NH Cohos Trail: Happy Corner to Tillotson Hut

Took a wrong turn... but the view was great!

Day four of my final trip was a day of wrong turns. I took more wrong turns and had more trouble finding the trail in this section than the entire rest of the trail combined, by far. I started well enough from the campground by finding a shortcut out to Danforth Road rather than walking all the way down the hill and then back up again. So far so good. But soon there was a road veering off to the right, and intuitively that felt like the correct way to go. But before going that way, I checked the trail map, which indicated the trail followed Danforth Road. The street sign said the right option was Kingfield Road, so I passed it by and kept going straight up and up and up the hill. At the top, I stopped to enjoy the view and check the gps track on Maps.ME. Good thing I did. I was WAY off course. It had to be that road junction where I went wrong.

Screenshot: Not where I thought I was

So I went back down, and yes, that street sign definitely said "Kingfield Road" and it was oriented parallel with what the trail map said was Danforth Road. Huh. Unless the street sign was hit and twisted by a car? Or maybe they mark their streets differently here? And Kingfield Road was the name of the road on the left, the one I took by mistake, so why did Maps.ME call it Coville Road? I continued on to the next road junction, which a street sign said was Coville Road. What the what? Later I checked Google Maps, and their road names matched the street signs, but Maps.ME was way wrong. At any rate, this would be a good road junction to throw up a blaze, since the street sign is confusing and at least one map application is wildly inaccurate.

Confusing road sign

The rest of the way up to the summit of Prospect Mountain was OK and there was a great view of First Connecticut Lake down below. Another day, another lake. Nice.

First Connecticut Lake from Prospect Mountain

It was spotty showers again for the day, after a rain the night before. Annoying in some respects, and a bit depressing, but fall colors can be richer with cloud cover. And the low clouds were moody over the lake. At the overlook were some Lady's Tresses were in bloom. These are orchids and I wouldn't expect to see something like that at the end of September with the changing leaves.

Ladies Tresses at the overlook

The trail between Prospect Mountain and Covell Mountain is called Ramblewood Link Trail, and that was a real challenge to follow. The woods were pretty open, more like Connecticut, and the trail seemed to be trying to make its way around private lands through some terrain that was pretty lumpy at times. The trail was blazed throughout, but there were several spots where the trail suddenly turned and there was just nothing indicating which way you should go. I often referred to the gps track on my phone, but that didn't always help. 

Go left then right? Long curve to the right? Beware of boomerang?

There doesn't seem to be a trail-wide standard for blazing, so the turn indicators are inconsistent. I found this to be true of the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway as well. They do not use the offset double blazes I'm so used to in Connecticut on the Blue-Blazed system. Those can be admittedly confusing when you first see them, but after a couple turns it's easy to catch on, and every turn of the 800-mile system is marked in this way. Trail Managers in Connecticut have to take an orientation class and are taught how to do the blazes so everything is consistent. Here, it seems like blazers are free to use whatever they feel makes sense as long as it's the right color. A lot of turn blazes along the Cohos are like an upside down "L", and this is pretty intuitive and works for me. And most of the terrain is super thick, so it's hard to meander off the path in most areas.

This part is easy

But when the terrain gets really open and there are lots of twists and turns, it's very helpful to let hikers know which way the turn is, and how far. There were double blazes with no turns, double blazes with turns way way beyond the double blaze, sharp turns with no double blazes, and often no blazes immediately after the turns. The latter tended to be the most difficult. The trail would just disappear.

Turn which way? None of these markings are helping. 

One spot in particular I floundered about for a good 15 minutes. There were multiple marking indicating a turn. Where? I looked and looked. The markings did not indicate if it was a left turn or right turn, or if the turn was right there or 100 yards further. One of the markings was actually two horizontal lines, which meant nothing to me (in Connecticut it means "end of trail"). There were many possible treadways that fizzled. I kept trying to follow various options, including several route straight ahead that went through heavy vegetation that had been trampled (hikers? moose?). I finally found the correct way was a hard right. There was no tread in that direction and no blazes visible from the double blaze. In retrospect, the two horizontal blazes might have meant "turn exactly here" but I've never seen markings used like that.

Covell Mountain summit

But after slogging through lots of such mystery turns, I eventually made it to the top of Covell Mountain, where it started to rain.

Giant rootball/rain shelter

An enormous rootball offer great shelter from the sprinkles as well as a view across the lake. Great time to start in on that local fudge! I normally do not touch fudge, but while backpacking it's OK.

Fudge reward

View from Covell Mtn. 

The trail was thankfully easier to follow north of Covell Mountain and there was no rush. This section was only eight miles, and even with the wrong turns and lazy late start, there was plenty of time to make it to Tillotson Hut.

"Conversation Rock"

One thing they do that I like is post a few random routered signs for things that make you go 'huh.' One such place was "Conversation Rock." You just know there is a story there. And it will be used as a reference point when doing trail work.

Tree Lungwort

One interest find along the trail was a patch of Tree Lungwort, also known as Lung Moss, Lung Lichen, and Oak Lungs. It's reportedly in decline around the world due to acid rain and forestry practices and is associated with old growth forests. Because the leaves resemble lung tissue, this lichen was used for lung diseases such as asthma back in the day when that sort of thing made sense. Moose and deer eat this lichen.

For Sale at Round Pond

The Cohos came out onto a road serving camps along the shores of Round Pond, and I passed a thru-hiker headed southbound. She said she had started the day before, so she was making great time, probably leap-frogging the campsites. Twenty miles a day instead of ten. Ahh, bless the young and fit.

More trail confusion at Round Pond Brook

I had more trail confusion for a few minutes when I followed the blazes to a stream. The blazes just stopped but I kept trying to figure out how I was supposed to cross the stream and continue. Eventually I studied the map, realized the trail did not crossed the stream, and figured out that it was just a spur to the falls not the main trail. I'm used to spurs being blazed differently than the main trail. In Connecticut, this would be yellow + white or yellow+ red, or some other color or shape.

Heading into Mooseland

As the trail got closer to Tillotson Hut, the land dropped into some low areas that were just full of moose tracks. I really wanted to see a moose while hiking. I've seen a couple while hiking at Yellowstone and the Grant Teton National Parks, but that's a step above seeing them at a zoo. I wanted to see one while hiking in New England.

Bear claw marks

I also saw some bear claw marks on a tree. I don't need to see a bear while hiking. I checked that off the list earlier this year in Connecticut. A mama bear and her cubs walking down the trail right at me.

Garter Snake hiding in the leaves

Tillotson Hut was beautiful, like so many other huts along the Cohos. I was there before 2:00 pm, stepping over a Garter Snake in the access trail. Part of me wanted to keep going, but not for another nine miles. I'd have to stay here for the night.

Tillotson Hut

The craftsmanship on these things is just amazing. Look at how the logs are notched to fit together at the ends. There's also a sweet-smelling privy and a water source nearby.

Craftsmanship!

I dipped a bottle into the shallow stream and a salamander darted away. Caddisfly larvae crawled around the bottom, a marker of great water quality.

Red Backed Salamander 

My tent was pretty wet from rain the night before, so I was able to start drying that out by hanging it out under the shelter overhangs. The temperature was dropping, a wind was blowing into the shelter, and it promised to be a much colder night. I wanted to be in my tent, which can be significantly  warmer than outside, surprisingly so. As darkness approached and it seemed no one else was coming to share the shelter, I set the tent up inside the shelter.

Home Sweet Home for the night

I signed the guest book after dark. I was just finishing up when a pack of coyotes nearby started yipping. Oh they do put chills down your spine. I was happy to crawl into the tent and zip it up.