Friends of Pisgah Fall 2018 Newsletter is now Available
The online version of the Friends of Pisgah Fall 2018 newsletter is now available by clicking http://www.friendsofpisgah.
FOP 2nd Annual Pisgah Reservoir Canoe & Kayak Outing
Fall 2018 Events
Get the big pen out and mark your calendar twice in big letters. The Friends of Pisgah will be hosting two events back to back in the fall, the Annual Picnic and the 2nd Annual Canoe and Kayak Event on Pisgah Reservoir.
The Picnic is scheduled for Sunday, September 30th at 11 a.m. at the Visitors' Center in Winchester.
The Canoe and Kayak Event is the next Saturday, October 6th. Rain date is October 7th. More details on this and the picnic will follow soon.
Now hunt down that BIG marker and yank the calendar off the wall and have at it. You don't want to miss a good time, now do you?
John Summers Trail Completed!
The new John Summers Trail is essentially complete. A few more blazes need to be put in place, but the few that are missing have red flagging up in their stead right now, so anyone can follow the entire trail with ease along its entire 1.1-mile course. The new pathway begins and ends at the Kilburn Loop Trail. The northern entrance is just 200 feet or less uphill from the bridge over Baker Brook. The southern entrance is the spur path to the Kilburn Pond dam.
Both the northern and southern entrance show temporary orange plastic rectangular signs with the hand-written trail name on each. Since there is no other trail junction within the John Summers Trail, the blazing is strictly for that path. Follow the blazing and you'll be all set..
There are some bypasses off the old herd path to avoid wet areas and to avoid critical habitat for wildlife. Please follow the blazes.
The John Summers Trail is one of the finer level-terrain pathways in all of New Hampshire, complete with two new long bridges, jaunts along large glacial erratic boulders, and fine views over water.
Please stay on the trail to prevent erosion and degradation of the environment on the east side of Kilburn Pond.
Hike across Pisgah State Park
The weather is looking good for the third of nine (9) hikes in 2018 to introduce the public to the 50 mile Wantastiquet to Monadnock Trail. The hike through Pisgah State Park will be held this Saturday morning, June 2nd.
Part of the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail hike series, this 9-mile hike zig-zags along old woods roads, ponds, stonewalls, and graveyards through Pisgah State Park, all with fantastic views. The trails are a true moderate level of difficulty but the distance is the adventure. Mostly about fitness, and enjoying a remote area; bring lunch, water, walking stick (as needed), and sturdy shoes. Return transportation is provided. Please register in advance.
Presented by: Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail Coalition and Friends of Pisgah Inc. The FOP will be providing return transportation.
Location: Meet at the Kilburn Trailhead, Pisgah State Park, Chesterfield, N.H. (Directions: Take Route 63 toward Hinsdale from Route 9 in Chesterfield. Continue 4.5 miles on Route 63. Turn left into Kilburn Trailhead parking area.)
Contact: Email Lynne Borofsky lborofsky@wsesu.org or call Tom Duston at 603-256-6082.
Spring Clean Up in Pisgah State Park
Sixteen volunteers came out for the Friends of Pisgah work day on Saturday, April 21st to sweep the many miles of trails that are part of the 10k and 5k Run in the Park races that are scheduled for May 26th. The folks assembled in crews and spent a long six hours clearing forest debris, cutting away blowdowns, opening drainage ditches and culverts to improve water flow off the trails, and generally sprucing things up. So the going is fine in much of the northern segment of Pisgah Park.
Two days later, a big log was jimmied out of the Kilburn Road, the newly refurbished Town Forest Trail was cleared of debris, and the old Davis Hill Trail got a manicure, too.
Volunteers make it happen in Pisgah!
K. r. Nilsen
1/20/2018 Pisgah Workday
WE ICED IT. Today, Saturday the 20th, nine Friends of Pisgah souls moved enough materials over the Kilburn Loop Trail and Kilburn Pond to build two foot bridges, one that will be 22-feet in length and the other 24-feet long. The materials are to be assembled into spans in the spring on the soon to the formally brushed out John Summers Trail on the eastern side of Kilburn Pond. On our Facebook page we see folks moving on ATV machines with hauling sleds attached and volunteers pulling lumber from the sleds and piling the material where it will be readily accessible in two different locations. Despite some logistical difficulties while moving half a ton of material up icy hills, the work was completed in six hours. Not a bad day's work.
First Day Hike in Pisgah State Park
The Friends of Pisgah and the NH Department of Parks and Recreation hosted the first ever First Day Hike held at Pisgah State Park on Monday, January 1, one of the coldest days in the last decade. That did not stop folks from attending. Fully 71 brave souls registered for the event and came out to hike the Doolittle Trail, roast marshmallows and S'mores over a bonfire, and even get a chance to watch several teams of sled dogs chomp at the bit to get running.
Our Facebook page contains a sample batch of photos that are the first of several we will post over the next few days. If you have a photo or two you would like to share, by all means post to this Friends of Pisgah page. Next year, it will be your turn to come out, unless the ice cap glaciers advance and cover New England once again.
K.r. Nilsen
Kilburn Loop 12/9/2017 Work
Six volunteers spent the day (Saturday) working on the refurbished segment of the 5.5-mile Kilburn Loop Trail on the west side of Kilburn Pond. They handworked drainage ditches, cleared culverts, hauled material to build up the very last feet of fill on the trail, cleared a massive blow down at the head of the spur trail to the Kilburn Pond dam, added forest duff to the margins of the trail in some places, pulled up and hauled out all but one section of silt fence (that last one will remain until spring), and more. Toward the end of the day, the snow began to fall, putting a nice touch on the last work on the trail for the year.
Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail
Click on a attachment below to view either
- Pisgah to Keene (Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail: Keene Connector) or
- Pisgah to Wantastiquet (Wantastiquet-Monadnock Greenway & Trail Western Section Including: Ann Stokes & Daniels Mountain Trails) Trail Map:
To go through Keene on the WM Trail: Take a left out of the Horatio Colony parking lot (Daniels Hill Road). Take a right on Whitcomb's Mill Road (1st right). Carefully cross Route 9, staying on Whitcomb's Mill Road. In a couple of hundred yards you will get to the Cheshire Rail Trail, take a right and follow through Keene. There are descriptive signs at the parking lot, at the Rail Trail intersection and at Island Street in Keene. The purpose of these is to help you through Keene as the bike path is poorly signed and there are no posts or trees on which to post our signs. We will eventually have proper maps for these sections but there are still possibilities for adjusting the route.
The east end of the bike path merges with Eastern Ave. - take a right on Eastern Ave. and a quick left on Marlborough St. Take Marlborough Street to the end and carefully cross Route 9. Continue on the rail line to Troy where you pick up the MM Trail over Gap Mt. to Monadnock. Both west of Keene and east of Keene the blue and white diamonds mark the trail.
Tom Duston
