Here in New Hampshire a class 6 designation means that a road isn’t maintained by either the state or the town and traveling it could be rough going. Class 6 roads are also subject to gates and bars. Though they are public ways they are roads that are more or less forgotten except by hikers and snowmobilers. The one I chose to hike on this day is in Swanzey and dates from the mid-1800s.
The road itself is wide and flat but can be rocky in places. A vehicle with good ground clearance could easily navigate it, at least until it came to the streams that cross the road. The one bridge that I saw hasn’t been maintained, so stream crossing would be a bit of a gamble. According to the Swanzey Town History the road was originally laid out in 1848 and went from the village of West Swanzey to the Chesterfield town line. From that point the town of Chesterfield took over and continued it up the valley to the “Keene and Chesterfield highway,” which I think must now be route 9 that runs east to west.
The many small streams and rivulets that drain down from the hillsides empty into California Brook, which runs alongside the road for miles. California Brook is a strange name for a brook in New Hampshire and I’ve tried to find the name’s origin but haven’t had any luck. It has its start in the town of Chesterfield and runs southeast to the Ashuelot River in Swanzey. There were at least two mills on the brook in the early 1800s, and it was said to be the only waterway in Swanzey where beavers could be found in the 1700s. They’re still here, almost 300 years later.
This was a cold hike; in shady spots there were still traces of the snow that fell several days ago.
Evergreen Christmas ferns (Polystichum acrostichoides) don’t mind a little snow. The tough leathery leaves will stay green under the snow all winter long. In spring they will turn yellow and then brown to make way for new fronds. One story says that the name “Christmas fern” is thought to come from the early settler’s habit of using its fronds as Christmas decorations.
Foam flowers (Tiarella cordifolia) grew along the old road. This plant has hairy leaves that look delicate, but they’re fairly tough and stay green under the leaves and snow all winter. The purple veins in each leaf become more pronounced as the nights cool and sometimes the leaves will have purplish bronze splotches. This plant makes an excellent flowering groundcover for a damp, shady spot in the garden. Plant breeders have developed many interesting hybrids but I still like the native best, I think.
Just off the road a small pool had formed and frozen over. It was much like the vernal pools that we see in spring that are so important to wildlife.
I came out here several years ago and was able to drive over this bridge but I doubt I’d try it now. Part of it looks to be fairly rotten. There’s a drop of 3 or 4 feet to the stream bed under it.
A snowmobile or a 4 wheeler could get over the bridge with no problem in spite of the rotted and missing planks, but it looked like it would be tricky for a wider vehicle. I was glad I decided to hike it, especially since a second bridge further up the road had washed away completely. The flooding that happened here a few years ago must have taken it. Someone had tried to fill the stream bed with crushed stone but it would still be a tough crossing. The flooding also destroyed a beaver dam and the large beaver pond that was out here several years ago has drained away.
Moss covered stone walls line the road. They were most likely built in the mid-1700s after the original land grants and years before the road was built. According the town history most traveling was done on foot and bridle paths in the early years of settlement. Stone walls like this one which are all but forgotten are sometimes called “wild” walls.
One of the things I like about this time of year is how you can see so much farther into the forest once the leaves have fallen. This view shows that there are a lot of stones that would have to be cleared before this piece of land could become a pasture. Frost brings more stones to the surface each year so clearing them out of a pasture can be a constant effort. Though the trees in this view look young I saw some large examples that were obviously very old.
Fresh woodchips lay all around the base of a beech tree. I’ve learned to look up when I see this.
Because every time I see wood chips at the base of a tree I see pileated woodpecker holes in it. These were high up, just below where the tree had lost its top. The old dead beech must have been full of insects, probably carpenter ants.
The tree’s trunk had slashing scars on it, made within the last few years. According to the town history the largest animals that settlers in this area saw regularly were wolf, bear, catamount (mountain lion), lynx, beaver, otter and deer. Of those wolves and bears presented the most “annoyance.” Since we don’t have wolves any longer and mountain lion sightings happen only very rarely, the only other animal I can think of that is powerful enough to leave marks like this is a black bear. I doubt very much that they were made by a human.
Just as water will take the path of least resistance black bear, deer and other animals use manmade roads and trails and bears will mark the trees and utility poles along them. I saw several trees with marks like these along this section of the trail but they aren’t something that I see regularly in my travels.
This might not seem like its best side, but if you meet a black bear in the woods this is the side you want to see. Black bears normally weigh from 135 to 350 pounds, but they can reach 600 pounds. They’re amazingly fast and very strong and you can’t outrun, outswim, or out climb them so your best bet is to avoid them. Bear attacks are rare but they do happen, usually when the bear has been surprised or startled. The area I was in on this day is about as close to a wilderness you can get in this part of New Hampshire and is known bear habitat, so I used my monopod as a walking stick and had a bear bell on it so they’d know I was coming. I also had some bear spray with me. I’d hate to ever have to use it but you never know. This photo was taken by a friend’s trail camera just a month ago.
A marker and an arrow on a tree pointed me that way.
But there was a gate that way, barring a side road that went sharply uphill. It was unlocked and that seemed odd, but I went through it anyway.
A still, beautiful pool was just inside the gate. I thought it would make a great place to sit for a while but then I saw something that changed my mind.
This cave at the side of the pool looked big enough to walk into by bending a bit, but not small enough to have to crawl into. It looked very inviting and called loudly to the hermit in me but it also looked big enough to hold a whole family of bears and snug enough to be attractive to them, so I decided to go back out through the gate and keep moving. Personally I wouldn’t mind spending some time in the solitude of a cave, but I wouldn’t want to have to tangle with a bear to earn the privilege.
Though it might look like some tree cannibalism was going on things like this are easy to explain. The tree with the wound grew up through the branches of the tree on the left and the wind made the wounded tree rub against the other’s branch. Over time the tree grew and its wound got deeper until now it has almost healed over the offending branch. I expect that one day it will heal over completely and look very strange with a foreign branch poking out both sides.
The old road went on and on. On a map the distance from Swanzey to Chesterfield is about 18 miles using the highway and, though cutting through the forest like this is probably shorter, at a slow pace of three miles an hour hiking to Chesterfield and back could have taken about twelve hours. Since we only have about 9 1/2 hours of daylight available right now that didn’t seem like a wise decision so I turned around. The days will be longer in summer and it will certainly be warmer.
In our noisy cities we tend to forget the things our ancestors knew on a gut level: that the wilderness is alive, that its whispers are there for all to hear – and to respond to. ~Lawrence Anthony
Thanks for stopping in.
There’s been a lot of development at the beginning of that road in recent years. How did you get to the old woods road part of it? Is there parking or a trailhead?
Yes, they’ve built condos where there used to be a gravel pit.
I park on a pull off just below the grassy slope the condos are on, then I just walk up the road. You can go for a long time without seeing anything but trees out there.
That is another wonderful hike! Yes, best see the backside of a bear out in the woods. My husband and his brother had an encounter with a black bear while camping out, many, many years ago. They put their packs up on the bear pole at their designated site as instructed. When they set up camp, they noticed the bear pole was bent, but didn’t think much about it at the time. A knowledgeable bear eventually showed up, and tried numerous times to grab a pack off of the pole. The bear finally was able to grab the bottom of a pack in his teeth, hang there, and the weight caused the pack straps to rip off. Bear landed on his behind with the pack, and proceeded to bite a side pouch and bit into a can of bug spray. That made the bear angry, but he eventually wandered off. The boys broke camp and headed back for the Ranger Station.
Thanks! I imagine your husband and his brother were glad to see that bear leave! They’ll do just about anything to get food.
That must have been a very pleasant hike. There are many abandoned logging roads here, many closed to motorized traffic but maintained by the Forest Service for access. They are always pleasant to hike on.
By the way, I really recommend carrying a firearm in remote areas (preferably a magnum), but only if you are very skilled in using it, although I think bear spray has been proven to be very effective on bears. I don’t know if it is on cats though.
Thanks Montucky, it was a nice hike! That’s actually a very good road except for the bridges and I’m guessing it must be maintained by a snowmobile club, which is allowed.
I used to be a fairly decent shot with a revolver but I haven’t held a gun in quite a while. I’m thinking about getting a .44 magnum but wow-have the prices gone up!
I hope I never have to find out if the bear spray works but it is mace and I think it would deter just about any animal. I actually worry about stray dogs more than bears when I’m out there. You never know what they’ll do either.
I thought that your photo of the frozen pond was one of the most beautiful that I had ever seen, but the second pond proved to be its equal but for different reasons! How fortunate you were to see two such pretty places in one day.
Seeing anything green this time of year is a treat, so the foam flower leaves and the Christmas ferns were greta to see.
We have a few bears here, but I’ve never seen one while walking, always while driving, so they posed no threat. The ones in Michigan are extremely shy, so I don’t know what I’d do if I saw one while walking. I never carry bear spray even though I often go where bears are supposed to be the most numerous in lower Michigan.
Thanks Jerry! There were a lot of pretty and interesting things to see out there and I’ll definitely be going back in warmer weather.
I like seeing anything green at this time of year too, and there’s actually still a lot of it out there until the snow covers it all up.
I’ve looked out my windows and seen bears right in my yard but I’ve never met one in the woods. The difference about this place is how it is known bear country and quite far from everything, so I decided to play it safe. If anything happens in places like that you can’t expect a neighbor or dog walker to come along and help; you’re on your own. If I had a side arm I would have been carrying it.
I was pleased to see that there were a couple of beautiful pools in spite of your drought. I agree with you in regard to winter walking that you can see a lot more as you go about when the leaves are off the trees. You get more of a feel for the shape of the land.
The pools were probably not even knee deep but at least they were there, while some of the smaller streams that empty into the brook had dried up.
Yes, it’s nice not to have to imagine what the land beneath the trees and shrubs looks like.
The snow and ice are a bit of a shock as we are still unseasonably warm. I can’t imagine meeting a bear on a walk. I suppose we have wild boar but I think they are very shy. Amelia
Well, now the weather people say that we might see 60 degrees next week so it’s a real roller coaster ride as far as weather is concerned.
I hope I never do meet up with a bear but in these woods it’s always a possibility. I’ve had them in my own back yard, and they are big.
I’m glad your boars are shy. I’ve heard that they can be pretty mean.
I’ve absolutely loved our class VI roads since an upstate backpacking trip a few years ago. The flora & fauna & old cellar holes make for fine walks. Thanks for your photos!
You’re welcome Ellen, and thank you. I was surprised that I didn’t see any cellar holes out there, especially since the town history lists 3 or 4 people who lived there. Maybe I just didn’t go far enough, but three hours seemed like enough.
I’m glad you have places like this that you can get to easily.
Foamflower is a lovely plant but it has not thrived for me. Not enough moisture, maybe. That reflecting pool is a lovely spot, and the cave did seem inviting but I think you were wise not to risk an encounter with bears.
It could also be too much sun. Foamflowers grow in quite deep shade here, often getting very little direct sun and they almost always grow near water.
I’d love to explore that cave but I wouldn’t dare without some type of gun and a real strong flashlight. Waking a sleeping bear is not a good idea!
Wonderful post, Allen…that’s a road I would enjoy walking any time of the year.
Thank you Scott. It would be a good place to stay cool in the summer with all of the evergreens overhead.
This walk of yours is one I haven’t seen on your blog before, I think, in the two and a bit years I have been following you. It was good to see that you still have some green plants despite the cold. Both the pools and the brook look so peaceful and serene and I am sure they would be good to sit by when the weather is warmer. It would be interesting to find out why the brook is called California. There is an area in our county town of Ipswich that is called California, a tiny village on the Norfolk coast called California and also a village in Scotland with that name.Perhaps an early settler came from one of those places and called the brook after his former home?
Thank you Clare. I did a post on this road 4 years ago but I didn’t know where it led then, and I’m still not absolutely sure now because a walk to its end would be, from what I’ve read, a very long walk.
Summer would be the time to do it when it gets dark later and it’s cooler under the pines and hemlocks.
I wish I could find the origin of such an odd name. I’ll have to check with the local historical society and see if they know. Back in the mid 1700s when this area was settled I’m not sure there was a California as we know it. It wasn’t incorporated as a state until 1848, and the brook had been known for a hundred years by then.
That really seems odd that places in the U.K. would be named California. I wonder if Californians had a hand in it.
They may have done!
” Frost brings more stones to the surface each year”
I don’t understand how/why this happens. Can you enlighten me?
I’ll try! When water in the soil freezes and expands, the ice grows into a lens shape and pushes against everything above it. Large objects like rocks are pushed upward, sometimes as much as a foot. When the ice melts, the mud and sediment collapses in the space under the rock. This leaves the rock at the point where the frost has raised it. Over time the rock eventually reaches the surface. Since not all rocks lie at the same level in the soil some reach the soil surface each year. Farmers call them the “spring crop.”
There’s a Wikipedia article on frost heaving here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_heaving
Thanks for that. It’s something none of my teachers at school never taught us. Do you know what’s surprising about the number 999999? I hope not ‘cos then I can tell you as a kind of quid pro quo. 🙂
“It’s something none of my teachers at school never taught us. “( Along with proper English usage apparently. 😳 )
No, I’ve never heard anything about that number!
It’s not specifically 999999 though, it’s the number which is one seventh of it (142857). Rather than try to explain in words why it is a little special I’ll direct you to http://www.articlesforeducators.com/article.asp?aid=3
That’s pretty amazing!
Yep.
I am glad you didn’t meet a bear even one with its back to you.
Thank you Susan. Me too!