The Peaks of Pawtuckaway

Last week I went from gung-ho about peakbagging to barely wanting to head out at all come Friday night.  Joining Hannah at Pawtuckaway on Saturday, April 7 was the perfect solution.

We had a rough idea of what we wanted to do: Reservation Road to North Mountain (1011'), maybe add in the tower on South (908'), and loop back to the car.  Speaking of rough, apologies for the unedited photos, lack of summary stats, and first draft-level language; I'm still working on finding blog writing time while my brain is still awake!

To get to our starting point, we followed Reservation Road down the hill past where it turns to dirt and parked near the first orange gate (also where the road hooks to the right).

Easiest of easy starts

There were several cars parked along the road and we prepared for a busier day than anticipated.  The trails starts on  what I assume was once a carriage road but quickly we reached the junction with North Mountain Trail and started with a brief, rocky climb.  

There is no snow up to North Mountain!  The trail is well marked with white blazes yet we still found ourselves accidentally wandering off between the sparse trees.  Grades are moderate and the terrain is more akin to that of the Ossipee Range trails than the Whites – more hard packed dirt and rock slabs than boulder-strewn.  It often reminded me of Mt Roberts but a little easier.

Between Ty and Titus, we seem to be in a calamity vortex that included our first porcupine encounter in quite some time.  Ty led as Titus followed her off trail, noses suspiciously angled upwards.  In a strange turn of events, she returned promptly when called and Titus had to be tracked down by his confused barks.  Yep, T’s first quilling L

The bizarreness continued but in a more productive way as we rounded everyone up and away from the languishing porky.  A couple was coming down the hill with their three dogs.  Lo and behold, they were veterinarians! And damn good ones; the guy, whose name I regret forgetting, calmly pulled T’s quills out (with his fingers no less!) and gave a quick recap of recommended aftercare before we continued on.  How Ty didn’t put herself in the middle of the interaction and what made T nip at the animal’s prickly backside more than once has stumped us both!

As we continued on, there were a couple of opportunities for hill views and the wind started to pick up.  We made it down to the old concrete blocks for a short break and Hannah made out better than I did getting the dogs to pose.  Tango has his “front paws up” mastered but won’t stay without constant rewarding just yet.

Between the base of the old tower and the pond, the trail went through patches of dense conifers and has some steep sections with lots of ice-glazed roots.  I was in Bogs and did alright but the party that let us go first was wearing micros and warned me to "be careful."  We enjoyed the alternating tree cover and spring vs. desperate last hold on winter conditions.

"Teach Titus bad things day"

Final drop down to the marsh

Down by the ponds, we wove around the marshes and boulders, somewhat following the trail but appeasing Ty’s exploratory nature. 

There's a reason Carolina Dogs are called "swamp dogs!"

Wallowing season

"Please pretend you love me for two seconds...." 

More neat rocks

Back on another carriage road temporarily, we opted to take South Mountain Trail up to the fire tower.  It seemed steeper than it should have felt and one of the pitches was straight dirt.  Makes me wonder how long before erosion has its way with the trail.

More of TybTangs leading young Titus astray.  They remind me of the archetypal neighborhood teens when someone's younger brother joins the gang.

The trail took some nice breaks, crossed a stream, and continued upwards, more gently towards the top.  Below the tower was nice and open but hosted a handful of people  so we walked over to the open slabs adjacent but devoid of other hikers.  Hannah put in a valiant effort to snap a photo of me with the dogs but I have uncooperative canines and a disappointing lack of understanding of how a real camera works.

Because one tower picture isn't enough

From the clearing just past the tower

From there we made our descent.  The woods were fairly open, I suppose allowing for lots of scent to travel because again Ty and Titus had their noses to the sky.  On that side was also the only place we encountered thick ice as it cascaded over roots.  Winter is barely hanging on!

We bottomed out and took Tower Road to Reservation Road to reach the cars.

I see a conversation of directions ;)

As much as I originally wanted to summit a 4K, Pawtuckaway was exactly what we needed.  I felt accomplished after the 8-point-something miles involving two smaller peaks, Ty got to run around like the crazy dingo she is, and it was another moderate but enjoyable challenge for Tango.  We love this park because there is so much to explore, especially during the off season when it's quieter and dogs are permitted on more of the trails. We plan to return for more time around the marshes and boulders because Ty absolutely loves them, although we may wait til the porcupines are not just coming out of hibernation!  It was a wonderful, strange trip with Hannah and her pups and I’m thrilled beyond words everyone had a fun time!

Trail Map from NH Parks: https://www.nhstateparks.org/uploads/pdf/Pawtuckaway-Trail-Map.pdf

Exploring Pawtuckaway's Northwestern Corner

Two weeks away from the mountains has not meant two weeks without outings.  Last weekend Erick agreed to go somewhere new with us and we were lucky enough to also be sort of near Hannah's neck of the woods so she joined us for our first (overdue) visit to Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham, NH.

Based on a suggestion from a Facebook friend, we parked at the end of Round Pond Road.  Despite what the GPS says, it does not go through the park; there is a gate and if it directs you there via Reservation Road, it is leading you astray).  It was so busy, we had to park in the overflow area a little ways back towards the main road.  One of the reasons I wanted to go to Pawtuckaway was the ability to let the dogs off leash so as soon as we passed the gate, we released the hounds!

Frankly, I believe I am writing a report simply because it has been awhile since my last post because, despite having a loose plan to go up North Mountain via the Boulder Trail, we mostly wandered so I have very little helpful input for info-seekers.

The main trail we began on was perfect for a stroll: packed dirt and wide with no obstacles.  After skirting around Round Pond, we crossed a small stream the bore right at the first noticeable intersection (left indicated it was for the Round Pond Bypass).

If a challenge is what you seek, this isn't the trail for you
but it was perfect for our needs that day!

While the tree cover transformed into shade-forming evergreens, the trail continued with its easy, meandering style.  I mentally rejoiced at finding a place that engaged Erick, not typically a hiking guy.  All the while, Tango was upbeat and Ty was a joyful mix of her critter-chasing self, a perfect listener, and a new brand of puppy-like I don't think I've ever seen in her.

Round Pond

The trail descended after a few minutes and turned left to avoid one of the first massive boulders (glacial deposits, I believe) where there was an American Bulldog accompanying his boulder-climbing owner.  To the right and out of range of the bulldog were more massive boulders and I wandered off trail for photos ops and gawking.

A little blurry but I have to show off her parkour skills!

Finding our way to the pond

It would be awhile before we rejoined a trail because those rocks were super cool, which led me to other interesting rocks which led us down the hill to the swampy edge of one of the ponds.  Sitting on a shoulder-high rock, we watched Ty be the swamp thing for a long time while enjoying the sunshine and observing her in her "natural habitat" (Carolina Dogs are native to swampy areas in the south).

Can you spot her?

Lilo keeping watch

Awhile later, we made our way back up to a trail.  "A" trail because we didn't hop back on where we departed from.  This trail (perhaps the same one as before for all I know) followed the pond at a distance.

This trail had a little light scrambling that added some extra fun and entertainment because Ty was absolutely in heaven.  She would disappear up into the rocks and mysteriously reappear in the woods ahead of us.  It was at that point I realized how massive the park is.  So many cars in the lot but we hadn't encountered hoards of people.  Quite a few, but not a quantity difficult to manage with off leash dogs.  Many of them were there to climb/boulder.

Erick leading the way

A man and his dog <3

The trail we followed from the pond was narrower and more typical of a wooded path with some small obstacles (photos above).  We passed an intersection or two, all with promises of more boulders to marvel at and climb up, but we stayed the course and eventually landed back on the trail we started on that led back to the car.

Scooted up towards the tree with Tango. Ty did not approve.

Erick making his way back to the trail after giving me a hand.
Tango fared impressively well on his own!

We easily spent an awesome 2.5 hours wandering around and barely covered a small corner of the park.  It is massive and diverse; I cannot wait to bring the dogs back.  It is a park where anyone with a remote interest in being outdoors can have fun. Many of the trails are wide enough to walk side by side, enabling conversation in a way many of the mountain trails don't.  The boulders are fascinating and fun.  Even Tango enjoyed them and had my back when I scrambled up a steep hill that was more challenging than I had anticipated to get down from.  (Erick had to help and it's a wonder he's allowing me out again!)  My understanding is that the lake at the other end of the park allows canoeing but we enjoyed sitting on the pond's banks and taking in the experience.  And the woods are simply enchanting.  Despite the large number of park-goers, we saw bear scat right on the trail!  With the variety of interests between the six of us, everyone was a happy hiker; we wholeheartedly recommend this park to everyone! Hopefully we'll have a tale of paws on peaks in the near future but if not, expect some more local reports!

Tybee approved!
(And Tango too but I have a regrettably small number of  crisp photos of him.)

Click here for Pawtuckaway's website.  Scroll down for the pet-related rules.
Click here for the official map (which I managed to struggle with and wish had more description to match trail signs)