Last weekend I hiked an old class 6 road for several miles. Here in New Hampshire a class 6 designation means that the road isn’t maintained by either the state or the town and it could be rough going. Class 6 roads are also subject to gates and bars. This one might have been an old logging road or a road between towns long ago.
A lot of the hike was uphill.
There was a nice stream running alongside the road that looked like a good place to fish for brook trout. I wish I could show this spot to my father-he used to love fishing in places like this.
A deer had walked the road not too long before I did. This area is really out in the middle of nowhere so I’m sure many different animals live here.
Since it was hunting season I wore a fluorescent yellow hat so people with guns could see me.
I saw some beaver ponds than I plan to re-visit next spring-several areas looked like prime orchid habitat. This beaver dam was about as high as I am tall and was holding back a very large amount of water. If it had let go while I was taking this picture I probably wouldn’t be writing this post. The largest beaver dam ever found is in Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park and spans about 2,800 feet. It has taken several generations of beavers since 1970 to build and it can be seen from space. Imagine how much water it is holding!
I saw some nice beard lichen, as well as many other types. I think this is bristly beard (Usnea hirta.) According to my lichen book, studies have shown the usnic acid found in these lichens has antibiotic properties and, in some cases, is more effective than penicillin in treating burns and wounds.
I also saw some pinkish brown jelly fungus. Some types of this fungus are called wood ears because they resemble an ear. They can fruit throughout winter and it is said that they are edible but have little to no flavor. Why, I wonder, would someone bother to eat something that had no flavor? Especially something that might make them sick.
I saw witch’s butter, which is a yellow to pink to reddish orange or orange jelly fungus, growing on a plank that was part of an old wooden bridge that crossed the stream. I think this one might be an apricot jelly (Tremiscus helvelloides.)
Lemon drops (Bisporella citrina) are another type of fungus. These were so bright against this dark stump that it looked as if there was a spotlight on them. These start life as either flat disks like those in the photo or round orbs. As they age they turn more cup shaped. They are usually very small but grow in large groups.
These bracket fungi were brick red and a bit shriveled. I can’t seem to find them in any of my mushroom books.
I saw a tree that was trying to eat its neighbor.
Another tree had the biggest burl I’ve ever seen on it. This must have been at least 2 feet from top to bottom. A wood turner could make quite a bowl from this one. Burl grain is dense, deformed, and very hard, which is why it makes such a good material for bowls. Burl wood was a favorite of Native Americans, who used it for bowls, cups, and other objects.
I saw many evergreen ferns including intermediate wood fern (Dryopteris intermedia,) which I think this is. These ferns look much more fragile than evergreen Christmas ferns.
I think my favorite part of this hike was sitting beside still pools like this one, hearing nothing but beech leaves rattling in the wind. The serenity made the 6 hour walk even more worthwhile.
To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty . . . it beholds every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thanks for stopping by. Remember-there are hunters in the forest.
New Hampshire Garden Solutions 
A great hike, Allen, filled with fascinating sights. I love the Emmerson quote at the end. It really sums up a major reason for going on a hike…even if it’s on a forgotten road.
Thanks! I liked that quote too because it’s true that there is always great beauty in nature. We just have to get out and see it!
Such a wonderful post with really lovely photographs. Thank you for taking us a long on this beautiful walk!
You’re welcome Melanie. It really was a fine walk and I’m glad you enjoyed the photos.
What an enjoyable walk. The stream and beaver ponds both llok like fun places to explore. The red shelf fungi a new one to me too.
I wonder if any other state uses this system of road designation? Vermont is close, but they call them class 4 roads, I think. In any case, getting out into forgotten country is always a good time. I wish I could figure out what those red fungi were-that’s the only time I’ve ever seen them.
You have some very pretty and interesting country accessible to you there. The road designation is interesting to me; so different from here I think.
It isn’t easy to get far enough into the back country to leave civilization completely behind, but when you do you find that it’s worth the trouble. I’m not sue who came up with our type of road designation but class 6 is always a good thing because it means you are going someplace wher few (if any) go.
I’d like to find a class 6 road near here that offered a 6-hour walk. Very lovely.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you did have some class 6 roads in your area. These roads criss crossed the state everywhere in the 1800s. Sometimes if you get lucky you can find them on topo maps. Snowmobile and 4 wheeler clubs are also good sources, and if those sources fail the town hall can often tell you where they are. My walk was 3 hours in and 3 out. I think I know where the road ends and if I’m right I could have doubled that time before reaching the end. But that’s a lot of walking! Maybe next summer when the days are longer.
I know of one – on the way to Sandogardy Pond – but it’s only about a quarter mile long. There is another not too far away, but it might be on private property.
That’s the problem with these roads-you never really know who owns what, but if they aren’t posted then I don’t worry about it. If they are gated or posted I turn around.
I so enjoyed “walking with you.” We don’t have remote land in southern Illinois. I like to hike alone and don’t have any sense of direction at all. So I stick to the more familiar places. Nature always has much to offer to those who see.
Thank you-I’m glad you enjoyed the walk. I like these old roads because it’s nearly impossible to get lost on them and they often lead you way out into the middle of nowhere. But, even if you just stay to the more familiar places, as you say, nature always has much to offer.
What a beautiful place, and how lucky to have roads like this in NH. I’m envious. I assume these places are protected as state forest or something?
We are lucky to have roads like this. It certainly makes getting lost harder to do! Sometimes the old roads are protected but more often than not are just abandoned and forgotton by all but hunters, snowmobilers, and hikers. If they find a road that they like snowmobile clubs will do a good job of keeping them cleared. Many of these old roads don’t appear on maps and in many instances it’s hard, if not impossible, to find out what the original use was.
Enjoyable post, Allen…I don’t think we have the same category names or demarcations for our roads out here, but many of the trails that I take into the mountains and canyons used to be logging and/or mining roads…and are minimally maintained by the forest service just to keep the fallen trees off of them. Thank you for the hike this morning…we’re under 4-5 inches of fresh snow down here in the neighborhoods, so I imagine we have more than a foot or so where I’ll be hiking tomorrow. Thank you again for the beautiful photos…and for the appropriate words by Emerson…so much truth there…it’s different every moment, if we will but look.
You’re welcome Scott. We’ve had snow here but not enough to cover the ground. It sounds like it might be a rough hike tomorrow! You’re lucky to have the forest service keeping the old roads open. Here we have snowmobile clubs and hunters who do it as they can, but some of the oldest roads just revert back to forest.
Thanks for sharing your walk and your beautiful photos. I feel like I was there with you as you pointed out all if the cool details that most of us would miss otherwise. What’s harder to share, though, is the sense of peace and serenity–that has to be experienced in person.
You’re welcome Mike. You’re right-the serenity has to be experienced in person and that’s what this blog is all about-getting people interested in the amazing world around them so they’ll get out there and discover it for themselves. I know that you already do but there are so many that don’t, and that’s too bad.