buckyball1
New member
Rolled over about 345 this morning and decided 13-15 degrees at 7AM near Bethel would be too cold for a fair weather guy like me- back to sleep-hike another day--about 545 i decide maybe 22 degrees by 9 would be just fine, so drive west over the Rt 2 "corridor" toward Gorham. Just west of Bethel (actually in W Bethel) turn south on the Flat Rd -bright sun, no wind, lo 20s
Sparrowhawk-1447' -I found the Chestnut Knoll Rd (west side of peak) and drove "up". As you might gather from the road name, this is a new, upscale development, much of it second homes. The road is covered with no trespassing/no hunting signs which upon careful reading restrict you only on house lots/land. I talked with several people in the development about where i might park w/o being a problem. They were all "very nice", but clearly wary and looking into the Forester to see i had a gun (very anti-hunter sentiment)
I headed up far as possible on the road and then headed directly toward the summit. Easy woods and part way up i hit a brand new "construction" road that went all the way to the top. Better get here soon before a McMansion occupies the summit
. I ran into two different hunters and we chatted for 15 minutes. Both life long nearby residents and clearly upset with the "new development" people ("flatlanders" and "people from MA"). Bit sad, both sets of people seemed pretty nice, but so different and doomed to clash. The top was a construction site with two small summit bumps (i touched then both if you're concerned )-excellent 360 view. On the way down i checked out the cliffs on Pine and the spikey Pickett Henry, very inviting for a future fun (no list) hike...back to Bethel, south on Rt 26 looking for access to
Walkers-1442'-My plan was to go north on Chandler Hill Rd, then loop south on Chase Rd to park. When i started down the Chase Rd, i talked to a homeowner who told me the road was blocked because of an eminent domain dispute between the Town and a landowner-mostly over "problems" caused by yet another high end, on the side of the mountain 2nd home development (the theme for this week's hikes). So back to Rt 26 and tried an approach on the Taylor Smith Rd--worked perfectly. Talked with an old timer near the road's end who explained his version of the new construction vs long time residents issue.--lots of local color today.
I headed up a gravel road, then an old skid road and finally an honest 0.3 'whack through somewhat thick woods with lots of blowdown. Totally wooded top, no even peek-a-boo views and a few large, dead, broken off trees at summit. Back to Rt 26, east to Locke's Mills (it says Lock in Delorme), south to Greenwood and then to the Richardson Hollow Rd looking for
Noyes-1510'-I hoped to find a small parking lot and a road with a yellow sign ("1") about 0.4 miles east on RH Road-right there (south side of Noyes-mountain is crazy steep on the west side). I talked with a group of mineral hunters on a guided tour/hunt at some local quarries and got ideas from the leader re a decent way up Noyes (covered with old roads/paths). They also told me the Perham's rock shop at intersection of 26/219 was out of business--this was a long standing "institution" for a lot of people.
I headed up the roads and found the "Harvard Quarry" fairly high up the mountains' side-sparkled with mica and quartz in the bright sun.. It was owned and used by Harvard for geology/mineral expeditions for years and is now "inactive", but visited by numerous amateur rockhounds. I went hand over hand up a steep rock/gravel slope out of the quarry and then through some steep, but open woods to the top. Totally wooded. I came down a road i found - some nice views. Upon reaching the car, i wandered over to another mine/quarry, poked around for a bit before heading home
nothing earthshaking hikewise, but some good conversations today--another "fun" day
jim
Sparrowhawk-1447' -I found the Chestnut Knoll Rd (west side of peak) and drove "up". As you might gather from the road name, this is a new, upscale development, much of it second homes. The road is covered with no trespassing/no hunting signs which upon careful reading restrict you only on house lots/land. I talked with several people in the development about where i might park w/o being a problem. They were all "very nice", but clearly wary and looking into the Forester to see i had a gun (very anti-hunter sentiment)
I headed up far as possible on the road and then headed directly toward the summit. Easy woods and part way up i hit a brand new "construction" road that went all the way to the top. Better get here soon before a McMansion occupies the summit
. I ran into two different hunters and we chatted for 15 minutes. Both life long nearby residents and clearly upset with the "new development" people ("flatlanders" and "people from MA"). Bit sad, both sets of people seemed pretty nice, but so different and doomed to clash. The top was a construction site with two small summit bumps (i touched then both if you're concerned )-excellent 360 view. On the way down i checked out the cliffs on Pine and the spikey Pickett Henry, very inviting for a future fun (no list) hike...back to Bethel, south on Rt 26 looking for access to Walkers-1442'-My plan was to go north on Chandler Hill Rd, then loop south on Chase Rd to park. When i started down the Chase Rd, i talked to a homeowner who told me the road was blocked because of an eminent domain dispute between the Town and a landowner-mostly over "problems" caused by yet another high end, on the side of the mountain 2nd home development (the theme for this week's hikes). So back to Rt 26 and tried an approach on the Taylor Smith Rd--worked perfectly. Talked with an old timer near the road's end who explained his version of the new construction vs long time residents issue.--lots of local color today.
I headed up a gravel road, then an old skid road and finally an honest 0.3 'whack through somewhat thick woods with lots of blowdown. Totally wooded top, no even peek-a-boo views and a few large, dead, broken off trees at summit. Back to Rt 26, east to Locke's Mills (it says Lock in Delorme), south to Greenwood and then to the Richardson Hollow Rd looking for
Noyes-1510'-I hoped to find a small parking lot and a road with a yellow sign ("1") about 0.4 miles east on RH Road-right there (south side of Noyes-mountain is crazy steep on the west side). I talked with a group of mineral hunters on a guided tour/hunt at some local quarries and got ideas from the leader re a decent way up Noyes (covered with old roads/paths). They also told me the Perham's rock shop at intersection of 26/219 was out of business--this was a long standing "institution" for a lot of people.
I headed up the roads and found the "Harvard Quarry" fairly high up the mountains' side-sparkled with mica and quartz in the bright sun.. It was owned and used by Harvard for geology/mineral expeditions for years and is now "inactive", but visited by numerous amateur rockhounds. I went hand over hand up a steep rock/gravel slope out of the quarry and then through some steep, but open woods to the top. Totally wooded. I came down a road i found - some nice views. Upon reaching the car, i wandered over to another mine/quarry, poked around for a bit before heading home
nothing earthshaking hikewise, but some good conversations today--another "fun" day
jim
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