Yesterday, two hikers from a local forum joined me to explore the Tunnel Brook Trail and some of the slides on Mt. Clough. Although one always wants to summit a peak such as Mt. Clough, our primary goal was just to escape to the woods on a trail less traveled and have fun in the woods. We accomplished everything except the summit.
The Tunnel Brook Trail runs through the deep valley between Mt. Moosilauke and Mt. Clough. The trek on this trail leads you along the shoreline of a long chain of beaver ponds in this valley. We had fun hiking at a slow pace along this quiet trail until just before we reached Mud Pond where we then began a bushwhack deep into the woods along a drainage that eventually took us up the slide shown in our pics. I would have liked to continue up the slide and eventually made it to the summit of Mt. Clough. However, I am still not in the best of shape for the type of bushwhack we would have had to do to reach the summit. This was also my first time hiking on a slide so I didn't want to push myself too much.
After a short siesta on the slide for lunch, and a power nap for Duane, we descended the slide and continued hiking on the trail towards Mud Pond. Reaching the final pond, we met up with the only people we would see for the day. Within minutes of arriving at the pond, we could hear two local yocals coming up the trail from the south. One was cussing up a storm, dropping the F-bomb every three words. Apparently, the two of them fish for trout frequently in Mud Pond. None of us found the level of vulgarity appealing and their dog started eating some of the fish they had just caught. We quickly left them to their fishing and began our trip back to the trailhead and Bill's car. My feet were getting really tired by the time we had met up with the locals anyhow so it was the right decision to keep our visit with them short.
We wrapped up the hike by inhaling some nachos and sliders back at the Woodstock Station. The rumor has it that some beer was also consumed but I plead the fifth on that one.
A very fun trip indeed. I definitely want to explore this area some more as I start to get back into better physical condition. I will probably go back in the fall when the temps are cooler and there is no bug activity. The black flies, some mosquitos, and quite a few horse flies were out in force today.
Bill and Duane, thanks for your company.. I had a blast. Next up, Cardigan in a few days.
Some more pics:
Hey Tobit! Mucho thanks for providing me with the link your Blog!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your report about your adventures on the "Cliffs of Clough"! Also, I like your report-writing style, i.e. succinct and to the point, but with enough detail throw in to make it an entertaining read!
John