RoySwkr
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Still trying to hike N half of Welton Falls Trail. A few years ago didn't find top end of trail because map showed it in wrong place (still does). Then a couple years ago couldn't find bottom in new subdivision, so it was top down again with revised description. Drove around subdivision a couple times so we thought we would recognize where we came out, parked shuttle car (late model Oldsmobile) under real estate sign and found business card when we got back.
Bear Mtn Trail was built in 1942 by Camp Mowglis but didn't appear in AMC Guide until recently. It climbs 700' in .5 miles which is similar in steepness to 6 Husbands for example although of course much shorter. Either the trail or driving description scared off other hikers and we had the not-so-limited parking to ourselves. The trail starts off gradually which means the upper part is steeper to make up for it. As a Mowglis trail there are no stone steps or ladders, just steep dirt and ledges although one ledge had a more recent switchback bypass. Then easy walk from Elwell Trail junction to the narrow viewpoint over Nuttings Beach.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=4838968&e=272767&s=100&size=l&datum=nad83
The section over Bear Mtn had more scrambling than I remembered or the guidebook indicates although not as steep as before. The USGS map shows 3 bumps with the middle one slightly higher and the only one with a trail, there are more like 6 bumps with the trail over all of them so while you may not know which one was the summit at least you've been there. Beyond the 6th bump the trail is quite overgrown and the USGS map is even more in error: it goes N rather than S of the 1819 peak for example. Finally the powerline is reached with essentially no footway across, just a bramble tangle to the service road which it follows R aways before entering the brambles again.
The next section of trail was wide and easy to follow to a deadfall patch where the mysterious trail junction was found. The upper part of the Welton Falls Trail was overgrown until the powerline was reached again with more brambles to fight. The trail crosses a snowmobile trail and follows an old woods road awhile before leaving it R. Eventually the trail starts circling slightly uphill and comes out in a cutover area above the subdivision grown up in leafy vegetation. We wandered in this for awhile but never found any more markers and finally just walked down the subdivision road when we struck it. Perhaps the trail actually circles around to a secret trailhead - I still don't know!
I had been to only 3 of the 5 Owls Heads in NH and decided it was time for another one. The map showed the summit as undeveloped so parked on the main road and bushwhacked up, to discover a cottage colony with one building right on the high point. There was a car in the yard so I knocked on the door and visited all the buildings but nobody around. Hence I don't know if peakbaggers come there often or if more are welcome.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=4839903&e=275124&datum=nad83
Bear Mtn Trail was built in 1942 by Camp Mowglis but didn't appear in AMC Guide until recently. It climbs 700' in .5 miles which is similar in steepness to 6 Husbands for example although of course much shorter. Either the trail or driving description scared off other hikers and we had the not-so-limited parking to ourselves. The trail starts off gradually which means the upper part is steeper to make up for it. As a Mowglis trail there are no stone steps or ladders, just steep dirt and ledges although one ledge had a more recent switchback bypass. Then easy walk from Elwell Trail junction to the narrow viewpoint over Nuttings Beach.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=4838968&e=272767&s=100&size=l&datum=nad83
The section over Bear Mtn had more scrambling than I remembered or the guidebook indicates although not as steep as before. The USGS map shows 3 bumps with the middle one slightly higher and the only one with a trail, there are more like 6 bumps with the trail over all of them so while you may not know which one was the summit at least you've been there. Beyond the 6th bump the trail is quite overgrown and the USGS map is even more in error: it goes N rather than S of the 1819 peak for example. Finally the powerline is reached with essentially no footway across, just a bramble tangle to the service road which it follows R aways before entering the brambles again.
The next section of trail was wide and easy to follow to a deadfall patch where the mysterious trail junction was found. The upper part of the Welton Falls Trail was overgrown until the powerline was reached again with more brambles to fight. The trail crosses a snowmobile trail and follows an old woods road awhile before leaving it R. Eventually the trail starts circling slightly uphill and comes out in a cutover area above the subdivision grown up in leafy vegetation. We wandered in this for awhile but never found any more markers and finally just walked down the subdivision road when we struck it. Perhaps the trail actually circles around to a secret trailhead - I still don't know!
I had been to only 3 of the 5 Owls Heads in NH and decided it was time for another one. The map showed the summit as undeveloped so parked on the main road and bushwhacked up, to discover a cottage colony with one building right on the high point. There was a car in the yard so I knocked on the door and visited all the buildings but nobody around. Hence I don't know if peakbaggers come there often or if more are welcome.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=4839903&e=275124&datum=nad83
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