Took a hike into the Greeley Ponds on 9/22, with foliage just getting started. This view looks up to the K2 Cliff and the west knob of Mt. Kancamagus from Upper Greeley Pond.
East Osceola from Upper Greeley Pond.
The cliff-faced NE spur of East Osceola.
The Kancamagus west knob from Lower Greeley Pond.
Lower Greeley Pond.
Looking into Mad River Notch from the south end of Lower Greeley Pond.
An old beaver dam at the south end of Lower Greeley Pond.
View from the SE corner of Lower Greeley Pond.
The Painted Cliff is seen to the left.
A ring of red maples around a ledge slab on a slide that fell off East Osceola in 1897, partly filling in Lower Greeley Pond.
A profile of the K1 Cliff.
Red leaves and green water at Upper Greeley Pond.
A few days later I hiked to Allen's Ledge on Hedgehog Mountain partly via bushwhack, enjoying this view of Mount Passaconaway from the top of an old gravel slide along Downes Brook.
Looking up at Potash Mountain.
Junction with the short, steep side trail to Allen's Ledge.
Approaching the lower and more open perch at Allen' Ledge. Allen’s Ledge is named after Jack Allen, a hunter, trapper, guide and crusty character who frequented the Albany Intervale in the late 1800s and early 1900s. According to Charles Edward Beals, Jr., writing in Passaconaway in the White Mountains, his classic 1916 history of the area, when someone asked Allen what the rocks up on the side of Hedgehog were, he replied, “Them are called Allen’s Ledge!”
A wide view across the Albany Intervale to the Moat Range on the horizon.
Looking towards Mount Chocorua and Mount Paugus.
Looking north to the Nancy Range, Mount Tremont, Bartlett Haystack and part of Bear Mountain.
Foliage along the Franconia Notch bike path, north of the Gallen memorial.
At the Gallen Memorial Bridge.
Checking out the newly open mile-long relocation on Falling Waters Trail, moving the trail onto the slope north of Dry Brook, away from the waterfalls and the slippery section where so many hikers have been injured over the years. I had walked this a couple of times in 2025 but wanted to see it in its final form.
The first part of the relocation follows an old logging road at an easy grade. The grades are easy to moderate throughout the relocated section.
There are some beautifully crafted rock steps, though not nearly as many as on Old Bridle Path.
A spur route (0.4 mile long) can be used to reach Cloudland Falls, the highest and prettiest waterfall on Dry Brook.
A short sidecut section of new trail leads down and across the slope to link up with the old route.
The spur route ends at the base of Cloudland Falls. The old trail is closed and heavily brushed in above and below the spur.
Cloudland Falls, framed by foliage. Back on the main trail, I continued up to the upper end of the relocation, which joins the old trail just below the last crossing of Dry Brook. On a drizzly day, the only other hiker I met on this usually busy trail was fellow Lincoln resident Tony Drapeau.
Late on a cloudy afternoon I returned for a third visit to a short new trail built by the Dartmouth Outing Club in the Baker River valley, near Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. The Hatch Brook Trail is now open, making possible an easy two-mile valley loop in combination with Asquam Ridge Trail and Gorge Brook Trail.
The new trail passe through beautiful hardwood forest after it diverges from Asquam-Ridge Trail.
The first section follows an old logging road from the 1940s.
Long view into the forest.
Hobblebush color.
View from front of Ravine Lodge.
On another cloudy afternoon, Beaver Pond in Kinsman Notch from the parking area at the north end.
View from meadow at south end of Beaver Pond, reached by side path off Beaver Brook Trail.
A rugged knob rises above the pond.
Closer look.
Rustic bridge over washout on Beaver Brook Trail.
First cascade on Beaver Brook Trail.
Mount Liberty from Flume Visitor Center parking lot.
Mount Flume from Flume Visitor Center parking lot.
Mount Flume from gazebo on Roaring River Nature Trail.
Artist's Bluff parking lot on a foliage weekday.
Eagle Cliff from Profile Lake.
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