Distance: 1.74 mi.
Elevation: 518 ft (overall) 595 ft (total)
Time: 0:21 (AT) 0:37 (Trescott Spur) 1:04 (Total)
Trails: Oli's Eagle Trail, Velvet Rocks Trail
For today's hike, my plan was to redline all of the trails needed in the area surrounded by Route 120, East Wheelock Street, Trescott Road, Etna Road, and Greensboro Road. I am sure I could have done this from just one parking spot, but for something different and to break up the multiple out and backs, I decided to park in 3 different areas to do this, thus turning it into three sections of hiking. It probably didn't significantly change the mileage or elevation, but I went with the idea anyways. I picked this area to hike today because I hadn't been out at all in a while and I wanted something closer to home, and low enough in elevation to have no snow or much mud. Also, I spent a while going over maps and making notes last fall of where each trail from this area until the whites was on maps, and I wanted to take advantage of that effort.
The first section of hiking was the Oli's Eagle Trail that can be found off of Velvet Rocks Drive, with a small parking area and trail kiosk. This was a short trail that went through some varied terrain, but never got difficult. In order to eliminate some elevation gain later in the day, I also hiked south on the Velvet Rocks Trail to the height of land and junction with Trescott Spur. After reaching that, I headed back down retracing my steps. This simple out and back was a good way to get warmed up for the day and check off a full trail early.
Early section of Oli's Eagle Trail
Velvet Rocks Trail (AT)
Trescott Spur, where I turned around
Google Earth representation of section 1
SECTION 2
Distance: 5.18 mi.
Elevation: 396 ft (overall) 1,472 ft (total)
Time: 0:20 (AT) 1:00 (Shelter) 1:38 (Hanover) 2:53 (Trescott Spur) 3:08 (Trescott Rd)
Trails: Ledyard Link Trail, Velvet Rocks Shelter Loop Trail, East Wheelock St. Spur, Ledyard Spring Spur, Velvet Rocks Trail, Trescott Spur
This section was the longest and most wandering section of today's hiking. I parked in the small dirt lot at the intersection of East Wheelock Street, Trescott Road, and Grasse Road. Across the road from the parking area is the start of the Ledyard Link Trail, which is where I started for this chunk of hiking. I followed this gentle climb up to the spring (water for AT hikers) and then up to the Velvet Rocks Trail, where the northern end of the Velvet Rocks Shelter Loop meets it.
Ledyard Spring
Rocky cliff next to the trail
From the junction, I headed up the steep section of the Velvet Rocks Shelter Loop, trying to get the climbing done with earlier with fresher legs. After the steep climb up the small ridge, I then hung a right and headed back downhill along the East Wheelock Street Spur. While going down, I also did that out and back over to the spring I passed on the way up, just to make sure I got that trail as well. Once I hit East Wheelock Street, I turned right back around and headed back uphill to the shelter loop trail.
Back up near the top of the hill, I kept straight along the Velvet Rocks Shelter Loop past the one limited view of the day. After this, the trail goes gradually downhill, eventually passing the Adirondack style shelter. After some pictures at the shelter, I kept heading down to the lower junction with the Velvet Rocks Trail. Now it was time for another out and back, this time all the way down to downtown Hanover, where the trail comes up next to one of Dartmouth College's fields, and the back of a gas station. There were a couple rocky spots, but nothing overly steep or difficult. I took a break at a picnic table behind the gas station to readjust my shoes and get the debris that had gotten into them back out.
View from the shelter loop
Velvet Rocks Shelter
Heading down towards downtown Hanover
After my break, I headed back along the edge of the sports field and back into the woods. There was a bit of mud where the trail enters back into the trees, but some pieces of wood have been put down to help you keep your feet dry. It was a straight forward hike back up to the lower junction with the shelter loop trail since I already had been through here. Once at the junction, I headed right to stay on the Velvet Rocks Trail, avoiding the little bit of extra climbing of the loop trail. It didn't take too long to get back to the upper junction with the loop trail, where I then had to do more climbing to get up to where I had stopped during my first section of the day. This section of trail was a bit more like what you would find in the whites with some actual elevation gain, but still nothing too steep. It also went through some nice areas of forest, and I heard an owl making noise during the middle of the day.
Trail heading into the woods after following the edge of the sports field
On the climb to the Trescott Spur
Once reaching the highpoint of the trail where I left off earlier, I turned left to go down the Trescott Spur. The White Mountain Guide book mentions the trail sign possibly missing here, but it has been replaced. The sign is easier to notice coming from the north though, based on where it is hung and which direction it is facing. The upper section of this trail has lots of thick moss on either side, which signs tell hikers to try and stay off of. At the bottom of it, it goes through a section of trees that look like they had lots of wind damage at one point and had to be cleaned up. From the bottom of this trail, it was a short road walk back to my truck, but I planned it so that it was all downhill, and I took the time to have a snack while walking.
Coming down the mossy Trescott Spur
Google Earth representation of section 2
SECTION 3
Distance: 3.54 mi.
Elevation: 182 ft (overall) 570 ft (total)
Time: 0:56 (Oli's Eagle Trail) 1:58 (Total)
Trails: Velvet Rocks Trail
The last section of the day was an out and back along the Velvet Rocks Trail (AT) from a parking lot on Trescott Road. I didn't take as many pictures as normal through here as it was off and on light rain, and I only had to go as far as where the Oli's Eagle Trail junction that I hiked through in my first section of the day. The trail starts with a slight uphill, before heading downhill through some muddy and wet sections of trail. I had to pay attention more through here to keep my feet dry. Eventually, the trail gets to the low spot near a bog/swamp that has a bridge leading over the edge of it. While the bridge isn't exactly straight or level, it did seem plenty sturdy for hikers to be using.
Nice walking through a small switchback between large rocky areas
From the bog/swamp, the trail heads gradually uphill through some areas with interesting large rocks on either side of the trail. I was surprised today by some of these features, and also the signs of people using them from rock climbing. In fact, in this area there were two climbers packing up when I first hiked through. The hiking up to the junction I was at earlier today went smoothly and without any steep or rocky areas. Being the AT, it was very easy to follow, and I got lucky by seeing 2 deer just before I reached where I needed to turn around.
One the way back out, the rain seemed to have stopped, although it never rained hard enough for me to want a rain coat on. I also rain into an old co-worker from when I use to work back in this area. The only "hard" part of the walk back to my truck was the wet/muddy spots on the trail again. But being near the end of my hiking for the day, I wouldn't have had to worry much about getting my feet wet since I always have a spare change of clothes and shoes in my truck.
The bridge on the way back out
Google Earth representation of section 3
OVERALL
Distance: 10.46 mi.
Elevation: 1,096 ft (overall) 2,637 ft (total)
Time: 6:10
It was nice to get this spaghetti bowl of trails done all in one day so that I wouldn't have to come back again for just a small section of them. Some of the sections of trail were a little lack luster, but all in all it was an enjoyable day spent in the woods. now I can keep working my way closer to the whites from here.
Google Earth representation of the hike
Orange: Section 1, Red: Section 2, Yellow: Section 3
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
