I walked some more miles of the Mascoma River Greenway (extension of the Northern Rail Trail) this afternoon! Parked at the Price Chopper on US-4 (west side of Lebanon) at around 1800 and walked west. Like the previous walks on this section, I enjoyed the nice pavement and newly constructed bridges. Thought I’d be able to walk the almost two miles to White River Junction easily but was startled when the pavement abruptly ended about a mile from my car. I was surprised to see rails and ties rising out of the cinder path and watched a full railroad track run off into the woods. I kept following the bike trail and soon found myself in a small parking lot on Glen Road. I walked a bit further west, hoping to find the bike trail again, but it had clearly ended. When I saw a railroad bridge crossing a small stream nearby, I took a chance and walked into the woods until I reached the tracks. Walked out onto the trestle over the river - this brought back some memories from High School (jumping off a similar bridge into Bass River). At the other end of this span, though, the overgrowth was too thick to continue. Retraced my steps to the car and then tried to follow the route of the tracks through West Lebanon (in my Subaru). Was successful until just after I passed the Skate Park - the tracks dissolved into the urban sprawl and I’d completely lost them by the time I hit NH-12A. Oh well... Guessing there is a bike path committee out there with a long term plan to finish the trail - hope I get to see that someday! Decided that the weather was too nice to go home immediately, so drove north to the edge of the Dartmouth College campus and parked at the Dartmouth Boat House & Crew Training Facility. I then walked across the Connecticut River on the Ledyard Bridge, admiring the views. I checked out Foley Park (on the Vermont side) and headed back to my car. It still wasn't dark so I drove further into the campus and checked out Occom Pond, the Dartmouth Ski Center and the Hanover Country Club. Before I was done, I took a walk on the fairways and a riverside trail (steep drop to the river). It was a beautiful evening and I finished walked just before the sun was completely gone (2100). After all the exploring, I'm really looking forward to more adventures in my new town!
