erugs
New member
Date: July 7 and 8, 2012
Trails: Day 1, up Laura Cowles to Chin, down Sunset Ridge. Day 2, Haselton Trail from gondola parking lot to Nose and back.
Comments: We drove up from Southern NH, found a campsite at Smuglers Notch State Campground, then drove through the Notch to the west side of the mountain. Because we were tenting, the fee also included hiking fees for any of the other state parks during the same time period.
Day 1. The Chin. From Underhill State Park, we took the Scout Cut instead of walking the gravel road (though we kept to the road when we returned as it was dark) and chose the loop of the Laura Clowes Trail up (very steep, somewhat slippery) to the Chin and the Sunset Ridge Trail down. The day was a bit hazy and sometimes overcast, other times bright, and we enjoyed a chat with the Long Trail volunteer who was trying to make sure people did not trample the fragile vegetation. A fellow we met while we were climbing up, and he and a friend were on the way down, was that the trail was "a good poke." I have never heard that expression before for a trail, but he was right. We poked along as we climbed steadily. Near the top we met a woman hiking solo descending. She wrongly thought she was on the Sunset Ridge Trail. She was cheerful but said she didn't want to climb back up and would just keep going down. As it was a loop, it didn't really matter, I guess. It is shorter than the Sunset trail.
Day 2. The Nose. We parked where the gondola runs tourists up and down this time of year and hiked the Hazelton Trail which runs inbetween some ski trails, through glades, and pops out onto a steep ski trail. From there it's an open but rugged hike zig-zagging along the trail to the Toll Road. The views are wonderful and there were wild flowers all around. Our map didn't show the link that connects from one of the lower parking lots at this point that takes you right up to the nose, so we walked along the Toll Road. And were glad we did. The second car that passed us was friends Doug and Suzanne. They were on their way to the top where they would then hike along the ridge to the Chin. Doug is involved with SOTA (Summits on the Air) a ham radio group and this was one of two peaks they were planning to visit for radio contacts. We followed the Long Trail south from the upper parking lot/visitor's center and quickly came out on the road used by the folks who maintain the towers. As we approached the towers it felt as though we were trespassing but we never saw any signs or people. The trail just below the Nose proper is blazed but not brushed out. There were strings of colorful prayer flags running from the trees. Perhaps in contrast of opinion to the towers?
We are now anxious to try some of the other trails on Mansfield another day.
Trails: Day 1, up Laura Cowles to Chin, down Sunset Ridge. Day 2, Haselton Trail from gondola parking lot to Nose and back.
Comments: We drove up from Southern NH, found a campsite at Smuglers Notch State Campground, then drove through the Notch to the west side of the mountain. Because we were tenting, the fee also included hiking fees for any of the other state parks during the same time period.
Day 1. The Chin. From Underhill State Park, we took the Scout Cut instead of walking the gravel road (though we kept to the road when we returned as it was dark) and chose the loop of the Laura Clowes Trail up (very steep, somewhat slippery) to the Chin and the Sunset Ridge Trail down. The day was a bit hazy and sometimes overcast, other times bright, and we enjoyed a chat with the Long Trail volunteer who was trying to make sure people did not trample the fragile vegetation. A fellow we met while we were climbing up, and he and a friend were on the way down, was that the trail was "a good poke." I have never heard that expression before for a trail, but he was right. We poked along as we climbed steadily. Near the top we met a woman hiking solo descending. She wrongly thought she was on the Sunset Ridge Trail. She was cheerful but said she didn't want to climb back up and would just keep going down. As it was a loop, it didn't really matter, I guess. It is shorter than the Sunset trail.
Day 2. The Nose. We parked where the gondola runs tourists up and down this time of year and hiked the Hazelton Trail which runs inbetween some ski trails, through glades, and pops out onto a steep ski trail. From there it's an open but rugged hike zig-zagging along the trail to the Toll Road. The views are wonderful and there were wild flowers all around. Our map didn't show the link that connects from one of the lower parking lots at this point that takes you right up to the nose, so we walked along the Toll Road. And were glad we did. The second car that passed us was friends Doug and Suzanne. They were on their way to the top where they would then hike along the ridge to the Chin. Doug is involved with SOTA (Summits on the Air) a ham radio group and this was one of two peaks they were planning to visit for radio contacts. We followed the Long Trail south from the upper parking lot/visitor's center and quickly came out on the road used by the folks who maintain the towers. As we approached the towers it felt as though we were trespassing but we never saw any signs or people. The trail just below the Nose proper is blazed but not brushed out. There were strings of colorful prayer flags running from the trees. Perhaps in contrast of opinion to the towers?
We are now anxious to try some of the other trails on Mansfield another day.
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