Nash Stream Forest, NH - Cohos Trail Section Hiking

A Section Hiking Adventure 
Section #5, July 2014

Movable CT marker

In July we hit the Cohos trail to see what the Nash Stream Forest in NH had to offer, and what lovely trails/views it did have!

Our section for this month started at the far southern end of the forest where it meets RT 110 in Stark, NH.  We decide to chop the section into 2 day hikes, spotting cars along Nash Stream Rd. We camped at the nearby Cedar Pond Campground once again and headed onto the trail with 7 in all the following morning.

The first views came as we approached  the cliffs of Victor Head (not pictured). We were warned of a terrible bushwack/ascent, but actually the trail was pretty average stuff. We think the last hiker had mistaken a spur trail to nowhere for the trail to the ledge. Just past the incorrect spur was the actual trail, which lead to the lovely cliff ledge with fine views to the south.

We carried on to South Percy, which has a steep ascent in the last 100 feet or so. Beyond that was a fine summit with blueberries and excellent views of North Percy, a beautiful bald, rocky dome. There is also a fairly obvious geo-cache on South Percy and we decide to write a little note and carry on to North Percy.

Looking at North Percy from South Percy

The approach to North Percy is on angled slabs of granite, so you get great views while you're hiking. North Percy took the prize for the best views and most relaxing summit. We stayed here for a while taking photos, soaking in the sun and views of mountains we didn't recognize (as we were now without the familiar views of the WMNF mtns). 

Hiking up North Percy's bald summit

Views from North Percy

Views from North Percy

The campground and dinner was calling to us, so reluctantly we hiked down out to Nash Stream Road where we left a car. Back at the campground we made ourselves a potluck dinner, swam in the lake and chatted with our RV-occupying neighbors at the campground.

Michele and Cathy cooking up some dinner

Cedar Lake (Campground)

The following morning was wet with rain showers, but we decided to make a go for it as the sun started to come out just after breakfast. Mike and I walked the 1.9 road walk and the rest of the group drove to West Side Road, where the trail enters the woods again. 

The next 4 miles were short and sweet, mostly walking on ATV trails and wide grassy and old roads now filled with ferns. We soon reached the Old Hermit Shelter (not on our map, the area is marked with a "Sugarloaf Arm Camp" designation). The lean-to was recently built in 2012 by members of the CTA and is a lovely specimen for an overnight stay. We had the chance to evaluate it's rain-proofness as a storm kicked up and rain fell for about 1 hour with some lightning. We hung out in the new shelter while the rains did their thing, wrote a note in the visitor log, used the very clean privy and enjoyed our stay until the rains cleared away. We continued out hike north to the road where we had parked a car in case we needed a bail out. The group decided since there would be few good views with all the clouds and rain, we should finish up early and bail out now, skipping the next few miles until the next trip (which consisted of a road walk and a summit to Mt. Sugarloaf).

Old Hermit Shelter

But just before leaving, we stopped to checkout the lovely Pond Brook Falls, a really nice waterfall, especially vigorous after some recent rains. All in all, another successful section hike on the Cohos! Dixville Notch, here we come!

All pics from this trip are on my Flickr Page