Normally I'm super long winded with these trip reported, but I'm a little bit tired today so I'm going to keep it to the important details and rely on my photos to convey the rest.
I was originally planning to do the upper half of the Belknap Traverse yesterday, but a friend who was joining me got bit by a dog and had to get stiches. Woke up a little late around 8am and decided to go do something anyways. Last winter, I skied most frequently (lift served and touring combined) at King Ridge but mostly just stuck to the full-length trails on public property. I planned a route to check out the rest of the mountain; around 6.5 miles and a bit of bushwacking.
The route was pretty simple - park at the tiny Hominy Pot Road lot, walk in and follow the hiking trail that cuts across the Eastside and Northside expansions. Then, I'd climb the T-Bar slope until I reached the property line. I'd then circumnavigate the hill, bushwacking through the woods to cross each trail until I made it over to the King Hill trails. Then, I'd climb the hill and then back down the Bean Quarry hiking trail to King Hill Road, walk down to the Penacook trail, bushwack through the woods back to the main trail, and take the Lyon Brook scenic route back out my car. Follow all that? No? I'll attach a map, don't worry.
Anyway - there are some really interesting lift shacks near the top of the original hill that are still standing. One of them was below the property line, the other was above so I just took a picture of that one. Some other interesting artifacts - an aged lunch tray on the deck of one of the shacks, some posts that once made up a crash/safety fence and some mostly-buried plastic fencing to go with those posts. A couple pieces of PVC piping were found next to the occasional blue barrel - in a couple spots on the hill, those were generally used to cover up snowmaking pipe connections and electrical hookups. A collapsed structure was just beyond the fence posts - I couldn't tell what it was at first until I saw a crescent moon cut out of one piece of wood. I saw the same at the top of King Hill, where behind the comms tower in the woods there's a still-standing latrine with the same shape cut-out. It's in poor shape though, too, and I'd probably just rather dig a hole. I wasn't sure how old the one at the top was when I found it last winter, but now that I've seen another one I'm assuming it dates back to operational days before 1995.
Along the way, I did some trail work, clearing up some of the brush that had fallen along more narrow routes and along trails I doubt many people have taken given King Hill Reservation's low usage on the western side. Unfortunately, there were 3 large downed trees - 2 of which were down before this past winter - on the Bean Quarry trail. I sent an email to the town asking them to come in with a chainsaw to clear them up, as it was very difficult to find a safe route around them on skis last winter.
Throughout the hike, I experienced plenty of conditions - clouds, a bit of sun, plenty of rain and then sprinkles to start which turned into sleet and then full-on snow for the rest of the day. There was a little bit of icy snow accumulation towards the top; maybe beginning around 1500'. I encountered 1 group of people about 300 feet from the parking lot; we were both exiting. They must have walked there because they were all in bright vests (probably for both hunting safety and road walking) and only my car was in the lot.
Afterward, I planned to drive to Mt Kearsarge, drive the auto road then hike a tiny bit to the top. Well - I should have checked the park's schedule. The road's done for the season and I wasn't planning on hiking 8 more miles on minimal daylight so I went to check out nearby Warner Ski Area 2 since I'd never drive there for it on its own.
The area has its own interesting remnants. A pretty steep hill that probably gets good use for sledding still. A concrete footing for the base lodge remains at the bottom with minimal cracks. Poles for the tow with wheels still mounted mostly line the looker's right side, with a couple having fallen near the top. A few pieces of junk (looked like the metal frame for a couple of chairs?) lied around near the tree island at the top. The old motor house was partially collapsed but there was a fair bit of metal still in there.
This wasn't going to be enough for me, so I decided to bushwack diagonally uphill until I reached the trail that follows the Mink Hills ridge. The woods are pretty darn wide open and presented limited problems getting up there. The ridge trail was easy to follow - plenty of painted blazes. It took no time to reach the bottom again. About 2.5 miles total. It was pleasant, but it's driving me crazy that there is no trail from the top of the ski hill to the ridge. It would not take much effort to create one. Given the openness and consistent 700-750' vertical slope from the ridge to the bottom of the ski hill, it might make some sense for the Granite Backcountry Alliance to come in and create a nice glade. It would be nice to have another sidecountry option in (easy) reach of Greater Boston.
Afterward, a stop at the Concord Co-Op for groceries, a stop in at REI to check out garage sale items and then home by around 5:30. Packed day, but fun! As usual, so I don't have to compress them, pictures attached externally at the link below. Enjoy!
Photos:
https://imgur.com/a/5BAAsrW
