinking the whole ridge was going to be like that. High Ridge wasn't bad but seemed to go on forever heading over to Mt Shaw. Reminded me of some trails I've done in NC with the high outlooks and all the switchbacks. The outlook on Shaw is pretty awesome. Washington looked like Mt Fuji or something in the distance, dominating the horizon with its snow covered slopes. The Turtleback Trail I thought was lousy. Just a road and not much to look at, even with the leaves not out yet. Was like Lincoln Woods Trail with switchbacks on it. If I had realized this I probably would have made different trail selections. I'm not a big fan of road trails like that. But this loop gave me a good overall feel for the area and things I might try in the future. I got there at 6:15 AM thinking it would be busy and parking might be an issue. I was the only one there. Didn't see a person until summit of Shaw (a very nice local woman who gave me some info on the area and then left me to enjoy the summit). I ran into her going up/coming down each summit spur after that and I didn't see another person until leaving Black Snout and saw maybe 15 people all day.

All in all I really liked the range and the area. Having all those lake views while cruising around was very cool. And the summit outlooks were all really nice. I was also pretty surprised at how much snow was still left at these elevations. Was not expecting that. I'll have to get back up there and check out the Eastern side of the area and the peaks there. Thanks for the suggestion. It really fit the mood I was in.

Nice job, that's way more miles than I typically do that's for sure. I happen to like the tote roads, but there are probably those that do and those that do not. Glad you enjoyed it. Bayle Mt. is the orphan of the range, accessible off route 16 and a bunch of back roads. You can bag it in short time, it's a nice little peak, I usually do it, if I'm coming home early from something else.

 

[Barkingcat]

One thing I did not realize was that the trails are actually roads because they are also snowmobile trails in Winter.

Well, perhaps -- but many of the roads were originally constructed as carriage roads by Tom and Olive Plant, the people who built the estate in 1913-14. They reportedly drove their "mountain car" on many of the roads, as well. Many of these roads are still in use now as hiking trails and, as you mentioned, snowmobile trails.

 

[DayTrip]

Well, perhaps -- but many of the roads were originally constructed as carriage roads by Tom and Olive Plant, the people who built the estate in 1913-14. They reportedly drove their "mountain car" on many of the roads, as well. Many of these roads are still in use now as hiking trails and, as you mentioned, snowmobile trails.

I didn't know any of the history of the area but that doesn't surprise me. The grades were very comfortable and the switchbacks very gentle, even for snowmobile trails, so I suspected it was probably some sort of carriage road "back in the day". I also saw numerous artificial looking depressions off the various roads that could have been root cellars or long gone foundation areas. Spotted several rusted artifacts along the way too.

 

[peakbagger]

Some parallels with JE Henry and all the old logging firms building all those nice smoothly graded railroad beds and dugwaysall over the whites . Unfortunately many of the railroad are in valleys near drainages so they have gotten torn up a bit in last 100 years.

 

[Barkingcat]

I didn't know any of the history of the area but that doesn't surprise me. The grades were very comfortable and the switchbacks very gentle, even for snowmobile trails, so I suspected it was probably some sort of carriage road "back in the day". I also saw numerous artificial looking depressions off the various roads that could have been root cellars or long gone foundation areas. Spotted several rusted artifacts along the way too.

The depressions and artifacts may well be related to another (not-so-happy) backstory for construction of the estate: when Tom Plant bought the property (Ossipee Mountain Park) where Castle in the Clouds/Lucknow is now built, he also bought many smaller adjacent properties, in order to increase the overall size of the estate. It's rumored that he strong-armed some of these locals into selling to him. This New England Historical Society entry on Plant has some interesting information about the property acquisition, road construction, and the fate of the property after Plant went bankrupt.