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By BETH DUGGER
I’ve spent much of the past two years in meetings about
trails, as we've struggled with the places for trail hiking
in the former Champion Lands. Hiking this half-tamed landscape
with small groups to evaluate and plan has been a great way
to get acquainted with the possibilities.
Meanwhile, I’ve kept sane and balanced through making
a deeper connection with one mountain just outside the Champion
Lands but offering a view of about half of them. It’s
a firetower-topped peak with an established trail and two
more trails in need of loving care. If you’ve been hiking
with us, you know already that I mean Bald Mountain.
Approaching Bald from Westmore is the perfect foliage or
early winter hike, rambling up the switchbacks, and saving
some energy for the final steep climb. It’s about a
two-hour hike up no matter which approach I use (and I'm a
slow hiker). The reward of the firetower vista is a great
incentive.
The top of this mountain is recently established public land.
The trails, though, are mostly on private land. The Westmore
approach is well maintained except for a patch of logging
that's torn up a bit of the start of the trail. (Watch for
signs to help you choose between log landings and peak route.)
I saw a lot of deer tracks on this side.
Climbing from the Tower Road, off Hinton Road (which connects
Westmore and East Charleston), there's an immediate confrontation
with the damage that hurried timber harvesting can bring.
Much of the intial erosion has been repaired, but slash piles
along the route leave me ambivalent — I know they are
great for wildlife, but ugly to my woods-oriented eye. I took
this route on a snowy early winter day, with nearly a foot
of powder, and saw so many moose tracks that I started to
get a feel for how this gangly critter uses its independent
four-leg suspension to handle rocks and gullies better than
I can. I needed all three pairs of mittens with me: two got
soaked on the way up, and the peak is cold and windy when
you're hot and sweaty!
As this summer turned to fall, I finally explored the approach
from the Mad Brook Road (also off Hinton Road, well toward
East Charleston). Thanks to a dedicated private landowner,
this trail is recovering well from a lot of ATV use. There's
even a marked parking area. After a mellow mile of gentle
woods the trail rises, the rocky outcrops are tantalizing,
and there are narrow views down the trail, but no vista until
the firetower. Here a wide variety of trees and shrubs adds
interest to the ramble.
I look forward to when we'll be able to develop the same
kind of relationship with a peak and vista on the former Champion
Lands. So far, I vote for West Mountain as a great spot for
a view, provided that we can find an ecologically appropriate
way to blend with the level of protection being called for.
What a great time to be a GMC hiker!
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