Weather was much nicer today but I decided that I should go south (instead of back into the Whites) to work on the Northern Rail Trail. After Mass (0800) in Lebanon, I used I-89 to reach NH-11 and continued east until I arrived in the town of Franklin. I parked on Carr Street, just about a mile from the boat launch area on Webster Lake. It was warm (and buggy) when I started (0930) but the overcast helped to keep me from turning into a lobster. I first walked in the direction of White River Junction, looking for the Andover-Franklin town line. Just a bit after I passed that, I reached the NH-11 overpass where I turned around last weekend. Headed back towards Boston and spent a little time reading the many historical markers that had been placed along the trail. Apparently, this area posed one of the biggest challenges to the railroad builders on the whole rail line - it was quite obvious in places that they had to move a LOT of dirt to keep the grade level. It was actually kind of funny to see that the highway engineers didn’t bother to do nearly as much work - the road rose and fell repeatedly (above and below the rail trail) while I walked on a comfortable flat surface. I encountered a lot of bikers throughout the day and ended up talking to a few about how much farther I had left to go on the NRT (answers varied between 6 and 11 miles). When I reached my car, I decided to keep going - I wanted to find a good parking lot in Franklin. Unfortunately, I was not successful in this plan - the trail stayed away from town, high above it, for the next few miles. One of the locals told me about a place where I could leave my car (on the side of the road) so I turned around there (Anderson Avenue). I also learned that there was another rail trail on the other side of town - will have to check that out someday. The walk back to my car wasn’t too stressful but I was repeatedly passed by a large group of bikers who kept stopping until I passed them. I guess they liked seeing the scenery (mostly lakes and rivers). Done by 1215 - felt good after walking almost 7 miles. I wasn't ready to go home yet so I drove towards I-89 via NH-127. Along the way west, I decided to it would be a good idea to explore the Kearsarge Mountain State Forest. It took a long time to circumnavigate the area (lots of gravel roads) but the ride was very scenic and I got glimpses of several homes with breathtaking views along the way. I eventually reached NH-103 and entered the town of Warner. Following signs to Rollins State Park, I continued up the base of Kearsarge until I reached a gate across the road - I was unable to reach the top of the mountain on that route. It really didn't matter, though, because it started raining at that point. After all the driving, I’ve now got a better idea about the trail systems in (and between) Winslow and Rollins State Parks, Hoping I can make it to the top (by car or by foot) of this iconic landmark soon - supposedly, you can sometimes see the Boston skyline (80 miles away) from up there! From Warner, I went home on I-89, arriving at around 1700. Glad I got to enjoy at least one full warm day this weekend...
