New Hampshire: Day 1. Cotton Valley Rail-Trail

The old Cotton Valley Station

Kali and I visited with a friend and colleague in central New Hampshire during the second week of July.  Neither of us had ever been to New Hampshire (our fifth-last state to check off our list of "states visited").  We had a good four days.

Our friend had to work on the first day of our visit, so she suggested that she could drive us six miles outside town (Wolfeboro) to an access point for the Cotton Valley Rail-Trail, and we could walk back into town.  Perfect.

Kali on the Cotton Valley Rail-Trail

When Wolfeboro created the rail-trail, the town did not remove the tracks.  In places, the trail runs between the tracks (filled with limestone grit), whereas in most other places, the trail runs alongside the tracks on one side or the other.

A swamp alongside the trail

There's a beaver lodge at the lower right of the image

Bunchberry (an herbaceous perennial dogwood; Cornus canadensis) growing along the right-of-way

The day was bright, sunny, and a bit humid, but the trail was level and the walking easy.

Fernald Station - exactly half way along our walk

Fernald Brook.  There's a beaver dam visible in the center rear of the image.

The second half of the walk, closer to town, was less "wild" than the portion further away.  Development encroached up to the trail edge more frequently, and we could hear cars driving on the state route that parallels the trail.  About two miles outside town, the trail passed by a public beach on Lake Wentworth; lots of folks were taking advantage of the great swimming weather.

Public beach at Lake Wentworth

Lake Wentworth - away from the crowds and private storefront developments

When we got back to town, we treated ourselves to ice cream cones.