Decided to finally get up to the Ossipees and check out Bald Knob.
Turtleback is on the Ossipee summits list ... so that seemed worth trying for as well.
Gallery / slide show
The trailhead was pretty easy to find. I was grateful for that - arriving at 12:30, I didnt feel I had much time to hunt around!
There is enough shoulder room on each side of 171 to get off the road, so parking was no problem. The trailhead is right on the town line of Tuftonboro. There is a sign proclaiming TuftonBoro as the home of two Olympians.... but there is no sign for the trail itself.
I shouldn't have put off these peaks so long :)
It was a beautiful day, a little warm but not oppressive. Astonishingly few bugs, just enough dancing gnats to need my safety glasses.
Its been a very uneven bug season this year so far. I've had black flly and mosquito trouble one day , followed by none the next. Even some deer flies.
Great to have a day without !
The trail starts out level but rapidly becomes steep, following a stream washout with very little (no) switchbacking. The footing was good for the entire trail, and well brushed.
It's short, and reaches an excellent outlook ledge in a short time. The ledge has some nice shady grove around it, so it would make a nice break spot.
The trail enters the woods and is easy for a short time, then becomes very steep for a short way and breaks out to the summit of Bald Knob.
This summit is a wide, fairly flat ledgy area with terrific views of Winnipisaukee, the Belknaps,
and the flanking Ossipee ridges.
And a carriage road turnaround with a park bench. Not too unusual for peaks in the Ossipees, but it does seem out of place after the steep ascent!
So far I had seen a total of 5 hikers descending; with my late start that was not surprising. There were two other hikers lazily sunning on the bench, while their kids played on the rocks. One other hiker showed up before I moved on for Turtleback.
Going past the Bald Knob summit headed for Turtleback, I followed the carriage road
to the junction with the Turtleback Mountain Trail, itself a carriage road, and followed that to the Turtleback Summit Trail, yet another carriage road.
For some reason, I found walking these carriage roads to be pleasant. I don't enjoy the carriage road atop Mt Shaw at all. I don't know why, maybe it was just the nice day. Or maybe I've been to Shaw too many times.
Anyway, the walking is fast and easy from Bald Knob to Turtleback.
Breaking out of the woods onto the Turtleback ledge was breathtaking. The ledges on Turtleback are only open to the north ( AFAIK ), but they overlook a deep col between Turtleback and Mt Shaw. Mt Shaw sweeps above that , blocking anything else to the north/northeast. But it's OK. The sense of depth and majesty looking out over the col at the slopes of Shaw is very worthy!
There is a somewhat restricted view to the east, allowing a look at Mt Roberts, and maybe Sandwich mountain beyond.
There are also some hints of off-trail ledges to the south of the summit, but I was not up for any brushwhacking. Time, ticks, energy and besides, Bald Knob was pretty satisfying in that direction.
So I lounged around the summit for a while, watched the cloud shadows roll across the slopes. Then I packed up and head back down the carriage roads.
I decided to head down the Bald Knob Cutoff Trail, partly for exploration, and partly to avoid the steepness of the Bald Knob Trail . All of the carriage road junctions, and this trad hiking trail junction were signed and easy to find.
This trail drops steeply for a very short distance, then is fairly gradual with good footing. It passes an area where some rock outcropping provides some interesting broken rock. There is a sign explaining some of the area geology. Interesting.
Eventually the trail ascends a small knob and crossies thru a small glade with some excellent last views of the Belknaps and Lake W. Then a pleasant walk thru pretty open softwoods, eventually spilling out on the Shannon Brook trail, a gravel road that follows the deep gorge of Shannon Brook, eventually exiting onto Rt 171 across from a large parking area.
From there I had a mile road walk. Not my favorite, but the day was still nice and I still had a mouthful or two of water. Presently the car appeared and ...homeward bound !