Popple Island Wildlife Sanctuary is a NH Audubon sanctuary in Epsom , NH.
(NOTE: The map as of this writing does not show what we believe is a rerouted section.)
It's a pretty nice walk. We did hear a few birds and Merlin identified them.
But I didn't save the IDs , so if you want to know what's out there ... you'll have to go listen for yourself :)
So, I'm a bit sheepish about the fact that I under prepared, this being a short ( 1.5 mile) hike over relatively flat land. And it is nearby. How hard could it be?
Well .... I missed a turn on the way to the trailhead and wound up on the opposite end of the Class VI segment of Lockes Hill Road from the trailhead.
This wound up adding a total of another mile walking on the Class VI road. Not exactly a disaster, but a good lesson - glancing at Google Earth is not adequate navigation , even for relatively nearby trails 🙄
The road and the woods were almost completely clear of ice and snow, no traction required, which was pleasant. The water was still low, so crossing Locke's Brook was easy. We took the loop clockwise, which turned out to be a mistake, it would have been easier if we had gone counterclockwise. As far as we could figure, there is a section in the trail which is in the process of being rerouted.
We saw no notice of the reroute, and the map we downloaded does not take it into account. Additionally, some of the yellow blaze markers were still in place until they stop in the middle of an old field or timber cut that is regrowing. Following the map, directions and the yellow blazes resulted in losing the trail, which took a little compass and gps work to find again. Once we found it, we followed it in reverse to find where we had gone wrong.
If we had gone counter clockwise , the reroute would have been obvious.
Going clockwise, it begins in what looks like an ATV trail or old road, and is flagged with red surveyor tape. We did not realize the tape was marking a reroute. This is near the location where the (old) path follows a stone wall to the two parallel stone walls. The ATV trail enters the old timber cut/field and there is shortly a newly cut path leading off from it, marked with surveyor tape. The treadway of the new path required some attention, many saplings were trimmed to about 6" from the ground , making the footing sometimes a little wobbly. There were a few nubbles and more substantial stumps in the treadway as well.
Probably this reroute will be trimmed up before long. In the meantime, pay extra attention to the treadway.
It was a nice , if unexpectedly long, way to spend a few hours on a cloudy day. We did stay a little too long - it started snowing just as we got back to trailhead, and the traffic was kind of crazy. I guess the holiday was stressing people out, we saw some snarled traffic from accidents and, alarmingly, saw people not bothering to pull over for emergency vehicles. Reminded me of some old-time hiker wisdom - yes, hiking can be a little dangerous, but the most dangerous part is getting to and from the trailhead.... it was a relief to get home and get snug 😊