This Tuesday’s 10 am trek for the Outdoor Recreation for Seniors
(ORFS) was very special. It began with a choice of doing a 3-mile hike around
Lake Kolelemook in Springfield, NH, or doing a snowshoe trek on the Protectworth
Trail, part of the Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway (SRKG).
More so, after the hike, the annual celebration of the March
Equinox would begin at our hosts, the Coombs. Kathy and Bill invite the ORFS to adorn themselves with provided flowers
and greenery and partake in Kathy's Spring Offerings. We dance to our own music and
participate in a "New Beginnings" ceremony.
Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway (SRKG) is a great circle of trail corridors and conserved lands providing hikers
with minimally-developed access to the mountains, lakes, vistas and historical
sites of the region. The “necklace” trail comprises over 75 trail miles,
created with the cooperation of landowners and local authorities, through the
forests, over mountains and, where appropriate, via old roads, now unsuitable
for wheeled traffic but more extensively used as much as two centuries ago.
The Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway Trail Guide topological
Map 4 below shows the Protectworth Trail in Springfield, NH. We trekked on the
trail about one and a half hours. This trail is Class VI. It had been previously groomed for snow
mobiles, cross country skiers, and hikers. Besides
staying on the main trail, we also added some bushwhacking (making our own side
trails in deep snow).
We did not hike
the full Protectworth Trail (4.3 miles) today, but after 45 minutes on the trail, we
turned around and returned to the route 114 trail-head from whence we started. I got enough sense of this beautiful trail, to
plan a return to complete the full Protectworth Trail within the SRKG.
Given I chose the
Protectworth Trail to snowshoe, the video below gives you a sense of our trek, and
then continues to the “party peoples” celebration of spring and new beginnings …
and Bill’s sharing of his UFO experiences.
References
++++++++++++++++++
" Everyone must do something. I believe I will go outdoors with family and friends"
Steve's 5th book, Outdoor Play Fun 4 4 Seasons Volume II, is now available
Outdoor Play Volume II has trip preparations, routes, and narratives of bucket list places to go.
The book motivates friends and family to make the outdoors a key component of their daily life.
Steve’s books are available as an e-Book at Kindle and hard copy at Amazon.com