Elevation: 2,660 ft (overall) 4,011 ft (total)
Time: 3:01 (Gordon Pond) 3:17 (Kinsman Ridge Trail) 4:24 (Mt. Wolf) 7:01 (Dilly Trail View) 7:36 (Total)
Trails: Gordon Pond Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail, Dilly Trail (abandoned)
NOTE: The lower section of the Gordon Pond Trail has now been decomissioned, so this write up isn't as relevant as it was at the time. Please be careful if you are going to try and hike this section of trail as it is now not maintained or an official trail.
With some discussion about whether the Gordon Pond Trail is going to be closed on the lower end due in part to no place to park for it, I wanted to try and get a hike of it done while it was still open. I would rather check of a trail for redlining by actually hiking it rather than by having it close and no longer needing too. The original parking area for this trail was blocked off by the owner after people using it to swim in the river left too much trash around it. The trail also starts by basically walking up someone's driveway and right past their garage, so it is just a bit of an odd start to a trail. For my hike, I parked further down the road (east) at a pull off with ample room. I then walked up the side of the road to the driveway where the trail starts. With some intel from another redliner, I knew where I needed to go through the yard so that I could go through quickly without needing to wander around looking for the trail.
Once into the woods and on the trail, you find that it follows a dirt road through the woods that appears to still be used by someone who has maple trees tapped in this area for making maple syrup. This makes for easy walking until you get to the powerlines. The trail use to go straight after going under the powerlines, but now that there are more houses built on the road, it has been relocated and it now goes up the powerlines for a distance following an access road/path. There is a sign that makes it clear where you need to turn right to go back into the woods. This leads you back down so that you lose all of the elevation that you just gained. You will then turn left at another sign and continue on the original path of the trail.
The trail starts on a woods road that is still used
Turn back into the woods after going up the powerlines around some houses
At this point the trail follows and old railroad grade, so it makes for pretty easy walking and an easy start of the day. There were a couple wet spots of downed trees/branches to get around, but this was all good easy walking until reaching the powerlines again. Once I popped out onto the powerlines I turned right and followed the access road (snowmobile trail) until the bridge just a bit up the trail. I checked the map on my phone here (because it was acting up) and saw that I had gone past the trail. So I turned around and went back to where the trail comes out onto the powerlines again. Well, it turns out that the trail actually crosses here, but the vegetation was so grown up I didn't see that. There is a blue painted blaze on a tree on the other side of the powerlines, but the very narrow path leading to it didn't get my attention enough to see it. I pushed through the bushes, and was back on track into the trees again.
Following an old railroad bed
Less than obvious the trail actually crosses under the powerlines here
After getting back into the woods, the trail goes straight for a little bit until a sharp right turn that is marked by a plastic arrow sign commonly used for snowmobile trails. At this turn, the trail crosses a stream that was easy on this day with low water and plenty of rocks to step on. The trail then turns back to the left and follows what is an old woods road. This section of trail was wider than trails normally are and had a steady incline that kept you gaining elevation without being to difficult. This section was quite enjoyable and was a pleasant mix of green and yellow leaves as the foliage change hadn't fully taken affect yet in this area.
Stream crossing
Steady climbing on an old woods road
After plenty of easy hiking and climbing, the trail comes to the upper crossing of Gordon Pond Brook. While easy today with very little water, this crossing looks like it would be the trickiest part of the trail with spring melt or after hard rain. It isn't very wide, and the rocks slope down to the narrow path the water takes before sloping back up on the other side. This could be tricky (or slippery) with limited other ways around it. This brook crossing was interesting though because all of the exposed rock up stream from it makes it look like lots of water has come down through here at some time and it looks like it would have really been ripping through when it was.
Looking upstream at the upper crossing of Gordon Pond Brook
After the crossing, the trail still follows an old woods road as it gets closer uphill to Gordon Falls. The trail works past a small cascade in the brook on your left that I initially thought to be Gordon Falls, but after hiking further up, I believe Gordon Falls to actually be up where the trail crosses the brook as the trail levels out. At this upper section of falls where the trail crosses, there were some interesting old artifacts slowly being buried by leaves and dirt. The water crossing today was very easy, but if it were spring time or after a heavy rain, this could be trickier. The rocks where you cross are wide and flat so water probably wouldn't be super deep when running high, but the surface of the rock has lots of moss on it and it angles down stream, so it could be slippery with that water running over it.
Brook crossing at Gordon Falls
From the falls to the pond was nice easy walking as the terrain mostly levels out through here and there isn't really any climbing. It's just a plesant walk through the woods and along a small brook. You just need to pay attention for where the path to the pond breaks off to the right from the trail so that you don't walk right past it. The pond was a very pleasnt area and you can tell many people have spent the night in the area along the shore. It also provided a nice view up to Mt. Wolf, which makes it appear closer than the hike along the trail actually felt.
Mostly level from Gordon Falls to Gordon Pond
Gordon Pond with Mt. Wolf behind it
From the pond, it's a pretty easy and short walk to the junction with the Kinsman Ridge Trail. Just turning left here would have still made for a nice loop for the day, but I wanted to add in the out and back to Mt. Wolf from this side. This peak is a delisted peak from the NH 52 With a View list, but it can still be counted to the list since it was on it at one point. By hiking it from this side, I could get the trails on the other side by coming up from Reel Brook while hiking the Kinsmans or something similar. The Kinsman Ridge Trail is also the Appalachian Trail, so it was easy to follow and well marked.
Since the Kinsman Ridge Trail sees so much more traffic, the trail was now much rockier than the earlier sections I hiked today. The trail here does a mix of climbing and short level sections. It steadily works its way up to the ridge that connects a shorter subpeak and the summit of Mt. Wolf. It was starting to become pretty warm by this point of the day, so this section of trail was a bit slower going for me than I would have hoped. Before too long though, I was up on the ridge and it was an easy walk over to the spur trail that leads up to the small summit of Mt. Wolf.
Rocky section of Kinsman Ridge Trail with leaning trees
At the spur to the summit of Mt. Wolf
The summit of Mt. Wolf is a small opening in the trees. There was a group of 3 other hikers when I got there, and I was glad that they were almost done since there was so little space. Once they left, I had the summit to myself, but it was still hard no to be up against tree branches. With how limited the view has become from the summit, I can see why the peak has been taken off the NH 52 With a View list. The only really view is in the direction of Franconia Ridge, and you can't even see all of that above the trees without moving around. By looking through breaks in the branches, you could make out a few other summits like Cannon Mountain.
The small summit area of Mt. Wolf
The limited view from Mt. Wolf
If you are tall enough, you can see Franconia Ridge
After a while at the summit, I turned around and headed back towards the junction with the Gordon Pond Trail. This was very straight forward since I had just come through here. Unfortunately, after the junction, the trail had to climb uphill some more before finally descending down into Kinsman Notch. It starts with some steady climbing, before having a couple small ups and downs along the ridge the trail follows. With how warm the day was getting, this was taking a bit of a toll on me and I was slowing down through here.
Exposed rock section of trail coming back down to the junction
Some climbing up after the junction
On a downhill section before reaching the abandoned Dilly Trail, I finally took a nice 15 minute break in a shaded area with some soft ground to lay down on. I wish I had a spray bottle of water or something to cool myself off quicker, but laying on the cooler ground helped enough. After my break, I made my way to the now abandoned Dilly Trail Spur. This trail use to go all the way down to Route 112, but a forest fire did enough damage that the lower section was closed. Later on, the upper section was closed as well and the sign was removed. I knew what to look for to find the trail, but I didn't realize that it had been fully closed, so I didn't actually need to hike it at all today. Since I didn't know that until after, I made my way down the trail to the limited view point that is quickly growing back in. The trail was mostly easy to follow, but it is also clear it hasn't been maintained for a while. So I made my way slowly back uphill to the Kinsman Ridge Trail.
The abandoned Dilly Trail
Very limited view from the Dilly Spur
From the Dilly Spur Trail, it is all downhill until you hit Route 112 in Kinsman Notch. The trail gets pretty steep through here and it a little bit rocky. After as much climbing as I had done today, I took my time on my tired legs to make sure I didn't have any issues. I feel bad for the northbound AT hikers that have to climb this section, but then again the Whites aren't that easy on them at any point. I kept making my way downhill until I was finally at the crossing of Route 112. There is a nice parking lot here, and I had stashed my bicycle here earlier in the day on my way to my starting point. I took a bit of a break on a rock next to the parking area before finally hopping onto my bike. It was a long steady downhill ride all the way back to my truck. You can get some pretty good speed coming down the steeper sections of the road, but the road is in pretty good shape so I didn't worry much about that. It took me just 12 minutes to ride the nearly 5 miles back to my truck.
Steap rocky descent into Kinsman Notch
Google Earth representation of the hike
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
