Local Wilderness
Today was a lovely, sunny Wednesday in July, not as hot as it has been, so I decided it would be a good day to take a walk in the woods. I wasn’t feeling up to Mount Monadnock (I’ve been ill) but I had heard that there were some other local walks that were quite lovely. And so it proved to be.
About 10 o’clock I headed for Fitzwilliam, straight down highway 12. Rhododendron State Park was pretty quiet on a Wednesday morning in July, which was a little surprising: it’s blooming season for these plants, and they don’t last all that long. Alas, today was not their glory day, but there were some blooms out. The woods seemed to have thinned out, and according to the (excellent) trail map and park guide, the grove was almost destroyed back in 1977 by an ice storm. I’m sure the recent weather has been none too kind to them either.
There was another trail listed in the park, off to the north called Little Monadnock Trail. I had never heard of this. My only other obligation today was hiking Gap Mountain, so off I went. It was immediately pleasant, through a sunny wood, paralleling stone walls. Towards the end, the trail ascends steeply and at the summit it joins the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, another thing I didn’t realize existed. There are by far more trails in New Hampshire than I will ever get a chance to hike, but this one is intriguing. I could have turned left and gone to Connecticut; a novel concept on foot.
Instead of going to Connecticut, I turned and descended the mile and a half to the parking lot and headed to Gap Mountain Trail, which, looking at the map again, I was amused to discover I had just been on: it too is part of the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, continuing on to Mount Monadnock. Tempting, but no.
I walked the very agreeable 1.6 miles to the North Summit of Gap Mountain and picked some blueberries that grow wild on top. They were delicious, and the view of Monadnock is really quite remarkable from that angle. It kept beckoning me, white blazes leading off into the woods at its base, but the stormclouds were rolling in, and I had to return.
Sweaty, grimy and tired I flopped into my car and headed home. Not a bad walk.
In other news:
- I have a new bicycle saddle, recovered from an old bicycle saddle, and soon to be joined by another reclaimed saddle. There is an excellent tutorial to be found here.
- MINI make a cute car. Cars I should say, since they now have 8 models available around the world. Into this plethora walks the little Fiat 500. MINI enthusiasts say it can’t compare, but that’s not what it’s trying to do. I think it’s cute, and so does everyone else.
- Don’t like to bike anywhere? I have the thing for you. Unicycles!
agnus dei
No comments yet.
