Local Hiking Challenge - 7 Trails in 1 Day!

Well, this certainly would have been an epic hike #52 if I was officially doing the 52 Hike Challenge this year!  I've been keeping track, but not with the intention of getting another patch I already have.  At least just yet.  Maybe if I hit 104 hikes (52x2) before the calendar turns, I'll commemorate it…  Not sure I'll make it, but we'll see.  The real goal this year is just hiking when we can.

If you follow my blog, you also know that Hummingbird and I are very close to finishing the Belknap Redlining patch, so that's a definite 2023 goal.  We had every intention of doing our second to last trail loop this weekend, which I slated for a big productive day hike some time ago, when I learned Hawk was going to be away.  Funny how plans change…

Alton Parks & Rec seems to making a local hiking challenge a semi-annual event.  In 2021 they worked with surrounding towns for the Our Towns hiking challenge, where we picked a certain number of hikes from a list of trails around the Lakes Region.  They've also held the Mt. Major All Star challenge, which required hiking all 3 primary trails up the popular mountain between set dates.  (We skipped that one, although we've hiked every trail in the past - generally when it's not so overpopulated as in summer.)  This year Parks & Rec created an "Alton Trails All Star" challenge, which required hiking a full list of 7 trails just within Alton.  (The town actually boasts about twice as many, but this was an attainable list for the general public.)  The challenge ran through July & August.  Rules were simply to hike all seven at any time within those two summer months.

Of course, Hummingbird and I have hiked ALL of the Alton trails many times.  Picking them off one by one honestly didn't spark enough interest for us to seriously consider doing the All Star challenge.  Some of that was due to time constraints.  And while part of me felt I should do it, I wasn't motivated enough to push for it.  We talked about possibly doing them all in one day or weekend to make it more exciting, but at the same time, we felt things like redlining took priority.  Overall we were ambivalent about going for it.  Then this week Hummingbird announced that she really wanted to try to get it all in one day.  I had some concerns about my physical ability to actually do it, knowing the miles would add up even with most of the trails being easy, but I was up for at least making the attempt.  And it made sense to do it now, while we had the opportunity before the deadline.  Redlining can wait - for a moment.

We worked out the logistics of hitting seven separate trails on one day, two of which are mountains.  We would use Hummingbird's conveniently located house as home base for bathroom stops and an extended lunch break.  With this advantage, as well as beautiful weather and not needing to pack any layers, I was able to carry just my small sling pack and standard water bottle.  I'm sure it helped my stamina to not have to wear the big pack or be weighed down by a full day's worth of water.

Trail #1:  We began the morning at the Morse Preserve to hike Pine Mt.  We agreed starting with a view would be motivating.  It was business as usual, and I was happily surprised at how well the trails had dried up after the recent rains.  At the summit, I snapped my obligatory pano.  I can't imagine how many photos I have of this same view after several years of hiking here!  But I just can't NOT take a pic.  Sometimes you have to get creative though.  I'm always on the lookout for something different to photograph here… an interesting bit of nature, or capturing each other in a fun pose.  Today we got both.

This huge mass of Maple whirlybirds caught my eye.

Red efts were abundant this morning.

I don't care how many times I've taken this pic, I'm taking it again!

To keep things interesting, I had Hummingbird take a pic of me striking a yoga pose while standing on the rock.

Hummingbird has a tradition of taking a photo of her water bottle on every hike.  I thought it'd be funny to get a pic of her on "mini Pride Rock," holding the bottle up Lion King style.  I think I was right.

Trail #2:  The Mike Burke Trail is located at the parking lot you also use for Pine Mt.  It's a decent little workout in the woods, and makes for good snowshoeing.  There tends to be swampy areas on either side of the loop, which we certainly weren't trusting after the weather we've had this summer, so we made a beeline up the middle trail, which itself had a few mucky spots.  There's no view here, just forest, and a large boulder that marks the "top" of the hike.

I found another newt and decided that it would be awesome if I could take a pic of one on every trail today.  And so the hunt began!

Already we had decided that we needed some sort of entertaining pic of me on every trail.  Hummingbird suggested I "pretend to pick up the boulder or something."  That obviously took a lot of convincing.

Trail #3:  After a quick pee stop, we made our way from the Bay to East Alton, where 4 of the 7 trails lay clustered.  We decided the order we'd hike them in as we were driving.  (Because last minute plans is what we do.)  We concluded that making a loop along the right side of the road was most efficient.  And so we began with Gilman Pond.  This trail, despite not having a ton of elevation, is surprisingly hikey.  There is an interesting mix of terrain, which I rather enjoy, however the ledge area along the pond can be a bit sketchy.  There are a lot of narrow sections that threaten certain injury with one wrong step.  I still like it, but proceed with caution.  Aside from that excitement, the pond itself is fairly pretty (esp. in autumn), the forest is pleasant, and there are other cool sights such as the ledges. We've discovered a field before, as well as a neat memorial wall.  It's a fun place to explore in the right conditions.  Today we wanted to minimize our mileage on each hike, so we took the cut off trail in the middle of the full loop and circled back to the trailhead.

Not a bad little view!

Photos never do the ledges justice.

I wasn't able to find a newt at Gilman Pond (we theorized it might be too "piney"?) but I did discover this adorable tiny frog!  He was a satisfying stand-in, and my critter hunt thus expanded to include any similar creature.

Hummingbird told me to "do something epic" for my third photo, so I struck a couple silly poses.  For the sake of brevity though, I'll just post this candid.  Also, I later realized the boulder on the left looks like a heart!

She hydrated!  Now THAT'S epic.

The water lilies were lovely in bloom.

Trail #4:  Knight's Pond was our next stop.  There are a few pull-off spaces to park on the outside of the gate, or you can drive in a half mile on a narrow, typically not-so-great road to a nice, small parking lot.  We were legitimately concerned about what condition the road would be in after recent storm damage.  After much wavering, we decided our safest bet would be to just road walk in and hike to the beach and back.  We did not regret our decision.  While Hummingbird's SUV might have been able to navigate the road (we met a truck that did), a smaller vehicle likely would have been in trouble.  There were a couple really bad washout spots, and the entire thing is always slightly nerve wracking, having nowhere to go if you meet another car.  On the plus side, this out & back route is an easy walk, and non-hikers of nearly any fitness level could surely handle it, depending on their capacity for distance.  

It's a tiny beach, but a nice reward.

For my "epic" pic, I seriously considering taking off my shoes & socks and wading into the water.  I experimented with a few silly poses, pretending to jump in, but they were no good.  Hummingbird suggested I "go hang off that tree" so I struck a Singing In The Rain pose, and that worked.  I partially regretted not going in the water for several minutes after leaving though.

Alas, no newts along this trail either.  Happily, Hummingbird spotted this big toad as we neared the end, so I got my critter pic after all.

Trail #5:  Turning back towards town, we stopped at Cotton-Hurd.  We originally discovered this trail through LRCT's Explorer patch program.  There are two loop options; blue is fairly easy, though with roots and small rocks to navigate along gently rolling terrain; while yellow is hikier, with steeper hills, a short rock scramble, and a haphazard boulder cave to one side.  A peaceful babbling brook runs alongside much of the blue trail, and the forest is nice overall.  It's a good relaxing hike.  There are a couple typically wet spots, but thankfully it wasn't too bad today for the most part.  We limited ourselves to the blue trail to conserve energy for the remainder of our day.

I'm always fascinated by how the brook looks red with the light hitting it.

We totally forgot to do a fun photo, but Hummingbird did catch me crossing this log over a mucky area.  At least it's my "good side."

Hurrah, a newt!

Trail #6:  I didn't tally our miles to this point, but I knew we must be somewhere around the distance I start "feeling it."  It was around 1:30 now, I was starting to get tired, Hummingbird needed a bathroom break, and we both required food.  Thankfully Trask Swamp is one of the easiest trails in town.  We stuck to the basic pond loop, which is my mom's favorite hiking trail because it's smooth, wide, and nearly flat.  The view is decent too.  Less than a half hour later we were back on the road.

For my "epic" pic I decided I would stand triumphantly on the point.  Indeed, one trail away from our overambitious goal, I felt triumphant!

Sadly, and surprisingly, I did not find any critters on Trask.  As we were driving off, we spotted a family of turkeys, but unfortunately I didn't snap a pic.  Hummingbird asked me - in all seriousness - if I wanted her to go back so I could do so, but I told her to continue on.  I sort of regretted it later, but that's ok.  We also doubted we'd find any wildlife on our final trail, with the amount of traffic it gets.  The animal photos weren't really the goal anyway.  But they sure were fun while they lasted.

Time for a break!  Back to Hummingbird's house.  A short rest and some real food, along with a few yoga stretches, offered some recovery from our hiking thus far.  I did slightly worry about a longer break being counterproductive and causing us to cool down so much that we couldn't get started again, but it was just enough, and much needed.  I was nearing my physical limit, but now I had enough left in me to hike just a bit more.  I changed into my "sticky shoes" for the steeper trail ahead of us, and we headed back out.  I was excited that our big goal was actually within reach!

(By the way, things I never thought I'd hear: Hummingbird saying "I need to refill my water bottle."  LOL)

Trail #7:  It seems counterintuitive to do the biggest hike last, but we had our reasons.  Originally we thought about beginning on Mt. Major, however that would require a very early start to get parking.  Rain overnight would also likely create wet rocks, so giving the slabs a chance to dry out was a safety decision as well.  Plus we always prefer being able to start at a reasonable time rather than ungodly early.  And honestly, I may have petered out sooner if we began with the big hike, making it easier to give up before finishing.  So other than the effort required, it all worked out for the best, doing the trails in this order.

By mid-afternoon, the morning swarm of Mt. Major hikers who always overflow the large parking lot were starting to thin out, and there were now several open spaces in the lot.  This was our goal for timing.  We were grateful to not have to add any road walking distance.  I started out with a good bit of motivation, but the elevation gain soon caught up with my already tired legs.  We paced ourselves at more of a steady stroll than a driven hike.  Surprisingly, our speed did not average out to much slower than normal on the ascent.  I did one of the rock scrambles, but otherwise took the workaround trails when available.  Accidents happen more easily with rubbery legs.  

On the plus side, despite feeling worn out, I wasn't suffering much more pain than usual.  I did need a few more calories, so I used the giant cookie in my pack as incentive to drag myself up to the summit.  Still, I needed to take a couple breathers along the way to psyche myself up to keep going.

Dead Dragonfly.  "Stick your tongue out so we know it's real." (quote from a fav ren faire act)

But eventually we made it!  My usual routine is to wander the summit and take photos, but today I just shuffled straight for the fort where I could sit and rest and eat my cookie.  I tried using my snack as a prop, like Hummingbird's water bottle, but it just wasn't the same.

As I first approached the fort, Hummingbird pointed out an unexpected chipmunk, exclaiming "there's your wildlife photo!"  I guess 6 out of 7 isn't bad.

Although the humidity had dropped over the course of the day, visibility was still imperfect.  I think the view actually had gotten more hazy, if anything.

It's still beautiful though!  Mt. Major is one of the most popular NH hikes for good reason.

This dark line of stone on the summit is really cool.

I'm really proud of myself and Hummingbird for managing to do this combo hike in one day.  We racked up a lot of miles and as much elevation as a big mountain hike.  Even more exciting is that I wasn't completely broken the next day.  Granted, I took a couple doses of extra strong arnica after hiking, and slathered on plenty of Deep Blue, but those only go so far if I've truly pushed myself too hard.  My legs still felt like I had worked out recently, but overall I felt relatively good!  This gives me hope for our next big hike!  Which, you may have guessed, will probably be redlining.  We took a minor detour this weekend, but now it's time to wrap that goal up!