peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
A local group from the area went exploring one of the partially recovered trails in Shelburne NH. From various viewpoints along RT 2 looking over at the south side of the Mahoosucs, there are all sorts of subsidiary summits and open viewpoints that look like good places to hike to. At one time there was an extensive trail system going to many of those summits but over the years, the trails stopped being signed or maintained and logging erased parts of the old trail routes making them unusable. Although many of the trails remain on the latest USGS quad, most were not usable. In the last 2 or 3 years, the trail system is being restored and resigned (although a new map is not yet available.
On Sunday 11/22 we tried out the restored Middle Mtn route from the west side that diverges off the Peabody Brook Trail. It is a pleasant fairly well graded path through mostly hardwoods and occasional patches of softwood, as the leaves were down there was lots of sun and views that would not be present during the summer. On occasion there were nice views of the upper ledges of Baldcap. The trail was not signed, but was flagged fairly well and there was some initial clipping. As the trail mostly follows old logging and twitch paths, it was fairly open. I didnt GPS track it but it appears to follow the route shown on the USGS map. After plesant but cold hike up we came to the summit of Middle Mtn for some pleasant but obscured views towards the Whites. From the top of Middle we then followed another trail from the east which was mostly blazed and had been getting a lot more use.
While coming down we encountered a group of 4 in orange including Vegematic (Nancy). After talking a bit and letting them know the east trail was marked and easily followed, we dropped down to the sag between Middle and First Mtn. Rather than taking the trail down we went up the sag to a saddle between Middle and First and did a short bushwhack over to First Mtn. As the woods opened up, we encountered a flagged trail and occasional views along the headlands of First Mtn. We followed the trail down to the east which eventually swung south following a property boundary most of the time and a logging road. We intended to also climb Mt Crag, so after looking for a trail to Gates Brook, we ended up going off trail east through the woods coming out on the trail up Gates Brook almost opposite the trail up Mt Crag. My friend mentioned that if we followed the First Mtn trail all the way it would come out on North Road in Shelburne.
After a short but steady climb up Mt Crag, it was one last break and on to Austin Brook Trail. Had we the motivation, the "yellow trail" head beckoned to head to Philbrook farm, but we elected to save it and other trails for another day.
Some general comments about the Shelburne trails is that the trail heads can be a challenge to find. Several of them arent marked at the roadside, like First Mtn and Gates Brook. Once you are in from the road, they become obvious. The other observation is that just because the summits arent high, doesnt mean there arent steep sections. In keeping with regional trail building tradition, the lower trails tend to follow old logging roads and then go into the "fall line" approach directly up the side of the mountain. Those sections can be steep and switchbacks are not common. The last observation is that these trails are best visited when the leaves are down as otherwise they would be mostly a woods walk.
On Sunday 11/22 we tried out the restored Middle Mtn route from the west side that diverges off the Peabody Brook Trail. It is a pleasant fairly well graded path through mostly hardwoods and occasional patches of softwood, as the leaves were down there was lots of sun and views that would not be present during the summer. On occasion there were nice views of the upper ledges of Baldcap. The trail was not signed, but was flagged fairly well and there was some initial clipping. As the trail mostly follows old logging and twitch paths, it was fairly open. I didnt GPS track it but it appears to follow the route shown on the USGS map. After plesant but cold hike up we came to the summit of Middle Mtn for some pleasant but obscured views towards the Whites. From the top of Middle we then followed another trail from the east which was mostly blazed and had been getting a lot more use.
While coming down we encountered a group of 4 in orange including Vegematic (Nancy). After talking a bit and letting them know the east trail was marked and easily followed, we dropped down to the sag between Middle and First Mtn. Rather than taking the trail down we went up the sag to a saddle between Middle and First and did a short bushwhack over to First Mtn. As the woods opened up, we encountered a flagged trail and occasional views along the headlands of First Mtn. We followed the trail down to the east which eventually swung south following a property boundary most of the time and a logging road. We intended to also climb Mt Crag, so after looking for a trail to Gates Brook, we ended up going off trail east through the woods coming out on the trail up Gates Brook almost opposite the trail up Mt Crag. My friend mentioned that if we followed the First Mtn trail all the way it would come out on North Road in Shelburne.
After a short but steady climb up Mt Crag, it was one last break and on to Austin Brook Trail. Had we the motivation, the "yellow trail" head beckoned to head to Philbrook farm, but we elected to save it and other trails for another day.
Some general comments about the Shelburne trails is that the trail heads can be a challenge to find. Several of them arent marked at the roadside, like First Mtn and Gates Brook. Once you are in from the road, they become obvious. The other observation is that just because the summits arent high, doesnt mean there arent steep sections. In keeping with regional trail building tradition, the lower trails tend to follow old logging roads and then go into the "fall line" approach directly up the side of the mountain. Those sections can be steep and switchbacks are not common. The last observation is that these trails are best visited when the leaves are down as otherwise they would be mostly a woods walk.
