RETURN TO BEAR BROOK: 7/9/09

Some more trails needed checking, and I wanted to show Carol some of the nice trails and spots there, so we headed back down to Bear Brook State Park on the first decent weather day in a while. We covered a variety of trails in the middle and SE parts of the park. Here are some the scenic highlights...

A pretty spot on the edge of Bear Brook along the Bear Brook Trail.



The cascades were in full flow along the Cascade Trail.



Hayes Marsh may be the most scenic spot in the park. We took a long break on the sitting rock shown below, listening to the bird and frog calls.






The Lane Trail leads through Hayes Field.



The Hedgehog Ledge Trail provides closeup views of its namesake rock formations. No porcupines were sighted...







If not Hayes Marsh, the best location at Bear Brook may be this rocky peninsula at the north end of Bear Hill Pond. We took a long lunch break here - what a spot!







One of the most unusual places was the 835-ft. summit of Bear Hill, second highest "peak" in the park. There was once a firetower here - the supports are still visible. Most interesting was the impressive collection of large anthills. I counted 27 of 'em, and they were teeming with red ants. You wouldn't want to trip and fall on one of these. It reminded me of some jungle movie I saw as a kid when a river of army ants swept over a hacienda and its inhabitants.






I checked out a section of the Chipmunk Trail that was recently rehabilitated by the New England Mtn. Bike Association after a logging operation. The NEMBA volunteers built a 100-foot boardwalk.



In the evening we drove down to the park campground and checked out Beaver Pond (first and third pictures below) and wild, secluded Spruce Pond (middle picture below).








We had a most enjoyable day at Bear Brook. Though there were some muddy spots and a few brushy, less attractive logged areas, the great majority of the trails provided very pleasant walking with good footing, fine woods and a variety of scenery. Carol and I agreed that if we lived nearby we'd be in there all the time.