The Final Leg of Chester Turnpike

A couple of years ago we had biked our first part of the Chester Turnpike until the water was over our pedals with no end in sight and we realized we had to give up and head back.  Then, at the beginning of our stay at home order, we started from the other side to see how far we could make it before we ran into the same problem.  Most interestingly, we found where everyone in town apparently parties  as our travels led us to more beer cans and camp fire remnants than we could count along with an eerie number of shot gun shells and cigarette butts.  There might have also been some old car doors hanging from tree branches, perhaps a New Hampshire territory symbol analogous to sneakers hanging over a telephone wire.  It's definitely unfortunate, so I proposed on future walks we carry trash bags to do our part and clean up the neighborhood.

On this trip we encountered less trash, equal amounts of wetland areas and super interesting boulder landscapes.  I've always liked to get an early start so I forced everyone out of the house at 8:00 am after potentially attempting to make Jeff feel guilty for wanting breakfast and we arrived at the trailhead at 8:30 am.  There were more cars than I anticipated but it was still relatively empty so we started in on our journey to Suncook.  In the past two months I've realized how much I enjoy walking along old roads.  The stone walls line the path transporting me back in time imagining where people lived and what there lives would have been like.  I also wanted to climb every boulder and investigate every old foundation.

After our first encounter with water, I unintentionally (but confidently) navigated us away from our intended route.  Even though there are posted signs banning motorized vehicles, there are trails everywhere created by four wheelers.  Mistaking one of these for the road can be deceptively easy and while I'm curious where these all lead to, I've been told it's to someone's backyard and not worth investigating.  My alternative trail did lead us to lovely pond with sunbathing turtles and potential new trails to discover in the future.

The uneventful turnaround point at the end of the trail

Most importantly, Chewie had fun