I had some staycation days to use at the end of February 2020 so I planned some skiing and hiking trips. My goal for Friday was to find a short hike with majestic views. So I went over to Artist Bluff in Franconia Notch near Cannon Mt. Ski Resort. It’s a short hike, but from the top you get a fantastic view of Franconia Notch and Eagle Lake,Cannon Mt and Mt. Layafette.
I had some vacation time to use before the end of February so I planned a few “staycation” activities like skiing and winter hiking. On Wednesday, February 24, 2021 I planned a hike with my friend Sandra up Mt. Cube on the Rivendell Trail in Orford, NH. The weather forecast was for partly cloudy with temperatures in the mid 30’s, which is warm for a winter day.
One of my favorite sections of the Rivendell trail is the stand of Red Pines. In addition to the tall pines there is an under story “layer” of pines that look beautiful when covered in snow.
A spot on the trail where we always seem to stop is called the Sunday Mountain Lookout since you get a wonderful view of Sunday Mountain (it’s more of a hill rather than a mountain) in Orford, NH and west into Vermont.
We finally hit the part of the trail where the trees pretty much turn to all pines. The trail is especially beautiful after it had been snowing.
Another lookout on the Rivendell trail has a fantastic view west into Vermont. Using my 300mm lens I can get a great view of Killington Ski Resort. According to Google Maps this is 60 miles away.
As we got above the treeline the small pines alongside the trail were half encased in ice.
We finally made it to the top of South Peak but did not stay long due to the wind chill.
I did take a series of photos looking towards Groton Wind Farm and Plymouth, NH. The distant view was nice but I really liked the snow covered pines around the summit.
We decided not to go to North Peak since the trail did not look packed down and we did not have snow shoes with us.
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