Elevation gain: 1600'
Trails used: Stinson Mountain Trail, bushwhack.
Desi and I wanted to do a hike on New Years Day but we were undecided on where to go. A few prospects popped out: Stinson Mountain, Carr Mountain and Desi recommended a few peaks that I had left in the Belknap Mountains. We decided on Stinson Mountain, which we had visited before in July of 2012 with very limited views then. We knew it was supposed to be mainly sunny but very cold temperatures with low teen wind chills.
Stinson Mountain is located in Rumney, New Hampshire. There used to be a fire tower on the summit of this peak but it was removed in 1985. The only remnants of it being there are the footings from the fire tower. For more information on this hike, go here.
Stinson Mountain is on the 52 With-A-View (52WAV), New Hampshire Fire Tower and the New Hampshire 200 Highest List. Northeast Stinson is a trail-less peak and requires a bushwhack to reach its summit.
We parked at the Stinson Mountain Trailhead parking area off of the very icy Lower Doe Town Road.
The Stinson Mountain Trail to start the hike was easy to follow, with recent traffic heading up the trail. It was a mixture of snow, ice and bare ground.
A not so recently used snowmobile trail that we crossed. With such low snow depths, people are having a tough time with snowmobiling and skiing.
As the Stinson Mountain Trail continues up, we come across more open ground and flowing/frozen water.
What parts of the Stinson Mountain Trail looked like the higher up we went, around 2300 feet in elevation. We bare booted our way up to the summit but some people would feel comfortable with some sort of traction.
A nice birch glade area off the side of the Stinson Mountain Trail. We took the Stinson Mountain Trail up to the summit at the junction; we would come down the snowmobile trail.
The snow sure does look steep here but its deceptively not. This snowmobile sign was a little shorter than it should have been. We took the right trail here going up, which makes a loop around the summit.
We are almost to the summit of Stinson Mountain, where we could see we were guaranteed to get the views we were denied in 2012.
We get our views!!! Not exactly 360 but good enough for us.
A view towards just a few of the wind turbines from the Tenney Mountain area, with Mount Cardigan in the background.
The main bulk of the Tenney Mountain Wind Turbines, with Ragged Mountain behind it and Mount Kearsarge behind Ragged.
Looking to the Belknap Mountains and the Plymouth, New Hampshire area.
The old fire tower footings (and our backpacks) on the summit of Stinson Mountain (elevation 2900'). The snow was hardpacked up here and easy to walk on. We still put on our Microspikes for the hike back down.
We took the snowmobile trail back down from the summit. I decided, since the snow was firm, that I was going to bushwhack over to Northeast Stinson as I heard that the woods were awesome to hike in. I was definitely in for a surprise. Desi headed back down the trail.
It was only about .45 miles from the snowmobile trail to the summit of Northeast Stinson. The snow was hard pack and easy to walk on. The only time I even went in up to my ankles or knees, was right around the hobblebush and spruce trees.
Heading towards the summit, I was treated to a nice cow moose about 50-75 feet in front of me. She didn't see me at first, but noticed the flash from the camera. After I stood still for a minute or two, I noticed there were four other moose (another cow, 2 yearlings and a bull). Five moose at one time is a record for me and I was elated to see these elusive beasts.
The summit of Northeast Stinson (elevation 2806'). I worked my way back down towards where I saw the moose to see if they were still in the area and even followed their fresh tracks but they were going in the completely wrong direction that I needed to go.
Looking back towards Stinson Mountain through more open woods.
This was about as thick as it would get for this hike. I was practically running on top of the snow at this point.
Fresh moose rubbings on a tree. You can usually find a nice path as you follow these trees and may even come across a moose.
Back on the trail, and a quick hike back down to the trailhead.
Our first hike of the New Year 2015 was a nice one. There were decent views today from the summit of Stinson Mountain and the trail that wasn't too difficult to hike, given the conditions. It was a bit cold on the summit, but we stayed long enough to enjoy the views before we headed back down. Add that to the five moose sighting and I have a feeling it's going to be a good hiking year.
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