Mt. Shaw, NH, 10/02/07

[threecy]

Mt. Shaw, NH

Date Hiked: 10/02/07

Trails(s) Hiked: Mt. Shaw Trail, Black Snout Trail

Difficulty: Moderate

Conditions: Sunny

I had been planning to hike Mt. Shaw for over a year. With a halfway decent weather forecast, I decided this would be the day and hit the trail at 2:30.

The trail starts off on an old logging/four wheeling road of sorts, quickly finding its way back to the brook. There is a nice gorge with some small cascades, making for some nice scenery.

The trail is rather hard to follow in places - there are multiple roads that weave in and out and a series of red blazes likely used to mark a property boundary. I tried to go straight wherever possible, trying to stay parallel to the brook.

Soon thereafter, I saw the back of the conservation boundary sign. From here, the trail was easier to follow as blazes started near the brook crossing.

The trail was moderate to easy for a good chunk of time, before becoming steep on its ascent up to the Black Snout Trail. Once on this trail, the grades were easy all the way to the Black Snout spur trail and lookout. I'm not sure why they call this Black Snout, as there is a Black Snout Mountain on the northern side of the range. The view from here are great - ranging from east to northwest, including great views of the lake.

Returning to the Black Snout Trail, I continued up the easy grades to Mt. Shaw. The views up were were amazing - the whole Sandwich Range, Mt. Washington, Green Mountain, and well into Maine.

After putting around, taking some photos, and chatting with another hiker, it was time to head down - I wanted to get back before dark.

Though not even 3,000 feet in elevation, Mt. Shaw is a nice hike that certainly rivals some 4,000 footers in both views and challenge.


Trip report/map/photos:
http://www.franklinsites.com/hikepho...-2007-1002.php