That spiky hill in Goffstown

The twin Uncanoonuc hills in Goffstown are my landmarks for knowing I'm nearly home whenever I come back from even a short trip out of my area. North Uncanoonuc looks forested and fresh, while South has 14 antennae and cell towers on its summit, making it look a bit like a geographic porcupine. I can't complain too much about the towers, since I like having cell service & similar conveniences. Any map I consult calls these the Uncanoonuc Mountains, but when you read that, bear in mind that these "mountains" top out around 1300'.

North Uncanoonuc is always pleasant, with good views, no power lines, & no towers. Today, though, I wanted to check out the trails on South. Goffstown has produced a terrific map (www.GoffstownTrails.com) showing not just the old hiking trails, but also the snowmobile trails that snake over & around both peaks. Mountain Road between the hills has several parking areas for hikers, and the entrance to the Reservoir road off Mountain Road now has a parking area with a map kiosk.

I started up South Uncanoonuc from the kiosk for a short late-afternoon hike, carrying the map I had downloaded & printed. Conditions are typical for November. South's trails are covered with slippery oak leaves, and a few of the boggy spots already have a thin skin of ice. Major trail intersections have either snowmobile signs or trail markers. Most minor trails as shown on the map are easy to spot, though they're unsigned. A power line cut across the slope includes a well-defined trail, which today saw bike traffic along with a few hikers. It was a great day to enjoy the view of Manchester (see photo) from South's summit ledges. I could almost forget that a cell tower was right behind me.

If I had had more time, I could have continued down the other side of South Uncanoonuc on either of two trails that end at Uncanoonuc Lake. A full morning or afternoon could easily be given to wandering these trails and visiting both summits. Bring water & snacks - the closest store & restrooms are on Mast Road, a couple of miles north of the trail kiosk on Mountain Road. There's a paved road from South's summit to Back Mountain Road, and if you want a good workout without going into the woods, you can drive to the summit (no good parking at the base)and walk down to the base & back. But why would I want to avoid the woods on a day like this?

Nashua Riverwalk pushes east

Nashua's Riverwalk is coming online piece by piece, as most trails do. I took a quick break from the job hunt this morning to check out the new stretch, extending from the library to the RR bridge behind BAE Systems. The bridge is a prize, providing one of the city's few safe pedestrian crossings of the Nashua River.

The RR bridge still has an active line, and it has long been a probably-illegal and certainly dangerous river crossing for intrepid pedestrians. A walkway and the rail line now share the bridge, with a fence and a railing defining the walkway. Not exactly a bridge to nowhere, its full value won't be realized until the Riverwalk is complete along both sides of the river near Main Street. My guess is that most of the current users are the lunchtime runners from BAE.

For now, a stairway behind the library leads to a flat path along the south side of the river. The view at the dam, unremarkable now, will probably be quite a draw for Riverwalk visitors in the spring. Spring floods will undoubtedly leave part of this path underwater for days at a time. Five minutes of walking brought me to the bridge.

Crossing the river put me into the parking lot between BAE & Margarita's - not exactly a scenic wonder. I hoped there might be a trail open along the north side of the river, but no such luck. Returning to the library meant either retracing steps or going ahead via the rail line, Main Street, & Pearson Avenue.

For safety, I'd rate this a daytime-only path for solo walkers for now. I'd love to see this get as much traffic as the paths in Mine Falls Park, and with the eventual completion of the Riverwalk, that may yet happen.

Published accounts of the condition of the Nashua River from 40 years ago make me appreciate all the work that has gone into this project. Bridges are particularly expensive to adapt for pedestrian use. My thanks to the McLean Contributionship, which made a $100,000 grant to get this trail link going.