North and South Pawtuckaway

Trip Details
Date: April 26^th, 2015
Total Distance: 8.25 mi (via Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro on iPhone 4S)
Total Time: 3 hours 16 minutes
Total Elevation: 1693 ft gained
Click for more details.

South Pawtuckaway was a mountain I had wanted to hike for a while, but the restrictions on pets require either going in early spring or late fall (though I now see conflicting information on this rule). Cupcake, Boomer, and I decided to head on over on an overcast Sunday morning the day before Boomer’s third birthday. We decided on a large loop around the park which would put us over both North and South Pawtuckaway. Parking along Reservation Rd is very limited so I recommend arriving early or expect to have to park elsewhere or park along the road, which makes access tight. South Pawtuckaway has a fire tower on its summit, which makes it another one of the Tower Quest mountains.
 

There are signs for this you turn onto Reservation Rd, too. Apparently the residents have gotten annoyed with giving directions. If you are just goingto the parking area on Reservation Rd then you are on the correct road and your GPS is fine. Entering through the main gate is not necessary.

We started on the North Mtn. Trail heading south to make our way towards South Pawtuckaway. We could have saved time and road walked down Reservation Rd to the junction with the Tower Rd, but I cannot stand road walks and find trails much more scenic. This part of the trail is a multi-use trail for snowmobiles and it appears ATVs. It was the muddiest part of the hike especially in the low sections near the start. We eventually crossed Reservation Rd again and made our way a short distance up Tower Rd.



I guess we go left...

We hooked onto Mountain Trail and headed south for a bit before turning onto the South Ridge Trail. The trails were in good shape with no snow or mud at all. After a bit of elevation climbing we found ourselves on the summit. I headed up to the fire tower to take some photos. The visibility was pretty good for an overcast day. Boston was not visible, but there were still some good mountains in the distance that were pretty clear.

Yay a puddle! I am going to splash around in it!

South Pawtuckaway Fire Tower

A list of all the things viewable depending on the conditions from the fire tower.

Viewable from the North.

A northwest view looking out over Middle and North Pawtuckaway.

Belknap Range

Mt. Kearsarge

Viewable from the West.

Looking west.

Longview School

From left to right: (background) Pack Monadnock, North Pack, Mt. Monadnock
(foreground) Joe English Hill, South Uncanoonuc, North Uncanoonuc

Maybe Temple Mt?

Viewable from the South.

Looking South.

Pawtuckaway Lake

Viewable from the East.

Looking East.

Mt. Agamenticus

We continued on the South Ridge Trail and around the side of Round Pond, which eventually got us to Round Pond Rd. We got a bit lost here trying to find our way onto the Boulder Trail and not wanting to wade through where the pond had flooded the road (thankfully the trail does not go that way). Eventually we got some guidance from a fellow hiker and found the Boulder Trail (you have to go up the road a bit). The boulder field is interesting and it was also interesting to see rock climbers practicing on the smooth boulder faces along the side of the trail. We got a bit lost through the boulder field, but then just bushwhacked down to the trail. The trail stays close to the water and we climbed up over the boulders.

A small pond.



Round Pond



 

Same spot as the previous photo, but looking through the other way.

Eventually, we turned onto the North Mtn. Trail again and worked our way up to the summit of North Pawtuckaway. There was one spot in a shaded crevice that had some snow left, but that was it and it was not even on the trail.

A communications reflector just before the summit of North Pawtuckaway.

Summit marker on top of North Pawtuckaway.

Old summit pin on North Pawtuckaway.

North Pawtuckaway summit.

This trail would continue all the way back to the parking lot, which has some cool ruins right on the edge of it.

No problems on this hike, but I think the mileage is a bit off. I am not overly confident the GPS in the iPhone or as utilized by this program (Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro) is percise.