Kevin Judy and Emma
Well-known member
View Northeast from Belknap Firetower
Piper 2044' /Belknap 2382'/Round Pond 10/25/09
Piper Mountain Trail/Belknap Mountain Trail/Boulder Trail/Piper Mountain Link Trail
8?Miles 1200'?Elevation gain
Kevin, Judy and Emma
Saturday it rained. Sunday we slept late and had to get home early. It was off to the Belknaps again. I had wanted to explore Round Pond since spotting it from the firetower on previous trips. From the firetower's vantage several ponds can be seen to the south, but there is one that is different from the rest. It is obvious it sits higher than the others, nestled between a couple of bumps known as Mount Klem and Mount Mack on the ridge known as the Belknap Range as it stretches way southeast from the highest bump known as Belknap Mountain.
View to Belknap from Piper
After a swift climb to Piper and then on to Belknap, we turned south and followed the East Gilford Trail to its junction with the Boulder Trail and began the descent of the south face of Belknap. The ledges were slippery from the previous day's rain and the going was a little more treacherous than I had expected to find. The descent steepened and soon we were picking our way through boulders in an impressive talus field. Sections of this field can be spotted from the ledges on Piper Mountain belying its presence, but from that vantage I found it was hard to appreciate the size and volume of medium size boulders until actually scrambling across them.
Boulder Field
At the bottom of the boulder field the the trail again enters the woods and easily descends, then rises again as it winds its way to Round Pond. Eventually a red blazed trail intersects and by following this south a couple of hundred yards we gently sloped down to the edge of this beautiful little pond. It was actually larger than I expected, 20-25 acres if I had to guess. We had lunch there and soaked up what little warmth the sun offered.
Round Pond
I thought, "Bright sun in a cloudless sky, perfect fall conditions, but lousy for photography with its harsh light and boring blue skies. I would like to return again with better light." Then I thought, "What, are you nuts? Take what you're given. Not too many more of these gems left in this year."
False Puffball Scleroderma aurantium
The trails were very wet. Standing water where it was flat and running water where it was sloped. The ledges were wet and slippery. Leaves were everywhere making the entire trail slippery, even where they had managed to dry off. We came across many streams cascading where in dry stretches I'm sure there are usually none. The climb back up to the height of land on the Piper Mountain Link Trail was particularly wet and soggy. My guess is at this writing the trails had completely dried out only to be flooded again by today's rain.
Gallery here:
KDT
